Henry is a genius

Well, that may be an exaggeration, but it is so neat to see the new things he is comprehending and doing every day.


He has been "walking" by pushing things around for some time now - his highchair, the dining room chairs, his toys, etc. The problem with this is when he inevitably hits the wall or a large piece of furniture, he would begin crying because he couldn't keep going and couldn't figure out how to turn around.


Yesterday - he figured it out! He was pushing his "learning table" all through the house. When he hit a wall he would laugh, walk around the table to another side, and successfully push the table in another direction. A small thing, yet a big thing at the same time.


Here is a picture of him gleefully "walking" with his table:





He now loves to walk around the house while you hold his hands, and especially loves to be a showoff and do it one-handed. He also has taken a liking to being like a little spiderman and "cruising" all along the walls only using the walls themselves (no furniture) for support. Yesterday after I grew weary of endlessly walking him around the house and sat him down, he became frustrated and attempted to stand on his own in the middle of the room. He wasn't able to do it, but real walking may be sooner than I think....



In other Powell news - our weariness of winter grows as we woke to yet another few inches of snow this morning. We have gone through more containers of salt than I care to think about the past few months. Henry's top two middle teeth are RIGHT THERE - you can actually see them under the gum (kind of gross) but they haven't broken through. They look HUGE - he may be slightly Bugs Bunny-esque for a while. Henry also brought us all great joy by ending his nap strike yesterday and taking TWO long naps...and then slept until 6:30 this morning!!!! We feel like new people - thanks Henry! :)

TWO exciting things!!!!

A big CONGRATULATIONS is in order for TWO members of the Powell household!!

First, I am thrilled to share that Mike has earned an extremely well deserved promotion at work - his new title: VICE PRESIDENT of Investor Relations and Financial Planning! We all know how hard Mike works at his job, and he has very much earned this reward. Henry and I are VERY proud of him. This also confirms that Mike will be the one helping Henry with his math homework and not me :)

Also, a big congrats to Henry who took his first steps yesterday!!! He has been a pro at cruising for a while - he can make it around almost the entire house walking from piece of furniture to piece of furniture. Yesterday he decided to let go, and took 3 steps right to his very surprised mom. He did it twice here at home, and then once while we were out at a local play area (Henry received a round of applause from the other parents for that one!). He has yet to show any inclination to do it again today, so I don't think we are signing him up for the track team yet, but it is only a matter of time before the "real" fun begins!

Henry is 10 months old!

More news...

After the excitement of the eye appointment this morning, we also got a call back from our pediatrician following up on Henry's 9 month appointment.



The good news: All of his tests came back normal! Those oh-so-lovely stool samples I collected and his blood work were fine. No bacteria, no anemia, he had the "lowest" lead level, etc. So, that is all great news for Henry.



The not as great news: Since the tests came back normal, the chances are pretty good that he does indeed have some food intolerances (we are focusing on wheat and soy right now). This isn't terrible news - it isn't the same as having a food allergy and is potentially something he can grow out of. We just need to keep an eye on what we give him, really pay attention to new foods and how his body reacts to them, and we need to be even more cautious with high-allergy foods (no peanuts until at least age 3, for example).



Also, based on the questionnaire I filled out our pediatrician has recommended that we have an Early Intervention evaluation for Henry. If you aren't familiar with Early Intervention - it is basically a service for children that either have, or are at risk to have, some type of special needs (learning disabilities, for example) - his pedi is recommending that Henry be evaluated to see if he qualifies for EI because he has not reached some developmental milestones you normally see at his age. Basically, we will have an evaluation where an Early Intervention team will meet with Henry, observe him, and determine if he is in need of services to help him, or they will say he is totally fine and is just delayed on a few milestones. It takes several weeks to get the initial evaluation set up, so we won't know what the recommendation will be for a while.

So, that is the update. We will keep you posted as we know more...

Eye Appointment

We have returned from Henry's eye appointment (note the time - we had an 8:30 AM appointment and we got home at 10:00 AM - way to go Children's Hospital!!!! We were impressed with their efficiency). Here is the update:

To start, we had a loooong night. Henry has spoiled us by being a good night sleeper for a long time (naps, as we all know, are a different story). Last night Henry decided to keep us on our toes by being up from 1 AM to 2 AM and then woke for the day at 4:45 AM. He was in some type of distress - we hope just teething related and not another ear infection. Motrin helped at the 1 AM wake up, but he was very unhappy from 4:45 until we got to the appointment. Needless to say, all 3 Powells were very tired when we arrived at Children's Hospital (and Henry's 1st nap is usually at 9 AM, so that added to the fun for him).

Oh yeah, and there is a snowstorm going on.

So, if you ever wondered, "How on earth can they check vision in infants?" this is how they do it - I held Henry in my lap while they held up various toys that moved, squeaked, made monkey sounds, etc. to see what he looked at and where his field of vision began and ended. To test his actual vision (as in, 20/20, etc. although they have no way of REALLY determining that at this age) they fliped over large cards that on one end had a series of black and white lines, and also had a tiny hole in the center. How does this work - I have NO CLUE, but various cards were flipped for Henry to look at. They also looked in his eyes with a light in a dark room (which can determine, among other things, if they have an eye tumor).

Henry was a decent sport throughout all of this - he got a little frustrated at times that all of these enticing toys were being held near him and he couldn't grab them, but other than that he was great. They took some digital pictures of him and he was quite the ham.

Then, they dialated his pupils with drops (he wasn't thrilled with this, but handled it OK) and we hung out in the waiting room for 30 minutes while waiting for them to work. After we went back in, the Dr. then proceeded to look in his eyes with the usual lenses, etc., you see when you go to the eye Dr.. At this point, Henry was DONE. He was exhausted and crabby and decided not to be cooperative. Therefore, I was instructed to pin his arms while Mike had to hold his head steady so she could look at him. Poor Henry - he was very unhappy and I felt terribly for him.

The good news - he appears to be 100% fine! No sign of a lazy eye (which can be inherited, so we were worried), vision appears normal, etc. The drooping eyelid on his left eye is apparently not really a drooping eyelid as normally defined, but is actually just some extra fat that he has above his eyelid that makes it appear as if it is drooping (if that makes sense). It is not interfering with his field of vision and she does not think it will get any worse. We are going back for another appointment in 4 months for them to follow up and make sure the "droop" isn't any worse, but she seemed very unconcerned.

Yeah!!!!

Almost the instant we strapped Henry in the stroller to walk out, he passed out. He was then VERY unhappy when he woke as we transferred him to the car, where he then passed out again, and was then VERY unhappy when he woke when we transferred him to his crib. He is now asleep, and I really really hope he takes a nice long nap - he needs it.

For the rest of the day his vision won't be very good (he will have trouble focusing because his pupils are dialated so much) so the Dr. said to expect him to be a little cranky all day because of this. It appears that we are getting quite a bit of snow, so we are looking at a "trapped inside" day. We are going to see how he sleeps the next few nights - if he keeps waking as much and being as upset we will take him into the pediatrician on Monday to check for an ear infection (teeth technically shouldn't be extremely disruptive to sleep for more than a night or two).

So, all in all it has been a LONG day already, but we are very glad that our little guy appears to be fine!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Henry wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!!

He has been up to big things lately -today is now Day 4 of the "Great Nap Strike". As in, NO NAPS. Well, he did take a 13 minute one yesterday afternoon - woo hoo!!! It has not been pretty around here, let me tell you. He is also not going down for bed as easily as he used to (in fact, I can hear him kicking the side of the crib as we speak...) most likely because he is over-tired from NO NAPS FOR 4 DAYS. Here is an example of the things Henry is doing instead of sleeping:

Note the fact that the entire bottom rack has been ripped out - the boy is strong!

In other news... Children's Hospital called - they had a cancellation and were able to squeeze in an appointment for us next Friday (February 22). It should be interesting - they warned me that we will be there for at least an hour and half, since they have to dilate his pupils and then wait 45 minutes before the actual eye exam (I wonder if they will give him those huge, one-use sunglasses to wear out???)

Everyone cross your fingers that Henry decides to nap tomorrow!

HENRY STANDS!

All by himself! Not holding onto anything! Granted, it only lasted maybe 5 seconds, but it is still big news!

I was reclined on his bear chair (hey, it was the end of a loooong day) reading to him, and he was somewhat standing with his arms holding onto me. All of a sudden, he straightened up and just....stood! He looked very surprised and pleased. He stood for a few seconds, marveling at himself, and then sat abruptly down.

We are soooooo not ready for this!

I love Boston

All you California and Florida people, you know you are jealous:

"A howling west wind gusting near 70 miles per hour made it feel like 16 degrees below zero as Massachusetts shuddered in a blast of arctic air.
The state low wind chill of 16 degrees below zero was measured at 6 a.m. at Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory and again at 8 a.m. in Worcester.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if some wind chills hit minus 20,” said Alan Dunham, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Taunton. “Just because we didn’t record it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
The Blue Hill observatory clocked a wind gust at 60 miles per hour. In Cambridge, a weather station at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recorded a 62-mile-per-hour wind. A gust in Boston hit 56 miles per hour. The highest recorded wind in the state was in Milford, where a 64-mile-per-hour gust was measured 10:55 p.m. "

Brrrrrr..........

Henry and I actually braved those temperatures today to go back for his blood draw this morning (at one point the wind almost blew the stroller out of my hands - no joke). He was a trooper. Naturally, he screamed like a banshee while the blood was actually being drawn (3 vials!!!!), but once it was over and he had a few Cheerios in him he was happy as a clam. Then, after walking up that insanely steep hill back to our house (walking INTO the winds) I vowed not to leave the house again until spring.

Here is a picture of Henry once we were back inside in the warmth. You can't quite see all of his onesie, but I think his political affiliation is clear:

In other news....his appointment at Children's Hospital for his eye consultation has been set for April 7th, so we have a ways to go on that one. Cutting wheat out of his diet has seen a big improvement, so right now the guess is a wheat allergy/intolerance (or I was giving the kiddo WAY too much fiber!). Henry made Mike and I extraordinarily happy by sleeping yesterday until 7:40 AM(!!!). Then, he took a 2 hour nap. I believe this child was not actually Henry, but that someone switched babies with us. He was back to his usual wake-up this morning, but the memories of yesterday will last a lifetime.... :)

We hope everyone is warmer than we are!

9 Month Appointment

Henry and I had a big day today. First we headed out to our "Music Together" class. Henry was in a great mood and always enjoys the singing and the different instruments he can chew on. He also seems to have a bit of a "man crush" on the teacher - Michael. When Michael sings Henry just stops what he is doing and gazes adoringly at him, almost in a trance. Then he speeds over to him as fast as his crawling legs can take him and insists that he be picked up immediately (yeah, no stranger anxiety there!)

After class we had lunch at Finale - always a favorite - with some of our friends from baby class and then headed to Henry's 9 month "well visit" pediatrician appointment.

Henry is doing very well still in terms of his weight/height. He is still a big boy - 21 pounds and 12 ounces and 30.5 inches tall. He is still steady at 97% for height and 75% for weight - he is consistent!


His overall health looked good - ears, belly, etc. His runny nose is still clear and he has no chest congestion, so his cold is either minor, just beginning, or due to teething (and therefore not really a cold). The pediatrician had lots of fun watching Henry crawling all about, trying to climb in her lap, destroying the roll of paper covering the exam table, etc.


There are a few concerns though.


First, I brought up my worry about his left eye. You may have noticed in the pictures we send out that his left eyelid seems to be drooping a bit, and seems to be getting a little worse as time goes on. Here is a picture that is a good example:







The main issue with this is if the drooping gets bad enough to interfere with his field of vision. Since vision development is so critical right now, things that interfere with his vision could potentially cause permanent vision damage. Actually, for this particular issue it would cause the SAME problem I have with my left eye (although mine is caused by Amblyopia -lazy eye -that was not detected early enough to correct). We all know I have TERRIBLE vision, lack of depth perception, etc. Because of this I tend to be a little hypersensitive about things relating to Henry's vision. He was with me at my regular eye doctor appointment yesterday and my eye doctor agreed with me that he should be looked at. I brought some pictures demonstrating the droop to the pedi today and she also agreed, so now we are getting an appointment with a pediatric opthamoligist at Children's Hospital of Boston.

There is a good chance that it will turn out to be nothing - just a minor droop that will not get worse and is no big deal. A worst case scenario is minor surgery to tuck the eyelid back up. At this point the droop is not interfering with his field of vision, so unless there is something else going on he shouldn't have any vision problems from it at this point. I feel MUCH better that he is getting a full vision check up, though.

Another issue: the pedi is a touch concerned about possible food allergies. I knew this might be an issue - I had childhood asthma and both Mike and I have seasonal allergies (all of which can be related to food allergies). Now that he has been on table food of all sorts for a while, we can start seeing problems if they exist. He had a rash/hives last week that I am fairly sure was due to soy (a common allergy). More concerning to the pedi were his "poop" issues - she basically diagnosed him with chronic diarrhea. Poor kid! So, for the next two weeks I am supposed to basically cut out wheat and soy from his diet and hold off on high fiber foods and any fruit except bananas and apples to see if that makes a difference. In addition, we need to take stool samples for 3 days for them to check and see if bacteria or something else is causing these problems (say it with me - FUN!). If bacteria is ruled out, our next step may be a pediatric allergist.

The 3rd and final issue of the day: The pedi showed VERY VERY SLIGHT concern with some of his communication skills. Henry is always very "engaged" in terms of smiles, eye contact, and general vocalizing(although babbling was late for him). The concern (again, slight) is due to things like lack of gestures. Henry does not look towards objects you point to, does not point himself, does not raise his arms to indicate he would like to be picked up (although he does climb right up into your lap himself), and does not mimic facial expressions or sounds. I knew that he was a little behind on these things so I was not surprised today. The pedi had me fill out a questionnaire about what he is/is not doing at this point, and then we will take it from there. It may turn out to be nothing, it may turn out to be something - we shall see.


The end of his appointment was not fun. We had to go down to the lab for his lead level test, which consists of a blood draw (not a prick, a full draw with the tourniquet around his little arm and everything). At this point, Henry was done. He hadn't taken a nap since 10 AM (it was 3 at this point) and was just pooped. Normally they need two lab techs to deal with baby blood draws - one to "restrain" the baby and one to do the actual blood work. Just our luck, there was only one tech in the office. We decided to try it anyway with me acting as "restrainer". Henry thought the whole thing was very fun - he liked the tourniquet and the nurse tapping his inner elbow to find the vein. Then, the needle went in. OH LORD. He was so upset, I can't even describe it. It took basically all of my strength to restrain the poor thing. After about 5 minutes of agony, the nurse tells me that she "wasn't able to get it" and that we would have to come back another day and try again. Ugh.


So, all in all not a really fun appointment.

Luckily, Henry fell fast asleep in the stroller and took a 30 minute nap on our way home. He was back to his sunny, energetic self when we got home. He was also very nice to me - I was wiped out (again) from being sick, and he happily played by himself, crawling all over the house while I lay on the couch. :) Here is a picture of him playing and showing off the band-aid from his failed blood draw.

We will keep you updated on the follow-ups that will be coming!

News from the land of Henry

I am sick AGAIN :( I feel like I just got over the last nasty cold, and here is another one. Mike literally just got over his sickness - Sunday was the first day he felt normal and needed no medication.

Sadly, it appears that little Henry may also be sick...he has a runny nose and has been coughing a lot at night. So, the Powell house is definitely a sick house right now. I am grumpy about this. I may complain about it A LOT, so be prepared.

One of the reasons we seem to be in a revolving door of illness may be that Henry has discovered "sharing". Meaning when he is thoughtfully chewing on his squeaky giraffe he comes to the sudden realization that we may also want to chew on the giraffe. So, he pops it out of his mouth and holds it out to you with a huge grin. If you do not also then take it and chew on it (taking it by the hand just doesn't do) he becomes distraught. So, there has been a lot of group chewing on toys here (and a lot of toy sterilizing by mom).

Henry also enjoys "sharing" at mealtimes, and holds his food out for you to have. He has not quite figured out to let go of that food though. So, he will hold out a cheerio for you, you put it in your mouth but he will not let go. He then whips his hand back with a laugh and pops it in his own mouth to eat. You can almost hear him thinking, "sucker!"

His range of "talking" has been increasing the past week. In addition to the tried and true shriek of joy (earsplitting) that he likes, he has a good command of "Da Da Da", "Bla Bla Bla", "Ra Ra Ra", and "La La La" and different combinations thereof (lease note the lack of "Ma Ma Ma". I'm not offended. Really). He also has discovered a fun noise where he sounds strangely like a Wookie. Mike enjoys this sound and encourages it, so Henry has been doing it quite a bit lately.

His cruising on furniture continues - he is getting a bit braver about one-handed cruising, cruising with toys in hand, and navigating between pieces of furniture. He still has zero interest in walking while I hold his hands, so I don't think he will be an official walker for a while - my guess is that his first steps will occur around 11 months.

We had a fun weekend when Grandpa Powell came to visit. The three of us made a day trip to Newburyport where Henry had his first grilled cheese sandwich (a hit, naturally) and was well-behaved in a few art galleries. Henry enjoyed his Grandpa a great deal and insisted on being held by only him for a great deal of the time.

I must stop ignoring Henry (currently enjoying a breakfast of champions - papaya, waffles, and yogurt) and go. We are braving the pouring rain today and heading to his 9 month well visit at the pediatrician, so we will have an update from that when we return.

(PS - I can't even discuss the Patriots. It was too devastating to mention. We are choosing to pretend like it didn't happen, and our focus is now on upcoming spring training for the Sox)