Busy bee.

It's been a busy week around here - somehow we managed to have three doctor appointments all in the same week. Max is officially tired and so are we.

Our first appointment was with the feeding and nutrition clinic. We were able to demonstrate Max's eating skills, which are still (very slowly) developing. It's clear that while Max isn't entirely sure about the whole eating thing, he is swallowing what little food he's able to tolerate in his mouth, so it's a positive step. The feeding doctor was quite positive about Max's progress and seemed fairly confident that we need not stockpile lots of g-tube supplies. We have been offering Max food by mouth once a day since we began and we've now been instructed to up the ante. 24 hours is a long time in the world of a baby and we need to get in as many food experiences as possible every day to get him used to eating. So we're now feeding him 3-4 times a day and we've been trying new flavours - banana, avocado, carrots, sweet potatoes, pears. The degree to which he tolerates the tastes varies with his mood, but so far, the increased frequency of feeding seems to be going well. We've also slowly transitioned one of his liquid  meals to a blended food meal, so each time he eats his blended bananas by mouth, he's also getting some through his g-tube. The hope here is that having some solids in his belly not only gives him a full-feeling reward to his oral feeding, but also helps keep his reflux to a minimum. It feels like much of our day revolves around eating, but currently it's our only developmental battle.

Later in the week we met with the Newborn Follow Up Program. This program follows the growth and development of sick and premature babies once they leave the hospital. If Max experiences any problems or delays with his development in any way it will be identified early and services will be set up for him. So far he's doing great and no issues were identified. He's still well within "normal" for his adjusted age. We're super proud of him!

Our third appointment was for Max's monthly synagis injection that protects him against RSV. Unless something changes, this should be the last RSV shot he'll receive this year and RSV season should come to a close in the next month or so. We're very excited to start venturing out into the world once we get the word that the general population is less germy and infected. We're still not going to be rushing out to crowded places, and gatherings with lots of kids or potentially sick people will still be off limits for us, but a walk to the local coffee shop and strolls around the neighbourhood are highly anticipated around here.

In non-medical news, Max has finally cut his first two teeth. His bottom teeth finally made an appearance and his gummy grin now has two pearly whites. He's still gnawing on his fists like they're made of sugar, so we're not sure if the top two are on the heels of the bottom ones or if he's just enjoying the new chewing sensation. Either way, his new smile is adorable and we'll have to snap some new pictures soon.

On Monday Max will be 10 months old (or nearing 7 months corrected). It's hard to believe that his birthday is nearing. He's getting to be such a big boy (but not really), and his 13lbs 2oz is nearly 8 times bigger than his birth weight and he's nearly twice the length he was when he was born. He's still a peanut, but he's huge to us! It's hard to balance wanting him to grow without wanting him to grow up too fast. We're trying our best to enjoy every minute.