I'm writing this post because I wanted to share with you how my worries over cleft related issues have evolved. In the beginning of this process there were so many unknowns. And because I had a child 14 months prior to Nami's birth, I was cursed with comparison. What I mean by this is, if anything seemed different from my older child's development, in the back of my head I wondered if it was because of Nami's cleft. I know that sounds silly, but I have recently joined a few cleft support and awareness groups via facebook and the parents are constantly posting questions similar to my pre-"ah ha" thoughts. Some of their questions have been extremely silly, such as "My son is a unilateral complete cleft lip and palate and is extremely clingy.... is this cleft related?" or "I have 3 children, and my first two started walking at 13 months, but my cleftie" (I don't understand why some people use these nick names) " is 15 months and still hasn't walked. Does anyone else have this experience with their cleftie?". Reading these comments can sometimes annoy me because I am thinking to myself, "why does everything have to be about the cleft"... but then I start to remember how many of my questions that were just as silly popped up in my head. I remember questioning if Nami's fascination with hair was due to his cleft, or thinking he didn't like to put anything in his mouth because of his cleft, and the most recent question was if he would ever drink from a sippy cup or eat solids because of his cleft, and if he does eat solids will he choke or die because of the hole in his hard palate. I know, I know.... these may seem silly to you, but these were real concerns in my head. Well maybe not the fascination with hair, but the other things did concern me. Fortunately, I have learned that Nami is just being himself. Even if some of these things are caused by the cleft (which I seriously doubt) it doesn't matter. This is who he is. And I LOVE him so much. I love that he likes to hold my hair while he eats his bottle or suck his thumb. I loved it when I never had to worry about him choking because I knew he wouldn't put anything in hia mouth. I loved feeding him his healthy pouches of food and he was perfectly content. But just so you know, although he still has an unusual fascination with hair, he eats solids, he can drink from a sippy cup (Nuby spill proof), he hasn't had a choking incident, and only liquids come out of his nose. Seriously, my only concern regarding his cleft these days are: number one - Obviously his 18 month hard palate repair, and number two - do I have anything to wipe his nose. I may sometimes think about the hole in his palate and still get the ibby jibby's thinking he will get something stuck in it or somehow tear it, but mostly my worries are just toddler related.
With that being said, this is what Nami has been up to lately. This kid is so much fun. He is fearless. It doesn't matter if he just tripped and fell from the step, he will get right back up and try it again. We have had many lip and nose bleeds lately due to his "fearlessness". He loves to be on the bed and lunge forward to fall face first. He laughs so hard, which makes all of us laugh. The only problem is he doesn't realize what can happen if he lunges forward off the bed... and he ain't about to, at least not on my watch. Nami also LOVES familiar people. Every morning when I get him up, he has the biggest grin on his face and bounces up and down in excitement. He loves attention and appreciates it. He will let you know by hugging your legs, giving you kisses, or burying his head in your shoulder. Although he doesn't pucker yet, he will make the "mmmmmmm" sound and put his lips out there for you to give him a kiss. He loves kissing his Daddy which is opposite of all of the other kids due to Daddy's often unshaven beard. Nami says a lot. I'm not sure if anyone else besides us really understand him, but he can say "Momma, DaDa, Caden, Mara, Brycen, Grandma, Elmo, More, Thank you, I Love you, Night Night, Out, Bottle, uh oh, and Okay?". He also has a great memory. He knows Gangnam Style, Turn Down For What, Happy, The Fresh Beat Band theme song, Great Day (by Fresh Beat Band), Twinkle Twinkle, ABC song, and Uh Oh Oh No Whatcha Say (by Fresh Beat Band). He also has special dances for his songs. He fits in so perfectly with all od us. He is also great at sharing. Brycen and him share everything. I love watching them take turns and handing toys to each other. They are so great with one another. I knew that Brycen would be a great big brother, but I didn't know Nami would be such a good friend to him. They really are best friends. I love it! They always ask for each other and want to be together. To be honest with you, they have become my best friends too. We have so much fun together. All. Of. The. Time. I am really thankful for my little boys. That is all.
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