Video: Burger Master

This video was recorded on June 1st.  I was so excited about Orion signing two things- MORE and SANDWICH and him using my hand to get the burger then bring it up to his mouth.

Also he is sitting in a chair without a booster seat or in a high chair.  He would bend backward crazily in the booster seat and in the high chair he kept crying and trying to slide out.  I decided to put these aside and set him down in a typical chair, he responded well. This is where he is in this video.



I would've loved to blog more often but didn't have the extra time to do this.  Orion started being very clingy back in March, through April and most of May before he was more comfortable to be left alone to play for a few minutes and then there's the end-of-year school events for all three kids.  It's my plan you'll hear from me more often this summer!

Orion's Highchair Adventures: Learning to Eat With a Spoon

 

2m 30secs

Orion's Spoon Experiences
Orion knows the spoon very well as he's been eating off it for almost a year now.  In April 2011, right after Thomas' retina detachment/vitrectomy, Orion's Uncle stuck the spoon in his hand, already near his mouth.  Orion pulled it to his mouth. That was the feeding mode between Orion and Uncle while mine was tapping his cheek and Dad's was a pat on his chest.  I have occasionally put the spoon in his hand, only touching the palm and no holding his wrist or hand with my other hand, he'd either quickly put it in his mouth or withdraw his hand.

Apparently Orion did not realize he can or should do it under his own power until recently.  He's been eating with his hands and other times when it's jarred baby food, it's off the spoon.  After enjoying reviewing  Perkins' webcasts, especially one by Barbara Miles, I realized the practice of teaching/showing him things using hand-under-hand method had faded away from me. So I got proactive late last week and I would say during his 2nd session at the highchair, he picked up the spoon off the tray.  (The spoon has always been pre-loaded with food.) I've always thought he was awesome but he still surprises me from time to time.

Um, maybe Orion was just waiting for Mom to finally show him?

On Sunday night, Skyler wanted to give Orion crackers. I told Skyler to tap the back of Orion's hand and give him the cracker underneath to the palm of his hand.  Orion took over from there and Skyler was thrilled.  Skyler declared he will from now on sit with Orion and feed him.  Skyler loves to get a little rough tickling his little brother or lay down and fall asleep next to him if he's on the soft mat in the TV room.  I'm glad Skyler had this feeding experience to increase his bond with his little brother, a different kind of interaction where Orion has better participation in than being tickled silly. 

The Equipment
We have several fat-handled spoons designed for easier grip for little hands.  The spoon used in the video had a wide bowl but a skinny, flat handle.  Just yesterday, a mommy friend passed on some more toddler utensils to us and one of them had a spiral/ribbed handle.  Orion enjoyed nibbling/feeling it.  The only thing with this ribbed spoon handle is that I can't imagine he'd know what angle the spoon is turned since it's round all the way opposed to a flat handled spoon.  With the latter, as it is comfortably held, the spoon angle is either right-side up or not.  I will watch this and see if it is me over-thinking things.  :)  (We stopped using infant spoons several months ago, switched over to wider infant or toddler spoons without objections from Orion.)

Food
Orion has been open to eating more table food.  For dinner on Monday night, eating with his hands, Orion ate avocado slices! (Much to Skyler's disgust.) He also ate ground beef and yellow rice.  We did offer him avocado and ground beef a long time before and he wasn't interested.  This shows, just like any other kid, some foods need to be reintroduced or for the kid to get accustomed to its taste/smell.  (Tho, my parents probably will tell you it didn't work out for me and any type of tomato!)

What's next?
We'll continue with Orion using his hands to pick up food along with his new-found skill in picking up the spoon and then somehow teach him how to load his spoon using hand-under-hand.  Lori, his occupational therapist at Kendall School, recommended mashed potatoes.  They stay on the spoon well.  Perfect! Orion enjoys the mashed sweet potato I occasionally nuke in the microwave for him.

Orion: Summer Update

It's been a while since I talked about Orion's progress. Included in this post is his physical and eating progress and where we are with his cochlear implant candidacy process.

Physical Progress (As of late June)
Orion constantly, gradually improved his head control, now he is starting to control his trunk/shoulder better. I've done some exercises with Orion over the last few weeks, various and inconsistent but the one exercise I always did and often was the pull-ups. When Orion's laying on his back, I bend his legs so his feet are flat on the floor then after touching his upper arms to give him a heads-up on what's going to happen, I lift him up by his arms to a seated position. He's better about keeping his head under control and in line with his body, along with a really cute 'working hard' facial expression. His head used to just drop/hang back through everything.) Thanks to all the physical therapists who work with Orion! Go, go, Orion, go!

We also have him seated between my legs with his back to me. Orion likes to play with certain toys while sitting in that position. Without a toy, he'd squirm his way back to a laying position. During a June weekend at a little friend's birthday party, we sat together in a few inches of cool splash park water and visited with friends. Orion's feet were at an upright water jet and he did not withdraw his limbs! The fun part was we could share with friends Orion's little accomplishments and happiness.

Skyler went to summer school, he seemed to enjoy himself. He counted from 1 to 100, then up to 117. He was soooo proud! (So are we!)

June 29, 2011: Orion ate a sweet potato. Not from the baby food jar but a microwaved, cooled and mashed-to-lumps sweet potato. He likes sweet potatoes so it was worth the challenge of scooping some up with his fingers. During this process, I think he noticed his nose. He put a finger barely up a nostril and held it there for a little bit. Self-discovery today, tomorrow what? :)

Orion enjoys pulling blankets to his face and over his head. Depending on the situation, he shrieks happily.

He's been able to lift his head off the mattress or floor when he's on his knees and hands while someone holds his chest in place. This tells me that this will be his next, "Look, no hands (adult helping hands)!"

Early August Update:
Orion's head control is constantly improving to where I can hold him under his arms, he can keep it in place. Even when I bounce him carefully on my knee. He still likes to hang his head back. I realized we're his enablers whenever we touch the back of his head or neck because he will then push his head back. If I avoid it he'll manage his head on his own somehow. Also, whenever we carry Orion chest-down (facing the floor) he will lift his head up. When we leave him alone on the floor while on his tummy, he doesn't.

Eating
He's switched over to whole milk and some solid foods have been added to his diet which is still mostly textured "stage 3" baby food and cereal puffs. We've mashed some sweet potato, cut bananas, strips of toast, offered rice and spaghetti. His favorite food so far is birthday cake. Of course! I've been waiting for him to bring his upper body forward while in the highchair all this time and it took a slice of my birthday cake on a plate for him to do that. (See video)




Eyes: New Scleral Shells
Orion's new clear scleral shells arrived via FedEx the day before we flew back to Maryland. I took the smaller, 'older' shells out and put in the new bigger shells. Their size surprised me and I wondered just how it would fit in. With some Ocuglide and fending off Orion's curious hands (felt like there were 8 of them) I slipped them in. They look great. Not one peep of objection from Orion.

He continues to LOVE water.


Orion is interested in the source of his baby food. Here comes the huge meal messes! It will be worth it because he'll experience and learn so much from however he chooses to interact with his food.





July 31, 2011



Cochlear Implant
Orion is going to Johns Hopkins early morning Tuesday, August 9th for cochlear implant (CI) surgery. It'll be on his right side. I dread any kind of surgery, especially on our baby. We finished the last of many required appointments with a psychology visit at Johns Hopkins in late June. This decision did not come easily for Thomas and I, as well as another condition Orion may have that could obstruct the benefits of a CI, which I will share in another post.



Sleeping Orion (8/2/2011).

Orion: Pop Goes the Shell!

Our Valentine, with shells in both eyes.

Oops, I did notice Orion's left eye looked different today but didn't realize why I never saw him open his eye until I was putting him down in the crib tonight. There was a lonely eye shell in the middle of the crib! It apparently popped out sometime last night. I need to call SuperOcularist tomorrow for what I should do.

Food-wise, Orion was doing a little better with baby food. Perhaps because he somewhat liked sweet potato better than rice cereal mixed with applesauce... but I know he's learning to eat and not push the food out with his tongue.

That was interrupted with Orion staying at Children's hospital with oxygen via nasal cannula as he took a week (Jan 30-Feb 6) recovering from bronchiolitis caused by a nasty respiratory virus. (I'm grateful for the e-mails and visits. Thanks!) He went to the ER via ambulance from the doctor's office on Jan 29th and then again on the 30th when he was finally admitted. Yep, on the 6th Orion was released during 1st quarter of SuperBowl. Healthwise, he's doing very well. Sleepwise, he's sleeping during the day and awake at night... guess who has the night shift from Sunday through Thursday night?!

Now we know he's willing to eat carrots. After putting on his bib in the bouncer, I give him a spoon to hold. Oftentimes he doesn't want to hold it. To let him know I'm going to feed him, I sign "eat" or "food" on Orion's lips, then I tap his cheek next to his mouth and he opens his mouth and in goes the baby food. It took a while, especially when we had to stop and then start again when he got out of the hospital but here we are... he's eating off the spoon! Next, I think I should move on to letting him feel where the spoon goes to 'refill' itself. Messy, but he'll know how it works.

I'm not sure, but I think Orion intentionally signed 'milk'. I was feeding fussy Orion some baby food and he squeezed my finger repeatedly like I'd squeeze his arm to sign 'milk'. I gave him some milk, he stopped signing it, finished his bottle and fell asleep. Last night he signed 'milk' again, so I gave him his bottle. I'm not sure if he's sign-babbling or actually asking for milk but I am watching him.

Orion is wearing a STAR band (helmet) to encourage his head to continue to grow in a way that his head is nice and round again. He has plagiocephaly (flat head) on the right side of the back of his head. The helmet doesn't squeeze on his head. The inside of the helmet has the form of a 'perfect head' and it fits around the longer part of his head (left back to right forehead) and that sort of puts a brake on growth in that direction and encourages his head to grow/fill in the direction of the right back and left forehead. He's to wear the helmet 23 hours a day for 12 weeks. He will have follow-up appointments every two weeks. He doesn't mind the helmet, only fusses if he's sweating or too warm (yes, like hats, it keeps body heat in). We can take it off for a little bit to let him dry and cool off.

Orion still loves bathtime and the perhaps overly curious company of other little ones. He kicks his legs like a frog and wiggles vigorously in the water. He has been away from other little kids, especially his little PIP friends for too long so it was so sweet seeing him smile when another little hand touched him today. There's something about little hands... cute little inquisitive hands.

Orion's big sister, Anastasia is now 5! Happy Birthday! (Note the purse birthday cake I made for her.)