Happy New Year, Baby Crew

Crew has recently become a "sitter". He sits, and he sits well. We are crazy proud of him! He has also become a thousand times easier to feed. He is eating solid foods twice per day. We're still doing jarred food (never did get around to making my own baby food) and he'll eat any veggie and any fruit offered. While he is still particular about temperature and texture, he'll now eat his food mixed with rice, oatmeal, or mixed cereal.

We have wasted so much food over the last several months, never knowing whether he'd really try to eat it or just cry until we gave him a bottle. He seems to have figured out that solid food is, well, food. Justin and I no longer draw straws or gauge who has the greatest depth of patience in a given moment to decide who will feed him. He no longer needs a bath after every meal. I no longer have to sing songs at the top of my lungs to keep him focused and calm. We no longer have to tap his lips to get him to creep them open enough to sneak a bite of food in there. He would often get so frustrated because you could tell he wanted us to shovel faster, but he couldn't figure out that he had to open his mouth to get it. He's Mr. Jaws now. I didn't even realize how tense mealtime was until it stopped being so tense. It's quick and cheerful playtime for us now instead of the most dreaded chore in the house.

Crew has also figured out that whatever we put in our mouths is also food. His arms have become windmills at the dinner table and nothing is safe. We are letting him sample a few things here and there. He still has an overactive gag reflex, but I can tell it's improving.

Crew is also successfully passing toys between his hands. I think in the next month or so I'll be able to report that he is rolling onto his belly. He's getting so close. We are focusing on getting him interested in independent movement. We are trying to get him to roll onto his belly and get up on his knees. His current preference is to lay on his back and scream until we carry him where he wants to go. The catch is that when he's upset is not the time to try to teach him motor control to solve his own problems. It's an interesting balance.

We have a good feeling about this year for our little Crew. He has come so very very far in the last year. 14 months ago they told us he probably wouldn't live through the week. This time last year he was still only 2.5 pounds. One year ago this week they told us that Crew appeared to have Cerebral Atrophy; some said we were facing a worst case scenario, potentially fatal but certainly catastrophically damaging. Every day he is here is a miracle. Every milestone he reaches is cause for rejoicing.

He has such a beautiful little face. Even after all that has happened, it's hard to imagine having two of this exact same, perfect little face in our home. Dex and Crew are identical twins, but I never saw Dex with his eyes open. I still see the clear resemblance when Crew is sleeping, but it's difficult for me to imagine Dex's spirit and soul peering out at me through these eyes that I have come to know as Crew's most dominant facial feature. Methinks the world couldn't have handled so much cuteness!