I'm a couple of days late in updating but I'm kind of glad I waited a few days...I have more to update!
Last Monday, Rex had tubes put in his ears. I am still amazed at how fast the procedure was! We went in at 8:00, they actually took him back around 8:50 and the doctor was out to let us know it all went well by 9:10! When he said it would be a 10-15 minute procedure, he wasn't kidding! (And boy, do they make a hell of a lot of money in those 10-15 minutes!) The toughest part was definitely when he was coming out of the anesthesia. He was just very out of it. Sort of drunk-like. We stayed in the recovery room until 9:45 then went home. Every time he burped, his little ears would pop and my poor baby would scream in pain because it hurt. We got home, snuggled and he fell asleep again after a bit. When he woke up a little before noon, he was completely back to normal! He never had any other side effects or anything. Easy peasy! We even went to Brandon and Ashley's that night for taco night!
Thursday he had his first therapy session here at our house. My mom picked him up early from Ms. Anna's to be here by 3:30 when the therapist (Angela) was coming. I ran out of work when the bell rang so I wouldn't miss too much of his first session. She gave us 3 things to focus on: 1) when we sit and read or play together, to have him sit on the edge of my knee with his knees at a 90 degree angle rather than leaning on me to build his balance better. 2) place him in the kneeling position while looking into his toy basket. 3) encourage him to round the corners on the coffee table by moving his foot over then lightly pushing his hip to shift the weight and move the other foot over.
It's only been 3 days since we started and he has already mastered the kneeling thing! The first time she put him in the position, he HATED it! Cried a river of tears breaking my moms heart! She's such a softie! After a couple of minutes though, he settled down though. When she showed us that, she mentioned that later we would build up to him picking one foot up then the other to stand up. By Saturday morning he was doing that on his own! Corey and I said "Wow!! These people really know what they're doing!" I so wish I would've learned some of these things earlier on. As soon as I position him on his knees, he's picking his foot up to stand up. YAY!! And no more crying! Hopefully as we do this more, he'll get better at getting onto his knees then to standing.
He balances pretty well when we sit him on the edge of a knee. I'll put the laptop out in front of him and play Elmo songs so he wants to sit there for a little bit and so that he doesn't have my arms to grab on to (as they would be if I were reading him a book). That will be a continued practice though to continue building his balance skills.
And I guess therapy on Thursday was just enough work to build his confidence to walk around the coffee table. Before therapy, he could go up and down the sides but did not like to round the corners. By Saturday night, he was going all around the table! There were even a couple of times he would go back and forth around the corner as if he was saying "see! I can do this!"
I've always known Rex is completely capable of doing all of the things he's not doing. He has the strength to do it. I believe whole heartedly that his balance has been the missing piece of the puzzle which was thrown off because of the fluid he had in his ears. He struggles most with the transitioning part of moving around. Once he gets to the position, he's good to go. It's just getting there! I have to admit, I feel responsible as well. I usually know what Rex wants to do (sit and play, stand up and walk, etc) and I would just get him to that position myself. So in his mind, he was probably saying "If momma's going to do it, I don't have to!" If there's anything I've figured out for sure, it's that he's a smart little boy so I'm sure it didn't take him long to figure that out! He's catching on to the new things quickly though so I'm feeling very optimistic about this whole process!
Like I said before, I know in a few short months, we'll look back on this as a little bump in the road. My baby's just taking his time and needs a boost!
I heard this on Modern Family the other day: What's the difference between try and triumph? A little "umph!" We're getting that extra umph!!
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