At least someone’s making progress…

Skyler started crawling this morning! It’s official – she’s mobile!!!

Another “it’s about time!”

I mentioned before in recent photos that Skyler’s new favorite thing is to push-up and look around on hands and knees. While she’s still not crawling yet, she made another “big step” for progress today. She finally put some weight on her legs and let us “walk” her around while holding her up! Her knees were so wobbly and she has zero concept of balance, but she has never before put both feet down and pushed on them or took pretend steps. But tonight she really seemed to enjoy it! Ronnie and I “walked” (should I say wobbled?) her back and forth between us, and as soon as she’d get to me, she’d grab me and try to climb up my body.

And, I’ve been setting her up on her knees so that she’s kneeling next to me and then placing toys on the other side of my legs, forcing her to lunge forward from her knees and crawl her way over me. It’s basically an army crawl at this point, but she can make her way over, even if it’s not the most graceful thing! I think she’s finally getting the hint in her mind that her body parts are for more than flailing about while laying on her back. She’s a very strong girl, but she is only just now figuring out what to do with her strength.

It’s relieving for me, as I’ve really thought she might just roll around the rest of her life, because there has been ZERO interest in using her feet for anything other than chew toys. Her doctor wasn’t too concerned at her last appointment, saying it’s just another way that she’s behind as a result of her surgery, but did mention possible physical therapy in a few months if she still showed no interest in mobility, but hopefully she’s on the right track now!

On a side note, I did get the highchair together. After a little break and some mental cooling off (it was still 82 degrees by 8 o’clock last night), I attempted the installation of the backrest that was causing me so much frustration, and it clicked right in! It was smooth sailing from there, and the highchair got used at dinner for the first time tonight. Skyler seemed pleased with the chair, even if she isn’t so thrilled about learning to feed herself! But that’s a whole other challenge these days. Our girl loves to eat most anything, but refuses to put it in her mouth herself. She only wants me to do it! Hopefully with the highchair she will have more “play” opportunities to experiment with edible items that I place on the tray in front of her. But I have a feeling this one is going to require a lot of patience for both of us…

Brief Summary

I keep getting behind on here, so I’ll need to be brief. Then hopefully this weekend I can catch up with photos!

1) Skyler had a blast last Friday with Heather and her 1-year-old, Braden. Heather said Braden would make noises at Skyler and she would just crack up at him. And I knew Skyler had fun because that evening, she was the craziest, happiest I think we’ve ever seen her. She had all kinds of new words and sounds, and had the most energy. It was like she had such a great day and didn’t want it to end! Thanks again, Heather!

2) We also started at daycare this week. She hasn’t cried yet, and seems just fine when Darlene takes her from me in the mornings. Darlene said she and the 6 1/2 month old boy play very well together, and that Skyler flirts with a 14 month old boy, Caiden. She said Caiden is the only one who’s earned a smile from Skyler yet, and for him, that’s all she has all day!

3) She’s still got bottle feeding issues. We got more Zantac from her doctor, but she’s still just so inconsistent with what she eats. Now and then, she’ll suck the whole thing down in no time at all, but the other times, it’s work to get her to drink 2 ounces. She’s not fussy at all, just seems to have a pure lack of interest. I’ve done some asking around and reading on the Internet, and it’s possible she’s working on teeth. You can actually see her 2 bottom middle teeth right under her gums now. She’s also had some yucky diapers this week, which I’ve heard is also a sign of teething. I’ve even read that some babies will just wean themselves from a bottle at a younger age and are better off using a sippy cup. That would be fine if Skyler would drink out of a sippy cup! But that’s a no-go as well. So we’ll see. I’m going to weigh her again next week to make sure she’s still gaining weight and then decide if a trip to the doctor is necessary based on that.

4) Skyler’s mobility is still very primitive. When on her belly, she’ll tuck her knees and then push forward, but not bother to push up from her upper body, much like an inchworm. Then she’ll roll over, push off from her back side, roll back over, and do it again. Amazingly, it works – she can get all the way from one end of the couch to the other that way, but it sure seems like crawling would be easier! I’ve tried holding her mid-section up while putting her on her hands and knees and showing her the crawling motion, but she insists on nose-diving her face into the couch and doing the inch worm thing. Meanwhile, she blows slobbery zerberts face-down on the couch cushions and laughs. It makes for a soggy place to sit. I guess as long as she’s having fun, our little workouts are good for both of us!

5) And lastly, my hypermiling experiment was a success! My gas light went on 50 miles later than it usually does, and after everything averaged out, I got 3 more miles to the gallon than I used to! If I fill up twice a month, and get 50 extra miles each tank, that adds up to almost 1200 extra miles I can go per year, without having to spend any more on gas!