Starting with a shot from yesterday - this is Krassi showing off how flexible he is on Thursdays after he's had PT on Tuesday and then Thursday mornings. The little boy whose inner thighs were so tight for so much of his life that his feet have molded to each other in the shape of those twisted/crossed legs, is straddling my hip! And although I have his front leg tucked up above Baby, it still makes the stretch that much more for him. This is huge! We're hoping to take some time to see what some more physical therapy will do for his tone issues before we move to medication for tone management. So far he's making good progress given the time we've been able to put into it!
On to today. ;) Krassi still loves his baths. We decided to not get him a custom bathing chair at this point because he's still just fine (and small enough) to lay down in the tub, and may still get to the point where he can sit well enough that my hand nearby would be enough support.
And while we're in the bathroom, here's a shot of my big-girl-to-be. I'm still not sure what made me decide to get out the training pants Monday morning (probably knowing that Reuben would be at school for the morning and that someone from church was providing supper that night had something to do with it), but this week Rinnah has spent all of her waking hours in training pants. Training pants with nylon Dappi covers (from when I used to use cloth diapers) over the top. Those things are amazing. She can have an accident and there will be a puddle in the plastic pant, and all of her clothes (and the floor and furniture!) will be dry, but she gets the full effect of the feel of wet pants. Here five days into it and still a way to go before we consider her "trained," she is demonstrating how she can sit all by herself without Mommy near her. I may not have four in diapers come spring after all! *Only* three. ;)
Krassi still spends most of his time laying on the floor. Matt mentioned earlier this week that he sometimes feels bad for him, but then stopped and realized that first of all, he's got a lot more to explore and places to move (and he DOES pull himself by his arms all over the living room, the school room and the kitchen in a very deliberate fashion!) and always people passing through and talking to him or snuggling him and often stopping to sit next to him. I still marvel at how engaged he is with the things around him. He has definite favorite toys, but also shows a real interest in new things that he hasn't seen before. Like this plastic bowl. ;) (Notice, too, how he's playing with Leah's feet as she takes the photo? He enjoys feet.)
Reuben's been sick all week, and Rinnah, too, but Krassi has not caught it - he's a pretty healthy guy, apparently! Although Reuben's been essentially giving up his afternoon nap (with some very favorable results in his night time sleep - yay!!) he really needed one today. Upon waking he went right into a full tonic/clonic seizure (what used to be known as a grand mal seizure) which wiped him out. He was awake, and Matt brought him downstairs, but he fell right asleep in my arms. I don't like the reason, but I do love snuggling one of my sleeping babies!
Krassi got another new object today - I was scrubbing the inside of my crock pot lid with baking soda and brought it into the living room to sit by Krassi as I did so. He got a big smile on his face and came scooting right over to stick his hands all over it (nothing harmful in baking soda - just doesn't taste so good!) so as soon as I was done I rinsed it off and gave it to him, and he was so happy with it for quite a while! He will scratch at it, and taste it and bang it, and put it over his face - SO much exploring this boy does with the things around him!
Off I went to help Rin on the potty, so had to lay Reu down on the couch. He didn't wake up at all for the transition. Some seizures can really wipe him out that way.
Still playing with that lid! Ha ha! Check this out!! (Smiley boy!)
Still sleeping. Love the leg...
Three little ones in mom's lap. I spend a lot of my day on this floor! Krassi doesn't prefer being held - he'd rather be off doing his own thing - but we try to find at least a few times every day to spend like this, and I've noticed this week that he's more receptive to it.
Reuben will still frequently sit himself down right near where Krassi is. It's pretty neat seeing these two boys together. In many ways, they're my twins. ;) Same size (4T), both in diapers, both nonverbal (though Krassi makes Reuben seem like an incredible communicator), and nearly identical when seen from the back of the head!
Friday is our Bible study night, and the house is pretty full (especially in the winter when the big kids aren't outside). The first week this was pretty intense for Krassi, but he's quickly gotten quite acclimated to it. We do make sure that either Matt or I are holding him or near enough to touch him so he has no doubt that we're still there and he's still ours. Tonight Matt spent most of the time with him, and Krassi was quite happy being in Daddy's lap. First Daddy with his two oldest boys...
...and then Daddy with his two littlest boys. (The fact that "little and young" and "old and big" don't correspond is a useful distinction as we talk about the kids!) Reuben, of course, has his Bible. That's one of half a dozen things lately that consumes his waking moments. As a result, Reuben LOVES bible study night when there are all sorts of grownups with Bibles open that he can go sit next to. ;)
And then to bed. Once again, for the third night in a row now (fourth? I can't remember), Krassi has been all smiles and no pushing when I snuggle him up and sing him to his bed. I've also noticed that it's been about a week since he's had one of his unprovoked episodes of distress. I'm hoping that means he's one little step closer to being comfortable in his place here as part of our family.
I've thought about getting out the plastic pants we had for covering Gwen's diapers for when she's in underwear, but they're all a bit small for her! She has gotten incredibly good with her bladder control, we rarely have any urine accidents any more. And honestly, poo in underwear isn't any worse than poo in cloth diapers, so when she has that kind of accident it's easy to clean up.
ReplyDeleteBut, go, Rinnah! You don't want your younger cousin to get ahead of you. :)