I think that it was Monday morning when Henry started off his day with a bottle and indicating to us with his hands that he wanted us to sing "Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round." He had finished with his bottle and worked his way to the floor in our bedroom. We were sitting with him on the floor. He looked at us and made a motion with his hands that is his expression for the wheels. He's trying very hand to make his hands go round, but the coordination isn't quite there yet. Anyway, it was so cute to have him tell us that he wanted something and have us really know that's what he wanted. We are definitely going to start some baby sign language with him. In the afternoon, my mom and Jeff noticed that there is a slit in Henry's gums. Can't see the tooth yet, but his mouth is definitely preparing for a tooth to pop up any day now. He's been drooling and biting for weeks now. We'll be very excited when the tooth comes.
Dorsett came on Monday afternoon. Henry did well, as usual. He worked on crawling and standing. He's got the idea of the crawl down, but he has trouble getting one of his feet under his caboose. His standing skills are developing very well. Cuyler had told us Friday that it was fine for him to stand, but we have to remain static, so that he learns to stand up by himself and use the right muscles. The best thing for him is to learn how to stand from the legs, rather than pulling himself by his arms. And, he is doing a good job using his leg muscles. He's still wobbly, of course, but you can tell that he is using his legs, not his arms, for the stand. I've been a little bit concerned about him skipping the crawling phase. There is a theory about child development that says kids really need to go through the crawling phase. Dorsett said that they (meaning therapists) are taught that kids need to go through the development phases in proper order, but that she has seen a lot of cases where kids go right to walking without doing the crawl. She had mentioned last week that she has observed that slender children seem to go through the development phases more quickly than fat children. Henry certainly fits the slender profile. A couple weeks ago, I looked Henry's weight up in a chart from 1977. If this was 1977, he'd be in the 50th percentile on weight, but on today's charts, he is in the 25th percentile (by his adjusted age, of course).
In the evening, Jeff ran some errands, while Henry and I hung out. On Friday, Cuyler suggested that we do things, like get him to play "in and out," which is where the child learns to pull objects out of a bucket. Cuyler said that kids, at first, often just rattle the objects around with their hands in the bucket. But not my Henry. I put an object in a bucket. Offered him the bucket, and he pulled the objected out. No problem. Cuyler had also suggested that we try mimicking games where I bang objects together and then hand them to Henry. The question is: Does the time delay confuse him, or is he able to mimic? Answer: He can mimic. Again, no problems.
This morning (Tuesday), Henry slept like a log. He took two long naps in the morning and early afternoon. He had an active time with Grandma. He was having some frustrations with his teeth. He went for a walk with Jeff in the early evening, while I started to straighten out my home office, which has accumulated junk since right before Henry was born. For those of you who are familiar with my Type A tendencies, you would be truly shocked at the state of my home office. Papers everywhere. Quite a mess. Anyway, I'm slowly getting it into shape. I need it to be clean, so that it is safe for Henry to crawl around.Jeff stayed up last night working on getting his office area into shape. We know that the time is fast approaching where Henry is going to be quite mobile. Plus, Jeff's dad is arriving soon, and we'd like the house to look presentable.
That's about it for now. We are very much looking forward to Grandpa Joe's visit.
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