Jetson's Journal

Nov 3rd, 2010

Jetson is one today! Happy Birthday little man. He also enjoyed another first, with Rob taking him on his first ride on the back of the bike. It was another lovely hot day, so we decided to go down to the beach to enjoy some dinner on the Scarborough foreshore. We even had a birthday cake with a candle to make it a really special (Probably more excitement for Olive than Jetson). He hasn't quite mastered walking by his first birthday, but he can stand assisted, particularly when checking out his new present!

31 Oct

Today was selected as the best day for Jetson's Birthday party. It is Halloween but we resisted having a Halloween theme as it's not that appropriate for a one year old. We chose the local park for the venue, nice and relaxed, with a playground for the kids. We invited many of our friends and family and lots of them came along to help us celebrate Jetson's Birthday. It turned out to be a beautiful day, and we all enjoyed ourselves. Jetson received some lovely gifts, and the kids loved the fish themed cake, which matches the tank and pet fish he is getting on Wednesday.

19th Oct 2010

Our regular 3 monthly review by Orthopaedics today. Another long wait, and we didn't even get to see our specialist, instead we saw one of the registrars. She was quite good, but it just means they are starting their assessment without prior knowledge of his case. In the end they always check with Clem in regards to what they are recommending, so I am reassured we are getting good advice. His hip scan showed a minor improvement in his hip socket development. It took 3 months to change 1 degree, and it needs to improve by another 2 degrees, so that might mean another 6 months in the harness, however...

Jenni, our physio suggested at hydro yesterday that Jetson might benefit from wearing a standing brace, which holds him in that standing position. Clem agrees this would be useful, as it allows the femur bone to be held into the hip socket giving the same result as the hip harness. Therefore fingers crossed, a quicker improvement in his hips. I think Jetson will love this simply because he will be taller and upright. Mum will like this if it means the hip harness can come off earlier than 6 months away!!

18th Oct

The first day back at hydrotherapy for the last term of the year. Jetson was so excited as it has been several weeks since we last got in the hydro pool. It was a special day today with Granny and Grandpa coming to watch, and he really put on a show for them, doing all the talking for all the kids in the pool.

17 Oct

Today we attended the Kalparrin Family Fun Day. I think Olive got the most enjoyment out of it, even though it was a day for Jetson. There were so many wonderful and fun activities to do; face painting, giant games, bouncing castle, flying fox, music, petting farm animals, painting and craft activities, massage (for parents), all with lunch included.

Jetson was a trooper and stayed awake all morning, lasting until 1.30ish. He is starting to transition to one sleep a day, much to mums displeasure. He doesn't like going to sleep in the afternoon anymore, and we tend to spend ages trying to get him to sleep, which is so frustrating. So often, depending on how he sleeps the night before and if he got much sleep the day before, we will push out his morning sleep to 11ish for one big sleep for the day.

15th Oct

Jetson is starting to stand assisted for longer period. He used to only keep his legs and hips straight for a few seconds, before folding his hips into sitting position, but has now learned to keep them straight. Mind you he does need something to keep him occupied while up there, or he gives it away. He has not taken any steps as yet, but it might not be too far away.

14th Oct

Pam and John arrived from Melbourne for a week visit, primarily to spend some time with Zac, but also with the other grandchildren. Jetson was a little bit overwhelmed when he woke up to see Granny and Grandpa in his face, but it wont take long for him to lap up all the attention.

10 Oct

The annual Kings Park Fairy Festival was on at the Ivy Watson playground. Jetson has never seen so many wonderful fairies dressed so beautifully. Jetson himself was dressed as a wee elf, one of the few boys who were there. Lots of fun was had by all, we even bumped into Molly, Ciara, Niamh and Kevin.

6 Oct

Jetson is getting to be a lot more mobile these days. If you leave him on the floor we are not surprised to find him on the other side of the room a little while later. While on his back, he wiggles his shoulders to shimmy a little bit to the side, and will roll over, to move across the floor. On his bottom, he has started to do 360o turn arounds, and will gain a little bit of ground by bouncing on his arms to pull his bottom forward. When he is really excited or leans forward too far, his arms can give way and he face plants, which is a position he often can't get out of. He is trying so hard to get around.

1-3 Oct

This weekend we all embarked on a camping trip to Dwellingup with Paul and his kids. Jetson handled the cold night better than we did, and managed to sleep better than we thought he would. He loves being outdoors, and had loads of attention from his cousins, so he was really happy with the whole situation. He enjoyed a plastic tub bath, just like his sister did routinely while we were travelling around Australia. A good weekend was had by all.

28th Sept

Rob's birthday, his gift from the kids was a boogie board, more for Jetson and Olive to to ride on than for him.

22 Sept

Mum and Dad went to Powderfinger tonight, while Nana looked after Jetson and Olive. Because the concert started so early at 6pm we had to leave the house before either of the kids were in bed. A slight worry given that the last babysitting attempt with mum was a disaster.... Luckily we had them all bathed and fed before we walked out the door, and in the end it all worked out just fine. Jetson went down quite easily for mum, and Olive was also well behaved (but maybe stayed up a little later than normal), plus the Powderfinger concert rocked and was a great night out!

10 Sept

Finally we can see some light at the end of the tunnel in regards to Jetson's sleeping. He has slept through three out of the last four nights, and that's without even stirring between 10pm-5am. He will go to bed at around 7.30pm and then usually wakes and cries out at 10ish. After resettling him by repositioning or putting his dummy back in, he is off again until the the morning. I think he has finally got used to the hip harness which he still wears at night, although it could be that he is getting more mobile and is able to move himself into a comfortable position by himself. It is amazing how good it feels to get a good nights sleep, even getting up at 5.30am for a feed does not take away from the solid hours we have been getting – it is fabulous! Lets just hope it continues...?

9 Sept

Still concerned about his weight, I took Jetson to see the Child Health Nurse today, and unfortunately his weight has flatlined and has dropped off the percentile charts! He started off low around the 25th percentile, but has now dropped below the 3rd percentile and off the scale. We think it may have started to drop off while we were in Malaysia and since we returned he has been sick, which all had an impact. Just to keep our minds at ease we measured his length which is sitting on average, just under the 50th percentile. This is reassuring as at least we know that he is still growing well, and that it is probably just a lack of muscle in the limbs that is causing some of the weight issues. With our household dietetic knowledge, I am sure we will have no trouble bulking him up. Wait till he gets older and we get the physiologist trainer on the job!

5 Sept

We enjoyed a wonderful father's day, with a buffet breakfast at the Blue Water Grill restaurant at Heathcote. What a fantastic view of the city, along with the great food.

4 Sept

Uncle Peter and cousin Jacob have come all the way to Perth from Sydney, to see another cousin Zac. They are staying with us in Mt Hawthorn for a few days. They slept in the lounge room in our cozy house, and our initial concern was that they would be awoken regularly with Jetson crying through the night as he is still not sleeping great. Of course the wonderful socialite had to be on his best behaviour for the guests... and he slept really well while they were here. Has he turned the corner or is he just putting on a show?

30 Aug

Unfortunately Jetson has not been well for most of the time since we have returned from Malaysia. He has been off his food a little, more grumpy than normal and he woke with a fever this morning, which explains it all. We didn't attend his usual hydrotherapy session today because of this. This was to be the last one until the school term starts next month.

29th Aug

Today the family joined in the City to Surf Fun Run. We were happy that the entry fee went to Activ, which supports disabled people in the community. Mum and Dad walked at least while Jetson enjoyed being pushed in the pram. He had a leisurely sleep for a lot of the way, and probably enjoyed the view for the rest as he was happy and well behaved. Olive joined him in the pram for most of the 12km walk, until the last 500m where she got out to run over the finish line.

28 Aug

Having a son like Jetson really makes you get excited when small achievements occur. In the bath tonight we think he may have bent his arm. Previously all the doctors have told us that he will not get movement and contraction of his biceps muscle. So it is very exciting to see just a small movement of his arm bending, and with the advances we have already seen in the first 10 months this is promising for things to come.

Aug 23

Hydrotherapy was cancelled today... we will have to wait till next week. We did extra exercises after his bath instead. We have discovered the one thing he doesn't like to do and that is kneeling, it really stretches his quadriceps out which he is not familiar with since he has been in the hip harness for so long. It is something we will need to work on to help stretch him out to full length and standing. Jetson's arm movements are improving lots since he has had the harness off, possibly as his arms have so much more freedom for movement. He is really stretching up and around to grab things. Hopefully this will improve the muscles greatly surrounding the shoulder girdle.

Aug 20

The appointment with Dr Page, the plastic surgeon hand specialist, was very delayed today. It was mainly a review of his hands and arms and a discussion about possible surgery on his arms. He agreed with Dr Honey (the shoulder guy) in that they wouldn't operate until he was about 3-4 years old. He explained that the age would depend on which surgery they decided to do and also on the development of his muscles surrounding the shoulder. He was very happy with his hands and dexterity. We are very happy with his rate of development, and the fact that he is regularly getting his hand to his mouth now. He is very flexible and while sitting is able to bend down almost to the floor to put something in his mouth. Impressive!

Aug 16

Today we had both hydrotherapy and a session of physiotherapy. With his hip brace off during the day Jenny had much more to work with, and tried lots of new exercises for us to do at home. She indicated that Jetson may not have the arm strength to be able to crawl, but I have no doubt he will find other ways to get around.

Aug 13

Another tooth has finally come through - no.2! He certainly let us know it was coming. waving

Aug 11

Now we are back in the regular high chair at home, Jetson for the first time started feeding himself – a cheese stick and some bread. He manages this in two ways, one by lifting the shoulder and dropping his hand to his mouth, and also by resting his arm on the crossbar at the front of the chair, then leaning forward to bring his mouth to his hand. They always find a way... especially where there's a will!

Aug 10, 2010

Jetson demonstrated his superior abdominal and hip flexor strength today by doing a situp! Amazing! He just popped right up with his legs being held, like a jack in the box. Then he repeated it four times, and started to look a bit tired by the last one. (there's a video of it)

> read about his previous 3 months

Jetson's first year: 0-3, 3-6, 6-9 and 9-12 months >
2nd year
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