It has been a while since I have posted anything Kai related, so I thought this would be a cute picture! Their matching colors were actually quite the accident. My dad was the one who set this picture up--he wanted a side by side shot. I don't know if he got a good one, but when I tried Zuri was all stiff and unnatural looking. I like this one even though neither of them is looking at me--it is more natural.
One thing that has really stuck out at me since Zuri has started kindergarten is how tiny she is. I have always known that she is short and tiny for her age--we have been battling that since birth--but to see her in line with 15 or so of her peers...and see she is the shortest by far really puts it in perspective. A good five inches shorter than most. There is one girl in her class that is within an inch of her height, but all others tower over her. It is a hard thing for me--and I really can't explain why.
Both J and I are on the shorter end of average. We both have tall fathers (six feet and taller) and short mothers, so our kids could be any height. Zuri follows the growth curve perfectly; she is just below it.
I have been told time and time again how I was just like Zuri. My great grandmother used to say that the wind would blow me away because I was so tiny. Then I hit puberty and sprouted...never to be tiny again. Height wise, I fit right in the middle with my peers in high school. I was neither the tallest, nor the shortest.
Will that happen with Zuri? I don't know...and I worry...
I had intended this post to go in another direction, so I am going to switch topics... While Zuri is tiny, Kai is a solid chunk. He now officially outweighs Zuri (but she still has several inches in height on him).
He is doing well. In fact, we almost had him completely off oxygen. For a while he was at 1/16 of a liter (that is pretty much as low as the pediatric flow meter will read), but for the last several days the nurses have had to bump up his oxygen while he is in a deep sleep. During the day he does well on just the 1/16, so hopefully he will return to normal at night as well. It might just be the change in the weather.
In other news, Kai has a new trick. He will use his legs to scoot himself to the top of his crib and pull his blanket around his head. Then he will bang his ballard across the rails of his crib. He absolutely loves doing it--and it is noisy! It also has the tendency to break his ballards after a while.
It is great sensory stimulation for him so I really don't want to take it away, but we have been going through the ballards pretty quickly. Luckily, I have a good stockpile and Kai doesn't require much trach suctioning. It all seems to come out his nose instead of his trach. It seems as though we are constantly wiping or suctioning his nose.
Kai has also been making more eye contact lately. He is thumping his legs or squawking at us (his way of greeting) when we come over to him. He gets really excited and has a big smile on his face.
He still doesn't roll completely over, and has been spending more time on his back. He is also developing a hump on his back from his positioning, even though we try all we can to keep him in alignment. His pediatrician up at Primary Children's wants to put him in a back brace for up to 12 hours a day. Pooh! Unfortunately, we will do what we need to do...
We are still working toward the goal of Kai holding his head up, sitting up unassisted, and standing. Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean we have given up. Kai shows us daily that he too would like to attain those goals. He works so hard to pull his head up--he will get it up and smile, then his head will flop back down. He has grown to love his stander. I think he likes the weight bearing on his legs. So, each day we work toward our goals, and although it is taking a while to see progress, slowly, ever slowly, there is progress being made!
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