2016 was a big year for our family, and although we went through a lot of trying times, the good moments have definitely outweighed the bad. We can only wish for 2017 to do the same.
Since our last update, Joey celebrated his first Christmas with family and loved every minute of it! We hope you enjoy this month's update and photos (there's a lot of those!).
Health and Medical Update
With only his nine-month pediatrician appointment in December, there aren't many updates for you in this realm. His pediatrician is very pleased and almost amazed at his growth, and says that his heart and previous surgeries and ailments have not slowed him down at all. He is still in the 97th percentile for height and 60th for weight.
He is not concerned with the couple of low average scores on last month's developmental assessment at all, so we are happy to hear that. He essentially gave Joey the go ahead to eat whatever we are eating, with the exception of whole milk and honey.
The only thing the doc ordered was a blood draw to check for anemia and the nurse called a few days later to say that everything was normal. And no news is good news continues to be the trend for his monthly pacemaker checkup. Although he was so wiggly, and fussy during the test (he ripped the lead off the first time and we had to start over), we received no call to submit the test again, so we are all good!
Our biggest hurdle this month has been constipation. He sometimes bears down so hard that he cries. We have tried giving him more oatmeal, pear juice, other roughage and some all natural constipation remedies, but they have only helped a little bit... We have now also switched to soy formula, and we are trying to figure out what might be causing it. Any suggestions out there?
Believe it or not, Joey does not have any doctor's appointments or check ups until March! We have made it 10 months without so much as a runny nose or a cough (knock on wood), I mean, not counting open heart surgeries and stuff... let's see if our boy can stay just as healthy for a whole year!
Firsts and Milestones
This month has been full of growth for Joey, He is getting smarter and smarter everyday and learning more and more. He is excelling in all of the physical stuff and it will probably be only days until he takes his first step by himself. He loves to stand, everywhere! He stands in his crib, in his pack-n-play, next to the couch and coffee table and as long as a somewhat sturdy surface is an arm's length away, he can side step his way anywhere he wants to go. He is a very fast crawler and can walk very easily when holding on to someone's fingers.
His sleeping schedule is getting better again and he is pretty solidly taking two naps a day and sleeping mostly through the night. He has been loving these rainy nights and mornings; those are the days that he sleeps the latest!
He has definitely improved his baby babble as well. He still loves to roll his Rs and say "baba" and "dada", but has also started to practice his "L" sounds as well as gibberish. I am still waiting for the first "mama" though...
One of Joey's top teeth has now joined his bottom two, so he is a little three-toothed monster right now. And now that he has teeth on top and bottom, he loves crunching down on his Cheerios.
Joey celebrated his first Christmas and New Year's, but wasn't quite into either. He liked seeing all of his family on Christmas. crawling all over everyone's floor, and having new toys to play with, but could care less about unwrapping presents. Although, he DID like visiting Santa, and we got a great photo with him! And on New Year's he slept right through the ball drop (just as we planned)!
One of Joey's top teeth has now joined his bottom two, so he is a little three-toothed monster right now. And now that he has teeth on top and bottom, he loves crunching down on his Cheerios.
Joey celebrated his first Christmas and New Year's, but wasn't quite into either. He liked seeing all of his family on Christmas. crawling all over everyone's floor, and having new toys to play with, but could care less about unwrapping presents. Although, he DID like visiting Santa, and we got a great photo with him! And on New Year's he slept right through the ball drop (just as we planned)!
Likes and Dislikes
This is where Joey has changed a lot in the last month or so. Before, Joey's dislikes were few and far between, but now Joey is starting to form his own opinions on things. He used to eat any and every food we gave him, but now has started to become more picky and he struggles eating some foods that he used to love before. Joey has also started to show a little separation anxiety when we leave the room or leave for work, he doesn't like to be left alone with no one paying attention to him. Luckily, he still likes everybody he meets and isn't shy about spending time with new people.
I think Joey's food dislikes have stemmed from the fact that we have given him so many new, different and exciting foods and has learned that there are a lot of things that taste better then pureed peas. Joey loves avocado now that he can eat it in the form of guacamole. He has seems to like chicken and salmon, pasta, rice and beans, scrambled eggs and he loves his teething crackers and Grandma's chicken noodle soup. He is getting better at self-feeding and is always interested in what the people around him are eating and drinking.
Joey loves playing with all of his toys from Christmas, although we are saving some to open once he tires of the current ones, but he loves toys that have music and sing. His Great-Great Aunt Jean got him the cutest elephant that sings and plays peekaboo with his ears and Joey loves it! He got a couple toys that will hopefully aid him in learning to walk, but hasn't quite got a handle of them yet! And no matter how many toys are out for him to play with he would still rather have a piece of paper, an empty water bottle, a remote control or cell phone...
Joey has started to learn opposites and loves to play games like "up and down" and "open and closed" where he continuously sits and stands or opens and closes books. Joey also loves songs and singing. His favorite is still "Pat-A-Cake" and he laughs and laughs when you sing the alphabet really fast.
For Christmas Grandma and Papa got Joey a swing and his first trike. He loves swinging in the swing and can't wait for warmer weather to spend more time in it. He has ridden his bike a couple times, but still wants the rain to go away so he can ride on it more.
Family Update
Joey LOVED seeing all of his family at the many Christmas celebrations. We started off with the Sbicca/Shives annual White Elephant party, which included ugly sweaters this year. (In lieu of an ugly sweater, Joey's onesie kindly said that everyone else's "sweater was ugly"). He loved french fries from Pie N Burger and playing with Uncle Sean and cousin Andrea; Joey would crawl away and she would drag him back, over and over again! Joey even got to see his Uncle Nick!
Then Christmas Eve was at Grandma and Papa's where Joey loved playing with Conan and watching him ride his new hover board. They are best buds.
Christmas began at our house where Joey got to play with some of his gifts from Santa and the rest of the day was spent jumping back and forth between the Sbicca family and Brush family. We had a great breakfast at Joey's Great Aunt Kathy's, a lunch at Grandma and Papa's and dinner at Kathy's again. Boy were we all stuffed!
We are all waiting for Joey's new second cousin to make her appearance in the world! Any day now... we can't wait to meet her!
Here's one last video for making it all the way to the end of the post! Joey was caught kissing himself in the mirror!
Thanks for continuing to stop by! See you next month!
Here's one last video for making it all the way to the end of the post! Joey was caught kissing himself in the mirror!
Thanks for continuing to stop by! See you next month!
