I sat down to write about milestones reached thus far by baby Luke and initially, I just outlined the two major milestones I thought he'd reached so far.. #1) Using his neck muscles to hold his head up and #2) resting on his elbows during tummy time with his head elevated and his shoulders and the top of his chest off the ground... but I realized while I was thinking about those two accomplishments that Luke has actually achieved so much more! He's also succeeded with tracking objects with his eyes, turning his head 90 and later 180 degrees while tracking, reaching for objects, bringing his hands to midline to hold and transfer an object, batting at toys in his activity gym, laughing, cooing, and responding to verbal stimulation, attempting to hold his bottle while eating, etc. etc.... things I maybe took for granted as "normal" accomplishments with my first born.
Matthew naturally developed his gross and fine motor skills without much intervention from us other than through normal playing. This time it's different. We have been trained to be very intentional with how we interact with baby Luke. Luke receives physical therapy ten times per month, which works out to be at least twice and sometimes three times per week. We are all invested in Luke's development and his team of caregivers includes three babysitters, two parents and a grandma that care for him regularly. We have all committed to learning the various exercises taught to us by his three physical therapists and we focus on incorporating them into his care everyday. If we think we are doing a lot... it's nothing compared to the routines we put Luke through.... lots of various positions, exercises, and thoughtful playtime. Someone seems to always have something in mind for what he should be working on next.
The best part is that when he succeeds, we all feel the joy that comes with our combined and continuous hard work! It's kinda wonderful to be experiencing each developmental milestone with such exuberance and joy and we were beyond thrilled this week when Luke finally rolled over for the first time on Tuesday, June 11, 2013... when he was 5 months and 20 days old, something his brother did nearly 2 1/2 months sooner at 3 months and 3 days old. Regardless of when milestones are reached, I love both boys with all my heart and for different reasons they each fill me with an unmeasurable love. I read this blog post recently by a fellow momma of a child with Down syndrome and I thought she described the topic of milestones so beautifully... He is passing her up
No comments:
Post a Comment