Splish Splash & A Stretchy Day

I am so loving spending time with Harlan these days! I'll be honest... those first six months were a difficult time. I may not be like other moms out there... I did not cope well with Harlan's colic at all...

In fact, I think I came to terms with Malakai's diagnosis of Down syndrome easier than I came to terms with the fact that Harlan screamed for almost every waking second for the first six months of his life.  At least I could cuddle and snuggle and kiss Malakai. I felt like a mommy from the word go. With Harlan however... I felt like a complete failure in the 'cuddle-department' and those times that he was inconsolable? Well... my 'mommy-spirit' would just break.

BUT - that's all the in the past now! He is a smily, engaging, content little thing these days - just eating up all the attention he gets. Amazing! I've even managed to take some 'splish splash' bath pics (not possible until now due to severe screaming through the entire bath experience).

And then - my little stinker (Malakai)! I have written before how Malakai has sensory-seeking behaviours and I've described them to his Sensory Integration Therapist, Nadine. Well, as other moms will know - our little ones rarely (if ever) play along with us. If we say they can walk... well then they 'loose' the ability for the entire therapy session. If we say they are talking... well then they only babble through therapy. And the therapist ends up looking at us like we're slightly delusional.

Well! I am so happy to say that Malakai had a Stretchy Day at his last SI therapy session! He sometimes has these days when he continually sits on his bum and stretches his legs out in front of him (sometimes he'll even pull faces and make uncomfortable sounds). He does this every two minutes - seriously.  I told Nadine this and I think she kind of brushed it off... Until our last session. She was amazed to see how much Malakai was stretching and even suggested I send him for an EEG to rule out seizures... WHAT???

Anyway - she did joint compressions on his knees and ankles - kind of like massage for your joints (instead of your muscles) and for the rest of the day he was fine. This is great news because now I know what to do with Malakai on the next Stretchy Day.

As for why Malakai needs the extra input in his legs? Well, I'm guessing it has to do with the fact that we're only going to physio therapy once a month now (instead of once a week) because Malakai is doing so well with his gross motor skills. But that means he's not doing all the physical stuff that he used to once a week. So, I'm going to investigate maybe doing a kind of baby/toddler gymnastics or tumbling class with Malakai, just to give him the extra input in his legs (climbing, jumping etc) and maybe we'll solve the mystery of the Stretchy Days!