Therapy...

So this one is called therapy because we have now started visual therapy with Lucas to stimulate his vision as much as humanly possible!! Without over stimulating that is :p

We have a lovely lady Jane who come over every fortnight and works with us and Lucas on new things to work on for example:  She brought over a 'little room' .  It's made up of 3 wooden walls and a fiberglass top.  Lucas lyes inside the room on a resonance board and there are everyday itens hanging on elastic for him to touch and kick.  The sounds from these items are magnified as the sounds from outside the box are muffled.  This little room also has things on the walls to touch.  Lucas absolutely loves the little room! So manyt things to touch and clatter (would be great for any baby actually).  Basically because of his vision impairment this room teaches Lucas that if he lets go of something..it's still there.  Someone who is born blind needs to be taught about their environment and that things still exist if it's all of a sudden gone.  Although Lucas has some vision..this will stimulate it to look for things that he has let go.

Since starting the therapy he has developed so much! The last two weeks we have seen a change in him.
Lucas has been bringing his hands together and playing with toys in front of him instead of to the side.  This is important in development and also works on a different set of muscles.
He has also been moving his head around more and looking for things to touch, has become a lot more vocal and even rolled over a few times from front to back!!!  Now that is a lot of development in two weeks.

Lucas is now trying to roll from back to front...he has nearly got it but might be another few weeks.  Not bad for a micro preemie thats suppossed to only be 3 months old huh??  Oh and he has begun smiling a LOT more and becoming very happy and interactive with us too.  Especially mummy :) He just looooves his mummy. Then again what baby doesnt?

So thats the latest and greatest in our lives.  We have started putting Lucas down for naps in his cot too so that the transition from his bassinett is easier on him.  So far it's been a bit of a battle and he just wants his bassinet but he is slowly getting much better and today even went down without a fuss! I will be sad to see him move from our room to his room, but i know he will sleep better in there without any noise.  Plus he is getting quite a bit bigger now so wont be too long before we have to put him in it anyway!

Lucas is still not ready for solids but i think another month we might reasess.  He's also dribbling so much that we think he might be teething.  I wanted to try one of those amber necklaces but John being John decided it was hippy mumo jumbo after watching a doco on 20/20 with doctors proving it does nothing and is only a fashion trend haha.  We will see who wins that battle :)

Everything else is great with us, John and I even got to go on a date to the movies the other night! Wow first time in ages. Was much needed and very special :)  Thanks to mum and dad!!

I have started up classes at plunket on monday mornings to meet some other mums...After 5 more weeks I am then starting a coffee group in papamoa on monday mornings and decided to volunteer with setting up etc.  They needed someone and I've had a bit of cabin fever so I thought why not?  Great way to meet people, especially since I've come back to Tauranga and dont know many people now.

So thats about all for now..going up to Auckland next thursday for a couple of eye apointments for Lucas.  He will be getting his focus tested for the first time. That should be interesting, he may or may not get baby glasses.  How cute would that be?? hehe

Hope you are all well and keeping cool in this hot weather! Nice cool rainy day for us but I wouldnt mind the sun to come back tomorrow so I can take Lucas out of the house for a walk!

Will update again soon

Jen xx