Darian at 5 months

Yesterday Darian had his 5 month check up with Plunket as well as his 5 month immunisations. Because it was so full on I decided to take the day off so that I could be with my boy and not leave him, in case he needed his mama!! Or maybe it was in case I wanted to believe that he needed me! LOL! His Plunket appointment was at 10am so he & I headed off to visit Megan, the nurse. He was such a joy, He went to Megan and played with her as if he had known her forever. Maybe he is used to her considering she's been part of his life since he was about 7 weeks old. Anyway, we chatted about his development and she was very impressed by him. This is what we discussed: - He is starting to sit up on his own - Starting to roll over - Moves backward on all fours instead of forward, something she says all babies do and it's just a matter of time til he realises he can move forward - On solids now, has his cereal in the mornings, veggies at lunch then some fruit in the afternoon and laps it all up. He has about 4 200ml bottles a day and she's encouraged me to get him a sippy cup or trainer cup so that he can learn to drink on his own and have more water now that he is on solids. She noted that he will progressively drink less now that he is on solids. - He loves playing with his toys - He loves cooing and "talking" and can say "ma-ma" & "da-da", even though he probably doesn't realise what it means, although mum & dad are stoked!! - Mimicks everything we say, or at least tries to - He recognises our faces and voices- He is teething so does get grizzly but is a joy 99% of the time - Still not sleeping through the night and wakes up for a feed but does have between 4-7 hour stints of sleep at night, which give mummy some sleep at night!She was very happy with him and how he is developing and also had to ensure that mummy is also happy & content. We then went on to measure and weigh him and well, our boy is getting way too big way too fast. He is now 7.7kg's, so he has put on 700g since his last visit and is in the 90th percentile for boys his age. He is a tall boy, measuring at 77cm, which could not even be measured on the graph so he is taller than 100% of kids his age! He has grown 15cm since his last visit. He also got a little gift from Plunket, his first toothbrush & toothpaste and a non-slip bath mat. His appointment with Dr. Bishop was at 2pm so we headed off to his offices then, mum came along too because I think we both needed her support! At his 6 week check up Dr Bishop noted a slight (systolic) heart murmur which I wanted to check out. It's all gone. He was very happy with Darian and was amazed at how active he is. Darian would not stop moving, kicking and talking and smiling and grabbing the stethoscope. Dr Bishop had to give him something to play with try to calm him down so he could actually get a decent chance and listening to his heartbeat. That didn't work and we resorted to his dummy which did the trick. They were both very intrigued with each other! I made note of Darian's breathing and constant blocked nose so Dr Bishop had a check. He listened to his lungs and made note that there wasn't anything wrong but when he checked his ears he did note some liquid on Darian's eardrum, or Bilateral Ear effusions. He explained that this (WORST CASE) could lead to Darian needing grommets later on but he wants to monitor it to see if it is needed. He told me not to worry as it is seen in alot of kids his age and most of them never lead to surgery. He has said that he may need some Audiology testing as if it gets worse his speech development may be slow. For now his hearing is fine as he is alert and recognises voices and stuff and understands you but he noted from 1-2 years, when they learn the phonetics of word through hearing it may cause problems. So we'll send him for some hearing tests but like he said with everything else, he is giving me the worst case scenario and he doesn't think it will come to this but he is giving me the full picture only. He also noted that he has "adenoidal breathing" which means that his adenoids are quite enlarged and because of this the breathing passage is narrow so it sounds like he is pushing air out of his nostrils, hence the heavy breathing. He noted that as Darian gets bigger and his skull gets bigger the breathing will just correct itself, if not he'll have to get his adenoids out. So we will have another check with Dr Bishop in 3 months and as always we are believing God that it will all work out and Darian will be healthy & whole. It's been my prayer for him since I found out I was pregnant (and before that) so I am not deterred by this, I know my boy is healthy & strong and I know God will be true to his promises! After Dr Bishop we had to see the nurses at the Medical Centre and he got his immunisations. He was such a pleasure, talkign and smiling at everyone and being his usual cheerful self then he flet that needle go into him and, oh boy, did he scream! It broke my heart. As he is getting older his reactions to the jabs are getting worse. And the worse part, he got 2! One on each thigh! My poor boy! Needless to say he got tonnes of cuddles from mum who also almost broke down in tears. I then gave him to my mum so she could give him a bottle and try to calm him down. But he wouldn't have it, he needed and wanted his mummy and although we stopped breastfeeding over a month ago he wanted his boobies and well, I felt the pulling and knew there was something for him there! And well, after that he was good! When we got home he slept and when he woke up he was just his usual happy self! The night wasn't too good though, he kept moaning and groaning in his sleep and when he woke up for his feed he battled to go back to sleep. He kept tossing and turning and moaned and groaned until he eventually fell asleep in mummy's arms and was quite content just laying there. We thank God for our little boy everyday! As he gets older & bigger we realise just how amazing he is and how blessed we are to be his parents. Best moment yesterday was when Cameron got home from work and he played with Darian for a bit before he started his work-out. WhenCam handed him over to my mum and left the room, Darian cried bitterly! He wanted his daddy and only his daddy. When Cam walked back into the room, he smiled and when Cam put his arms out to pick him up he got all excited and started kicking and laughing! Too clever that one! Knows exactly what buttons to push with us! Here are some pics I took yesterday. We tried on his shoes which he got as gift when he was born and they finally fit! He got the Nikes from our friends Ashveer (Ratie), Wesley & Deryil (Raunch) in South Africa and the black & white "Vans" from Bradley & Shamini. Isn't he so cute and uber-stylish???