Brennan at 16 months

At 16 months old, Brennan:

-loves to wave "hi" and "bye"
-signs "eat", "more", and "all done"
-has a great appetite
-gets mad if someone near him is eating and doesn't share with him
-likes putting things into and takings things out of containers
-is so happy being able to sit that he still has no interest in crawling
-thinks playing in the water in his bath or at the beach is the most fun ever
-likes making music with his piano and maracas
-puts his hands up in the air when we say "so big"
-loves to clap for himself and others
-gives the best hugs
-likes stacking his stacking rings
-adores and is adored by his siblings
-sways back and forth when we sing to him
-throws toys when he's done playing with them
-has his 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th teeth all coming in at the same time
-has the cutest little laugh
-is the perfect addition to our family

Summer Fun

The Big Weight Check

As you may or may not recall, Brennan's pediatrician was concerned with Brennan's slow weight gain at his 12 month well visit. During the time between his 9 and 12 month visits, he gained only 5 ounces. His thyroid was tested at that time and the results were within the expected range, so we knew that wasn't a factor. His pediatrician recommended we see a nutritionist, set up bi-weekly weight checks and start adding butter to his food. After some thought, I declined all three. Brennan has a healthy and well balanced diet - so I continued with his current feeding program, adding healthy fats (such as avocados with olive oil) when possible, and decided to only be concerned if he started to lose weight. I am happy to report that at Brennan's 15 month well visit he gained 2 pounds, 5 ounces. He's now tipping the scales at 17 pounds, 5 ounces and is measuring 29 3/4 inches. This puts him in the 25th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height on the Down syndrome chart. Although pediatricians can offer good advice, we moms know our kids best and need to follow our own instinct - and I'm glad that I did.

Got Teeth?

Brennan has spent the better part of the last couple of months looking like this:

or this:

or this:
Yep, this boy is teething! I had read that the teeth of kids with Down syndrome often come in late and/or in an unusual order. I am here to confirm that both are the case for Brennan. His first two teeth came in at 11 months. They were his bottom middle teeth, which seemed like the usual order. Then at 15 months, his third and fourth teeth broke through and are his top premolars! I thought this would make for an interesting look since his top middle teeth hadn't made any sign of appearing. Then, this week, his top middle teeth started to break through. So, Brennan has alot going on in that little mouth of his. Somehow he hasn't let it bother him....he does lots of finger chewing, but little to no complaining. All of his teeth seem to be coming in veeeerrryy sloooowwllly - but I will hopefully update with pictures of his toothy grin soon.

Brennan's Evaluation and Crawling Revisited

In a comment about Brennan's evaluation, Jessica from Ten Squares Three Squiggles said that her son's evaluation also included age equivalents, which would give a correlating age for each of the areas tested. Prior to Brennan's evaluation, I told his EI coordinator that I would prefer to not have age equivalents listed. I agree with Jessica's comment that an evaluation for someone (especially someone who automatically qualifies for services due to a diagnosis) should state what the child is currently able to do and their goals for the coming year should be. An approach that focuses on the positive, what our kids can do and what they should be working on next. Those are the important and relevant pieces of information.

And about getting ready to learn to crawl, Karen from The Bryant Family News said "watch what you wish for" because "once they go, there is no stopping them." I admit to having a little bit of mommy-guilt about this because I'm actually not that anxious for him to be mobile. I know what comes with a mobile 1 year old.....baby-proofing the house (again!), worrying if the older kids left a door open, having to keep an eye on the little one ALL OF THE TIME. Ugh, it makes me tired just thinking about it. Of course I work with him, I do what his physical therapists suggests, do all that I can to help him because I know it's important. But secretly (or not so secretly anymore) I'm a little bit happy that he's taking his time. Everyone involved believes he WILL learn to crawl and that he WILL learn to walk and I'll be thrilled to pieces for him when he actually does. But for now, I'm enjoying having one child that will happily stay in one place. One less person to keep an eye on at parties, at the playground, at the beach. I'm pretty sure that this will be the last summer that he'll sit so contently - so I'm going to enjoy every minute.