Before I tell you anything about my sweet boy I want you to know, he's perfect. Absolutely, 100% perfect.
So who is he? He's Cooper. Coopy. Coop. Bubby. Toopy. Coopy Poopy. Momma's handsome man. Sissy's Pumpkin Pie (and Hunny Bunny). Daddy's Little Dude.
He's a 15 month old little boy who means the absolute world to us. He's smart, silly, hysterically funny, and so stinking cute. He can say just about anything you ask him to, including bad words (I'm lookin' at you, Daddy).
He rolled over for the first time at 5 weeks old. FIVE WEEKS OLD. Who does that? My kids, apparently, because his sister rolled for the first time at six weeks old. I have no idea where they get the overachiever-ness from because I can promise you, it ain't from me.
He started playing peek a boo before he was four months old. And I don't mean he laughed at us when we put our hands over our eyes. I mean this kid would find something to put over his face and coo at us until we "found" him.
I thought for sure he would be crawling by 6 months and walking by 8. Because he was just so incredibly smart. And because of his sister. That turkey was crawling by 7 months, pulling herself up to stand by 8 months and full on running by 11 months. I used to joke that I got jipped. I didn't get a baby for the expected amount of time. I felt like I had a toddler by the time she was 9 months old.
So when Coop's pediatrician asked us at his 9 month well check if he was putting weight on his legs and "standing" when we put his feet on the floor and I told her "not really," I sort of felt like I'd been punched in the gut. I suddenly realized that he wasn't doing what he should be. But he was before. At 4 or 5 months old he would stiffen his legs and bear weight a little. But not now. Not anymore. All I could think was "Oh my goodness. How could I have overlooked the fact that my child isn't bearing weight?? What was I thinking? HE SHOULD BE STANDING." His doctor assured me there was nothing to be concerned about. He has met every single one of his milestones. He probably just needs a little extra encouragement. He'll get there.
*While she wasn't necessarily concerned about his legs at this appointment, our pediatrician was slightly concerned about his weight. Cooper has always been on the smaller side but at this particular appointment he hadn't gained as much weight as she would've liked. She said we wouldn't worry too much right now and would check his weight again at his 12 month visit. At that point if he still wasn't gaining as much as he should be we would be referred to a specialist.
I left that appointment so determined to help my child bear weight and learn to stand. Clearly I just wasn't giving him enough opportunity to show me what he could do. I should be doing more to help him. I'm his mom so obviously this is completely my fault. Spoiler alert: it wasn't.
I spent the next 3 months noticing every single little thing that could possibly be wrong with my child. Family members and friends would say "He's a boy. Boys develop a little slower than girls" and "He hasn't started crawling yet? Well that's why his legs aren't strong. He isn't using them!" and my personal favorite "Just don't hold him as much. Let him explore on his own. He'll eventually want to move more." But the thing is, I wasn't holding him excessively. He was moving and exploring. He was just rolling instead of crawling.
By his 12 month appointment, my concerns had grown a bit. I was still concerned about his weight. I knew he had gained but I wasn't sure if it would be enough for them not to send us to a specialist. He still wasn't bearing any weight. In fact, he wasn't even attempting to straighten his legs to bear weight. He wasn't getting up on all fours to crawl. And he had a slight tremor in his hands. I brought all of these concerns up to the nurse practitioner (our normal doc was on maternity leave). She said his weight looked good. THANK GOD. Because I had already gone down the "what if our kid needs daily growth hormone injections?" route and it was not pleasant. I felt a small bit of relief. Then she said he probably just needed help learning how to use those little legs of his so she was sending him to physical therapy. Whew. Nothing serious. He just needs a little extra help.
Hopefully.
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