Good news, bad news, good news!

Ok, so the bad news is that Stephen has an ear infection. He was trying to tell me on Monday and Tuesday that he had an "owieeeee e-ooooh" (owie ear), but was only saying it at naptime. Given Stephen's general dislike of naps, I naturally assumed that he just didn't want to take one! But, when he started complaining on Wednesday morning, I knew he meant business. Then he fell asleep on me during our meeting with Sooner Start for his one-year evaluation (more on that below). So, I took him in, and for the first time EVER, Stephen was able to be weighed on the stand-up scale, instead of the sitting one! Of course he kept moving around, so it was hard to get a totally accurate weight, but we guesstimated him to be between 28lbs, 2oz, and 28lbs, 8oz. Whoo! No WONDER we get so tired when he wants to be held! The pediatrician took a look in one ear, and then when Stephen contorted himself so that his left ear was pressed against my chest so she couldn't look at it (yes, I did finally get him moved), I was glad I'd brought him in!

Now, for more on the Sooner Start stuff. Sooner Start is the Early Intervention Agency that provides Stephen's physical therapy. One year ago, Stephen was unable to get himself into a seated position without help, and was basically immobile. He had rolled at the appropriate times, but never put it together that rolling could be a useful way to get around. He scored more than a 50% deficiency in his gross motor skills at that time, and more than 25% deficiency in receptive language. NOW, however, he is just BARELY below normal in gross motor, and at age level or above in ALL other areas. Despite that, however, we are opting to get speech therapy started soon to help Stephen learn to communicate better. He learns words well, and always uses them appropriately, but he just isn't a big talker! Our therapist and resource coordinator agree that if Stephen continues to improve as he has been, we will most likely be "kicked out" of Sooner Start in about 6 months.

The other good news is that Stephen is a walking pro! He can walk by himself, controlled, across the entire length of our house! His physical therapist is going to continue coming weekly until we figure out how to help him learn to stand up from the middle of the floor (without pulling up on something), and then we'll go down to every other week. We still haven't quite determined what we are going to work on after that, since it seems as though his fine motor skills are appropriate for his age, but I'm sure we'll find ways to make sure he is on track to leave the program.

And now, I'll leave you with a picture!