Approaching Seven Months

It's hard to believe that Josiah will be seven-months old on Saturday.  Where have these 7 months gone.....

K (Josiah's early intervention worker) came out to work with him on Monday.  He was happy to see her, as usual.  He tolerated handling well.  In side lying, he willingly reached for (and grabbed at) his favorite toys.  On his belly, he was able to lift his head (to a 90 degree angle) and turn his head in both directions.  He held his head "mid line" for about one minute.  With support, he was able to sit on his bum & hold his head steady.  Again, he was able to turn his head from side-to-side. 

He didn't last nearly as long as usual.  He appeared uninterested, at some level.  I finally deduced that he may be hungry, so in came the bottle.  For the next twenty minutes or so, Josiah laid on the mat, drinking from his bottle, and playing with the toys dangling overhead.  Luckily, afterwards, he was willing to engage with K again (for a little more work).

K & D (the PT from EI) will be doing their 'six month' assessment on Josiah, in the coming weeks.  K allowed me a sneak peak into the assessment.  At a glance, Josiah seems to fall into the 4-6 month age-level for many of the categories.  Gross motor will likely fall into the 3-month bracket; Socially, he will likely fall in the 7-9 month bracket (right on, or a little ahead of, schedule). 

Meanwhile, Josiah continues to eat cereal once daily.  He continues to be alert, active, and constantly desiring attention :)  He loves to be talked to.  He loves to be the center of attention.  He loves to smile.  He looks older somehow.

In a moment of excitement, I tossed him on the scale the other day.  Once again, the weight is a frustration for me.  It still seems that he is only gaining about 1/2 ounce per day (not the ounce per day his pediatrician desires).  I keep having the same arguments in my head over this.  "They want him gaining an ounce per day."  "Well, he has Down Syndrome.  Maybe he's never going to gain an ounce per day."  Etc, etc, etc.  This argument in my head keeps rolling like the energizer bunny.....how maddening!  I'm doing everything I can.....is it enough????  He's been sleeping about 12 hours at night; maybe I should wake him once during the night for an extra feeding.  UGH!

Josiah enjoyed playgroup on Tuesday.  He was asleep when we first arrived, but woke up a short time later.  He spent most of the time sitting on the floor, in between my legs.  He enjoyed watching the other children playing.  He'd smile every time James or Jesse came within eye-shot :)  He does love his big brothers.

Tomorrow, D comes for their next physical therapy session.  He'll need to be woken early so he'll be ready for her.  Speaking of schedule, I need to get him up now so I can feed him and get him back to bed for the night.

Good night all :)