All the Things He's Doing

As if all of you didn't know, Britton has come a looonnnggg, long way in the past 5 months. I was looking back at videos from Britton's birth day today, and was so amazed that my little boy is where he is today.

I remember them saying in the hospital that eating would be Britton's biggest challenge. They warned us that a baby with so much trauma to his brain would likely have a difficult time getting the hang of eating (a fairly complicated set of skills). He ended up taking to the bottle quickly, though it took weeks for him to be able to start taking in the amounts that his body needed. By the time we took him home, he was eating like a champ, and even had started nursing, an incredible feat! And now, here he is at 5 months eating solids like it's no big thing (he just started solids 2 weeks ago)...

What's left of dinner tonight!

In other wonderful news, Britton is rolling over both ways (he did them both at about the same time), and is on the verge of sitting up without support. A few weeks ago he started pulling his head forward whenever he was leaning back ...

... and now he never wants to lean back & relax (his head is all the way up in this picture if you can't tell)! It's all about sitting or standing these days. I'm thinking he could sit up without support if he could just get that side to side balance down. His therapist says it won't be long.

He is also playing with toys lately. This is fun for us! It came suddenly about a month ago when we were out for a walk, and I had laid a toy on his chest in the stroller. I looked down and he had both hands on it and was turning it around. Since then, he has taken off with the toys. At his last therapy session, she said he was just on the verge of transferring toys from one hand to another. Also, when he reaches now, each hand can grab separate toys (or hair, or earrings). Though, he's been reaching & grabbing for awhile now, it's surprising how adept he is at it now.

Play time in the big boy chair.


Studying a new toy.

He is also sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night! This has been a wonderful gift to his mama & daddy. He's been doing this for a couple of months now (we're so thankful!), so it is rare that we're sleep deprived these days. Lately, he has become attached to one of his "lovies" when he sleeps. When we put him down at night, we give him the lovie, he smiles, wraps his arm around it and pulls it up next to his face. It will usually stay that way all night. So sweet! I didn't realize this, but the therapist said that becoming attached to an object is great for his socialization.

Sleeping angel with his lovie.

You may have seen it on this video, but he recently mastered the fine art of squealing ... loud squealing. He learned it just in time for his first airplane ride. Thankfully, he squealed more before we boarded the plane as if to scare off anyone from sitting next to us. (In cohoots with his daddy, I'm sure.) But, alas, it was a full flight, so some poor soul was stuck with us. In other verbal skills, Britton is also a great "conversationalist" -- responding back and forth when he is spoken to. So sweet...

Another new thing in the world of Britton ... when you show him a bottle, he gets real excited, then he'll reach for it with both hands, open his mouth wide, and pull it toward his mouth. Sometimes it gets there and sometimes it doesn't. But another big thing is...

... he can hold his own bottle! For a few minutes anyway. ;o)

Seeing our little guy become more independent and strong is so wonderful. Considering what he went through, he really shouldn't be able to do all these things. He is such a miracle. These days, though, are also a little bittersweet as he just changes so fast. He is definitely not that tiny, sleepy, cuddly baby anymore, but he sure is a fun and happy 5-month-old baby. We remind ourselves all the time to enjoy each day with him because they go by way too quickly.

Hope you enjoyed the all-things-Britton update. Here are some sweet pictures to leave you with:

After dinner tonight, he gave his mama ...

... a hug...


... and some smiles. What a sweet boy?!