Developmental Delays

The first year of Aiden's life was mentally hard for me. It was very hard for me to understand and comprehend that he was not a "typical" developing child. I couldn't help but compare him to other babies his age or things my other children were doing at his age. I got super caught up on googling what he should and shouldn't be doing at the month he was at and reading milestone charts.

The first big milestone that Aiden missed was rolling. He did not start consistently being able to roll over until just after a year old. He could do it prior but it took a lot of motivation and cueing to get him to go. (Now changing his diaper is like an Olympic sport!) He never liked tummy time and I'm not sure if that is due to his Gtube, not being on his belly for so long in the NICU, personal preference, or all of it.

The next challenge for Aiden was weight bearing through his arms. He REFUSED to use his arms for anything. He would rather fall over then have to use his arms to catch himself. He struggled when he was younger with hypertonia, which is a condition in which there is too much muscle tone so that arms or legs, for example, are stiff and difficult to move. We worked a lot in occupational therapy on being able to extend his arms. I would say the most progress with his arms and with hypertonia was made when we started DMI therapy last March!

Another delay for Aiden was sitting independently. He did not start sitting by himself until probably around 9-10 months. He relied on pillows or sit me up chairs and would just fall over or backwards if not supported. We worked a lot on how to transition from his back or belly to get into a sitting position. I credit that to DMI therapy as well!

Aiden did not start crawling until 14 months. He is currently 17 months and does not stand or walk. He has started pulling himself up, but does not know how to move from there. He will not take any steps. He had to learn how to properly "get down" which he has mastered now! Instead of taking side steps along furniture he will fall, crawl to where he wants to go, and pull himself back up.

He also does not say any words. He babbles, A LOT, but can not officially say anything. He is currently working very hard in speech to learn sounds and how to say mama and dada!

Everything with Aiden to this point has been on his terms. He is very stubborn and does things in his own time. I am so proud of him as he works so hard! He may not like all of the therapy now, but I know one day he will be thankful that I made him do it and was able to provide those resources to him! He currently does PT, OT, ST, feeding therapy, and DMI therapy. We have two more intensives this year which we are so excited to for to see the progress Aiden will make!

I will continue to give Aiden the best tools and resources he needs to succeed! We are so blessed and so fortunate to have so many wonderful resources and great therapists in the palm of our hands!