Up!

When I first met Kellin, I quickly learned that his preferred position was laying on the floor or in his bed, on his right side, curled up in a fetal position, and usually doing some sort of "stimming" (hitting/poking his eyes, playing with his spit).  Sometimes he would stand holding onto something or walk with his hands held, but anytime he was left alone, he immediately retreated into his favorite position.  He had no strength to sit up at all.  In addition, when he was in this position, he completely retreated into his own little world.  He didn't react to voices or sounds, and would push away any person or object that touched him.

So the goal became to keep him upright as much as possible.  He was much more engaged with the world when he was being held, sitting, or standing.  At first, a few minutes of being held or kept upright was all he could tolerate.  But we kept working and trying . . . and I am thrilled to say that after weeks of hard work, now Kellin is UP most of the day (except for sleeping time)!  He stands at the wall, couch, or other surfaces; he sits on his ride-on train or rocker; he SITS on the floor.  Up until just the last couple days, if I had to put Kellin down on the floor without me next to him, I would always sit him up, but as soon as I walked away, he would slump down and curl up on his right side.  However, these last couple days, several times I have walked away and come back a few minute later - and he is STILL SITTING UP.  This is a huge step forward!

We are still working on crawling.  Kellin is at the point that he is definitely capable of crawling on his own - but he has zero motivation whatsoever.  Of course, he can't see all the things around him to explore, but it has been a huge struggle to find anything he will try to move toward.  His favorite musical toy sort of works, sometimes, with some help, but if not prodded forward, he just stays in one place on his hands and knees.

Kellin is making some very small steps toward communicating.  He is babbling more and is saying "mama" often.  I'm still not sure if he is actually calling me mama or not, but he is saying it often.  He seemed to repeat "ah da" after I said "all done" one day, and just today I discovered that when I say "all done" and take his hands, he will move my hands in the "all done" sign.  It is clear that he is understanding several words - eat, up, blankie, night-night, choo-choo, all done, no, cube (his favorite toy) and his name.

He is doing a good job eating his baby food three times a day and drinks a bottle 4-5 times a day, but he has begun throwing up 1-2 times each day.  It seems to be random; we can't find a pattern as far as time of day, activity, or any certain food.  Kellin sees his pediatrician on Wednesday, so we will see if she has any suggestions.

Sleeping unfortunately is regressing.  After sleeping through the night for a while, he is now back to waking up during the night and having difficulty getting back to sleep.  We have rearranged our bedroom so that his crib is right next to our bed and will see if that helps.  It's hard to say because during the night, Kellin often prefers not to be touched.  Although he has gotten to the point of really enjoying being held and engaging with others during the day, he likes to be left alone at night.  He is clearly excited to be put into his crib at naptime and bedtime and if I try to delay that by rocking him or singing, he will only tolerate that for a few minutes before he starts fussing and squirming to be left alone.  I know that this is what is familiar and comfortable to him - to be left alone in a crib - because it's all he knew for the past two years, but it's still sad to see.  Even when he is yawning and acting very sleepy before being put into his crib, he will usually spend 1-2 hours babbling, giggling, and playing before finally dropping off.  I can't decide if this is necessary "down time" and he should just be left alone to have that time, or if he is isolating himself too much and we should be trying to spend more of that time with him.  I was excited this morning when he woke up fussing at 5:30 and I tried bringing him into bed with us (which rarely works) and he fell right asleep cuddled up with me. :)