Say that without taking a breath

Say cheeeeeesssse. Zack's been to the dentist. 


We only visit the dentist at Alder Hey now. We used to go to the main dental place in Warrington and they were good but lets be honest, how many kids are they going to see like Zack?


Zack's teeth have never been, normal. But then again, Zack isn't text book is he? He got all his baby teeth except one top one that never appeared, probably couldn't be arsed to make an appearance. We had an X ray done of the missing tooth and it turns out there is an adult one there waiting to hatch.


Is hatch the right term for teeth coming through? 

Anyway, Zack, like most things with him takes his time with teeth. His gums are very thick and swollen. Dentists seem to think that this is due to the epilepsy medicine that he takes whereas the neurologist thinks it's nothing to do with that. I just think his teeth are lazy like him. 

He's lost a few of his baby teeth and grown some quite admirable front teeth. The bottom two seem to be at war with each other, one coming up straight the other twisted.

As you can imagine every six months when we visit the dentist I regurgitate a one minute monologue that goes along these lines.....
"Well, he's lost another two, but I'm worried that there isn't any coming through, and his gums seem really thick. And then there's that twisted one at the bottom, I mean what about the gums, how will the teeth come through. Are this ridges at the bottom normal.....is it normal?"

There say that without taking a breath.

As always the dentist is very patient with me. In fact, he's a really good dentist. He should have his own children's tv show. Like that good looking doctor on CBeebies, the one that tells those weird puppets about tummy bugs.

When I went this time after my outburst, I looked round at Zack to see he had turned to face me and I swear to God the look on his face was one of, Jesus mum, will you relax. 

Turns out I still don't need to worry, everything is as it should be and all quite normal.

NORMAL

We don't get that very often. And when that word is used in a sentence with Zack it kind of throws you a bit. But yes, all the teeth are coming in the right order, he may be slightly behind by a year (but what's new there), all good, all fine.

Off we left, happy that all was good in teeth world. 

We didn't get a sticker though.....we'd like a sticker. Do they still do stickers saying I've been a brave girl?

Zack is definitely an under responsive child

Zack went to play group on Monday. They had a seaside/beach theme. Zack wasn't too impressed with the sand or the stones or the fact that he sat in a chair and couldn't reach the table. It was quite busy with some new children and parents. 


His physio came in for a visit which he gratefully received by leaving a bit of spit/puke on her hand. Well, she had been moving him about and he just wasn't in the mood for it. As usual Zack was more interested in scanning the room and taking in the situation rather that playing with any toys. He was particularly interested in some young dad who had brought his son along. Not sure why but he wouldn't stop looking at him. Perhaps it was the shellsuit he was wearing, the dad that is, not Zack.


Zack wasn't that responsive in the playgroup, he seemed to be having one of his switched off days. He has them from time to time. It used to bother me that not every day was one filled with him taking things in and responding but now I understand that for Zack some days are just off days or duvet days. When he's like that we just do nice things like cuddles and sleeping.


After the playgroup we had a dietician appointment. Zack, amazingly has grown 4cm in six weeks yet not really gained any weight. The dietician (a new lady the other one has disappeared) isn't concerned as he is growing so we are going to see what he is like in five weeks time. She suggested that because he was poorly a month or so ago he may have lost weight then so it is better to wait and see how he is in a few weeks and then make a decision as to calorie in-take. I personally think we should have increased it a little but I am willing to wait and see.


I went to a seminar today about sensory integration. It wasn't bad, I came away with a good understanding of what it's all about but I would have liked more information on what type of things you can do for your child. However I did clarify that Zack is definitely an under responsive child. That is, he needs a lot of forceful stimuli to get through to him. Some children are very over-responsive and the slightest thing will set them off and make them highly anxious. Zack is the opposite, which is why he likes loud noises, rubbing his arms and legs, rough and tumble, jigging up and down. I think they key is to just choose one sensory input, for example, his hearing and make a huge increase in the stimulation you give in this area. If you included all the other sensory areas at the same time, this would just over-load him and he would find it too confusing and would be unable to comprehend what was going on.


I also discovered how important vestibular activity is (movement and body awareness in space) as it is strongly linked to visual and auditory pathways. I guess this means more swinging in the garden for the Pants.


Had a chat with the epilepsy nurse today about Zack getting this new medication. He had a day or two with increased seizures, yet today he has only had a few. As it is up and down at the moment we agreed that I will keep a diary of them over the rest of this week and call her on Monday to discuss it further. I think if they remain increased then we will definitely be giving him the new drug. 


Oh and finally not sure if I have mentioned this previously but Zack has two teeth popping through. At bloody last. Two little ones on the bottom. They didn't half take their time, mind you, Zack takes his time with everything but then what's the rush? He has all the time in the world.

He loves nothing better than chewing my little finger.

I have noticed over the past couple of days that Zack has been doing some new things. They are only tiny things but still a move in the right direction.


The other day he was in his walker chair (which he likes...a lot) and it has a little bar across the table with some toy rings on it. He had his left hand on top of the bar holding it and his right hand underneath it, he moved his right hand from underneath and placed it on top so he could steady himself.  Purposeful movement, brilliant. 


Second thing I have noticed is that he is opening his right hand a lot more. Usually when he is on tummy time and he props himself upright his hands are in a fist shape but I noticed on his right hand that he has been putting two fingers out flat. When I picked him up for a cuddle he opened his hand up flat and put it on my shoulder. 


Third thing and this is due to his teething but he has taken to eating my finger, thumb and arm. I had Zack sat on my knee with his back to me and he was resting his mouth on my arm when I heard him sucking away. I gave him my hand and he launched himself on to the side of my thumb he was like a little vampire. Zack never bothered with sucking before but now he really has a good go at it and chomping too. He loves nothing better than chewing my little finger. 


He is also able to prop himself up for longer periods of time and he really pushes himself upright with his right arm. 


I am so pleased that he is using his mouth a lot more and I have even noticed him trying to suck his hand. This is all a good step in the right direction and we can definitely say he does NOT have an oral aversion.


Zack's Nanny and Grandad Gould bought him a ball pool for Easter. We got some more balls for it and filled it to the brim. I nearly lost Zack in it but he found it all very amusing, especially when you cover him in more balls. He is a very lucky little boy to have so many fantastic toys.


Dan and I went out on our own the other afternoon. Zack stayed with Nanny/Grandad Price and were given their first go with the food machine. I set it all up for them and went through the on/off start/stop instructions 10 billion times. I phoned them later, I wasn't worried about Zack I was more worried about them. All was fine, though they did drain off the excess milk in Zack's tube into a mug. That still amuses me. In fact everything was so fine, that Zack didn't even speak to me when I came back. He did later though, he was all smiles and laughs. Ha. He knows who loves him.

The teeth growing is taking ages

Zack has been a bit under the weather this week. His infantile spasms have increased slightly. I had got used to seeing hardly any at all so a sudden jump to about ten a day makes you question the reason for the increase. It could be because he has been a bit poorly, it could be because he seems to have five top teeth coming through, or it could be because he is now off the Sodium Valproate.


We have decided to wait a couple of weeks to see if they decrease. That way if they do we can assume the increase has been due to him being not quite right health wise. If they continue to increase then we are back to the drawing board and I am afraid a new drug may be introduced.


Yes, these teeth things are causing a lot of bother. For ages and ages I thought Zack was never going to get any teeth. I thought he would permanently have his gummy smile, that he might be the first baby in the world to never grow teeth. Now, his top gums look all swollen and you can see the tips of quite a few teeth. Nothing on the bottom though which is weird. But then Zack doesn't do things in any normal fashion. The teeth growing is taking ages, he has been extra drooly and the whole thing is compounded because he can't put anything in his mouth to chew and break the gums. 


To help we have taken to giving him our finger to chew. He really does give it a good old chew when you pop it in his mouth. But what he loves more than anything is a bit of Marks and Spencer chocolate mousse. Oh yes, not your plain old Tesco mousse just the good stuff. 


Come to think of it I think it was the chocolate mousse that made him a bit sick the other day. Maybe I should re-think that one.


Anyhow, here are some pictures of the mess. Along with a video clip of an amuse chocolate covered pants. Enjoy.

Can I just point out here that at the end of this giggle fest is what I think some video footage of Dan and Brett shaking their booty to Womaniser, their favourite tune. It was a complete accident how that got on there and now do you know what? I just can't get it off.....oooopsey.

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