Time Flies

Where has the time gone? I realize that I have not posted an entry in several months and I now have so much to say I don't know where to begin. I can't get over how fast time flies, and now that I am a parent, it is very apparant.

Jonah has celebrated so many firsts since my last post and each one was such a blessing to be a part of. His first Thanksgiving was wonderful, celebrated with almost all of our family. It breaks my heart to think that it will also likely be his last one with all the family, but that is a long drawn out story that is not important.

Christmas was so wonderful, the entire season leading up to it was such a joy and really helped to build the anticipation. We began with decorating our home and our annual tradition of dinner at a local restaurant with family.

We visited a local town, Smith Falls, to see the 'Holiday Train'. VIA rail decorates a train with christmas lights, music and of course Santa. It was quite an experience.

My DH's family goes all out decorating for christmas and I began to have some fun with it. This christmas is such a special one for his entire family as it is the first one with little ones. There has been 3 new arrivals in the span of 6 months, Jonah in January, Mathis in February, and Tali in July. Once the decorating was complete, I had some fun with my camera and the little ones.

Tali & her Mommy

This christmas was going to be tight for us, and I had been trying to think of what to give to loved ones that would be very affordable, but thoughtful and touch their hearts. I came up with the idea to try to make gift cd's for family. Not just any old cd, I worked for 2 weeks compiling pictures, then using Windows Movie Maker to create the story of the past year, complete with caption, music, videos, and then finally burning it to a dvd so that it would be playable on any standard dvd player. For my inlaws, the dvd focused on the 3 new arrivals, and copies were made for each member. For my mother, the focus was on our journey into parenthood. The dvd's were a hit with everyone.

I toyed with the idea of bringing Jonah to see Santa. I am now thinking of how we will teach Jonah about christmas. The reason for the season is the focus for sure, but do I want to elimate Santa? I never liked seeing santa as a child, I was shy and didn't like sitting on a strange persons' lap. However, my inlaws go all out. Every christmas my father-in-law dresses as Santa for the gift exchange, and he hands out the gifts to each person {but the beard and hat get tossed by the time he is done}. We decided to take him to see santa afterall, and Jonah enjoyed the experience.

Santa Shots

My mother came for a visit on Christmas Eve. My DH's family is French Canadian and their tradition is to celebrate christmas on Christmas Eve. I was not sure how we would work it with the little ones as the gift opening begins so late, but Jonah and Tali (Mathis lives further away) are both quite young still and their schedule is not routine yet, so we still did Christmas Eve beginning at 8pm. Jonah wound up falling asleep at 9pm but woke up at 1am, so we just waited on him to open his gifts and continued with everyone else in the meantime. Tali was actually awake right through, what a trooper.

With Nana

On Christmas Day, we slept in, then after dressing up, did a small exchange of our own (the focus on Jonah of course) and then ran out to do a small exchange with my brother, his fiance, and her family. Afterwards, we ran out to visit my DH's family once again as Mathis and his parents were coming into town. Another gift exchange, followed by dinner and celebrations.

With Uncle Jason & Aunt Kelli with Mathis Boxing Day

One big development in the past few months is Jonah's Torticollis. He was diagnosed with Torticollis at 5 months, however I noticed it at 3 months. I had brought it up with his pediatrician, Dr. R. and she insisted he was fine. I trusted her, she is the professional, right?! Wrong! One thing I have learned as a parent, Trust your Instincts. At the time (3months), he had a hard time keeping his head upright and it would often lop to his shoulder. By 5months he could barely keep his head off his shoulder. I finally had enough and brought him to another doctor, Dr. C., and after looking him over, agreed with me and referred us for physiotherapy. Within 2 weeks, physio had begun, and Dr. R. was informed of it - and not happy with us at all. Needless to say, we are hoping that Dr. C. will take Jonah as one of his patients.

By December I finally decided to talk to the therapists about another concern. Tali, 6months Jonah's junior, was beginning to bypass him physically. I know that all children are different and he would eventually learn the skills, but when she began to do things he still cannot, I knew I was right again. I asked if he was delayed and they agreed he was and offered to work with us in that as well. Our first physio for his physical delays was on Christmas Eve. Two days later, he finally began sitting on his own - at 11.5 months old, however he is still unable to sit himself. We are working to teach him the skills to pull himself into a sitting position and eventually to stand.

I have learned that in the past two weeks, Mathis is now walking and Tali is now crawling everywhere. Jonah doesn't crawl on all fours, he rolls his way everywhere. I know that rolling is a form of crawling, but I see now it was hisway of getting around when he wasn't able to crawl. I can't help but feel horrible. I feel responsible in a way, as I am his mother, he was created in me, I am his caregiver, I can't help but feel responsible. I feel bad for my DH, for Jonah's grandparents (that their grandson has developmental delays), and mostly I feel horrible for Jonah because this has set him so far behind his peers. The standard response by everyone is, all babies develop at different rates and he WILL get it, but that does not help. Those words are why I waited 2 extra months before getting the Torticollis diagnosed, those words are why I waited another 5 months before broaching the subject of his phsyical delays. Those words are not a get out of jail free card and they no longer hold true when Jonah is concerned.

Jonah has made some amazing accomplishments where his Torticollis is concerned. It is virtually gone now and I have some shots to show the changes.

3months

Dr. R. thought he was fine....

8 months 12 months