He will be 18 months old tomorrow, and he just seems to get more awesome as time goes by. Now he's chatting up a storm, and most of the time we know what he's trying to communicate either by his saying the words, signing, or through his actions. Speaking of words, I'm going to write down all of the ones he currently says, because I want to remember where he is at:
-moo, woof, oink, quack, baa, meow, cluck, roar, cocka (as in cock-a-doodle-doo)
-dog, cat, elephant (kind of), monkey
-ball, toys, car, bag, boots, bubbles, bath, ring, block, socks, shoes, coat
-mamma, dadda, nana, Olivia (the pig), Dora, Elmo, Cookie, Ernie, Grover, (names of kids/teachers at daycare)
-juice, toast, eggs, rice, fish, banana (nana), milk, cookie
-more, all done, yes, no, uh-oh, up, hi, bye, walk
There's probably a few more that I can't think of right now...but so far so good!
We have found out that Caden is a bit behind in regards to gross motor development such as walking independently and general leg strength in climbing etc., so we'll have an Occupational Therapist come to our house to work with Caden and give us some ideas for exercises and how to help his strength. On the other hand his fine motor skills are great, and he's ahead in his Communication skills :) my little genius...
Caden's "gut" issues are still hanging on, he continues to have a bloated belly and non-solid poops pretty much every day. Add to the mix the fact that he keeps getting every illness going around his daycare, and essentially diarrhea is the norm. He was seen about 4 weeks ago by the pediatrician, who ordered a bunch of bloodwork, including screening for Celiac's due to the fact that he hasn't gained much weight over the past few months, and his big belly is out of proportion to his skinny little legs :( The bloodwork came back negative for the Celiac's, and most of his other results were fine (his albumin was slightly low). She did add on another AFP test (to check the liver) and it has gone right down-which is great! The pediatrician agrees that we need to continue to investigate the big-belly-diarrhea situation, so she has made a referral for Caden to Sick Kid's GI specialists, so hopefully that happens soon and we can at least take action and help the poor guy...
I'll be ecstatic when we start to resolve some of this stuff-it's so stressful when things just keep piling on and everything is in limbo. I also hate to see Caden less than his joyful/playful self, and when his tummy is bothering him or uncomfortable he can understandably get a bit cranky-who can blame the boy! I know there are many things we can't control in regards to his medical issues, but if there is something I can do (whether it be diet changes etc.) to help the discomfort and ease the belly bloating, sign me up!
Overall our boy is incredibly adorable and has grown into this amazing little person who we can play, learn, cuddle and communicate with. I don't know when or how this all happened, but I am so glad I get to tag along and witness his growth and all the changes that come along with it.
Love you Bubba, Happy 18 months!!!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
