10 Days Home with Andrei

It has certainly been an adjustment around here with Andrei. He's probably doing better than the rest of us though! The return jet lag kept us all three up at 3:00AM, but thanks to Tylenol PM, I'm doing better.

Andrei is a great sleeper at night. He's off and on with his naps--not sure what's going on there. We have him in bed by 7:30, and he usually sleeps until 7:30 the next morning. I'm so thankful for the video monitor (thank you Momma Carol!) because he will be awake---and not make a sound in his crib--just waiting for someone to come get him. It makes it nice in one way, but it is so terribly sad that this behavior is a product of his environment.

He loves baths. We're still dealing with the "funk", but it is so much better. He actually smells like a baby every once in a while, so I know we're getting there. :) He still hates his diaper being changed, but it has gone from being upset and frightened to downright throwing a temper tantrum. Mom is having a hard time dealing with that little fit...

We're on operation "Get Good Nutrition" right now. We're throwing down the avocados, flax seed, beans, broccoli, yogurt and anything else that could be deemed nutritional in an effort to "catch him up." He's a pretty good eater--and he's finally stopped throwing a fit when we quit feeding him. His stomach would literally be ready to burst open, but you'd think you were starving him by the way he acted. We've ditched the bottle; he drinks his luke warm milk from a sippy cup flat on his back or in our arms. He refuses to drink it cold.

We've made an appointment with Cranial Tech in Dallas for next week. He's got some serious head shape issues from being a preemie and not being rotated, and we're hoping they think they will be able to help. It will be quite a commitment on our part as it's a 6 hour drive one way for appointments every 2-3 weeks for several months. Stay tuned for that update.

He crawls all over the house. He's pulling himself up and walking along the couch, so it won't be long before he's walking. His fine motor skills are lacking to say the least though. We've seen him use the pincher grasp a few times, but he still doesn't know how to feed himself. He never puts anything in his mouth. We're working on putting the Puffs in his hand and bringing his hand to his mouth to feed himself. He's starting to do it sometimes by grabbing the Puff in his fist, sticking his whole hand in his mouth, and using his teeth to scrape the Puff off his hand. It's very interesting to see the skills that were so abundant in our girls to be non existent in his repertoire.

His attachment to us is going well I think. He maintains great eye contact with us, he "melds" his body to ours when we carry him, and he has started crawling to us for us to pick him up when he is upset. His sisters are great with him; he prefers Annsley by far simply because she is not constantly in his face. Kennedi is dealing with some jealousy issues. I'll be reading a story to her while she's sitting in my lap, and if Andrei pulls himself up and stands by us, she will ever so slowly take her foot and try to push him away. However, she is right there with me when I change his diaper! :)