Well, we blinked and now 2023 is well on its way! Our favorite boy continues to keep us on our toes by finding new and creative ways to make Momma and Daddy worry, but otherwise he's doing ok and starting the year off well.
It seems like we just started the school year and he's already got a day off school! Martin Luther King, Jr. Day meant sleeping in a day out with Momma and Sis and lunch with Daddy.
Can you find the sleepy buddy who doesn't want to get up on his day off?
Excited for Grimaldi's lunch with Daddy!
Enjoying a post lunch walk on the Waterway!
Once Little Buddy did head back to school, he was excited to dress up for the Kindness Challenge Week!
Super Spy is ready for Operation: Kindness!
Pajama Day is ALWAYS a favorite!
Otherwise, Little Buddy has kept busy with horse therapy, Run Club, and his Amazing Grace Faith Formation class!
Always happy to ride Ghost!
Getting his miles in and prepping for his race!
Enjoying pancake brunch before Amazing Grace!
Enjoying his Amazing Grace activities!
Height and Weight
Well, I spoke too soon last month. While a five pound jump from December to January was surprising but not concerning, his three pound loss this month is. He's currently at 116.5 lbs, which concides with some of the developmental changes I'll write about below. Maybe the 119 was just holiday weight, but all I know is I don't like that number going down. I'm holding 115 as my unofficial boundary line, so we'll keep monitoring.
Typical pre-teen who doesn't want to get out of bed, but who has also had some sleep issues lately which seem to be impacting other health areas.
Personality
With we've had difficulties with sleeping, eating, walking, and going potty this month, and, as bad as all that was, the lack of his smiles made it so much worse. We thankfully seem to have turned a corner and I will never, EVER, take these smiles for granted.
With all he has going on in his life, all we want is his happiness.
Developmental Changes
We really don't know what happened, but we blinked and found ourselves in another cycle of UGH. One moment Little Buddy is eating ok, the next he's having trouble chewing and swallowing. As it is so similar to the situation we had about two months ago, we wonder again if it's his teeth, specifically his molars. We can't get too close to check (he drew blood when Daddy tried), but as we can't find any other cause off hand, we decided to wait it out.
Breakfast and all meals started to take a long time, limiting the amount of calories he was able to get in. We are worried about maintaining his weight.
But then his sleep started messing up. And then he was having problems walking at school. One day when I went to pick him up, he couldn't get into the car like he usually does and myself and the aide had to life him in. Thankfully, we had a PT appointment that night and Ms. L was able to check him. No bone, joint, or muscular issues, but his calves and other muscles were VERY tight. She did a lot of stretching and massaging and we theorized that the lack of sleep was making him fatigue earlier and causing the walking and tightness issues.
So much stretching and massaging.
Thankfully, Little Buddy started to slowly trend upwards. He's eating better now, if still a bit slowly, and sleeping better. His walking and posture improved back to where they were, making the school and his PT much happier. However, now we're retaining urine and now having as regular of bowel movements. Just another thing for Momma to worry about! Never a dull moment. Hopefully we'll have good news to report next month.
Fun Tidbits
Little Sister's school had a family dance this month and it was Western themed, so we were really excited to bring our favorite cowboy out for some fun.
As I said, it's never a dull moment around here, but I wish he wouldn't throw quite so many curve balls. I continue to pray for wisdom for his care and remind myself what is really important. It helps my perspective to divide my frustrations with what actually matters (him wetting the bed vs. him retaining urine). May be provide him the best care we can!
Good night,
LBM
Little Buddy's Momma
