Joshua update

At his 9 month checkup, Joshua was in the 75th percentile for weight and 90th for height. He's a growing boy! They are already seeing a difference in the shape of his head from the Doc Band. He is seen every 2 weeks for adjustments and they've needed to make a couple of adjustments for growth.

He had a 6 month evaluation with the state for early intervention. The developmental specialist and physical therapist were there. He met all of his social goals but none of his physical goals. He's almost there on some of them, for instance he can roll over, but doesn't do it consistently. So he now has 2 pages of PT goals!

He is now getting Speech & Occupational Therapy as well. The OT helps with fine motor skills, such as feeding himself as he doesn't have the pincher grasp and has trouble getting food placed in his hand to his mouth. The speech therapist that did his evaluation is also feeding certified, which was very helpful. He doesn't have the muscle control for drinking from a bottle, but they aren't going to switch to a different type of bottle now at 9 months of age. So she recommended a special bear sippy cup with a straw. He will be able to squeeze the bear & suck through the straw to drink. She also showed them a different way to hold the spoon that will hold his tongue down when they feed. Right now, most of the food is pushed out by his tongue. He also stores food in his cheeks without realizing it. So they are using a special brush on the inside of his cheek to help build up the sensations in his mouth.

For his speech, in terms of responsiveness and expressiveness, he was rated at a 2-3 month stage. Now this is related to a typical baby, so they don't know how he rates in terms of other Downs babies. His only two consonants right now are "buh" and "duh". He has many speech related goals, such as waving hi & goodbye, responding to his name consistently, and looking to Tasha & Bob when asked "Where is mama/dada" They are starting to use sign language with him, "more" and "please".