11 Months

This post is late and before I know it our little guy is going to be ONE!  I cannot believe how fast this year has gone.  In some aspects it feels like the longest year ever and yet, it has gone so fast!  I know that makes no sense at all!  Eli is now 11 1/2 months and his adjusted age is 10 months. 
At his orthopedic appointment last week he weighed 19 lbs 13 oz and was about 28 inches.

I love my happy boy!

This has been a BIG month for Eli!  This past month he started sitting in the side sitting position and also sitting with his legs bent at the knee.  We had been working on this in therapy for MONTHS!  I really began to doubt that he would ever be able to do this on his own.  Everytime we would bend those sweet little legs, they would come straight back out!  One day I was over at my parents house and Eli was sitting on the floor and my mom and I started noticing him bending his knees while sitting.  We both looked at each other and were quite amazed.  Since then he has been bending those little legs like crazy.

Being able to bend his legs better helped him to make transitions easier from sitting to on all fours.  He rocked, we practiced getting a motor plan, we did it a lot....for weeks.  I doubted and prayed and wondered.  I asked therapists and they said they weren't sure.  I knew he was close, yet I didn't know if we would get there on all fours without reverting to the army crawl.  And then one morning I was across the room and he saw my coke zero can and HE CRAWLED ALL THE WAY TO MY CAN!!  (So much for enticing toys...it is always the real things that they like)!  Since that day he is getting faster and faster.  He is also pulling up into the kneeling postiton.   Nothing is better than being in the bathroom and having a sweet little boy coming to find me.  I am very proud of him!

Is it just me or does he look about Five in this picture?

He loves being able to chase after his sisters...and get into their toys!!

He got his first two teeth this past month and has started making more sounds (finally!)  He is saying mama, dada, baba...and we think we've heard a papa too.  He is beginning to make lots of other babbling sounds and we love hearing his little voice.  We are most likely adding speech therapy onto our therapy schedule in the weeks to come.  He has been a little behind verbally and our OT and PT have encouraged it.  We just want to make sure we are doing everything to keep him as much on track as we can.

Eli is also eating table food.  He LOVES it!  I am not surprised!  The other night I am pretty sure he ate more than both of his sisters. 

Next Friday Eli has his big neuro appointment.  It is a big appointment in which our Neuro will decide if he thinks he needs a shunt.  Last appointment he kinda gave us a two month waiting period to see if that little knoggin would slow down.  Well, unfortunately it has continued to grow.  I am still praying for wisdom.  We have gotten a second opinion and are seeking another. We want to know all of our options and make the best choice for Eli.  Of course not needing to do anything would be such a blessing!   Nothing would make me happier than for that little head to slow down and begin to absorb the extra axial fluid that is there.  We would covet your prayers for Eli and this important appointment.

I don't know what Eli's future is going to hold, but I am so proud of all that he has already accomplished.  He is such a fun and easy going little guy.  He seems to love life and love people.  He is a little ray of sunshine and I know God will continued to be glorified in his life.  We love him so.
Now for planning another first birthday!