Yesterday was Sawyer's 12 month check-up, and I was pretty nervous about it.
The only thing I was worried about was those dreaded percentiles, but as soon as we got in there we were handed a form to answer with all kinds of questions about what Sawyer is and isn't doing. Many of the questions we had never tried... or even thought of trying with him. I suddenly felt like I was being given a pop quiz and was failing miserably.
That only caused my tension to rise.
When the doc finally made his way into the examination room, he shocked the heck out of me. Sawyer now sits firmly at the 55th percentile for weight and the 48th percentile for height. WAHOO! YIPPEE! HALLELUJAH! I told the doctor how shocked I was, and he offered to re-weigh and measure Sawyer. No thank you, I responded. I will take those stats and run gleefully away with them.
He shocked me again when he asked if Sawyer was identifying Michael and me specifically as "mama" and "dada". He's been saying those syllables (along with many others) for months and months now, but neither of us have ever noticed him using those words to refer to us.
Hmm..
the doctor said.
Then he said if it was ok with us, he was going to refer us to have a free speech evaluation done for Sawyer.
huh?
My little boy who literally babbles all the day long and never stops "talking" needs a speech evaluation? really? for realz?
I accepted the offer, though, because it's free and it isn't going to hurt anything. He said they will probably just give us some suggestions for exercises we can do with him.
It is official now, though, that Sawyer does in fact have the most hyper-vigilant doctor in the world... and I'm just fine with that.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
We Have Arrived
 |
How did we get here? |
 |
| When this is where we started... |
I look back on this year, (yes. it has been a whole year!) and I honestly can't answer that question. I should be an expert... or at least have some sage advice to pass along... but that is not the case.
Don't ask me how to get a baby to sleep through the night, because mine just started doing it all on his very own at a very early age. very early.
Don't ask me how to get a baby comfortable sleeping in his crib after sleeping in a bassinet next to your bed for 6 months, because my little guy made that transition without a hiccup.
Don't ask me how to teach a baby to put himself to sleep, because after much trial and error I cannot tell you what finally worked. In fact, I think he just decided to put himself to sleep in his crib when he was ready and that was a random day after trial and error #12,548,227.
Don't ask me how to transition a baby from breast to bottle or from breast milk to formula because he didn't seem to notice. Don't ask me how to get a baby to be content in his stroller, on long car rides, in a high chair at a restaurant... because these are all things that Sawyer just did.
Don't ask me how to teach a baby to roll over, crawl, cruise, or walk... Sawyer did all of these on his own when he felt like it and not a moment before.
Don't even ask me how to teach a baby to wave, bop to music, or mimic sounds... this guy has recently amazed me by just suddenly doing each of these things with little guidance or urging.
I do not know how we got here to this moment in time where my little baby is an entire year old. All I know is that we are here, we have arrived seemingly unscathed, and I am in awe of the wonder of life that is my little boy.
(and this post is almost a week late as Sawyer's 1st birthday was on December 6. I think he will understand, though, as he is no stranger to being late.)
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Flying the Friendly Skies
Sawyer and I ended up going to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving alone, afterall. After all of my planning, and fretting, and then assurances that Michael would have the time off... in the end, he did not. So we went alone. I was pretty nervous about this. It was mostly the logisitcs of it all that had me lying eyes wide open all night, the night before the flight.
Thankfully, I had flown two other times with Sawyer (with someone else to help me, mind you), so I was able to mentally prepare myself for every aspect of maneuvering through the airport and airplane with a baby and anticipate any hurdles I might come across. I must pat myself on the back because thanks to my magnificent planning, getting through the airport, security, and on and off planes was no sweat at all.
My only real setback was finding an available handicapped stall that would fit both me and my baby-in-a-stroller. It seems, I have found out, that people who are going to spend a lot of time in a public restroom stall (*ahem. I think you know what I'm saying) tend to choose the handicapped stall in which to do so. In my efforts to be timely, I found myself walking into and out of several different mostly empty bathrooms before finding one with a stall that was availalbe for us to fit in. In the past, I always avoided the handicap stall out of courtesy, and now I am proud of myself for having done so. If you are a handicap stall avoider like me, I thank you. It really is important to the person who can only use that specific stall that it not be needlessly occupied.
These days it has become increasingly apparent to me that I have the best baby in the world. His easy going personality and good humor made my life a million times easier while navigating the joys of public transportation alone with him. I was sweating buckets and feeling quite overwhelmed as it was. I can only imagine how I would have felt had I been traveling with a fussy baby. I think I would have had to chug a bottle of wine after landing had that been the case.
On the plane trip going north, I don't think I had a single person offer to lend me a hand. On the plane trip going south I had someone offering his aid at every turn: going through security, gate checking my stroller, I even had a man sitting next to me on the plane who offered to hold Sawyer several times throughout the flight just to give me a break (since I took him as a "lap infant" this time, and even though he was a perfect angel, he was a squirmy perfect angel and it was a challenge wrangling him at times). The flight attendant even stopped by and gave Sawyer a book. When we landed, as we were heading to baggage claim, an airport worker stopped me and asked if I needed help getting my bags. It was quite awesome. Now, let's pause a moment and I would like you to take note that I said "I had someone offering his help at every turn." Yes. Every single offer of help came from a man. What a shock that was to me as I sat contemplating my trip. Go figure!
All in all, I am proud of myself for braving the friendly skies alone with my baby boy. Despite the fact that he is the best little baby ever born, it was still quite a daunting challenge for me, and I am proud to say I lived to tell the tale.
Thankfully, I had flown two other times with Sawyer (with someone else to help me, mind you), so I was able to mentally prepare myself for every aspect of maneuvering through the airport and airplane with a baby and anticipate any hurdles I might come across. I must pat myself on the back because thanks to my magnificent planning, getting through the airport, security, and on and off planes was no sweat at all.
My only real setback was finding an available handicapped stall that would fit both me and my baby-in-a-stroller. It seems, I have found out, that people who are going to spend a lot of time in a public restroom stall (*ahem. I think you know what I'm saying) tend to choose the handicapped stall in which to do so. In my efforts to be timely, I found myself walking into and out of several different mostly empty bathrooms before finding one with a stall that was availalbe for us to fit in. In the past, I always avoided the handicap stall out of courtesy, and now I am proud of myself for having done so. If you are a handicap stall avoider like me, I thank you. It really is important to the person who can only use that specific stall that it not be needlessly occupied.
These days it has become increasingly apparent to me that I have the best baby in the world. His easy going personality and good humor made my life a million times easier while navigating the joys of public transportation alone with him. I was sweating buckets and feeling quite overwhelmed as it was. I can only imagine how I would have felt had I been traveling with a fussy baby. I think I would have had to chug a bottle of wine after landing had that been the case.
On the plane trip going north, I don't think I had a single person offer to lend me a hand. On the plane trip going south I had someone offering his aid at every turn: going through security, gate checking my stroller, I even had a man sitting next to me on the plane who offered to hold Sawyer several times throughout the flight just to give me a break (since I took him as a "lap infant" this time, and even though he was a perfect angel, he was a squirmy perfect angel and it was a challenge wrangling him at times). The flight attendant even stopped by and gave Sawyer a book. When we landed, as we were heading to baggage claim, an airport worker stopped me and asked if I needed help getting my bags. It was quite awesome. Now, let's pause a moment and I would like you to take note that I said "I had someone offering his help at every turn." Yes. Every single offer of help came from a man. What a shock that was to me as I sat contemplating my trip. Go figure!
All in all, I am proud of myself for braving the friendly skies alone with my baby boy. Despite the fact that he is the best little baby ever born, it was still quite a daunting challenge for me, and I am proud to say I lived to tell the tale.
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