Baby Jonathan's OI Page

Jonathan's Progress
12 months to 24 months

March 2001--12 Months

Jonathan got his spica cast off on his 1st Birthday--a wonderful present. He had the cast on 3 weeks and 1 day. He really favored that leg for a week or two. He would commando crawl while dragging his right leg. It was quite stiff, we would take him in the bath or pool and he would let us bend his leg and this seemed to help with the stiffness. After about 2 weeks he started crawling on all fours again. Now, at the end of his 12th month, he can pull to a stand holding onto the couch and other low objects. I checked on him yesterday after I put him down for a nap and he was standing up in his crib, holding on with only one hand. His progress is exciting, but a little scary, at the same time. Jonathan will now take steps across a room if we support him under his arms. His upper body and arms seem to be quite strong, sometimes he will take steps while only holding onto my hands, though his legs are still unsteady. We are beginning to educate ourselves on rodding surgery. If Jonathan should fracture this leg again soon we would probably go ahead and have his leg rodded--a procedure where a very thin steel rod is inserted through the bone for added strength.

April 2001--13 Months

Jonathan made a lot of progress this month--pulling to a stand more, and walking holding onto our hands. I have to be with him every minute of the day to make sure that he doesn't pull up on something without me being there. Shriners gave him a little walker, and he has some other walking toys that he really likes and will walk across the room holding onto. I will hold my arms around his waist to catch him if he falls, but he does pretty good. We moved from Utah to California at the end of April and within 48 hours of moving, Jonathan fractured his right femur again. He was pushing a little toy lawn mower on the sidewalk and went down on one knee faster than I could catch him. He's in another spica and we plan on having that leg rodded as soon as possible.

May 2001--14 Months

What a crazy month! Jonathan's right femur was rodded 9 days after he broke it. A thin steel rod was inserted through the middle of the bone and with the fracture that had just happened and one more fracture that the surgeon made the leg was straightened. This should give the bone much more strength. The surgery was done at Children's Hospital of Orange County in CA. We are amazed at his quick recovery. Only 3 days after surgery he is crawling around the floor in his cast. Little did we know Jonathan would break his other leg 2 weeks later and we would repeat this same process! Jonathan has spent his entire 14th month in a spica cast. We are glad that both legs are rodded and are hopeful that this will really help strengthen his legs.

June 2001--15 Months

Jonathan spent almost the entire month in some form of a hip spica cast--either on his right leg, left leg or both! Jonathan developed some great upper body strength as he learned to drag that cast around everywhere. He even learned how to sleep on his side!! He surprised us by starting to crawl on all fours the day he got his cast off! His legs are weak and skinny.

July 2001--16 Months

Life is so nice without a cast! We aren't taking anything for granted! Jonathan is crawling everywhere and has even pulled to a stand and started cruising. His legs are wobbly and he is not very sure on his feet. We are always at his side, if he is standing, and are there to catch him if he falls. He enjoys using his walker or any kind of push toy, though he needs lots of assistance. He's still Mr. Happy and is learning lots of new words!

August 2001--17 Months

Our baby is sure turning into a little boy! Jonathan is much more steady on his feet. He pulls to a stand so quickly and has even stood independently for a little while. He walks holding onto my fingers and will sometimes walk while holding onto just one finger. Jonathan has learned how to get out of a standing position--by getting down on one knee and then the other. In the past he would just let go and fall backwards on his bottom--he knew someone would be there to catch him! Jonathan would crawl up stairs all day if we would let him! He's fascinated with motorcycles and trains and he has a vocabulary of 50+ words.

September 2001--18 months

Jonathan took his first steps this month! He stood up, took three steps and then sat back down again. Then next day he took 8 steps in a row and then the next week he was up to 30 steps before I needed to steady him. I have been hovering over him constantly this month, and usually have him holding onto one of my fingers. I am excited for him to learn to walk, but his 3 femur fractures in the past 8 months are still all too fresh in my mind and I DO NOT want to see him in a spica anytime soon. So, I follow him closely and am able to catch his falls most of the time. Though there are times he has fallen on his own and amazingly, he seems to be able to tolerate the falls. This has been a very exciting month for us! Also, we had our first Pamidronate treatment at Children's Hospital of Orange County this month, rather than flying to Shriners in Salt Lake City, UT. Everything went well and fortunately our new insurance covered his treatment without any hassles. Jonathan is pictured here with his Grand Aunt Eta. She was so happy to see him walking!

October 2001--19 months

Jonathan is an independent walker! He has been walking everywhere and has become surprisingly steady rather quickly. My heart has gone from stopping about 20 times a day to becoming rather relaxed. We let him walk all over the house, but I'm not far behind him. Even with that he has still fallen, usually on his bottom. Before his rodding surgery these falls would have caused a break. We still watch him very closely when he is not in familiar settings or not on carpet. I am worried about him falling on hard surfaces like tile or cement. Luckily he'll still hold my hand when I want him to. We are sure excited at Jonathan's progress. I never would have imagined him doing so much so soon! We feel very blessed.

November, 2001--20 months

Jonathan is now all over the place! He is doing so well and we are just thrilled that he has made so much progress without a fracture! Jonathan loves being outside and playing with balls--golf, soccer, baseball, football--he has them all. We have been going to Physical Therapy 2 times a week for the past 3 months, but since Jonathan has met his goals we are going to start going less frequently. Jonathan has been blessed with wonderful therapists since he was born and we feel they have been a great help to both Jonathan and us!

December, 2001--21 months

Jonathan had a good Christmas with cousins on both sides of the family. He even sat on Santa's lap and didn't cry. He got a Thomas the Train Table that is just the right height for him to stand at and play with the tracks and trains...he loves it. Jonathan is cautious and seems to have something of a 6th sense when it comes to being careful. When we tell him to "slow down" he pays attention. At the same time he plays his heart out and has the best time in everything he does.

January, 2002--22 months

Jonathan continues to walk and even does a bit of running (we still tell him to "slow down") and jumping. He likes to kick balls and loves to throw them up in the air. He also likes to help us with the vacuuming, watering plants, cooking or whatever it is we are doing around the house. He takes jobs very seriously.