Thursday, December 13, 2012

16 months!


I waited until today to post Sydney’s 16 month update because she had her monthly PT appointment today but I’ll get to that in a bit.  At Sydney’s 15 month well-baby, the doctor discovered that she had an ear infection and prescribed antibiotics.  Well, after 5 days on amoxicillin, the cold/cough that she also had was not getting any better and we weren’t even sure how to know if her ear infection was any better since we never knew she had one until the doctor checked her ears.  I called and got her an appointment the day before thanksgiving just to check her out.  The doctor said that her ear was still slightly red and checked her for flu, RSV, and Whooping cough just to rule everything out.  All tests came back negative so he prescribed her a different antibiotic, erythromycin.  Welllll…….Thanksgiving morning, Sydney woke up with a rash on her legs and torso.  As the day went on her rash got worse and her lip was starting to swell so we took her to the ER to get checked out.  The ER doctor said that she had an allergic reaction to one (or both) of the antibiotics.  We were able to make it to moms in time for Thanksgiving dinner J  Sydney was speckled for a few days but with the steroid he prescribed everything has cleared up.  Here’s her speckled look and first hospital visit picture:


Sydney visited with Santa last weekend and she was super excited about it!


 
 
Today was Sydney’s monthly PT appointment.  She is holding pretty steady with a slight tilt still.  We have to be diligent with using her TOT Collar and focusing on her using both sides of her body equally (stepping up with both the left and right leg – she tends to use the right leg more) but at this point the tilt is more habit than anything else.  Her neck muscles weren’t tight and she has good range of motion.
She is walking more and more every day and is starting to stand up on her own (instead of pulling up on everything).  Today she was able to show me where her nose is when I asked her!  Also, she doesn’t really bother the Christmas tree at all either so we are hoping that continues!  Here is her 16 month picture...I had this hat made for her, it's a Hippo :)

Friday, November 16, 2012

15 month check-up


Today was Sydney’s 15 month check-up.  She is 30.5” tall (50 percentile), 22 lbs 10 oz (55 percentile), and her head measures 50 cm (still in the upper 98 percentile, which is normal for her).  She’s right on track for her milestones.  Everything was looking good until the doctor checked her ears….she has an ear infection!  We didn’t even know it!  She’s not been acting different or even messing with her ear.  She has had a cough ever since she had a cold a couple of weeks ago and the doctor said her cough and ear infection could be from the little bit of drainage that she has had.  I’m so glad that even when she’s sick or doesn’t feel 100% she is totally happy. J

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

15 months!


I’m a day late because I was debating on posting something Friday after Sydney’s 15 month check-up but I was able to get some video that I wanted to share!  It won’t be long and she’ll be walking everywhere!!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hurricane Sandy, PT, and Christmas (yes, Christmas)

Luckily we did not get hit with the worst of Hurricane Sandy.  We did have a lot of rain and wind but luckily didn’t lose power (which is unusual).  Steve manned the Emergency Operations Center and Sydney and I hung out at home. 
Today was our two week PT appointment and we’ve been scaled back to once a month visits!  Sydney is keeping her head midline more often so it’s just a matter of breaking her habit of the head tilt when she’s really concentrating or reaching for something.  Breaking that habit will happen over time and with her wearing her TOT Collar.  She will remain in PT until she is walking on her own.  Once she is walking, they just want to make sure she’s not tilting or using one side more than the other.  Which actually brings me to this….she took 2 steps all on her own today!!!!  She did this a couple of times walking from Steve to me or from me back to Steve.  She let go of our hands and took a couple steps!  So, it won’t be long before she is walking on her own and we’ll hopefully have PT behind us!!  Oh, on a side note, I don’t think I mentioned but she is currently getting 5 (maybe 6) teeth all at the same time!  Thank goodness they haven’t really bothered her!  Pretty soon, she’ll have a mouth full of teeth!
I’ve started making a Christmas list for Sydney in case anyone wants to look at it.  I decided to make it at Target this year because Toys R Us aggravates me (that’s a story for later).  Here’s the link: http://www.target.com/ot/list/I-eHQ7ERbvApHsgVdbYOAw  or you can search for the list at Target.com under TargetLists using her name or Nikki Basham.  There’s not much on there right now but it’s a start and I’ll keep trying to add to it.  Don’t feel obligated to buy specifically from Target or this list or at all for that matter…this is just an idea of things she would like.  She still LOVES books and is currently wearing 12mo clothes now so will probably be wearing 18mo clothes by the time Christmas gets here or shortly after and it won’t be long before she is in a size 3 shoe.  Then there’s also the option of cash for her car/college/wedding fund…LOL J.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

14 months, PT, and the Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we took Sydney to Belvedere Plantation to the Pumpkin Patch.  She loves to be outside so she loved all of the activities there.  We didn’t get any pumpkins because we are going back this coming Saturday with Mom (her work has a bon fire event each year at Belvedere).  Here are some pictures from our outing and her 14 month picture:
 

 


This past Tuesday was our PT appointment.  Things are going well but pretty much holding steady as far as her tilt goes.  We’ll go back in two weeks and see if there has been any improvement.  She holds her head midline more often since she’s been wearing the TOT Collar but still tilts her head slightly.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

13 months, Swimming, TOT collar, and PT

I’m really late on posting a 13 month photo but here you go!  I’ll get back on track in a few days with her 14 month picture She loves being outside and this is her on the trike we got her for her birthday.

We started a water class a couple of weeks ago.  It’s not really swim class since she’s so young but they teach the babies how to play safely in the water.  During water class she and I get into the pool and we practice putting Sydney on her back and floating, kicking her feet, and climbing in and out of the pool.  She really enjoys being in the pool and there is only one other baby in the class and Sydney likes talking to her.
Sydney has been wearing her TOT collar for about a week now.  She wears it while she is playing and it doesn’t seem to bother her.  She will pull at it when it is first put on but then she leaves it alone.  She’s not limited in her movements and plays as usual.  It really does help her remember to keep her hedr midline.  Today was the first visit back to PT since she’s had it on and she is looking great!  Her therapist said that Sydney is doing much better already and that we’ll go back in 2 weeks for our normal appointment and she will decide then if we are totally done with PT or if we have to go back in maybe 3 or 4 week intervals…cross your fingers!! J
Here are a couple of pictures of the TOT collar:
Clear flexible tubing goes around her neck with hard plastic "struts" to keep her head in midline.

You can see the clear tubing under her chin


Friday, September 7, 2012

PT Update and Dentist Visit

Sydney is still going to PT once every other week.  This past week her therapist took measurements and the good news is that she is turning her head the same number of degrees left and right and the same range with her tilt left and right.  The bad news is when she plays, she still tilts her head 6 degrees (so she’s not in midline all the time).  The therapist believes the tilt is due to muscle memory and the only way to really correct that is to have Sydney wear a TOT collar (to read more about the TOT collar click here:  http://www.symmetric-designs.com/index82.html).  The collar will basically keep her head in midline while she plays and hopefully remind her to keep her head straight.  We have to get the collar ordered and the therapist will fit her and she’ll only wear it when she plays.  We’ll take it off for feeding, bath, and sleeping.
Today was Sydney’s first dentist appointment.  We saw Dr. Elsner in Fredericksburg (not our family dentist because he doesn’t seen children until they are 3) and he was excellent!  He was very personable and met and talked with Sydney before he brought us back and checked her teeth.  She did great!  She didn't cry or try to get away from him!  He said that everything looks good and her teeth are coming in at the right place and pace so she’s on track.  He gave us a Sydney sized toothbrush too J She’ll go back in one year for another check-up. 

Monday, August 13, 2012

1 Year Appointment

Today was Sydney’s one year doctor appointment.  She is 28 ¾ inches tall (40th percentile), weighs 18 pounds 12 ounces (40th percentile), and her head is measuring 48 cm (upper 98th percentile which is normal for her).  She got three shots today and she tried so hard not to cry but it just hurt too bad!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

The BIG 1!!

Today is Sydney’s birthday!  We had a cookout at the house and friends and family came to watch Sydney eat cake and open gifts.  She was soooooo very tired by the end of the day but she had sooooooo much fun!  Grandpa and Grandma Rhody came up from SC and Grandma and Grandpa Basham and cousin Chrissy came up from FL and the alllll the local family came too!
Her party was Hippo themed….it just kind of formed into that theme once I started to plan the party.  My nickname for her (among others) is Hippo.  When she was only a few days old, she would wake up hungry and suck on her fingers….when I heard the sucking noise, it reminded me of that game, Hungry Hungry Hippos!  I made Hippo decorations, ordered Hippo shaped cups for the kids, and had Hippo shaped cakes made.  It all turned out really cute!
Sydney received all kinds of clothes and gifts that she is going to love….because most of the toys make noise! LOL!  She did get a lot of books and she sure does love her books too!  She also really liked her cake!  Only recently did Sydney begin to pick up her food and feed herself so I was really happy when that happened because I knew she would get to dig into her cake at her birthday party!
Here are a few pictures from the party:

We also had some professional pictures taken for her first birthday which included a Smash the Cake session:


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Today was the day!!!

We had our final band appt today @ 9am. They took 3d images so we could see the changes to her head shape. They also took photos from all angles and provided us with a side by side line up with the original photos and the new ones. Her head will always be angled somewhat but it looks so much better than it did!

Sydney now has to learn how to not hurt her head! When she had her band on it protected her for the most part but as soon as we got home she went to roll and knocked her head! I imagine we'll have bumps and bruises soon!

Friday, July 6, 2012

It's official!!!!!

Sydney's last day in her band will be July 18th and that won't even be a full day since her appointment is at 9:00 am! At her final appointment they will take "after" pictures and 3D images of her head and compare the before band & after band shape. Yay!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

PT Update

We just left our weekly PT appointment and Sydney has been cut back from once a week to once every other week!! Yay!! We still need to work on stretching her neck muscles and crawling but over all she is looking so much better!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Band Update

Today was Sydney’s appointment for her band adjustment.  Everything went well…her head has grown 3cm in two weeks!  The technician confirmed that Sydney only has 4 more weeks left in her band!  That means we’ll go back for one more adjustment in 2 weeks then go back for the final appointment 2 weeks after that.  Yay!  Her head looks so much better now.
I won a photography session from a Mother’s Day contest a local photographer held and we went a couple weekends ago to have the pictures done…here are a few from the session:



Thursday, June 14, 2012

Friday, June 8, 2012

Florida and Head Check

Sydney took her first long distance trip this past week!  We drove to Florida for several reasons: Sydney’s Great-Grandmother’s 80th birthday party, visit with Aunt Brandi, Uncle Stacey, Mikala and Mason, visit with Grandpa Frank, and to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Basham and Chrissy.  We drove to Brandi and Stacey’s last Thursday…it was a long drive but Sydney did great!  She was really good and we stopped every few hours for food and to get her out of her car seat for a bit.  Saturday we attended Grandma Gladys’ 80th birthday party.  Man, when I’m 80 I hope I’m as active as she it!  She was out on the dance floor shaking a leg and having a great time. 

Sunday we left Brandi and Stacey’s and drove across the state to Steve’s parent’s house.  We spent some time with them and Chrissy and then drove back to Virginia Tuesday.  Sydney did really well on the way back home too.










Today was Sydney’s 2 week head check.  She didn’t have any head growth these past two weeks.  Everything still looks good and she will be in the band another 4-6 weeks.  In 4-6 weeks we’ll get new pictures taken and discuss the options for a second band.  The technician’s will be able to tell us if they think a second band would even be beneficial.  So as of right now it looks like Sydney will get her band off as her first birthday present!!
We have more teeth!  Sydney has three visible teeth and it appears that the top right one is trying to come through AND the tooth next to her top left one is trying to make an appearance too!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Forgot...

to mention...packed away alllll the bottles today! Sydney loves drinking from her sippy cups! Yay!

6 Week Head Check

Today was our appointment for Sydney’s band check.  She’s doing great and everything looks good.  We asked the technician how much longer can we expect her to be in this band and her estimate is about 6 more weeks.  We will have to see how she progresses in the next 6 weeks before they determine if a second band would be beneficial.
PT is still going good but we haven’t been released to every other week yet.  Her numbers are looking better each week so we hope that she’ll cut us back soon J
Sydney is getting another tooth!  She now has the two front bottom ones poking through and the top left has poked through.  She’s refuses to let us really see her teeth…she puts her tongue in the way every time so at some point I’ll try to manage getting a picture of them…maybe when she’s asleep…LOL

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Monday, May 14, 2012

9 months old!!

Sydney was 9 months old this past Saturday!!  I saved the blog until today because today was her 9 month check-up.  She is 27” tall (25th percentile), weighs 17lbs 11oz (50th percentile), and her head is measuring 47.5 cm (98th percentile – which is normal for her).  The pediatrician said that she’s developmentally on track for her age.  Sydney lovers her pediatrician…she “talked” to her the entire time she was in the room and she was mesmerized by her stethoscope.  Sydney got a finger prick today and two shots.  She didn’t cry for the finger prick or the first shot but the second shot made her fuss.  She was not happy!

The photo upload isn’t working so well tonight so I’ll try again tomorrow.
I should mention that we went for her band check this past Friday and things are still going great!  She’s had the band on 4 weeks today!!  Hopefully, only a month or so more!  Tomorrow is PT.  As long as Sydney’s numbers are good, we might get to cut PT back to every other week!!  I’ll keep you posted! J

Friday, April 27, 2012

Yipee!!!

Some great things have been happening over the past couple of weeks.  Aside from taking a long weekend trip to Nags Head this past weekend (which was nice and relaxing) Sydney is starting to get sooooo much better at sitting up on her own.  She does really well until she decides that she wants something that is just out of her reach – then it’s man down!  She still hasn’t grasped the concept that she needs to catch herself when she’s falling over but at least her band is giving her head some cushion!  Sitting up is great progress!  Her head is usually midline and her physical therapist says that babies with torticollis usually have the hardest time mastering sitting in midline so Sydney is looking good! 
Therapy this week was really good too!  We are still going to physical therapy once a week for the torticollis.  This week’s measurements were the best yet!  We are still working with her quite a bit at home (things like stretching, massage, and feeding from the left side) to keep her working her muscles.  Sydney really likes to sit up and reach for things which is good for her so she can keep working her core muscles and strengthen them.  She’s rolling like a rolley-polley too!  She’s all over the place which is a big milestone for her with having torticollis.
WE HAVE A TOOTH!!!  This week I was feeding her and saw something white.  I got a closer look and there is a tooth peeking through!  It’s the bottom left tooth (right side of this pic):

All of this leads me up to today’s Band check.  Today was our one week check (she’s had the band on for 11 days – which is the longest time yet) and everything still looks good!  So good in fact that our technician recommended going to two week checks!!!  That means we don’t have to go back for two weeks unless something happens…YAY!!!!!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Band Check

Today was Sydney's band check appointment. Since Monday she's had very little redness and the usual spot has only been pink. This is great!! The technician said her head is looking good! She adjusted the band for her head growth and we go back next Friday for her 1 week check up.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

8 months old!

Sydney is 8 months old (well she was on Thursday…I’m a little late posting)!  She’s getting better by the day at rolling over – which also means her neck is getting stronger!  Every now and then she will put her knee under her body as if she wants to crawl but she doesn’t know what to do after that so she gives up.  She’s starting to sit up by herself for 15-20 seconds at a time.  She hasn’t quite got the concept that she has to break her falls or else she’s going to knock her head…which she’s done a few times now.  The physical therapist said that Sydney looks really good in sitting and that is a positive thing because infants with torticollis usually have a hard time mastering being in midline while sitting.  We go tomorrow to get her new band so hopefully the third time will be a charm!

Monday, April 9, 2012

First Easter

On Good Friday, we had Sydney’s appointment to get new photos of her head in preparation for her new band.  Everything went well and the technicians said they could see an improvement in how she is holding her head (they didn’t need a third person to push her head into midline).  The pictures were the best she’s had so far so hopefully this will be the last time!  We are scheduled to get her new band on April 16th.
On Saturday, we dyed Easter eggs and took some pictures of Sydney IN her Easter basket.  She wasn’t too upset out the basket (unlike when we put her in the pumpkin).  She is so distracted by everything it’s hard to get her to look at the camera and even crack a smile, but the pictures were cute none the less.

On Sunday, the Easter Bunny left a basket full of things for Sydney and we went to Mom’s for Easter dinner.  Sydney had a pretty dress and enjoyed all of her goodies.  She really loves to be outside and swing!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Band Update

Had Sidney's band appt today to see if we could get her band back. Well it looks like we will be getting a 3rd band....we need to wait until her skin is totally good...not red...no dry skin...and then we'll start all over again...in a week or 2 potentially.

Monday, March 19, 2012

On the road again....

Well...had to head to Cranial Tech today. Sydney's red spot didn't get any better over the weekend. While we were at the appointment the spot opened up sooooooo we have to wait until Friday to see if it has gone away.
They kept her helmet....again...so no wearing the helmet until at least Friday.

This is what the spot looked liked this morning. It's because the helmet rubs her prominent point...

Friday, March 16, 2012

7 months & DOC Band update....

Sydney’s 7 months old!  Before we know it we’ll be planning her 1st birthday party!
Sydney’s had her band on for two weeks now.  She’s been doing well with it and she hasn’t been getting too hot like last time…must help that we’ve had the AC on b/c of the CRAZY March weather!  She doesn’t mind the band at all.  She does have one spot on her head where the band rubs a bit but due to how her head is shaped but until her head shifts some more, we’ll just have to watch that spot. 
This week Sydney got her flu booster shot and she only cried for a few seconds.  She’s still enjoying eating solid (pureed) food although green beans and peas aren’t a real hit she will eat them.  Her new thing is to sleep on her side – even in her swing!