Growing and rolling

What can I say? This sweetie pie is just so cute!

Alexander slept in this morning, allowing Mama to get a little extra rest. Yay!

We took Alex to the doctor last week for a checkup with Dr Z (Zarzycki, but everyone calls her Dr Z). She's thrilled with how well he's doing, growing and developing. She said that since we're going to Children's Hospital in Denver in November for the swallow and sleep studies, we don't need to see her again until December for his one-year checkup. She did say, though, that it seems like he has an infection in his tear ducts, so she prescribed antibiotic eye drops. He's been a little cranky at times the past few days, so keeping Alex happy has been a challenge. And trying to put drops in a wiggly baby's eyes? Oh my! We count ourselves lucky when we can get the drops in the inner corners of each eye and go about doing other things.

Alexander slept in this morning, allowing Mama to get a little extra rest. Yay!

We took Alex to the doctor last week for a checkup with Dr Z (Zarzycki, but everyone calls her Dr Z). She's thrilled with how well he's doing, growing and developing. She said that since we're going to Children's Hospital in Denver in November for the swallow and sleep studies, we don't need to see her again until December for his one-year checkup. She did say, though, that it seems like he has an infection in his tear ducts, so she prescribed antibiotic eye drops. He's been a little cranky at times the past few days, so keeping Alex happy has been a challenge. And trying to put drops in a wiggly baby's eyes? Oh my! We count ourselves lucky when we can get the drops in the inner corners of each eye and go about doing other things.

New skill set

This is new, he's not ever rocked back and forth like this before. It means that his core trunk muscles are developing nicely.

Alex's Favorite Things

Things Alex likes:

1. His tongue
2. His Mama
3. His Papa
4. Eating
5. Lying in the sunshine
6. Music
7. Sucking on his hands

Things Alex doesn't like:

1. Sleep
2. Being hungry
3. Tummy time, if he's tired
4. Taking a bath
5. A dirty diaper
6. Anything, if he's sleepy and/or hungry
7. Not having Mama around

Things in between:

1. Miss Ginger Whiskers
2. His hands
3. Brudders
4. Going bye-bye

What are these things and what do they do???

The Daily Alexander

Dearest Alex,

Today marked a HUGE milestone in your development - you rolled over on your own for the first time ever!!!!! You screamed and yelled the whole time, but once you were on your tummy, you acted like a turtle, holding your head up, looking around. Oh! I am SO proud of you!!!

Today is also Papa's birthday. We are going to make him a German chocolate cake and hamburgers for dinner. Yummy!

PDA explanation and some good news

I keep reminding myself that Alex's health, being a baby with Down Syndrome, could always be worse. He still has PDA, Patent Ductus Arteriosis. According to Wikipedia, "the Ductus Arteriosus is a blood vessel connecting the pulmonary artery to the descending aorta. It allows most of the blood from the right ventricle to bypass the fetus' fluid-filled non-functioning lungs." Patent means stuck, so PDA is the failure of this duct to close. It is fairly common in DS babies. It's also why Alex has been on oxygen for the last month or so.

DS babies can also be slow growers, particularly with PDA, because so much energy goes into breathing that there's not much energy left to grow. With supplemental oxygen, the baby's body is able to use its energy to grow. Phew! I'm glad I am able to get the explanation out onto the blog, to where I can now refer people who want to know what this is.


At the doctor's office yesterday, Alex's oxygen level was 96% on room air. That means that he now only needs to wear the oxygen cannula while he's asleep. Yay!!!

Mr Cutie Booty is getting a little cranky. I think he's hungry. I need to go attend to him. Take care for now!