Four Months

Keira at 4 months...11 lbs

Ronin at 4 months...15 lbs

Liam at 4 months...15 lbs

Keira is four months old! It's been a tough week for Mommy so far. Trying to get back into the swing of things after the holidays, including work and doctor appointments. I'm already at the point where I'm starting to wonder how much is too much in terms of therapy appointments. We're not quite there yet, but if I have too many more days like yesterday, we'll have to make some new plans. I joked with Jeff that yesterday there was so much therapy that we didn't have time for therapy. By that I meant that we weren't able to do our routine music therapy, crunches, push ups, joint compressions, and jaw, cheek,and tongue exercises. Also, the traveling about was disruptive to her, so she didn't eat well. 

News at the doctor was good and bad. Bad is that her head circumference was unchanged. Good was that she weighs 11 pounds, which means that even though her appetite has not been great, she's gaining enough weight with the fortified milk. 

Keira has been getting noticeably stronger in terms of holding up her head. She has really been enjoying the music therapy CD that the OT gave us. The goal is to help her self-regulate better. We go into my closet and hang out for half an hour twice a day while we listen to the elevatorish music. I joke that it's our sullen teenager time in the closet, but K seems particularly entertained during these times. 

It's discouraging, I have to admit, that Keira still isn't tracking objects well. Though there are moments when she looks at us, she doesn't respond well to social smiles and most of her "play" time is spent looking waaay over her right shoulder. Maybe it's just her vision. Of course I wonder about Autism. 

Really, we're hanging in there. I'm confident that this is just a rough patch. Jeff and my parents continue to help me bear the burden (is that what this is? that sounds terrible) every day. Many of you have offered support in the past two days which, whether you knew it or not, was perfect timing.

K was particularly talkative in the closet tonight. The cough sound is her laughter. This is particularly for you, Joy Jones!