A Zuperfliegen Update: Sehr fliegen für einen weißen Mann

Zupe recently celebrated his six-month birthday! Kind of amazing to think that we are already halfway through his first year.

The BIG news, though, is that he is off the oxygen! We took him in for his second sleep study last month. (His first sleep study was shortly after he was born and was the determinant for him being placed on oxygen.) He breathed just fine and the doctors said we could take him off the oxygen. We were floored, because we had originally been told that he would likely be on oxygen for a year and that only one child had ever been taken off after three months, and even then they were dubious about it. When we asked about that after last month's decision, the doctor said "I don't know why you were told that; we take children off after three months all the time." I guess the first nurse was just helping us adjust our expectations.

So that's pretty cool. Having him on oxygen was annoying, but totally manageable. We just had to make sure that we always had a tank with us, and that we chose the best route for the tubing to follow when we walked around the house. So we could still do all the things "normal" babies and parents were doing, we just had to think/plan a little more. Still, it was real relief to hear we didn't have to do that any longer. Most of the relief was, undoubtedly, just knowing that our son was finally breathing well on his own!

The other developmental advance is that we have heard Zuperfliegen laugh! It happened several weeks ago when we were just playing around with him. What a delight that was! Shortly after, Ann was able to catch his laugh on video, which you can see here - there are other videos of him there, too. The funny thing is, he didn't laugh again for weeks and weeks! I guess Ann and I are not as funny as we thought; or, his taste in comedy is just so much more refined than our own! The "drought" did end this evening, when Ann got him to laugh again. We also think he has his own special short laugh, which is kind of like that of the Sheldon character on The Big Bang Theory.

In general, he's doing really well. He's eating and growing like a champ without getting fat (we think), he's generally very mild and well-behaved, and his eczema has cleared up tremendously with the application of steroidal cream (which we're hoping to eventually no longer need).

We're still a little concerned about the development of his gross motor skills, particularly with regards to being on his stomach (he's still not a fan of "tummy time") and his ability to roll over (which he has yet to do, though he's getting closer). We're mostly feeling that he is just going at his own pace and we're letting him step to the beat of his different drummer. But we also have a couple of appointments with physiotherapists to get some more opinions.

As for me, I continue with my revelation of "wow, this experience of being a father and having a child in one's life is pretty cool!" It all sounds pretty simple - and perhaps banal - but anyone who knew me in the first 40 years of my life should be shocked. I am very aware, though, that a big part of me finding the experience pleasant has to do with Ann both being a such a great mother and taking a huge share of the childcare responsibilities. Fortunately, she's really digging the experience, too.

I also want to remind you that more about Ann's perspective can be found at her blog: http://nnv-a-blog-downunder.blogspot.com. She also posts a LOT more pictures than I do - with even more at her photography blog: http://nnv-inmyeye.blogspot.com

[Update on 24 October 2011]: Zupe went to his appointments with two different physiotherapists - one in the private healthcare system and one in the public healthcare system. Both said he was doing fine and they were generally unconcerned about his development. At the same time, they showed Ann a variety of exercises we could have him do to aid proper, balanced development. Meanwhile, he's also "talking" an awful lot. It's mainly various guttural grunts and the like, be he really goes on for a while sometimes! We're pretty pleased with all this!