10 Months Old: Bobby's Catch Up Week

Bobby had a lot going on this month.  He was doing this eye flutter/blinky thing at seemingly random times for the last two months.  I went back and forth in my mind about whether it was a strange behavior or something more serious.  I said to Brian one day, very offhandedly, "I hope somethings not wrong with him."  When Brian responded with, "I know what you mean," alarm bells started going off in my head.  Brian usually doesn't worry about much.  I'm the worrier, so I then allowed myself to start really worrying.  I made a list of all my concerns first.

Blinky/fluttery eye movements (possible seizures?)

Eating issues (gagging to the point of throwing up everything on slightest thickness to food or finger foods appropriate for his age)

Physical development delay (rolled at 8 months, scooting/not crawling at 9.5 months, no pincher grasper, no clapping/peekaboo)

Verbal delay (even Drew my slowest talker was saying, Mama, Dada, Up, and Uh Oh.  Bobby only says Mama and Dada at 9.5 months)

None of these things on their own would have made me concerned.  Babies are all so different and develop at different paces.  However, the combination of it all with the first two being the most worrysome was what brought me to the doctor's office.  I took him in right before our trip to Italy at 9.5 months.  They had me fill out a developmental form in which he scored below normal in several categories and borderline in the rest.  My children have always been almost exclusively in the normal/above average range.  This is a first, and I started to feel that I had done the right thing bringing him in.

I should point out that his social and personal skills are great.  He is shy right now, and definitely experiencing separation anxiety, but he smiles, laughs, and engages with us.  He responds to his name, even in the middle of one of his weird blinky/fluttery things.  And that is why they don't think he is having seizures.  I was certainly relieved to hear that.

EDIS came out to evaluate him right when we returned from our trip to Italy.  The lady said that on paper he looks like he is delayed and qualifies for services, but she said, "I'm not buying it."  He looks healthy and happy.  Maybe it's a matter of him being the sixth kid and being very laid back.  The more I thought about this possibility, the more likely it seemed.  His life has been one change after another, moving from house to apartment to a new house, and that is not even mentioning all the trips all over the place since we've been here.   He just chilled out on the blanket on the floor and watched it all unfold.  I've been setting up a new life for us here and have admittedly not paid as much attention to him because he was just so happy on the blanket or in the exersaucer.  The feeding is still a concern, but the rest seemed very manageable now that we know he just needs more encouragement and attention.  He did the eye behavior many times for the EDIS lady and she thought it might be a way of communicating he is uncomfortable or doesn't like something.  I am not 100% convinced of that, but I have noticed since then that the times he does it are with new people who are talking to him, sometimes during a meal, and when he is very tired.  So maybe she is right.

Another evaluation was set up for the next week just before our next trip.  (I know!  Too many trips!)  where another lady who specializes in eating issues would come.  The following week he made tremendous leaps in development.  He started waving.  He said "Ba" a couple of times after I said it while showing him a ball.  He pulled up to standing all on his own one time.  He even got into crawling position a couple of times and made forward progress.  (He had been only scooting with one leg behind and one tucked under.)  Here is his scoot...

Long story short, the second lady will be his occupational therapist while he catches up, but both evaluators said they wouldn't be surprised if he was all caught up by the time I am back from these trips.  I have my doubts about that, but we'll see.

Since the last evaluation, he also learned to play peek-a-boo.  We are pretty sure he is saying Hannah and Genna too.  He says them like "Nana" and "Genna" with a hard "g" sound.  He's crawling a lot more often normally without as much scooting.  The pulling up is still a rarity, but he will pull up while holding my fingers.

And now for "Who's that baby?"

This is not a picture of Bobby.  This is a picture of Isaac at 9 months.  Now compare to the next picture of Bobby!

This picture shows how he still looks like Isaac.  It's harder to tell now because he is just not nearly as chubby as Isaac was.  This picture makes him look chubbier in the face and you can see Isaac shining through.