12.28.2006
Sleepless in South Carolina
I’m tired. Really, really tired. This kid won’t sleep through the night consistently, and I’m at a loss for what to do. He’s 6 months old; he should be able to sleep all night. The weird thing is, sometimes he will, for weeks at a time. Then he’ll start waking up at 2 or 3 or 4. I don’t want to get in the habit of nursing him in the middle of the night again; he’s too old for that. But sometimes he just won’t be comforted any other way, and after walking the floor with him for half an hour, I just want him to be quiet, so I’ll whip the old boob out in order to keep my sanity. Did I mention that I can be cranky when my sleep is interrupted? I could deal with it when he was a newborn, but now it’s just gone on far too long. I can’t just let him cry it out, since he shares a room with his brother. Help!…any suggestions?
12.20.2006
Art Enables
Recently, I came across the website of a non-profit arts organization that serves people with disabilities. From their site:
Art Enables is open to adults with developmental and/or mental disabilities, mental retardation or other extreme socioeconomic factors which put them at serious risk of remaining unemployed and who display an interest in and ability to benefit from the Art Enables arts-entrepreneurial approach to training.The program is designed to accommodate those persons with developmental and/or mental disabilities whose creative and imaginative potential is their strength and who can be guided in building skills and self-esteem by an environment which supports that creativity.
I love this idea. So much in fact, that I got my husband's Christmas gift from them. There is some really beautiful art being produced by the members of Art Enables. Check them out: www.art-enables.org. I can only hope that as an adult, Evan has the opportunity to reach his creative potential, even if we're not around to encourage and support him.
As for the little stinker himself, he's embarked on a journey into the wide world of culinary delights, beginning with everybaby's favorite: rice cereal. Mmmmmm. As my older boy Eli says: "ewww. ick. ick." And at 19 months, he's not so far removed from eating the stuff himself. But Evan seems to love it, and is doing so great with eating from a spoon. Even his pessimistic speech therapist agrees.
Even with all the cereal, he's not gaining much weight these days, and this is cause for worry. At least, it's causing ME to worry. His doctors don't seem too concerned. He's been hovering around the 13 pound mark for close to 2 months now. This could be contributed to lots of things...the illness suspected to be RSV but was in fact just a cold, or the cough that made him throw up on occasion for a period of several weeks. Or it could be the beginnings of heart failure. Evan's surgery is scheduled for January 12, so we don't have much longer to wait. I hope that once it's all over with, that he has the energy and stamina to grow. He's such a skinny little peanut.
Art Enables is open to adults with developmental and/or mental disabilities, mental retardation or other extreme socioeconomic factors which put them at serious risk of remaining unemployed and who display an interest in and ability to benefit from the Art Enables arts-entrepreneurial approach to training.The program is designed to accommodate those persons with developmental and/or mental disabilities whose creative and imaginative potential is their strength and who can be guided in building skills and self-esteem by an environment which supports that creativity.
I love this idea. So much in fact, that I got my husband's Christmas gift from them. There is some really beautiful art being produced by the members of Art Enables. Check them out: www.art-enables.org. I can only hope that as an adult, Evan has the opportunity to reach his creative potential, even if we're not around to encourage and support him.
As for the little stinker himself, he's embarked on a journey into the wide world of culinary delights, beginning with everybaby's favorite: rice cereal. Mmmmmm. As my older boy Eli says: "ewww. ick. ick." And at 19 months, he's not so far removed from eating the stuff himself. But Evan seems to love it, and is doing so great with eating from a spoon. Even his pessimistic speech therapist agrees.
Even with all the cereal, he's not gaining much weight these days, and this is cause for worry. At least, it's causing ME to worry. His doctors don't seem too concerned. He's been hovering around the 13 pound mark for close to 2 months now. This could be contributed to lots of things...the illness suspected to be RSV but was in fact just a cold, or the cough that made him throw up on occasion for a period of several weeks. Or it could be the beginnings of heart failure. Evan's surgery is scheduled for January 12, so we don't have much longer to wait. I hope that once it's all over with, that he has the energy and stamina to grow. He's such a skinny little peanut.
12.07.2006
5 1/2 month update
Most days, I feel at peace with Evan’s diagnosis. I think I have accepted the fact that he will develop at his own pace. But when several weeks or a month goes by and he’s not learned anything new, and I don’t see much improvement in the skills he does have, I can get discouraged. Just when I despair that he’s falling so far behind, he’ll have this little surge of rapid development, where he seems so much stronger, and more alert, and does all sorts of new things. This week has seen him prop up on his elbows while on his belly, which he has never done before. He has rolled from his belly to his back intentionally, lots of times…he had rolled a few times at 8 weeks of age, but I think it was an accident! He’s grabbing his feet. He’s bringing toys to his mouth. He’s doing great at supported sitting. He’s become really vocal lately. We have also started him on rice cereal, which he really seems to love. So far, he has no issues with eating from a spoon; at least not any more than any 5-month-old would. And he’s done all this while recovering from a nasty bout of bronchitis! Guess he showed me, huh?
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