Physical therapy times two

Cary has been in physical therapy since October 1. A team of assessors called him "low-muscle-tone," and signed him up. Kristie, the physical therapist, worked with him once a week in our playroom, helping him learn to roll and sit upright and tolerate Tummy Time with minimal tears.

I watched Cary get gradually better and better, thanks to Kristie's help and guidance (we worked with him, using her advice, in evenings and on weekends). And I nearly cried when on January 10, she left me a note saying, "Cary is age appropriate now. Yay!"

He was doing so well, we arranged to have the team of assessors come out to review Cary's case, and take another quick look at Dean, just to make sure he was still doing well.

With the good news about Cary, however, came some not-so-good: Although she was not technically supposed to work with Dean, Kristie did keep one eye cocked his way during her sessions with Cary. For months, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, except perhaps that Dean was about a month behind in hitting some, but not all, milestones. This was not too surprising, since the babies were born 5-weeks early.

But this week, she left me a note saying, "Dean -- noticed in standing left leg turned out and right held in flexim (bent). No bouncer until team comes out..."

Apparently, while Dean was bouncing happily in the Jumperoo (one of his absolute favorite things to do), Kristie noticed something weird about my Deanie's legs. Awww, poor, sweet little Deanie. :-( And apparently, the Jumperoo is not good for babies with weirdness in the legs!

I won't find out until the team comes tomorrow just what it all means. I'm a little worried, but not too much. After all, Cary may be the first to move around, but Dean can go from tummy to sitting and Cary can't, which just goes to show that babies develop different skills at different times, depending on the individual baby. And Dean is rocking on all fours and scooting backwards on both his tummy and his bottom. In other words, he's starting to become more mobile. So I don't think he's really all that delayed, and I doubt the weirdness that Kristie saw will be anything serious.

Still, I'll sleep lightly tonight, I'm sure, waiting for his assessment. And I'll pray, as I always do, for both my babies' health, happiness and well-being.