7 months old update

I have a confession...I wrote a post last month meaning to post it and didn't. So now I have the trouble of updating a month old post to fit this month. 🙈

Elias has been wearing his helmet for 4 months, which means that over half his life he will have been in a helmet. Elias has been an absolute champ in wearing it. He only recently has been touching it as he seems to know that it is covering his head now. However, he is becoming an escape artist as one morning when I went into his room he seemed managed to wiggle completely out of his helmet.

October Happenings

We had a helmet adjustment done recently and the helmet specialist told us good news. Typically, the doctors want children's heads to be in a range from 78-84 (I'm not quite sure the units/language they measure). Elias is at 77. He originally started at 63 which means he is growing fast at the right rate. Hurray! These numbers could mean that Elias could be done with the helmet sooner rather than later. However, I'm not holding my breath. The doctors could also choose to keep him in a helmet until he is one. I'm praying that we get rid of the helmet by Christmas. 

UPDATE: We had another helmet fitting and follow-up with the doctors. The doctors were really happy with Elias' progress in the growth of his head. He is almost in the "normal" proportions for his head. However, he will continue to wear a helmet until at least January, which is his next head scan. 

Next week, we go in for a helmet fitting for a new helmet as his currently helmet is getting quite tight for Elias' head. The helmet will be the same except that it will be bigger. I'm hoping that this helmet will be a better fit and not slip off his head as much. We did have one month of no slipping with this helmet which was fantastic. Hoping the next three months we won't have any issues with the next helmet. 

I did it folks! I finally got a picture of the scan of Elias' head. The inner pink oval is Elias' original head shape. The two blue ovals show the growth from two separate scans. 

Physiotherapy

We also attended physiotherapy recently (October). The child development doctor had referred Elias because the helmet was fairly heavy and she was concerned with his movement. Sean and I have worked really hard to help Elias with his head control while sitting up. So when we went to physio I thought it would be a 5 minute assessment telling us that he was fine. As it turns out, we have some work to do. 

It was recommended that we do more tummy time with the helmet on which we hadn't done a lot of. Typically we would take the helmet off to do tummy time. 
Update: Elias still is not great at tummy time. He really refuses to do it. Since he is not great at it, he is delayed with rolling and general movement. We went back to the physio today and she has given us some more "exercises" for Elias to do. Out of all the things we were to work on since October, I feel that Elias has progressed the least in this area. 

Another thing we are to work on is Elias' sitting and grabbing objects. Elias has reflux (he spits up after feeding) which causes him discomfort when sitting. Also, his leg muscles were tight which hindered him from sitting. He would often lean backwards when he was sitting. The physiotherapist taught us how to correct his sitting and today he can sit for long periods of time.
Update: Elias is so good with sitting now! He seems to really enjoy it and although he still tips over he can sit for long periods.

Elias also has problems grabbing things because he doesn't extend his thumbs out (he keeps them curled in like he was signing the letter b in sign language). As Sean and I play with him, we have to encourage him to open up his hands completely to grab an object. 

ASL - the letter B. 

Update: Elias is slowly learning how to open his whole hand to grab an object. He is still needs to continue to work on it. The therapist noticed that Elias likes to only use his right hand so we will be working on getting him to use his left hand to grab things. At this age, babies should be using both sides as they don't develop a preference until age 2. 

It is quite amazing how Elias has improved over a short amount of time. The physiotherapist has been really great and encouraging as we go through this process. She has noticed and commented on how Elias is an independent child. He likes to do things his own way and doesn't always want the correction. He only wants to do things when he has figured out he can do it. 

I am so amazed at how smart he is. During the last physio session, he let the therapist know that he didn't like what she was doing by crying. As soon as the therapist changed the unwanted activity, Elias immediately stopped crying. It is so fascinating to see someone challenge him in his skill, knowing what he is capable of, and his reaction to that uncomfortable situation. I am only realizing the stubbornness independence Elias will likely have as he grows up.