Justin at 15 Months

Is still such a baby to me. Perhaps this happens with the second (and subsequent) child(ren)?

He surprises me each day. Learning new things, playing and interacting more. The child seems to have his own little language. His words are few: mama, dada, ight, da (dog), titi (kitty), A-ugh (amen), ah duh (all done).

Justin wakes up happy…..until his diaper is changed. He’d much rather be roaming around on the floor. He seems very content crawling and cruising around on things. We work with him everyday on pushing things around and he’ll do it – just to pacify us. He couldn’t care less about walking.

As a parent of a child born with clubfeet, I can honestly say that I didn’t know if he would be doing what he’s doing now. Speaking of pulling up to stand and cruising around, I can’t be more proud of the progress he’s made. This kiddo was in casts for the first 3 months of his life, then in braces full time for the next 3. Of course he still wears his braces at night. It’s become a way of life for us. No, it isn’t my favorite thing to do and I’m sure he’d be happier without them but he knows no different and is happy nonetheless.

Okay, so he’s still sleeping through the night. In his mouth are 4 teeth on the top with two chompers on the bottom. And, I felt 4 molars in the back. Considering his first tooth came in at 11 months, he’s also tolerated teething quite well! A few random nights he did fuss but nothing to cause us any concern. He eats like a champ and is generally a loving child.

The most recent development is an attachment to his Mother! Where did this come from? He loves to lay his head down on ones’ shoulder and tuck his arms underneath his little body while being held. But, he loves his mother so much! Gotta admit it’s not something I push away from, instead I welcome it with open arms.

He admires his brother. His brother – the one who runs everywhere and is high strung. Yep, that one. If Justin hears Troy running down the hall, Justin takes off in the opposite direction and is so excited when Troy “catches” him. I can see the sweet bonding taking off right before my eyes.

Although not the most flattering picture, you can see J’s long face here. He still has the dimple in the middle of his nose. It makes him, well, Justin! He has large feet for a clubfoot child with big hands and long fingers. He also has puffy lips which are just precious.

On his right foot, one toe overlaps the other. It’s ever so slightly now. Used to be more pronounced. When he stands, all toes are flat. I suspect this is a temporary overlap.

Stats:

24 pounds (might be closer to 25) – 75th percentile

32.2 inches – 85th percentile

Head – 18 inches – 20-25th percentile

Precious in every way!

Home, more doctors appointments and a wonderful baby

So much has happened since we got home late Friday night. It was almost 10 p.m. before we arrived so after Justin ate, we all went to bed.

Troy has been up and down. Saturday was not his most glorious day but he was adjusting to having his parents together with him at home in more than a week, the attention he was receiving was not as much because of the baby and he was just trying to adjust I suppose. As was I! I have tried to make an extra effort to pick him up, tell him I love him, play with him and try to reassure him that I haven’t forgotten about him.

Sunday things began to sort of click with him, or so we think. He found out that if he kisses his brother, we tell him he’s so sweet. Thus, he will say, “I so sweet”. T’s vocabulary has increased significantly over the past few days. He tries to say Justin’s name but it’s fairly complicated for him. Bebe is much easier!

Monday we had an after-hospital-stay with Dr. C for Justin. Since Troy isn’t too far away from 18 months, I called that morning and we got him in. Having two wasn’t all that bad….I have to admit that B and my mother were there to help! Troy wanted tongue depressors to stick in the door stop and he was good to go for a while.

To say that we have been a bit nervous about Justin is an understatement. His breathing, the way he sucks on a bottle, the difficulty getting him to nurse, the way he sleeps most of the time, his feet, his heart, his lungs….blah, blah, blah. Well, we are gun shy. Dr. C really helped our nerves more than I expected. I had a laundry list of questions, she spent more than enough time with us and was very attentive and reassuring about everything. The only thing I forgot to ask about (and didn’t write down) was how much Justin should be eating. I’m nursing him some and supplementing with pumped milk. It is a job, let me tell you! Anyone else who has had a baby in the NICU who couldn’t nurse due to their condition at the time and later tries to get that baby nursing knows what this is all about. I might write about it another time. But, it’s trying, the whole supply and demand thing is totally out of whack and we already had to buy a chest freezer for the extra milk. And to think I thought we had a lot of milk with Troy!

We headed up to Birmingham after Troy woke up from his nap Monday afternoon (so we could say goodbye) and after Justin’s belly was full. A pretty uneventful trip and a sleeping baby made it go by quickly. We stayed at L&G’s again which was so nice!

Monday night I was feeling good about being able to get Justin in with the orthopedic doctor. We were concerned that we were waiting too long to get J in his casts and get his club feet corrected.