The 7-Toothed Wonder of the World

When I went to get Joshua from his nap yesterday, he was sitting up in his crib. Hooray! One of the things we've been working on with his physical therapy is sitting up from laying down, and it looks like he learned how to do it by himself now. He did the same thing this morning, only this time I saw him in action because he was in bed with me. (He woke up at 3:30 this morning, and Daddy grabbed him and threw him in bed with me and then slept in the spare bedroom.) Why doesn't Joshua sleep at night? I think I'd get better sooner if I could get a single good night's rest. I tried limiting his naps, not limiting his naps, wearing him out by playing a lot, getting him sunshine, and the list goes on. He seems to dance to the beat of his own drum. Soon, Momma might consider him the drum...just kidding (sort of). Joshua seems to sit up on his own after sleeping but when we're playing together, he refuses or forgets how or doesn't associate the two motions together. We still have some work to do...

Another new thing he's been doing is push-ups, getting onto his tippy toes and thrusting his butt in the air. I think he wants to stand but he's not quite sure where to go from there. Mom said he was trying to pull up on one of Jen's toys at Emma's birthday party but it was too wobbly. I was looking around the playroom and assessed that our toys are the same - nothing sturdy enough to pull up on. In fact, even our chairs swivel, so I may have to rethink that a little to give him ample opportunity to exercise his curiosity with standing.

He's also been crawling backwards. I was talking to Dad last night on the phone in the office while Shawn was playing with da' Bean in our bedroom. Shawn left to get him his final bedtime bottle and came back to see just Joshua's little face ducking out of our dust ruffle beneath the bed. Silly Bean! I see him going backwards pretty often.

One other thing we've been working on is getting to his knees. One exercise was encouraging him to pull up on his open "toy bin" which allows him to see toys and hopefully motivate him to reach further, stay up longer, etc. Yesterday we were working on that, and he was doing much of the work by himself. Yeah! All the sudden I saw the "lights come on" and he sat back down, pulled the toy bin somewhat sideways, and reached in with easy access. Then, one by one, he took out each toy, examined it, and put it on the floor. Then he repeated this process, looking at me with utter glee since he no longer had to work for what he wanted.

I've been trying to teach him how to clap and give someone five without much luck. He now opens his hands up completely when I clap his hands for him, but when I ask him to do it himself, he just looks at me like, "Hey, why did you stop?" Same thing when I say "give me five!" Someday he'll get it! He does respond to some things we say like when I say "come" he reaches toward me, or when I ask him to "open" he opens his mouth for me to brush his teeth or give him medicine or feed him, and when I saw "all done" he seems to understand that the food is gone or I'm done washing his face so he can stop whining or we're finished changing his diaper, etc.

Today I woke up and my throat felt like it had been set on fire and put out with a rake. I decided it was time to see the doctor, who took a strep test and said it was "borderline." But, he thought based on the fever and how red & swollen my throat & tonsils looked, antibiotics were appropriate for sure, along with tylenol every four hours. Now I need to get the prescription filled. Today I was supposed to meet my friends Julie & Kristen and their boys for lunch & swimming, but I didn't want to risk getting their families sick. Bummer! I was so looking forward to it! Rain check!

Mom said that Jamie's coming back home Thursday. That's all he's been asking to do since he went to the hospital. I'm not sure it's the wisest move, but she said I would do the same thing for Shawn. I worry about her and wonder what's best for both of them, truly.