Dad Skills

Bando has lots and lots and lots of Dad Skills, (and I'm so grateful for all of them! He's sooooo good with Claire!) But the Dad Skills I'd like to focus on today are his medical assessment skills. As he told Claire last night, he is constantly assessing her. (I can attest to that with myself because he also constantly assesses me! For example, if we're sitting on the couch, and my feet are up on the couch, he might have his hand resting on my foot. Sooner or later, he'll take my pedal pulse. That's not pedal like a bicycle pedal; that's pedal, pronounced with a long ee sound. It refers to the foot. He takes my pulse in my foot. He CONSTANTLY assesses!) :-)


So of course he is going to assess Claire constantly, too! He usually assesses her without any extra equipment, but this time he decided to get serious! Her heart and her bowels are all working fine!


Claire demonstrated her ability to grasp, thanks to Bando's finger being in the right place at the right time.

She also responds to sounds, attention, and love!

Here is a demonstration of Jordan assessing Claire's patellar reflex. It's the one where, when the knee is tapped in the correct spot, the lower leg responds. (It's kind of hard to see Claire's leg moving a ton from this angle, but you can see it the best in the last one).


I think Jordan's favorite reflex is the Moro reflex. Sometimes while Claire is lying down, she'll suddenly throw both arms out to the sides with her palms up and her hands open, and she'll bring her arms towards each other. That's the Moro reflex. Babies do that, I am told, when they feel like they're falling, even though they aren't falling. Jordan likes to test this reflex sometimes by saying, "BOO!" to Claire. I guess it startles her, and so she responds with this reflex. I don't have any pictures of this one, but you can certainly ask Jordan for a demonstration whenever he and Claire are around!