happy 1st b-day, josiah!!

Boy, what a year! The Lord has certainly brought our Smiles a long way since he was first born. From being IUGR, along with having low amniotic fluid and minimal blood flow through the umbilical cord while in the womb, Josiah was born a preemie, having to stay in the NICU until he was 5 lbs so we could take him home. A few weeks later, he had a choking episode that sent him back to the NICU, only to return home w/an apnea monitor, which was very much the thorn in my side... (This was all in the first 3 months, mind you.)

newborn 1 month 2 months

From 3-6 months, we noticed Josiah’s plagiocephaly, but decided to wait a little to see whether his head would round out on its own. He also began taking zantac for his reflux.

3 months 4 months 5 months

At 6 months, we discovered our monkey had torticollis and a severe case of plagiocephaly. Josiah quickly began physical therapy to begin correcting the torticollis. We also began to take more serious measures to keep him off his back as much as possible to keep his head from getting more flat.

6 months 7 months

At 8 months, Josiah had his band on. He began crawling while in the band. At 10 months, we began to see some specialists to see whether Josiah’s torticollis was caused by something other than his neck muscles.

8 months 9 months 10 months

At 11 months, Josiah was out of the band and all the specialists we saw said that he was doing great. He has full range of motion in his neck. It’s just his tilt that we’re working on getting rid of, which is the the most difficult to overcome.

11 months

And now here we are, at one year, still continuing with physical therapy and some reflux issues, but so thankful to the Lord for sustaining Josiah’s health and well-being. Looking back on this year, we are so incredibly grateful to God that nothing he had to walk through was really of a serious nature. He still has asymmetry in his face and head, but there is much grace in how it has improved from before he had the band.

1 year!!

And just some quick things to note from over this past month: Josiah loves to wrestle w/pillows. He’ll just throw them on the floor and pounce on them and roll around w/them. He stops to listen to planes flying by. He can point now. And it’s cute when he holds something up for you to take… it’s usually something he knows he shouldn’t have or something he found on the floor.
We’ve also been trying to get Smiles started on table foods, but the only foods he can eat w/o gagging, choking, or throwing up are bananas, yogurt, and cheerios (which he can totally eat on his own. I’ve been giving them to him one by one. I’m afraid he’ll choke if I put too many on his tray b/c I’m sure he’ll try to eat them all at once.). We’ve tried w/other foods, but he almost always will throw up at least the first time he tries something new. He threw up with the bananas and cheerios at first. Yogurt is the only thing he’s been able to keep down, but I don’t think he likes it very much b/c of the tart-taste and it’s cold. And I have no recollection about what or how we started William on table foods. He didn’t have the stomach issues that Josiah has though. Smiles gags, chokes, and will throw up w/anything new. It’s just a question of whether it’s something we should keep trying to give him. =P Maybe we should try fruit…
Josiah’s naps have also significantly improved. We had our Smiles cry it out when he was 6 months, but I had gotten into the habit of bouncing him to sleep anyway b/c he is so easy to put down. Just a few minutes of singing and he is out! I loved watching him fall asleep, especially since I could never do that with William. And Josiah is such a sweet baby… It’s the only time he’s calm and content to be in my arms. Now that he’s older, it takes him a little longer to get to sleep, and Bill talked with me about the importance of him being able to get to sleep on his own, so we put him down awake now. And usually w/only a few minutes (if that) of crying, he’ll settle down on his own and go to sleep. Yay, Josiah! He is still taking a nap in the morning, which is usually just shy of an hour. And he’ll take another nap in the mid-afternoon that’s usually just over an hour. So we are very grateful that his napping has gotten so much better. Good riddance to those half-hour catnaps!!!
And that’s a wrap of our Josiah Qian-Yi Davidson’s first year of life. It’s been crazy at times, but always a joy. We absolutely adore this little one!
Happy birthday, Smiles!!! Can’t tell you how much we love and are grateful for you!! What a gift from the Lord you are to us.