…all the time.
With Aleck it certainly is!! I’m working to put him on a feeding and napping schedule and he’s taking to it very nicely, and I’ve made peace with the fact that his naps are all in the swing. Whatever works! We found a type of pacifier that he seems to really like, by Nuk in the silicone. He doesn’t wear them all the time but when he needs to settle he seems to really like it. You can watch it start to calm him the minute we put it in his mouth. So between the schedule and the pacifier we are actually getting more moments of time when he’s awake and not feeding or crying, more happy time (YAAAAAAAAY). Daily play times on the gym mat, chilaxing on his bouncy seat watching his sun toy play lights and music, stretching routines after a diaper change, and even bedtime stories. Getting him to bed is still kind of tough, but I think if we keep up the same schedule we can get over that hump as well. What’s even more incredible is that he’s been basically sleeping through the night, and really has been for a month and a half now which is probably the only reason I still have any sanity left. Of course I wake up if he so much as farts still being so sensitive to all of his noises.
What’s really blown me away about Aleck recently is that he’s discovering his hands and his arms. He used to look away when we played with them, turning his head in the opposite direction. Now he looks right at them with a very serious look in his eyes as if he’s concentrating very hard. Last week I was playing with him on the gym mat with an elephant rattle hanging right above his head. Over and over again I kept hitting the elephant making the rattle go off. Then I stopped and watched Aleck, he was trying to move the opposite arm, roll onto the side closest to the rattle to get that arm up to the rattle. When he couldn’t do it he got upset, started to fuss, meanwhile never moving his gaze away from that rattle. Was he discovering that his arms wouldn’t do what they wanted him to do? Was he just frustrated because he couldn’t get at when he wanted? Gently I took his hand and helped steer him to the rattle while he rolled closer to it, lifting up that shoulder to give himself a better angle. He seemed to like that exercise so we did it again and again, the entire time he kept his eyes focused on that rattle.
Later that day my friend Risa came over with her daughter Eliana, who is 6 weeks older than Aleck. We layed them both on the gym mat and she reached right for Aleck’s hand, it was so cute. After a while he started going for that rattle again, Risa watched it too, and when he couldn’t get it he got upset. I asked Risa what she thought and she agreed with me, he’s trying to get the rattle. Since then we’ve done it with a toy parrot on the other side of the gym mat and are now making a game out of getting his hand up there and making the parrot spin. Maybe this gym mat can be a good motivator for him. I definitely think it’s good that it’s getting him interested in his hands, interested in touching the things around him. Even the OT today remarked on how much more he was paying attention when she put on his new splints and put things in his grasp It was so cool. I’m in love with these new splints, if that’s possible. They are made of the softest stretchiest material and the hard plastic is totally covered. Plus when he has them both on he looks more like an athlete, a gymnast with tape on him which totally gives him more street cred.
I asked the OT about giving us some fun activities we can do with Aleck that will also help his upper body but that are more like play and less like straight out stretching, just so we have a variety. She suggested we take balls and put them under his hands and then he can use them to facilitate moving his shoulders and arms around. Well, luckily I have the perfect little bag of soft sports balls, each one has a little face on it and makes a different noise. We had a great time with the basketball and the baseball. At one point he had one under each hand and seemed to be enjoying the movement. Now, if I only knew you gave me that gift!! It was one of a handful of presents that we had no cards for, and this one came with an adorable sweater and long sleeve shirts from Nordstrom’s (if you have any info please let me know).
In other news, it’s getting a little easier here, I can feel our hearts already starting to mend a bit. We miss Sadie constantly, and there will always be things that make us want to look for her, like opening a jar of peanut butter, or waiting for her to meet me in bed every night. It feels totally surreal that she’s gone and the house is definitely quiet because of it. But I swear, it also feels like she’s with us everywhere. I could have sworn I heard her breathing while I took a nap today and it took all my will to not look for her. At times I see her at the front door, lying on our shoes, or under Craig’s desk in the office, where she’d be right now. If you have any pictures of Sadie, or us with Sadie, please email them to me. I’d love to put together a collection of probably one of the most photographed dogs of all times. She certainly was a gorgeous girl. We will always miss her.