Octopus Friend

Octopus Friend
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Here are some notes from the week below from Dad:

JOEL NOTES


7/18/2008
Holly was very playful today at lunch. She's squawking alot, much louder and longer sounds than previously. She does this when she's happy or upset. Vicki said that one of the other people at her swim class called these "Pteradactyl Sounds" and that's a good description. Today at lunch she was on her blanket, and there was a big toy next to her with lots of moving parts, she would roll onto her left side to watch it, then roll back onto her back to look at me. She did this over and over, it was very endearing. She could roll onto her side and back already, i.e. if following a toy, but this was the first time she seemed really purposeful about it, and did it without our encouragement and leading.

This is all before we started the minocyclin, we didn't give her the first dose until tonight just before bedtime. She didn't seem to mind the taste, but she didn't like it either. I think she thought it was some kind of extra drool.

(Here's a picture of "ocean time"-- we both mention that a lot in our notes). She likes grabbing at the dangling toys and kicking the supports to shake everything.

7/19/2008
Holly slept soundly through the night. She woke at 5:45 am for a bottle and then went right back to sleep. This morning she had a very runny poopy diaper. She was very interested in Ocean time, concentrating on the dangling toys. By the afternoon she was pretty cranky and did not nap much and didn't go to sleep until around 10:30, which is later than usual. We gave her the minocyclin around 6:30 pm. Her eye contact was like usual, a few times she make really strong contact for a long time (like 30-45 seconds), but often she would make eye contact and then get distracted.

7/21/2008
She's still doing great, no signs of any problems from the drug. Her poop is back to normal, and she' playful and alert. She's sometimes cranky but no worse than before. I'm not sure, but it seems to me that she's concentrating more in her play. She'll focus on a toy intentnly for a while. Same thing with her hand, she's always noticed and played with them, but now her attention span seems increased. Good eye contact too (sometimes). She's still making squaking noises, too, they are getting very loud and prolonged now. Sometimes she will squawk instead of crying to get our attention. She's still got the "high tone" and likes to bunch up her shoulders and arms.

7/24/2008
Thank god for apple juice. We were having trouble giving her the medicine, last night she ate most of a dose while asleep but then when she woke up when she was almost done, didn't like it, and spit up. Tonight (at dr jones's advice) we mixed the dose with 1/2 tsp of apple juice and she happily ate the whole thing, not even asleep. She's been noticing and grabbing her feet, and she seems like she's getting a bit better at amusing herself. Tonight she wanted to sit in my lap, but I didn't have to keep her attention, she happily played with her toy for twenty minutes before she needed my attention. When she wakes up, too, she makes noises to get our attention, but will contently wiggle or watch her mobile. She hasn't been very "talkative" yesterday or today with me, but im not sure how she's been during the day with vicki.

Also, I've noticed over the last week that she's been grabbing things with an open hand more often, as if feeling the texture. She does this with her toys, with the chair, and with my face and cheeks and chin. She seems to really enjoy this.