Monthly Update

Another month gone by, another update!

Big news for Theodore: he is now potty-trained!  I decided to do the 3 day potty training method with him last week.  This involves going straight to underwear and consistently reinforcing that the child tells you when they need to go, and being very involved and positive for those three days.  Well, after a handful of accidents the first day, he got it, and was completely pee-trained by the end of the first day!  He is so proud of his accomplishment, and we are too. He especially loves all his new undies - I got fun  Thomas the Tank Engine and Mickey Mouse ones.  He also liked collecting stickers and chocolates while training - we did the second day same as the first, to reinforce, but he was done already!

In other news, he will be starting preschool next month.  He will attend a small Montessori school in Mountain View three mornings a week from 9 to 12.  I think he will love it, though it will definitely be a change.  We hope to do a visit or two before he starts.  He loves being around other kids though, and we also hope it will help his speech development continue to blossom.  On the speech front, he is about to graduate from the Early Start program due to turning three.  We thus had an assessment this week with the school district to see if he will qualify for extra speech services through them.  He is really continuing to improve so much, though he has a ways to go with vocabulary and articulation.

Julian is now almost seven months old.  He did great at his six month checkup, weighing in around 14 and a half pounds, and keeping fairly steady on the charts.  He has had his first tastes of solids, though he's definitely not keen on them yet.  He tolerates sweet potatoes, and absolutely freaked out at fresh homemade peas!

He has three teeth through, and they are sharp!  He is also still army crawling everywhere, and is very fast.  He also gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, but can't quite get anywhere that way yet.  He abandons it often because he just wants to catch up to Theodore!  He absolutely adores his big brother.

On more serious news, we attended a clinic at Stanford and were told that he does indeed have plagiocephaly as we suspected, which is where his head shape is asymmetrical and flattened.  This is due to the torticollis we have been attending PT for.  At his age, given that he never spends time on his back anymore, it is unlikely to further fix itself, so we have opted to get a cranial remolding helmet.  It was a hard decision, but we think it will be for the best.  The asymmetry is quite noticeable, and the doctors also noted that one ear is pulling (shearing) forward, and his forehead is more prominent on that side as well.  So, we have our consultation/scanning appointment next week, and he will be fitted for the helmet on September 12th.  I will be sure to post with more information after the appointment and pictures when he is fitted.

Other than all that, we keep busy with playdates, park time, and continuing PT and speech sessions.  As seen above, Julian now loves the swing, and Theodore has graduated to the big boy swing!  He can't swing himself yet, but loves being pushed on it.  We have also had some fun family outings, like to the Day Out With Thomas event, where we rode on a real steam train with a replica Thomas engine.

Overall, an interesting and busy month!  Now we are just preparing for the start of school, and then looking forward to a visit from Grammy Eileen later in September, and Grandma Carole and Granddad Bill in October.  As always, here are photos and videos.  Rather too many photos, apologies, but hope you enjoy!

Slideshow embedding is not working...and leaving a big blank space...here is a link to this month's photos instead!

July/August 2012

Videos:
Julian and a roller toy at a play place last week:


Boys chatting and rolling:


Julian blowing raspberries (and trying to grab the phone!) a few weeks ago: