April 3

I was surprised to learn that Caleb had the day off school today, so he got to join us for Eli's 2-month checkup. Aside from the part where Lily drew all over an upholstered chair with a dry erase marker, it went well. 

Eli weighed 9 pounds, 12 ounces, which puts him firmly on the growth chart in the 3rd percentile. His head circumference was near the 50th percentile, and his length was somewhere near the 25th percentile, so our man has officially moved past his preemie status! Hooray! I forgot our developmental questionnaire at home, though, so we will have to wait to see if Eli has any developmental delays or not. My instinct is that he might be very slightly delayed in a few areas, but he is mostly developing on track.

Our doctor and I talked about the fact that Eli seems to be a very high-maintenance child, only happy when he's held or worn. Amazingly, our doctor just came back from a workshop on craniofascial therapy, which is very similar to the craniosacral therapy we've already done with him. She was confident that more craniosacral or craniofascial work would solve our problems. Though she's by no means an expert yet, she did a bit of work on Eli at our appointment.

Can I tell you that after the work our doc did, my child napped all afternoon, then had his best evening yet? He was alert and content, smiled, cooed, was cheerful, and even participated in family reading time. I didn't have to nurse him for two solid hours, and he didn't spit up all over the place. He was like a normal baby for the first time ever. It was kind of amazing.

Happy Eli, chilling on the Boppy.

Family reading time - Chris read the kids the story of Good Friday in the Jesus Storybook Bible. No one was holding Eli, and he was content. In fact, he hung out that way for quite a while! I think we could all get used to this. It was so nice for me to be able to participate in our family's evening, instead of hunkering down and feeding the baby for hours.

However, I'm not sure if we can afford more craniosacral therapy sessions, and there are currently no CFT practitioners in our area. While they've been really effective for us, both types of therapy are really hippy-dippy/new age, so thery're obviously not covered by insurance. Luckily, our doctor talked to me about how tummy time can be considered a form of physical therapy. Wearing babies works the same muscle groups as tummy time, so I've never made it a priority for my babies. But our doc thought that tummy time might be just as effective as CST or CFT to help Eli feel more comfortable, so it's our first choice. If tummy time can't make evenings like tonight happen regularly, then it may be worth it for my sanity for us to shell out for more CST sessions.