The past couple of weeks have been great for Buddy. We went to the ophthalmologist and she was very impressed with his progress. He was doing so well they even called in a second doctor just to show him off! He is still nearsighted. They said that he has to return in six months and have his eyes dilated. They will decide whether or not he will get glasses for the nearsightedness then. The glasses will not fix the problem of ocular albinism, but they may be necessary anyway.
Last weekend, we visited friends a few hours away. We had a great time. We attended a princess birthday party, so I made beaded crowns for the three of us and we all dressed up like royalty to attend the party. The next day, we went to the beach. This time, I sat with Buddy at the very edge of the water, so only a few waves reached us. Every time we got wet, I said "OOOOOOOhhhhhhh" and Buddy laughed and squealed and had a fantastic time. He played in the sand and tried to eat some seaweed, and thoroughly enjoyed himself. Our friends have a much larger house than we do, and it has carpet. Buddy spent most of his weekend crawling around, pulling up on furniture, and looking out of their sliding glass door. He now has rug burn and callouses on his knees, but I guess that means he's just getting used to being a boy. He had the best time. He also got to try sweet potatoes and bread, and he liked both very much. He has learned to swallow much better than before.
Perhaps the best milestone for the weekend was that for the first time, he showed interest in another baby. The friends we stayed with had an infant, and Buddy crawled right over to him, patted him gently, and gave him a kiss. We spent some time with some other friends who have a baby just a couple of months older than Buddy, and he crawled right up to him and tried to kiss him, too. He was genuinely interested in spending time with the other babies. In the past, Buddy just seemed oblivious to other babies and children (although he was interested in adults), so we were thrilled about his interest in other children his size. Yay for interpersonal relationship skills!
Monday, July 29, 2013
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Fun Times with Buddy
Since the last update, Buddy has had several firsts. We took him
swimming in a lake, which he loved. Yesterday was his first time going
to the beach. We went to the Gulf, so that my sister could come, and
the water was a bit calmer than the Atlantic, which helped Buddy. He
had a great time, and actually fell asleep in his float. We love going
to places with water, so I'm glad Buddy enjoys himself.
On Thursday, we went to the Orlando Wetlands Park to look for birds. My mom pushed Buddy in the stroller and entertained him, and after awhile he took a nap. I do not think he could see any of the birds, but I do think he had a nice time. After we came home, we got some lunch and then loaded up in the car to see the other grandparents. Buddy had a fantastic time crawling, playing with the dog, and tearing up a huge pile of tissue paper that my mother-in-law had ready to pack away for future gift-giving occasions. He likes the crinkling noise.
We have seen so much growth over the past several months. Buddy is doing so well. On Mother's Day, he took a few steps while holding onto the couch. For Father's Day, he started saying "Dada" and "Mama." He pulls up on furniture and walks around, and if something is too far for that, or there is no furniture, he lowers himself carefully to the floor and crawls to get it. This morning we were playing, and I was amazed to see how aware he was that if he just let go of what he was holding onto, he would fall. He doesn't let anything stop him from getting to what he wants, but he has also learned to move carefully.
Our interventionist came again on Monday. She says Buddy is doing really well, and lately she has been bringing books and toys for Buddy. She has brought several things that are black and white, and Buddy loves those. There is a group called Little Seedlings that adapts children's books with Braille. Buddy does not really need Braille right now, and we have been told that he will be able to read regular books when he is older, but it is really cool to have them. They are also books with bright colors, some sparkles, and raised pictures with texture, so they are very interesting for Buddy. One of them is actually a glove with five black and white finger puppets, and a book in the palm of the glove. That is one of the newest, and most popular.
Now for the roller-coaster part--Buddy is doing so well, and we are so pleased, but then we have to think about the areas where he still has to work to stay on track, like inter-personal skills, and seeing small objects. This is kind of depressing, so I try not to dwell on it. The interventionist asked us if Buddy could see small things (like a cheerio) and pick them up. He hadn't tried anything that small, but after she left, we tried letting him have some rice chex. He could see them and pick them up out of my hand, but not off of the tray of his highchair. Yesterday, he had some chex at his grandparents, and he started eating them off of the tray of their highchair with no problem. Today, he was able to find them at home, too. That was really encouraging. Now if he would just eat vegetables.
One of the things that he is supposed to start doing in the next month or two is mimicking facial expressions. He may have some trouble with this, but we are going to be working on it anyway. He can see things that light up (like the iPad) from pretty far away, but he only sees people at about three feet, and doesn't notice faces until they are much closer. We will be working with him on that by starting out close and then moving farther away from him and asking him to continue watching us.
Unrelated to his vision, he is also to the point of being old enough to learn about the word "no." Since he wants to explore everything, this is important for him to learn, but so far, he is a very stubborn and persistent little boy, although yesterday he seemed to be responding. I suppose persistence will help him with learning to do hard things, but it can make parenting a challenging task.
On Thursday, we went to the Orlando Wetlands Park to look for birds. My mom pushed Buddy in the stroller and entertained him, and after awhile he took a nap. I do not think he could see any of the birds, but I do think he had a nice time. After we came home, we got some lunch and then loaded up in the car to see the other grandparents. Buddy had a fantastic time crawling, playing with the dog, and tearing up a huge pile of tissue paper that my mother-in-law had ready to pack away for future gift-giving occasions. He likes the crinkling noise.
We have seen so much growth over the past several months. Buddy is doing so well. On Mother's Day, he took a few steps while holding onto the couch. For Father's Day, he started saying "Dada" and "Mama." He pulls up on furniture and walks around, and if something is too far for that, or there is no furniture, he lowers himself carefully to the floor and crawls to get it. This morning we were playing, and I was amazed to see how aware he was that if he just let go of what he was holding onto, he would fall. He doesn't let anything stop him from getting to what he wants, but he has also learned to move carefully.
Our interventionist came again on Monday. She says Buddy is doing really well, and lately she has been bringing books and toys for Buddy. She has brought several things that are black and white, and Buddy loves those. There is a group called Little Seedlings that adapts children's books with Braille. Buddy does not really need Braille right now, and we have been told that he will be able to read regular books when he is older, but it is really cool to have them. They are also books with bright colors, some sparkles, and raised pictures with texture, so they are very interesting for Buddy. One of them is actually a glove with five black and white finger puppets, and a book in the palm of the glove. That is one of the newest, and most popular.
Now for the roller-coaster part--Buddy is doing so well, and we are so pleased, but then we have to think about the areas where he still has to work to stay on track, like inter-personal skills, and seeing small objects. This is kind of depressing, so I try not to dwell on it. The interventionist asked us if Buddy could see small things (like a cheerio) and pick them up. He hadn't tried anything that small, but after she left, we tried letting him have some rice chex. He could see them and pick them up out of my hand, but not off of the tray of his highchair. Yesterday, he had some chex at his grandparents, and he started eating them off of the tray of their highchair with no problem. Today, he was able to find them at home, too. That was really encouraging. Now if he would just eat vegetables.
One of the things that he is supposed to start doing in the next month or two is mimicking facial expressions. He may have some trouble with this, but we are going to be working on it anyway. He can see things that light up (like the iPad) from pretty far away, but he only sees people at about three feet, and doesn't notice faces until they are much closer. We will be working with him on that by starting out close and then moving farther away from him and asking him to continue watching us.
Unrelated to his vision, he is also to the point of being old enough to learn about the word "no." Since he wants to explore everything, this is important for him to learn, but so far, he is a very stubborn and persistent little boy, although yesterday he seemed to be responding. I suppose persistence will help him with learning to do hard things, but it can make parenting a challenging task.
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