4 Months!

Our little man turned 4 months on Monday! He's 27" long & 14 lbs, 15 ozs.

He is developing his personality and we're loving every minute!  He's hitting all of his milestones along with some he shouldn't be hitting yet. After his doctor's appointment yesterday we went baby food shopping - he got the okay. I started him on sweet peas last night, mixed with his oatmeal somewhat. He wasn't too sure about it to begin with, but he warmed up to the different taste quite quickly.

GG can't sit up unassisted yet, but he's working on it. He's been rolling over onto his tummy for weeks now. He found his toes a few weeks back and won't leave them alone. They're the next best thing when a toy isn't handy and sometimes he prefers them instead.

If he has something, you're not getting it without a fight AND he's becoming very opinionated. Oh, and if he sees something he wants he's not afraid to let you know - with a quickness! So watch out world!

Oatmeal is still his most favorite thing to eat for the time being. That may change now that he's getting more foods, I'm sure it will. I think he's going to love food as much as me! He already mmmm's and makes other "this is yummy" sounds when he's eating.

His alligator has been demoted, Mr. Moose is currently his favorite.

Me & Bobby McGee (Janis Joplin) is still the only thing song I can turn on that can not only calm him down, but get him to sleep as well. He's been on a kick lately, especially when we're in the car, where he loves for me to sign to him. His favorite song is Father Abraham and he wants to hear it over... and over... and over... I am SO unbelievably tired of that song!! I've tried others, but he cries until I go back to it. Gosh, I love this little bugger so much, even in all of his moodiness.

GG & SPD

What person anywhere can justify being normal?

Our son is not normal, he is beyond normal. He is advanced and intelligent. It shows in all the milestones he hits well ahead of time. He catches on so fast. He is such a happy little one the majority of the time. However, there's a very fine line between GG being okay and GG not being okay.

GG has SPD Sensory Processing Disorder (sometimes called "sensory integration" or SI). Sensory Processing is a term that refers to the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses. Whether you are biting into a hamburger, riding a bicycle, or reading a book, your successful completion of the activity requires processing sensation or "sensory integration."

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD, formerly known as "sensory integration dysfunction") is a condition that exists when sensory signals don't get organized into appropriate responses. SPD is likened to a neurological "traffic jam" that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information needed to interpret sensory information correctly.

GG is hypersensitive, his brain receives the information from the senses and misreads it. Much of the time he feels as if he is in danger. Other times, it’s too much stimulation all at once. Think of how you feel when you have a pounding headache and every little thing bothers you, making your pain worse and your temper short. Most of us don’t notice the hum of a fluorescent light, but a child who is hypersensitive does. Children with hypersensitivity can become afraid or aggressive if someone touches them.

Most children with SPD are just as intelligent as their peers. Many are intellectually gifted. Their brains are simply wired differently. I believe that GG is already showing signs of being gifted even though he is still so very young.

Due to his SPD GG cannot handle too much stimulation in the form of too many new things (places and/or people) and cannot deal with being handed around from person to person too much. He gets over stimulated, sometimes easier than other times, and has a break down in the form of screaming, crying fits. At times these fits can last for a day or more, but mostly just hours upon hours. Sometimes he can be comforted, sometimes nothing seems to help other than just giving him some alone time.

Those with SPD feel things much more intensely than others.

So if you see us and we don't hand him over, please remember that it's nothing against you. He comes first; his health; his well being; his happiness - these are more important to us than the possibility of hurting your feelings.