2003 Journal Links

Yeah, I know. I need to post more. But Archie keeps me very busy. Babies are like that, I suppose. Since so many of you write inquiring about Archie’s progress, I thought I’d take a few moments to briefly fill you in on my 10-month-old’s development.

Archie has four teeth, two on top and two on the bottom. According to his grandfather, the retired dentist, those teeth are breaking through in the correct order. Cutting teeth definitely throws Archie for a loop, though. He’s irritable and sleeps and eats poorly for about a week each time a new tooth arrives. It’s quite a process, but worth the frustration. Those teeth are just so cute once they’ve broken through.

When he’s not teething, Archie is a great eater. He’s down to four bottles a day, and eats baby food three times a day. Archie does so well with his spoon. That is quite an accomplishment for a little guy with Down syndrome, let alone a baby who spent a very long time intubated. Each meal is tiny celebration. Right now Archie and I are working on eating Gerber puffs and teething biscuits. What a fun endeavor! I swear the little guy would be much heavier if he would just sit still for a moment. Archie is always moving something. Hand, foot, leg, arm… one or all four are always going, going, going.

Archie is able to get up on all fours, holding his head up high. Most times he rocks on his knees, but he recently began moving forward on one leg. Some days Archie moves forward with a two-armed military crawl. Other days he simple rolls where he wants to go. Although he’s still working on crawling forward, Archie can definitely crawl backwards. And he can also crawl down backwards off my lap onto the floor, where he loves to stand with my assistance and play with toys propped on the couch. Archie also likes to walk, with me holding him underneath his arms. I love watching him as he watches his feet move forward, right, left, right and left.

I’m also happy to report that Archie is now able to sit unassisted for short periods of time. He loves sitting on the kitchen counter, watching his father cook dinner. He often calls to John then, clapping his hands, “Da! Da! Da! Da!” Archie has a sign language video that he and I watch together, him sitting on my lap. I thought he responded to the video because he liked the kids’ faces and the fun songs, but apparently he’s also paying attention. The other night as John boiled shrimp, Archie started yelling, “Da, da, da!” and doing the sign for “father.” That may have just been coincidence, but John and I are choosing to believe otherwise.

One of my favorite times of day is Archie’s bath time. The little guy absolutely loves to sit in his tub and splash, covering himself in soap suds. He fishes his fist-sized rubber duckies out of the water and chews on them. If he’s not chewing on his bath toys, he’s banging them together. After his bath, Archie loves to look at himself in the mirror. He claps his hands and yells at the top of his lungs, “Baa! Bee! Baa! Bee!”

“Yes, Archie,” I answer, smiling. “That’s right. You’re the baby. Baby, baby.” Archie laughs then and I do, too. We laugh and laugh.

Each night before bed Archie and I read together. I love that Archie enjoys books. He stares at the pictures and follows my finger across the pages. If the pages are thick enough, Archie helps me to turn them. As we read, Archie will every so often turn his face upward to look at me. He smiles and then turns his attention back to the book. Oh, how I love that interaction with my son.

I took Archie to a well-baby check-up last Friday. Dr. Jacques was very pleased with his progress. Here we are, almost a year from Archie’s birth, and I can hardly believe how far we’ve come. Archie has no medicine, no murmur and hopefully no menacing memories of his first few months.

“You do a good job with him,” Dr. Jacques told me. “I hope you’re enjoying him, too.”

Right then Archie laid his head on my shoulder and patted me on the back, something he often does. “I do,” I answered as Archie lifted his head and shouted, perhaps answering, too.

“Hmmmmmm!” he said and then smiled.