Xavier's First Tooth
Greetings to everyone!
Well, last week Xavier had some difficult evenings and nights. Not so much during the day, but at night, he would screech out with loud, disagreeable, shrill squeals. At first, Rebecca and I didn't know quite what to make of it. After the second back-arching round, we both thought "Finally! It's a tooth!"
The first night was the most brutal. It took us an hour or so to find a technique to soothe his pain, which we were certain was in his lower gum line. We tried several ideas, including one which many web sites alluded to, but never had the stones to post. That technique worked the best, and it led to Xavier discovering his own technique: chewing on a cool, wet wash cloth.
Xavier did awaken in the middle of the night (or very early morning) with a scream that brought both Rebecca and me into his room. Another wash cloth solved the problem and gave us all a few more hours of sleep. The first night was the worst for all of us, especially Xavier.
Thursday night was not nearly as traumatic, though the wash cloth was kept handy. We also had a frozen wash cloth wrapping an ice cube and a liquid-filled chew-toy which the freezer kept until needed. This little toy became necessary equipment for Xavier's travel bag.
Friday morning, Rebecca took off to Wyoming for a conference lasting through Sunday. She felt bad leaving Dad with a near-one-year-old cutting a tooth. Xavier fared better Friday than the previous two days, only having about an hour's battle with the discomfort.
Saturday came and went and no tooth. The web sites we studied stated a tooth should take three to five days to erupt. If it takes longer, see a doctor. So, the clock was ticking down!
Sunday passed into history much like Saturday. Rebecca returned. We went out to dinner. Xavier showed little, if any, signs of a tooth emerging. Gone was his discomfort of the last five days.
Monday was uneventful, except it was day six and still no tooth. Xavier had stopped pulling on his right ear and wanting his wash cloth early Sunday. Another false alarm we wondered.
Tuesday, Xavier learned to crawl/climb stairs, demonstrating his growing skill at standing upright when he can steady himself against something. Would he be walking before he had any teeth, I wondered. As I put him to bed, I did a check of his mouth, but still no tooth poking through.
Wednesday, I walked out of the office with an office mate whose daughter is a week older than Xavier. He and I often swap Daddy techniques and keep informed of each other's child's developments. Heading for our cars, we spoke about teething. His daughter has cut her two bottom central incisors. He explained what the emergence was like for his daughter and what the teeth felt like when they broke through. I had new information and drove home anticipating what my knew knowledge might reveal.
Shortly after coming through the door, Rebecca informed me Xavier's tooth pushed through. Sure enough, it felt just as my friend described! So, Xavier has his first tooth, a little enameled nub now through the surface of his gum. For the record, it's his lower, right-central incisor. I'd post a picture, but I don't own the camera equipment that would allow me to take the photograph. However, I will post a picture when the tooth is prominent enough to see in his smile!
Stair Master
Greetings to everyone.
Crawling mastered, and all known crawler-level dangers mitigated, Xavier pulls his newest feat. I wish I had camera in hand sooner. As it was, I came upon this quite by happenstance. Xavier was grunting as he does when hunger starts in him, only he had more frustration in his sounds. I came out of the office to find him working hard to get his left knee onto the stair.
He had some trouble getting back to the floor, but to the floor he got, gracefully, under his own guidance (though Dad was right there to assist if necessary), and without falling. He popped back up on his knees, then, using the stair to steady himself, he was back on his feet, then back up on the stair.
He wanted to climb the next stair into the bedroom, but the wooden threshold gave him pause (I had opened the door by that time). The two wooden steps in the next room over also give him pause, but I bet this time next week none of them will daunt him any longer!
Well, if this doesn't raise the bar for Xavier's parents, I don't know what does. We have to conceive an entire new containment strategy. Not only that, but we have two large stairs we have to manage. No longer do we have a room we can let him frolic in with only partial supervision.
Xavier's First Palm Sunday
Greetings to everyone and Good Palm Sunday to you all.
Part of this morning's service brought all of the children to the altar where a section of the Gospel was read. Xavier, being the youngest child in attendance, got the best of the front-row seating.
Xavier pays close attention here, but we have other pictures of him trying to "defrock" Fr. Seraphim's glasses from his face. Fr. Seraphim gradually sped up his reading of the passage because he had difficulty holding the palms and Xavier and trying to keep Xavier from pulling his glasses off, a battle that was stacked against him.
This is a slice of what is mentioned above. Xavier managed to untie the palm frond tied into the shape of the Cross.
Green Mattress Down
Hello to you all.
The mattress in Xavier's crib has three height settings. We have kept the mattress raised at its highest level. It's easier to get him in and out, especially for Dad.
Well, since Xavier has mastered crawling (much to the Dalmatian's dismay), he has started showing signs of developing the desire to stand. He has been practicing with one of the carpeted steps in the house. He can almost press himself up, but can't get the leverage just yet. He's too short in relation to the step's height. He also tries by pressing himself up with his forehead and tiptoes when no step is available. So far, this has only pushed his little behind up into the air.
Still, he has learned to "stand" on his knees, and he can (while holding onto something) crawl on his knees.Just this week, we walked in to the nursery to find Xavier awake, up on his knees playing with his kick piano. I mentioned to Rebecca, "I'm going to have to drop the mattress at least one notch." What do we discover a few days later:
Xavier is fully capable of pulling himself up over the railing from this kind of vantage, though this photograph does not show him trying to do so. Now, the mattress is set as low as it can go, about six inches off the floor. That should keep him contained for some time, at least until he learns to climb the railing!
Xavier has strained and fought to get hold of his fuzzy mobile dinos. Now that he has done so, he is intensely happy for it. To bad Dad came in and lowered the mattress. As Xavier watched, he was thinking "I did it once. I'll do it again!"
Easter Portraits
Hello to everyone.
Our mortgage company offered a sitting with a professional photographer to take Easter pictures. We could choose one of the pictures and get a 8x10 print free. The photographer snapped 53 shots.
We were offered several premium packages, apart from the one free print. It was difficult to decide. In the end, we bought the digital images and the copyrights for them. It was not that much more than paying for the three packages we initially selected, but we got fifty more pictures.
Sitting in his high-back leather chair, Xavier, working closely with the photographer, thoughtfully considers which images should be chosen. He knows there is a budget; his parents are discussing the exact number elsewhere in the room.
Rebecca thinks there should be a farm house in the background and Xavier should be holding a pitch fork. Dad is getting better with photo manipulation, so that may one day happen.
Dad's expression seems to keep with the unplanned American Gothic theme.
Happy Easter 2014 from the Ogden family!
Feisty
Hello to everyone.
Rebecca had an opportunity to go to a women's conference in Colorado Springs today. It was a much-needed break from the house for Rebecca. She went alone, leaving Xavier and Dad to order pizza and watch B-grade 1950/60s SciFi movies all day.
One of the many women Rebecca met at the conference was a person who worked for a crisis pregnancy center. She and Rebecca got to talking. Of course, the topic of Xavier came up, and with it, the elevator speech about the pregnancy. Somewhere in this conversation, Xavier's independence and his growing insistence on doing things himself came up.
This woman told Rebecca that most boys who experience such struggles coming into this world are feisty like Xavier. "They're survivors," she told Rebecca. She stated this in a very encouraging way.
Dad and son hanging out in the back yard on so nice a spring day. Xavier wears his new sun hat. I want to get a fishing lure, remove the hook and affix it to the hat.
Last RSV Shot
Greetings to everyone.
I missed reporting it until now, but last week Xavier went in for his final RSV shot of the season. He was very brave and did not cry so much after the needle went in, a little more as the serum pushed into his muscle, but not much after the needle was removed. Mom held him and comforted him while we waited for Dr. Abbey to pop in for a visit. Also, we needed to wait twenty or so minutes so the nurse could verify Xavier did not react poorly to the injection.
Of course, the standard metrics of a visit were taken:
- Weight: 12 pounds 6.4 ounces. Not much of an increase over his last weigh-in, only 4.2 ounces.
- Length: 25.25 inches, about a quarter inch longer than last time.
- Head circumference: 17.25 inches; a little bigger than last time
The reason Dr. Abbey popped in for a visit was to answer some of our questions about how best to introduce Xavier to solid foods. Dr. Abbey had already given us a sheet of instructions of how, what, when and how often. Our questions this time were more along the lines of "what's the best way or ways of getting him to take a spoonful of something?" or "what techniques are best for starting with a spoon?" Xavier clams up when the spoon comes near. Also, he likes to grab the spoon and examine it rather than eat from it.
Rather than answer those questions, Dr. Abbey decided to prescribe some group sessions at Children's that deal with children with such tendencies. Rebecca and I are a little leery of attending such sessions, so we may not take advantage of the prescription.
Later in the week, Xavier met with his physical therapist. The discussion of spoon feeding came up. She recommended changing from physical therapy to occupational therapy. That will work with these kinds of skills and techniques. So, Xavier now has an occupational therapist coming to see him.