Nelsonblog

I had my first 'outing', just Evan and I this last weekend.  Sue attended a baby shower for our friend Dawn-  and we had an open house scheduled that afternoon- So it was just the two of us!

I gotta say, just driving around without Susan in the car was decidedly odd.

We did alright, tho.  He got a bit cranky so we just took a little drive about Tustin.  I was in the area helping our other expectign couple, Steve and Nalaina register their baby stuff @ Baby's R Us and Target.  Whee. 

It was a singularly exhausting experienc, truth be told.  I was completely wiped out once I got home.  I didn't even do much upon reflection, but boy was I tired.

Oooh- bonus picture- Fun with hairbrushes! 

Poor little guy.

Okay, 'little' is not exactly the right word there.  Um.  'Large' or even 'Huge' is probably more accurate.

Anyway, it's funny- Evan has been forgetting things-

I'm not nearly as worried about that as you might think- y'see he's also learning new things at an alarming rate.  Last week he was starting to scoot around on his stomach a little- Sue and I shared a few looks filled with 'Oh boy, crawling is only moments away- we're in trouble now.'-

However- This week he's stopped scooting altogether.  In fact, he's driving Sue NUTS because he rolls on his stomach and then finds he has nothing to do, which leads to him emitting his 'whiny cry' until she can flip him back over.

The new discoveries this week include scratching.  Not in a bad way- he has discovered texture.  He reaches out and with his index and thumb scratches… well… everything.  *scritch, scritch, scritch*  All the while staring intently at nothing.  'He's internalizing and thinking about what he's feeling.' I told Sue.

On Sunday I took him on a tour of our home showing him all types of textures-  *scritch, scritch* on the wall- *scritch, scritch* on the couch, *scritch, scritch* on the picture frame- he was very, very interested in it all.  Immediately afterwards, while I was agreeing with him that yes, his stuffed tiger was indeed difficult to scratch- he jammed his scratching hand into his mouth and began sucking noisily.

Huh.  Probably should've washed that little hand throughout our exploration.  Ah, well. I'm glad we didn't try scratching any bathroom fixtures or anything- 

Another new thing is babbling is becoming more complex-  last week was nothing but 'dadadada' and the like- while this week he's mixing vowels- 'dididada', etc.

What an incredible boy he is. 

And- I have every confidence that the mysterious secret to scooting and eventually crawling will be rediscovered in due time.

Evan has been quite busy these pass few weeks with all kinds of discoveries.  It is hard to believe that he is already five months old.  Children truely do grow fast. 

 It is so fun to watch Evan as he tries something new out – he is so expressive and his face can tell you so much of what he thinks and feels.  I will do my best to capture all of the things that Evan has accomplished in the last month – but I might forget a thing or two (my memory is not as good as it use to be – a friend of mine said I now have a mommy memory – you forget a lot more) 

So, here we go:

Rolling over – from back to front / front to back: Evan is discovering that he can move and that he likes it.  As I am trying to write this post Evan is starting to express his displeasure of being on his stomach and not quite sure yet how to roll over onto his back.  He started to roll from his back onto his tummy a few weeks ago and now anytime we put him down on the floor he likes to roll over almost immediately.  But, rolling from his tummy to his back is newer for him – he's only done it a few times so far and he's still trying to figure out the mechanics of it that he gets frustrated and starts to cry – mommy has to go in and rescue him.   I just sat down from turning Evan onto his back, and I'm not too surprised, but he is already turning over again and is on his stomach.  This kid is keeping me busy!

Scooting: Speaking of moving – this boy is going to crawl VERY soon.  Evan is starting to figure out that while he is on his stomach he can pull up his legs and then push them out and move himself forward.  He hasn't quite figured out what to do with his arms that his face is pushed into the ground when he scoots but he doesn't seem to mind.  Just a few days ago he pushed himself off of his playmat and looked like he was planning the great escape.  He must have gone at least five feet.  The days of being able to leave Evan in one spot while I go and do something is coming to an end – I'm going to need to cage this little monkey!

Walking: It's beginning already – Evan is discovering how to move his feet to walk – it is SO amazing to watch.  It's only happened a few times so far but if you hold him under his arms while he's standing he will move one foot in front of the other and take little steps.  If you move with him he will walk forward.  While Noel was visiting they spent time walking all around the living room – it was quite the seen.  I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to encourage this boy to walk yet – I don't know if I'm ready to keep up with him.  Heaven help me.

Sitting: Evan likes to be in a sitting position so he can look around and see everything.  On Saturday I was assisting him sitting and he leaned forward and braced himself with his hands and supported himself while sitting – I was able to let go for a few secons and he sat up by himself with the help of his hands holding him up.  He seems to get stronger and stronger every day.  Being a baby is a tough job – especially when the body is rapidly changing as Evan's is – he has to relearn things on a daily basis because of all the changes taking place in his body – he is longer, gaining weight and muscles are developing.  It is an amazing process and Evan is our trooper – he takes on every challenge and continues to push on.

Sounds: Evan has found more ways to vocally express himself (oops, need to take a quick break – Evan is crying out because he can't roll over – mommy to the rescue time).  Okay, I'm back for the moment – there he goes again rolling over.  Anyways, Evan likes to tell you just what he thinks.  He has discovered when he's happy he can do a high pitch squeal.  He's also experimenting with shaping his mouth and is starting to prounounce b, d, g sounds in addition to his vowels. He likes to tell stories and never runs out of things to say.

Laughter: Evan started to laugh a few weeks ago and is increasingly laughing more.  I had him sitting on my stomach and was making interesting noises at him and he thought it was the greatest thing.  He was laughing so hard that his face turned red and his eyes slightly teared up.  It was so amazing to see him enjoy himself and able to express it through laughter.  He is such a good kid – I love making him laugh. 

Rasberries: in addition to finding that he can make new sounds and laughing he has also discovered the art of blowing rasberries.  I have been the victim of his rasberries and spit flying everywhere – but I don't mind – it is fun watching him as he concentrates on making his lips vibrate.

Reaching for objects: at first, Evan would only reach for objects that we would hold directly in front of him and keep it steady so he could focus on it and reach for it.  Now, he wants to grab anything and everything in front of him.  A toy was down to his side that he barely could see but he felt it with his fingers and within seconds it was in his grasp – and to no surprise – it was heading for his mouth.  He will reach out for objects on the floor or on the table if he is sitting on my lap.  I went to lunch yesterday and he found it very fun reaching out for my plate, food, silverware – anything that looked like it could fit his little hand.  I'm starting to have to clear the table of anything that he can reach – I know this is just the beginning of making room for baby.

Raising up his arms to be picked up: my heart skipped a beat when Evan reached out his arms as I started to lower my hands to pick him up.  It was so incredible to see my son expressing his desire for me to hold him.  He is starting to understand when we are going to pick him up and he raises his arms to let us get him.  It also appears that he also will raise his hand to let us know that he wants to be picked up – still trying to figure this one out.

Embracing: Evan is starting to wrap his arms around me when I carry him up to bed.  He use to just have his arms laying about to his side – but he is now starting to hold on to me as I hold onto him.  I was walking up the stairs a few days ago and realized one of his hands was around my shoulder and the other one was around my neck and he was snuggling into me.  It was such an incredible feeling – I held him so tight – it was nice to be hugged back by my son. 

Eating of toes: in my last post about milestones Evan had just discovered his feet and I thought it was just a matter of time until the toes found their way to his mouth.  Well, I was right.  Evan can now pull up his feet to his mouth and nibble on his toes.  He doesn't really suck on them yet – just chews on them a bit and then lets go.  I'm sure it's just a matter of time (again) until he finds that he can suck on them for a length of time.  It is quite common to find him with his socks off next to him and his socks are wet from him sucking on them.  

18 month clothing: Evan is very long from his neck to his waist.  He is starting to grow out of the 12 month one piece outfits.  About every six to eight weeks I have to buy new clothes to fit this kid.  In theory his growth should start to slow down at five months – he has been averaging about a half a pound a week.  We shall see.

Well, I think that captures a lot of Evan's recent developments.  He is absolutely amazing and momma and papa are VERY proud of him! 

Evan had a great time with his Grandpa Nelson and Uncle Noel – while they were visiting Evan got to experience a few new things.

Swimming: Evan went swimming for the first time this past week while Grandpa Nelson and Uncle Noel were here.  He did such a great job.  He adapts very quickly to new environments and got use to the water quickly.  He didn't cry and he didn't mind that we kept passing him back and forth between everyone.  The only thing he didn't care for was being put on his back and his ears going into the water.  When his daddy put him on his stomach he began to kick to swim – he's a natural!

Beach:  We all went down to San Clemente for lunch on the pier.  It was a beautiful day and we ate out on the patio at a seafood place.  It was Evan's first experience at the beach and seeing sea gulls. Here's a few pics of our day out.

Yay!  My Dad and youngest brother arrived tonight and got to meet Evan for the first time!  How exciting!

Evan was pretty excited too!

How neat is that! 

As Chris mentioned in the previous post – we had a follow up with the hospital yesterday for Evan at a Neurodevelopment Clinic.  The appointment was scheduled the day Evan was released from the hospital back in March so I have known in the back of my mind the day would come to have testing.   Evan's life has been in the hands of God from the get go – and my faith has been stretched and has grown – but anytime a parent is told that their child has to go through a series of tests to ensure that they are "normal" it can make your heart skip a beat.

Evan has been doing incredible - and I just wanted the doctor to confirm that he is excelling and on track.  But I also had to tell myself that if they discover anything in this appointment or the nex three that he will go through until the age of two that it will be okay – that we will make it through. 

My heart hurts when I think that there's the slightest chance that there might be lasting effects from Evan's traumatic birth.  I only want the best for him.  Before I even became pregnant I prayed for my unborn children – especially if I saw something on TV or a child out in public that had some of mental or physical disability.  At first my prayers were more self-centered — the thought of raising a child with special needs would require a lot of me as a person.  As time went on and I became pregnant, my prayers started to turn towards my child – I want my children to have the best life as possible and there is already enough difficulties that they will have to face – that to have any mental or physical impairments would make life more challenging and difficult for them.  I want what every parent wants for their child – a "normal" life.

My heart goes out to children that have special neesd and to their parents – I pray for them and thank God that my son is doing so well. 

It was interesting to watch as the occupational therapist did a series of tests and how well Evan respondedn to them.  She continually reinforced him with positive encouragement and Evan did what he does best – grab at anything you put before him and put it straight to his mouth.  After the testing Dr. Chen came in – she was one of the 4 doctors that watched over Evan in the NICU.  She was so pleased to see how well Evan was doing and said she thought of him often.  She said he was remarkable and her only concern is a flat spot on the back of his head – not to be too alarmed but she is recommending we see a specialist and find out different ways how we can help Evan shape his head.

At the end of the meeting – Dr. Chin looked at Evan and smiled.  She said "You guys are really lucky." In my opinion, it wasn't luck but it was a true miracle.

Chris and I walked out the door of the doctors office – we didn't say anything but just stopped in the hallway and hugged.  What a huge relief!  Our son is doing well and is thriving.  I teared up, and I'm tearing up right now writing this, I am SO proud of my son and how we are all recovering and thriving from a very difficult time back in March.  God is SO good.

Do I fully understand yet why we had to go through what we did? – why Evan's life hung on a thin thread…? – the answer is no.  But time, faith, prayers and a loving family and husband have eased the pain and now it is upward and onward!  Love you Evan!!!  Love you Chris!!!

From humble beginnings…a bright future awaits!!!