Carson's First Birthday

With one tooth barely showing

Crawling

Pulling to stand and cruising

Climbing up steps

Weighing in at 17 1/2 pounds and measuring 28 1/2 inches

Whistling (seriously whistling, check out the video clip)

And eating everything in sight....

Carson James turned ONE on February 16 and we celebrated on February 17.

Unlike his sister's first birthday (she cried during cake time), Carson loved his cake as long as someone fed him. Who wouldn't love PF Chang's Wall of Chocolate? We kept it simple with Vic's family for 2 hours. He enjoyed the company, but not as much as Ella did. She got dressed up for little brother's birthday; she wanted him to be 3 like her. She sang happy birthday to him and carried the cake to his highchair. With his lightning fast reflexes, he reached for the lit candle but Vic saved the day and blew it out.

With all the concerns about his assymetric scooting, I decided to have him assessed by the Good Samaritan physical and occupational teams that evaluated him in the fall. Now up to this visit, he was army crawling by rolling over the left arm and keeping the left leg straight (our in-home physical therapist's concerns). That little stinker decided to crawl on all fours FOR THE FIRST TIME during the assessment. The Good Sam therapists did not feel he required therapy through our insurance; he was pretty much on target for his adjusted age. Some skills were slightly delayed, some skills were emerging so inconsistent and others were ahead of schedule. The basic conclusion from the Good Sam PT was that he had full range of motion on both sides but decreased quality on the left side. It was mentioned that sometimes kids learn with one side first (his right) and then work on the other side after mastering the first side. Good news!

In trying to put our minds at ease about this, Vic and I looked back at Ella's milestones. Carson actually got into the all four position, crawled, pulled to stand and cruised before Ella and there were/are no concerns with her gross motor development. We are still going to have him evaluated by a Neurologist at Children's Hospital on March 10 to be proactive based on our in-home PT's advice. Our pediatrician doesn't think this is necessary, but I'd rather be safe. It's not that I don't trust our pediatrician because I greatly do. But Amy (our PT) spends 1 hour per week with him so she has more observation time with him. She is very pleased with his progress over the past month but still wants to consult with the Neurologist to rule out other issues. Since there's no pain/stress during the first visit (just a physical exam), we are inclined to be proactive and put our minds at ease. If there are other issues, early intervention could aid his development. I'll post after the visit.

Waiting...

So, it's the early morning of Friday, February 8 and I have been sitting at First Church of Christ since midnight to register Ella for preschool. I thought I was crazy and was worried about being the only one waiting at a church, but that was not a problem. For when I arrived at midnight (registration opens at 9AM), there were already 4 ladies waiting. 1 was waiting for the 4 year old program and the other 3 were waiting for the 3 year old program so I am second on the waiting list. Someone should open a preschool in the Northern Kentucky area. Seriously, St Timothy registered recently and they are already full.

Other happenings... Carson's birthday is coming up - Feb 16. Can you believe a year has passed? He is finally cutting his first tooth (you can feel it but not see it). The lack of teeth has not stopped him from eating; he had a slice of pizza last night. Carson is scooting or army crawling everywhere; he is not content to stay in one place especially with Ella running everywhere. He is getting into a crawling position, rocking and on occasion moving forward a few patterns. The therapist still visits Carson weekly and has expressed concern on one occasion about his left leg. When he scoots, he uses his right leg to move forward, bends his left arm underneath him and rolls over it, and drags his left leg behind him. If you bend his left leg while in this position, he typically moves it normally. He uses his left leg when jumping or balancing objects while laying down. This concern was only noted on one visit and we've had two subsequent visits and she thinks everything is fine. When she expressed the concern, she indicated we would watch closely and if necessary consult with a Neurologist. Our appointment with the Neurologist is the first week of March, but hopefully, we can cancel it.

Carson continues to adore Ella. He smiles and laughs at her. Yesterday, they were laying on the floor and he scooted to her. As he looked at her, he giggled. I told her to kiss him and when she did, he smiled and giggled. Ella cheers for his accomplishments and is proud to announce them to me (if I'm not looking). She watches out for him by taking away small objects or paper. She loves to feed him cheerios and sometimes baby food. When we eat, she often asks if Carson can have a small bite of this or that.

Ella cracks us up. At preschool, she made an airplane out of a box. The teacher gave her 4 people - a mom, dad, boy and girl. The boy and girl were the same height. Ella asked the teacher for a baby like her brother Carson. The teacher listened and thoughtfully took the boy to the copier and shrunk him. Ella was so excited to share this project with us. Everything is relative to her (at least I think) for she says that I am a big momma and that I have a big bottom. At least I don't think I am a big momma. She has a new friend at school, Harrison. Her favorite friend, Isabelle, is no longer in her class. She told me that she held hands and marched with Harrison in music. Then she told me she liked Harrison's shoes (they were black and shiny). Of course, she said, Harrison liked her boots. She continues to attend dance class on Tuesdays and enjoys Ms. Dee. Her recital is in May and then we will take a break to enjoy summer activities. We're also planning her birthday party at the end of March; she wants to go to the jumping place with all of her cousins.

So, lots of things going on... and still waiting for 9AM to arrive. After that, I will go home, play with Carson and Ella, and anxiously await nap time. It can't come soon enough. Normal nap time is 2PM, but I'm hoping I can get them down by 1PM. Hope... hope... hoping.