Biting the bullet

To catch up this is going to be another bulleted post.

• My grandma’s visit from Florida came and went super fast.  She was here a week and we had a good time visiting.  I know she really enjoyed spending time with Brady and is going to miss her tons!  Granny did buy Brady a sock monkey (which Brady absolutely loves) and a Baby Einstein DVD (which she isn’t entirely into yet, is it because we got the signing one?) before she left! Brady already has Granny wrapped around her finger!
• Brady her 6 month appointment on the 24th.  She weighed in at 15 pounds 15.5 ounces (50th percentile), 24.5″ in length (only 1/2″ from 50th percentile so we’ll say 40ish percentile), and head was 50th percentile but I don’t remember the exact number.  She also got more shots while she was in but fortunately Robin told me that at her next appointment (9 months) that she doesn’t get shots!  Woo hoo!  Here’s hoping we can make it that long without a visit in between!  Her doctor said her head shape is looking great and we don’t need to worry about it as much anymore since she turns her head at will during the night (with a bald spot to prove it).  She was amazed at how well she was doing with hitting developmental milestones and said it’s really hard to believe she’s a preemie.  I mentioned how she stopped rolling over and what she does during tummy time along with her increased need to stand and the pediatrician thinks it’s possible she’ll skip over crawling and go straight to walking!
• She had physical therapy (PT) on Friday.  The therapist asked me a ton of questions about Brady and then evaluated her using different exercises.  She did some calculations and produced a score saying that based on her adjusted age (based on her due date) of 4 months that she was in the 0.01 percentile for development.  According to the score and her skills, the therapist said Brady was at the level of someone 3 months and 20 days.  While I know Brady hasn’t hit all the milestones of a 6 month old, I find it hard to believe that she is that far behind or scoring so low.  Especially since her pediatrician is so pleased with her development and has seen her way more.  Not to mention (1) she doesn’t do so well around strangers, (2) she’s a baby and isn’t always going to perform tricks at will, and (3) was doing some of the exercises just not exactly what the therapist wanted.  Like she was testing Brady’s grasping/reaching skills and pulled out what looked like a cookie cutter (ring) on a string and Brady was sort of half-heartedly reaching for it.  Well while the therapist was documenting this, I pulled out Brady’s bug (buggy) toy that lights up and makes noise and she was reaching out for that.  I pointed this out for the therapist and she tried having her grab the other toy again and Brady wanted the buggy.  Well based on everything at the 1.5 hour appointment, she said Brady was on the cusp and she said she’d allow me to make the decision as to how I wanted to proceed.  She’d either allow me to do at home therapy using a bunch of exercises she dictated or have Brady come in for an hour a week of therapy with her.  She said at home therapy works as long as the parent is able to stick with it.  That it’s like an adult working out on their own every day or hard core with a personal trainer (her) once a week.  So we’re doing the at home therapy and in 2 months she wants me to schedule another visit to have Brady reevaluated and see if she’s making any progress.  Casey thinks this is all a scam to get us in there every week and that a baby is going to deveop at their own pace no matter what we do.  He’s supportive of me doing the exercises with Brady but doesn’t think there’s anything wrong and this place is just preying on a parent’s love for their child.
• We were planning on getting our first “date” in this weekend since Brady’s been born and seeing Transformers 2 with my dad, while my mom watched Brady.  Instead, Casey wanted to try and get the sprinkler system in working order since we’ve gone almost 2 months since identifying an issue with our sprinkler system and our yard is looking pretty bad.  On the verge of death.  We’re having a thunderstorm right now so we’ll see tomorrow once things have dried up if everything is in working order or if any additional repairs need to made.  Fingers crossed everything is OK!  So hopefully we can try and see Transformers 2 this weekend!
• Dude is back on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories again.  The cut on his tail had healed and everything was looking good until he and Stoli got into another fight last weekend.  She got his tail, he got her legs and belly – ouch!  Since the weather has warmed up and we’ve been taking them for walks, the fights have been becoming less frequent and Casey’s been able to end  them before they start.  They never attack people (a good thing) but just to alleviate any what if’s and stress, my parents have agreed to keep the dogs at their house while Justin, Robin, and Jude are here next weekend.
• Next up, Brady has a followup echo (on her heart) Wednesday.

Pictures (and maybe video) to come…