Laid-back little baby

Hannah may not look a ton like Scott, but she definitely has one of his main personality traits. She is super laid-back--just like him. I think this will serve her well most of her life. She hopefully won't ever have to experience the joys of being anxious/anal/ocd like her dear mommy. However, at this stage in her life, sometimes I kind of wish she were a little less like Scott.

You see, this sweet little laid-back baby...


...doesn't give a rip about most toys or most things or about getting into mischief or about crawling or going anywhere or about pretty much anything other than people or books. Her favorite toys (not counting books) are still her hands and feet. She is usually perfectly content to play with them or with whatever is in reaching distance. Hannah might be interested in something for awhile, but as soon as you place it out of reach, she usually loses interest quickly. Even our phones are suddenly much less fascinating when placed out of reach. Hannah will occasionally roll a few times to try to reach them, but don't even think about trying to get her to move forward to get to them. Silly baby.

I actually find Hannah's laid-back style quite adorable and endearing. The only problem I have with it is that it seems to be the main reason that she is not reaching some of her gross motor milestones--namely crawling and pulling herself up to things. And I don't really have that much of a problem with that--except for the fact that I think she would be able to play more happily if she were a little more mobile and adventurous. I do, however, want to make sure that Hannah doesn't get so far behind that she struggles to catch up when it bothers her more. Fortunately, there is absolutely nothing medically or neurologically wrong with Hannah. Her doctors and physical therapists have confirmed that. She is actually doing exceptionally well in every other developmental area--cognitive, communication, fine motor, and social-emotional. But when it comes to gross motor development, Hannah is just plain laid-back and appears to lack motivation.

Scott and I decided 7 weeks ago, when Hannah terminated physical therapy for her torticollis, to seek physical therapy services from Kids on the Move to help with her motor development. Well, after 3 different evaluation/treatment planning meetings and lots of annoying paperwork and wasted time, Hannah finally had her first actual physical therapy appointment with her physical therapist on Monday. And to be completely honest, we weren't at all impressed. The physical therapist only gave us a couple of exercises to do with Hannah--one of which I had already been doing per our former physical therapist's instructions. (I never stopped doing the developmental exercises I was doing, and Hannah has actually steadily improved these past 7 weeks). I just couldn't believe we waited 7 weeks for that. So I've been ranting and raving to Scott about it for 2 days now. I've decided to give the new physical therapist a 2nd chance (I'd want one, after all), and then we just might have to bite the bullet and seek more expensive services elsewhere.

So frustrating. But of course, Hannah doesn't seem to mind. :)

I have learned a couple of things about myself throughout these past few months in which Hannah has been behind in her gross motor skills. First, I am genuinely ok with having a child who is not the first or the best at everything, and she seems to be quite ok with it too. I grew up feeling like I needed to be the best at everything I did, and if I wasn't the best I didn't want to do it (with the exception of softball--I stunk at it but could never give it up). I really hope Hannah never feels the internal and external pressures that I did to be the best. I absolutely love and adore Hannah for who she is, and I hope she can feel my complete acceptance of her and eventually feel the same genuine acceptance of herself. Maybe it's the therapist in me, but I'm so much more concerned about Hannah's emotional development than anything else, and I'm pretty dang sure she's doing just fine with that. And that gives me peace. Oh, but the 2nd thing that I've learned about myself is that I'm very protective of Hannah (ok, I've known that since the day Hannah was born). I have had occasional rough moments--like when I saw several babies Hannah's age and younger crawling all over together at church, and all I wanted to do was cry. I just want Hannah to feel loved and accepted by everyone around her, and I want her to feel like she fits in. However, while I am feeling so fiercely protective of her, Hannah is feeling perfectly content--oblivious to the fact that she is any different from anyone else.

Ok, ok. I've rambled long enough. Here are some random, cute pics of my laid-back little baby:

Awesome bed-head from a few weeks ago.

Side profile of the bedhead

Look who found Daddy's wallet.

Caught red-handed.

This is the first time that Hannah's paranoid parents let her ride in a shopping cart, and she absolutely loved it. Don't worry--we wiped things down very well first. :)

Angel baby.

End of a sleepover with Hannah's fun cousins.

Adorable baby in an adorable coat.

Bonus pic of Scott cleaning out the diaper pail. I love that he is covering his nose with his shirt. This task usually makes him dry-heave and makes me giggle. :)

**One more thing. Hannah has lost some weight this past month--due to having the stomach flu twice. She is now down to 8.5% for weight--the lowest she has ever been. Please pray that she will be able to gain weight and also that she will be able to improve her gross motor skills. Thanks!