Cookies and Crayons

Two years ago, we brought Dougie to have a pancake breakfast with Santa. We weren’t able to make it last year but this year, we made a special effort to get ourselves out there. We even managed to get there just a few minutes before the helicopters arrived with Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Waiting for the helicopters

Connie came too though she wasn’t as into it

Watching the helicopter land

LOOK! Santa!!

Mrs. Claus and Santa walking to the firehall

Warming up with some pancakes and sausage

Dancing the Christmas polka while waiting to see the helicopter

Checking out the helicopter

Dougie was so excited about the helicopters that he was completely overwhelmed when he got to get in one. Currently, Dougie’s favorite books are the Budgie the Little Helicopter series so he decided he was meeting Budgie himself. He did repeated ask where “Pippa” was (the plane in the books). The helicopters were a huge hit. Apparently, Dougie has no idea who Santa is though.

On Tuesday, Dougie’s speech therapist mentioned to us that she felt Dougie should have an orthodic evaluation. There were a few things about the way he walked that caused her some concern and she had asked one of the physical therapists to have a quick look at him and she had suggested the evaluation. We managed to get an appointment for today.

After watching Dougie walk around, stand and checking his joint flexibility, she determined that he has low muscle tone. We were aware that Dougie had low tone in his mouth but we were a bit surprised to hear that he had it in his legs as well. The therapist pointed out his toe walking, frequently falling, locked knees and extreme joint flexibility as indicators of the condition.

Fortunately, Dougie is still quite young so the condition can be easily corrected with orthodics. We ordered a pair today and hope to get them in a few weeks. They can be worn with regular shoes and will straighten his ankle which will force him to better develop his leg muscles so he can correctly balance. The therapist thought he’d likely need to wear them for 9-12 months and then he should be fine. She also believed that he wouldn’t likely need physical therapy.

These are the orthodics Dougie will be getting (his will have jungle animals on them):

There is a lot of great information on the company’s website (SureStep) if you’re interested in seeing a bit more about them.

Connie had her 2 week check-up today. She is the picture of baby health. She is growing like a weed and meeting all her developmental targets (which admittedly are limited at 2 weeks).

Stats:

• Weight – 7lbs 14oz (66%)
• Height – 21.5″ (97%)
• Head – 14.3″ (81%)

As you can see, our little girl is very tall! Looks like she has a bit more Sharabura in her than Dougie did at this age.

We were concerned that Dougie would be jealous of his new sister. He’d had nothing but dedicated parent time prior to her arrival so it was bound to be a big change. Our concerns weren’t well founded though because Dougie loves Connie.

He asks to hold her all the time. He’s gotten pretty good at sitting on the couch and holding her.

When she’s in her swing, he likes to push her (we’re working on making sure it stays gentle) and he checks on her to be sure the blankets aren’t too high.

He’ll cuddle her

Hold her hand

He’s the first to run to her if she cries and he never misses an opportunity to cuddle.

We are so glad that he has taken to her so well. Hopefully, this is the start of a wonderful friendship between them.