After 12 months of taking Britton's photo with his lion, the big picture is now complete! (If you feel the need, you can click on it to make it bigger.) He has come such a long way since that first picture, at the one-month mark, taken while he was still in the NICU.
Britton is such a busy body these days! He can move, and he is fast. He pulls up on everything. He can open any cabinet door or drawer, and can can get into whatever he wants. He can cruise around the furniture, and can "walk" with you if you hold his hands. He is always playing with his toys -- pushing his truck or Noah's ark back and forth, putting his shapes in the shape sorter (he can get a few of them in the right holes), putting the rings on the ring stacker, flipping through books, or standing and playing at his music table.
Britton also plays pat-a-cake, high fives, gives kisses, shakes his head no when he doesn't want something, certainly understands no (as it is said a lot these days), plays give and take, puts in and takes out (his favorite game), and has become
very attached to his daddy. He does laps around the living room, stopping to kiss and bang on the windows, jabbers all the time with lots of inflection, and may be close to saying the words "dada" and "doggie" (more like goggie). I've heard him making these sounds at Danny & Piper but he hasn't done it with enough consistency to know for sure.
He continues to be a very sweet and happy boy. And his only "bad" habit is squealing while he's in the high chair, which you can count on him doing at every feeding. And folks, it's loud. I look forward to him being able to speak one day, so he can tell us what exactly it is that he wants. He continues to be a great eater, and is now drinking whole milk. Hooray! He is excellent with his sippy cups but still prefers taking milk from a bottle in the morning, and especially before bedtime. I am working on getting the bottle away from him, but will give him a little more time before we do that cold turkey. His nighttime routine is just not the same without his bottle, and he is sure to tell you all about that. Britton is still a fabulous nighttime sleeper -- lately on occasion sleeping even more than his usual 11-12 hours. He loves going to sleep at night. We just put him in the bad, with a pacifier, and he goes down with a smile and then talks himself to sleep. Sleep is his friend and we are grateful!
We had an appointment with his neurologist today, and here are his latest stats:
Weight = 20 pounds!!! (He is finally big enough to graduate from his infant carrier into his big boy carseat!)
Length = 28.7 inches The neurologist gave Britton a great report today. He checked Britton's reflexes and muscle tone and said that he still shows no signs of cerebral palsy or diplegia. His right foot is a little tight (when you bend it up), but he has none of the reflexes that would go along with CP. The doc thinks Britton holds it tight (like he's resisting), b/c when the doc tested it again, the tightness was gone. Any tightness that may exist (for example, Britton walks on his tiptoes), he thinks will go away with the more weight he bears on his feet.
We had a long talk about Britton's head circumference. Britton's head has always measured on the small side (like off the charts small). He is small all around (height & weight), so it is expected that his head is small, too. But, because of his birth history, they pay more attention to his head circumference than they would if he had had a normal birth. Dr. Mathisen assured us that he isn't too concerned about it b/c his head size is following a normal growth pattern and he is doing so well developmentally. I personally think part of the small head circumference may very well be genetic as Danny & others on his side of the family have a smaller head (for example, he & I wear the same hat size).
We talked about doing another MRI, but again, decided to put that discussion off until the next visit at 18 months. Since he's doing so well clinically, it's hard for us as his parents to put him through the risk of anesthesia (he would be intubated, under general anesthesia for an hour for a MRI) when the test wouldn't affect any course of medical treatment. Sure, we are curious what his brain looks like now, but not curious enough to put him at risk at this point. Now, if he's not walking by 18 months, then we'll probably be looking at doing a MRI, but Dr. Mathisen gave Britton a vote of confidence saying he thinks he'll be walking before then.
As it has been since the day he was born, we are in a "wait & see" holding pattern. When he was born, they did everything they could to lessen the potential brain damage he might have, but they told us we would have to wait and see how he met his developmental milestones. Well, now at 12 months, he has met nearly every major milestone prior to standing alone and walking, and we are still waiting to see what the next months and years hold. We are super encouraged by his development thus far -- meeting all the big milestones within the normal timeframes -- and believe he is going to be just fine. But, we just won't know for sure until many years have passed. Regardless, Britton is a miracle, and the doctor said so himself today. He is a bright and happy little boy who is a pure delight to parent. We are so blessed by his life, knowing the impact he has already had on many in his first year, and trusting in God's sovereign and loving hand for his future. Thanks for reading our blog and caring so much about our little boy!
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