Archive for January, 2009:
Hippo and Me
Elijah went to CHOC today to do a followup on his blood tests. It turns out that his factor 9 is ok. Thank God. However we also found out that he has a low Von Willabrand type 1. We are told it’s not that serious, but he will need to stay away from anything that will cause him to have any sudden gushing of blood internal or external like tackle football or any contact sport. He will also be wearing some sort of medical tag in order for people to know that he has this condition.
Rolling, rolling, rolling Elijah
Yesterday Jan 2, 2009 was Elijah’s 1st month of life. We witnessed through the frantic tantrum of hunger, a graceful orchestration of bodily rotational maneuvering. During his crying while waiting for the milk, Elijah did his first and second roll. A roll is what you would commonly see dogs do as a trick.
How it happened
I placed him on his stomach since he enjoys that, and also makes his breathing a little bit easier from phlegm. I then noticed that he started to kick, turn his head, and push his arms up. It was so slow and natural, it looked more like gravity might have caused his random movements to make him move little by little till he has rolled over. Annie, after seeing this, excitedly said, “did he just roll on his own?”. I said, “No. he just kinda moved and randomly kinda went on his back”. To test this, I did it once again. I placed him on his stomache, hands and feet stretched out, head to the side. He started flailing again and wow, there he was, on his back again. Even then, I was not convinced.
Second Testing
This morning before his feeding, I did the same thing. He wasn’t as frantic, but in a calm and almost methodic way, he started to turn to his side. In order to see if it was an accident or intentional, I blocked that side with a roll of cloth. Then he proceeded to turn the other way. He succesfully rolled to the other side. Annie once again stated that this is a landmark event. I still think that it’s just gravity + innate appendage movement coordination + new strength of muscle that translates into a roll. Perhaps that IS what a legitimate roll is and I’m sciencing away his accomplishment.
We dont’ have a movie of him rolling yet, but here are some recent pictures.
