Well, it's been a while since I last did a generic update. David had his three-month cardiologist checkup on Friday (yes we only see them once every three months now) so I figured this was as good a time as any.
The cardiology appointment went well. David's oxygen saturations were in the mid to high 90s (he was in the 70s before the second surgery; normal for a regular person is 98-100%), they didn't hear anything odd when they listened, his blood pressure was normal, and his weight gain was right on track. In fact, he said that David is well ahead of an average hypoplast on weight gain. David weighed in at 7.32 kg (16 lbs 2 oz). The doctor said that he had one hypoplast who was 18lbs on his second birthday and still had a GI tube. Needless to say, we're well ahead of that. Everything was so good, in fact, that they didn’t even feel the need to do an EKG or an echo. Yay!
In non-cardio news, David has been reaching lots of new development milestones in the last couple of months. If you've been reading the blog, you know that he's started crawling, pulling himself up into a standing position, and teething. Well, he now has 2 teeth (the bottom front 2), he is well into eating non-milk foods, is using his hands rather proficiently (feeding himself a little bit, holding his sippy cup, grabbing toys, switching hands with toys, stuff like that), is pulling himself up from laying down into a sitting position (when I get him in the mornings now he is sitting up when I get there) and is working on baby signing (he understands them, can’t always do them). He love bananas (we mix that with quinoa so that he can get some protein), peas, avocados, and sweet potatoes. He could do without beets and Lima beans. I'm not sure that I blame him. We've started doing a little bit of cutting up softer foods and letting him pick up the pieces and eat them. He's not a huge fan, but he can definitely do it. He has learned how to wave goodbye and make a "pphhhhhhhht" sound. We got him a baby potty seat that we sometimes put him on when he's obviously trying to poop or when he wakes up from a nap. So far in 3 days he has pooped three times (that I know of) and peed a bunch of times on the potty. I have no expectation that he will be potty trained any time soon, but hopefully he'll at least get accustomed to sitting on it and getting encouragement when he does it right. He is learning the difference between an inside voice and an outside voice (seriously, I can say, "David is that your inside voice?" and he immediately starts squealing in a quieter voice), and he has also learned to use a computer. He twitters now (@babybabelfish - see button on sidebar). He is pretty funny, if I do say so myself.
The crawling thing has been fun. As I'm sure is normal, if it can be gotten into, he gets into it. His current favorite thing to play with and to chew on is string. Any kind of string. The problem is, he doesn't distinguish between a shoe string and an electric cord. So we have lots of fun keeping him away from those. He also tries to pull himself up on anything that looks stationary, so we have to be careful that he doesn't try to pull up on the wrong thing and fall and break himself. Standing up continues to be his favorite pastime. He will even walk if you hold his hand while he does it.
I have never really been around babies, so I have nothing to which I can compare him. Lots of people have told me that he is unusually smart, but I figure that's just them appealing to my own sense of inherent genetic superiority. He is pretty awesome though. I'm not sure there's anything better than him laughing at something that I do to him (he really seems to love it when he sticks his hands in my mouth and I bite his fingers). Christy thinks that he likes her best, but I'm pretty sure I'm the favorite parent. He only likes her for the milk, I think.
The cardiology appointment went well. David's oxygen saturations were in the mid to high 90s (he was in the 70s before the second surgery; normal for a regular person is 98-100%), they didn't hear anything odd when they listened, his blood pressure was normal, and his weight gain was right on track. In fact, he said that David is well ahead of an average hypoplast on weight gain. David weighed in at 7.32 kg (16 lbs 2 oz). The doctor said that he had one hypoplast who was 18lbs on his second birthday and still had a GI tube. Needless to say, we're well ahead of that. Everything was so good, in fact, that they didn’t even feel the need to do an EKG or an echo. Yay!
In non-cardio news, David has been reaching lots of new development milestones in the last couple of months. If you've been reading the blog, you know that he's started crawling, pulling himself up into a standing position, and teething. Well, he now has 2 teeth (the bottom front 2), he is well into eating non-milk foods, is using his hands rather proficiently (feeding himself a little bit, holding his sippy cup, grabbing toys, switching hands with toys, stuff like that), is pulling himself up from laying down into a sitting position (when I get him in the mornings now he is sitting up when I get there) and is working on baby signing (he understands them, can’t always do them). He love bananas (we mix that with quinoa so that he can get some protein), peas, avocados, and sweet potatoes. He could do without beets and Lima beans. I'm not sure that I blame him. We've started doing a little bit of cutting up softer foods and letting him pick up the pieces and eat them. He's not a huge fan, but he can definitely do it. He has learned how to wave goodbye and make a "pphhhhhhhht" sound. We got him a baby potty seat that we sometimes put him on when he's obviously trying to poop or when he wakes up from a nap. So far in 3 days he has pooped three times (that I know of) and peed a bunch of times on the potty. I have no expectation that he will be potty trained any time soon, but hopefully he'll at least get accustomed to sitting on it and getting encouragement when he does it right. He is learning the difference between an inside voice and an outside voice (seriously, I can say, "David is that your inside voice?" and he immediately starts squealing in a quieter voice), and he has also learned to use a computer. He twitters now (@babybabelfish - see button on sidebar). He is pretty funny, if I do say so myself.
The crawling thing has been fun. As I'm sure is normal, if it can be gotten into, he gets into it. His current favorite thing to play with and to chew on is string. Any kind of string. The problem is, he doesn't distinguish between a shoe string and an electric cord. So we have lots of fun keeping him away from those. He also tries to pull himself up on anything that looks stationary, so we have to be careful that he doesn't try to pull up on the wrong thing and fall and break himself. Standing up continues to be his favorite pastime. He will even walk if you hold his hand while he does it.
I have never really been around babies, so I have nothing to which I can compare him. Lots of people have told me that he is unusually smart, but I figure that's just them appealing to my own sense of inherent genetic superiority. He is pretty awesome though. I'm not sure there's anything better than him laughing at something that I do to him (he really seems to love it when he sticks his hands in my mouth and I bite his fingers). Christy thinks that he likes her best, but I'm pretty sure I'm the favorite parent. He only likes her for the milk, I think.
Anyway, he has been doing quite well overall. I still hold out hope that they'll do an echo one if these days and be shocked to find 4 normal chambers and no evidence of surgery. Right now, though, he still has a scar but is doing awesomely despite it.
I'll continue updating when anything of note happens. Christy an I keep our phones (with still and video cameras) on hand at all times, so we’re usually able to get some record of first happenings. And, of course, we continue to keep the picasa albums and youtube channel updated. I'm working on getting a good video of him feeding himself or doing his baby signs, but I haven't captured them yet. Never fear, though, David news will always be posted here as soon as it happens.
I'll continue updating when anything of note happens. Christy an I keep our phones (with still and video cameras) on hand at all times, so we’re usually able to get some record of first happenings. And, of course, we continue to keep the picasa albums and youtube channel updated. I'm working on getting a good video of him feeding himself or doing his baby signs, but I haven't captured them yet. Never fear, though, David news will always be posted here as soon as it happens.
