Rex - Fifteen Weeks Home

Rex has now been home with us for fifteen weeks and out of the orphanage for seventeen. Life has been good, except for that darn time change which has been rough on our little guy. Rex is gaining weight and I think height, too. His onesies are getting tight in the crotch all of a sudden and the size 5 Pampers is on the horizon. Plus, he’s been sleeping a bit more lately and eating quite a lot of food. Seems like a growth spurt to me.

Developmentally, Rex is climbing all over the place, so nothing is really safe anymore. He pushes chairs up to counters to get what he wants and is reaching higher shelves in the pantry, like I mentioned a few days ago. When we forget to close the gate, he’s up the stairs in no time flat. He has started stacking when we make him though I don’t think he likes it one bit and he is beginning to open and close zippers. We are doubling up on OT sessions now as they are doing such wonders for him. We are also working very hard with Rex on verbal requesting. For example, he knows how to blow raspberries, so when he wants one of his buzz toys, he must blow a raspberry to get it. Or when he wants out on the deck, he must produce a G sound (guh=go). If he cannot or will not (he’s a stubborn little guy), we sign “go” hand over hand with him.

Rex keeps working in waves on attachment, always two steps forward and one step back. He actually will sit in our laps now for longer periods of time and he lets me guide his hands in a very rudimentary version of the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Previously, he would squirm and scream away from this activity, but now he sometimes asks for more of it. Eye contact was way up, but now he’s pulling back from it a little bit again. Craig has taken over bath time which involves even more play, so that’s going much better. I don’t know how far away we are from an actual sit down in the water bath, but I take the giggling standing up over the screaming standing up any day. The nightly teeth-brushing is going well as are haircuts. Even the most recent trimming of his nails went better than ever. Naps are wonderful these days. Rex rarely fights them now and usually as soon as we lie down on the bed, he snuggles up to me and then stays glued to me the entire time he sleeps. If I move, he moves to remain close. I love it.

Rex continues to try out new foods. I don’t remember them all, but popcorn, spicy beef taquitos, pepperjack cheese, hummus, salami and homemade German potato cakes (he eats them with salt like Craig and most of my family though I prefer them with sugar) were a hit while marinara sauce is a definite no go. He wasn’t sure about kitkat at Halloween. He’s not a candy and sweets kind of guy unless it’s something homemade.

A while ago I mentioned Rex’s daily quest to bring the deck chair into the kitchen. He finally did it:

Let’s see how the next two weeks go. Lots and lots of changes ahead.