Is it really possible that my baby is already a year and a half old? I'm having a hard time accepting this, but at the same time I have to admit that this age is the most fun yet and it seems that with every day that passes I am enjoying The Chubs more and more (and I really didn't think that was possible!).
Lexi is starting to catch up fast. For 9 months she literally did nothing but sit with her hands in front not touching anything. She didn't even have protective reflexes because her spd was so bad (she didn't want her hands to touch the floor, or anything for that matter). Now that she has been in therapy I have really seen her flourish. She had a lot of skills to catch up on that she lost time with those first 9 months, but as each month passes she's started to finally possess the traits of a normal, healthy and developing 18 month old. To say I am proud of her is an understatement.
I don't think I've mentioned this yet but about a week or two after she started walking she started to crawl. I worked with her everyday for 8 months on this skill so I am so thrilled. Now she can crawl to an object, pull up and walk wherever she wants. This is a normal skill for most kids but for her to feel comfortable on her hands and knees crawling around is a huge deal for us. I really didn't know if she would ever crawl.
She isn't a huge talker (although her favorite words are "Duck", "Baby" and "Mama" and she loves making the "hoo hoo" noise for the owl in her room), she is big on signing and can put 3 signs together to make a sentence. I counted her sign repertoire and it is over 90 and counting. It has been a lifesaver since her verbal is lagging. A speech therapist is going to be working with her soon and I know this will help her take her signing ability and translate it to verbal communication, but for now I'm just thrilled to be able to communicate with her. I'm sure it has eliminated a lot of tantrums and for that I'm grateful.
Her observation skills are astounding to me. She will pick something out in a crowd and sign it before I have even seen it. Sometimes I have to look closely to see what she's referring to but I always end up finding it. The Hubs took her past the frozen food section the other day and she signed "fish". She must have seen a fish picture (or maybe even the word) on the packaging. Today I was wearing an American Eagle fleece with that tiny little embroidered eagle on the top left (which to me doesn't even really look like one) and she pointed and signed "bird". The hubs ran a marathon this weekend and she kept signing "dog". I couldn't see one anywhere until finally off in the distance I saw an owner with their dog. I would've never spotted it on my own. She loves signing and pointing to anything in a book that she recognizes.
My favorite thing is her dancing. She'll ask for "more music please" and then when I turn it on she dances around the room bopping and swaying to it. As soon as the song stops she asks for it again. This can drag on forever but it's so stinking cute that I can't help but keep playing more songs for her.
She is a hair terror. She likes to pull hair and it's not a good habit to develop especially since she will go for anyone and everyone's hair and yank super hard, giggling the whole time. On a playdate a few weeks ago she just kept walking around pulling all the kids hair. I had "that child". I recently purchased a doll with long brown hair for her so that we can practice being gentle. So far she just wants to pick up the doll by her hair and fling her across the room. I think we need to work a little harder in this area.
Lexi is so much more of a snuggler now than she was as a baby. Therapy has really helped in this area. Now she'll walk over to me and give me hugs and kisses. It melts my heart. I still remember when she would fuss or cry when I tried to hold her or rock her. She has come so far since then and actually craves the physical touch now. I finally get to cuddle my little girl and it's wonderful!
No matter how much I try to describe my little girl, it can't even begin to capture the little person she is. I love her more than life and I am so proud to be her mama.
Happy 1.5 years Bug!
Showing posts with label milestones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label milestones. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Woohoo!
Today Lexi walked from the middle of our playroom out to the banister in the hallway without any assistance. It was probably 10 feet and about 15-20 steps. She's still battling some confidence issues but she can totally do it. The therapist gave me some techniques on how to get her to walk without holding onto our hand. At this point when we hold her hand and she walks she is putting hardly any weight or pressure on our hand. I knew she had the skills and ability to walk on her own but just needed something to push her to try it on her own. Today with some tips from her therapist she did it! I'm hopeful that soon she will be doing it 100% on her own once she has the courage. I cannot wait to having a walking baby! She's been pushing around her walker for 3 months now. It's TIME!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Steps!!!
Today while I was holding Lexi's hand as she walked I let go briefly and she took a couple of steps on her own! Then she came crashing into my arms. She did this several times throughout the day. It has been a long time coming. I don't know that she will be fully walking on her own really soon because she still has some balance issues but I was beyond thrilled. We are ordering her special arch supports because one of her legs is slightly weaker than the other and she likes to put most of her weight on her left foot. Hopefully with that addition and a little more practice we'll have a walker soon. I'm hoping by 18 months she'll be doing it all on her own. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Answer: Yes, it would.
Monday, January 3, 2011
New Year, Fresh Start
I can't tell you how happy I was to say goodbye to 2010. To most people that would sound really terrible because it was the first year of my baby's life, but to those of you who regularly read my blog, you can understand where I'm coming from. I'm just so ready for a fresh start, and things are looking really promising.
I haven't posted much lately but for the last few months The Chubs has been doing so well with her eating. She's been eating much more each day than she needs to which is a huge victory in itself, but what is even more exciting is that we are down to 4 bottles a day and 3 solid meals. I really never thought I'd see the day (or at least wouldn't see it until she was 5... ok maybe 2). My sweet daughter is now sleeping 7pm-7am, with a bottle every 4 hours during the day, and solid meals in between each bottle. I can't even tell you how much this has transformed my life.
Flash back to August I was feeding her every 3 hours round the clock like a newborn. She was about 9 months old and was still not accepting solids. I had to wake her through the entire night to feed her or she wouldn't get enough calories. Even with all of these feedings she still wasn't eating enough. She averaged about 17 oz a day. It was HORRIFIC. I was so depressed, cried everyday, was sleep deprived and felt hopeless, especially when she puked up everything I just fed her on a regular basis. Thinking back to that time, I really don't know how I survived. It was so hard to know she was not feeling well and not knowing what the problem was. Her reflux medication didn't seem to be doing anything and I was still pumping and supplementing with soy formula because I knew she was intolerant to dairy.
What made the huge turn around? Well, I finally realized that for whatever reason, my breast milk and the soy formula were not gentle enough on her system. Everyone thinks that breast milk is the perfect food, and really it is. But there were things I was consuming that were transferring to my milk that were taking a toll on her little system. And instead of doing weeks of trialing foods and seeing what it was she was sensitive too while she continued to lose weight, I made the hard decision to stop pumping and give her a completely hypoallergenic formula that you can only purchase directly through the company or through a pharmacy with Doctor's permission, called Elecare. Within 3 weeks, I had a new baby. And even though these measly 14 oz cans cost almost $50 a piece (and last only a few days), it was completely worth it (and thank God for craigslist).
We still struggled to get her intake up with her formula and solids but as the months went on and the healing process continued she started to gain weight, and take more interest in eating. She actually started to seem like she had an appetite. It's been a slow process getting her over her oral aversion, but slowly her defensiveness is starting to dissipate. She now allows us to brush her teeth with a wash cloth, dispense medicine via dropper, use a vibrating teether among many other things I never thought I'd see her do.
I realize how pathetic these achievements sound. Any normal baby would have absolutely no problem with these things and would be chewing and mouthing anything in sight, but I can't help but thank God over and over again that our little orally defensive sensory refluxer is now eating like a champ and allowing us to put more and more types of things in her mouth. We're still having major issues with texture and gagging but we're making progress.
I know that things will only continue to improve. I can see that as she feels better and is finally getting the nutrition she needs that she is starting to explore the world much more. She was completely shut off from everything for the first 9 months of her life. She felt so horrible that she wouldn't explore anything. She wouldn't even touch toys. I always felt bad doing anything around the house because all she would do is sit there. So now when I see her playing with toys, rocking back and forth on her hands and knees and wanting to learn about everything around her, it makes me smile. She had a very late start so we are suffering a lot of delays because of it, but she has learned so much in such a small time frame and even if it doesn't mean she walks until she's 2 or 3, I can rest assured knowing she feels better and is getting the calories she needs.
Yes, 2011 is going to be our year. I can feel it!
I haven't posted much lately but for the last few months The Chubs has been doing so well with her eating. She's been eating much more each day than she needs to which is a huge victory in itself, but what is even more exciting is that we are down to 4 bottles a day and 3 solid meals. I really never thought I'd see the day (or at least wouldn't see it until she was 5... ok maybe 2). My sweet daughter is now sleeping 7pm-7am, with a bottle every 4 hours during the day, and solid meals in between each bottle. I can't even tell you how much this has transformed my life.
Flash back to August I was feeding her every 3 hours round the clock like a newborn. She was about 9 months old and was still not accepting solids. I had to wake her through the entire night to feed her or she wouldn't get enough calories. Even with all of these feedings she still wasn't eating enough. She averaged about 17 oz a day. It was HORRIFIC. I was so depressed, cried everyday, was sleep deprived and felt hopeless, especially when she puked up everything I just fed her on a regular basis. Thinking back to that time, I really don't know how I survived. It was so hard to know she was not feeling well and not knowing what the problem was. Her reflux medication didn't seem to be doing anything and I was still pumping and supplementing with soy formula because I knew she was intolerant to dairy.
What made the huge turn around? Well, I finally realized that for whatever reason, my breast milk and the soy formula were not gentle enough on her system. Everyone thinks that breast milk is the perfect food, and really it is. But there were things I was consuming that were transferring to my milk that were taking a toll on her little system. And instead of doing weeks of trialing foods and seeing what it was she was sensitive too while she continued to lose weight, I made the hard decision to stop pumping and give her a completely hypoallergenic formula that you can only purchase directly through the company or through a pharmacy with Doctor's permission, called Elecare. Within 3 weeks, I had a new baby. And even though these measly 14 oz cans cost almost $50 a piece (and last only a few days), it was completely worth it (and thank God for craigslist).
We still struggled to get her intake up with her formula and solids but as the months went on and the healing process continued she started to gain weight, and take more interest in eating. She actually started to seem like she had an appetite. It's been a slow process getting her over her oral aversion, but slowly her defensiveness is starting to dissipate. She now allows us to brush her teeth with a wash cloth, dispense medicine via dropper, use a vibrating teether among many other things I never thought I'd see her do.
I realize how pathetic these achievements sound. Any normal baby would have absolutely no problem with these things and would be chewing and mouthing anything in sight, but I can't help but thank God over and over again that our little orally defensive sensory refluxer is now eating like a champ and allowing us to put more and more types of things in her mouth. We're still having major issues with texture and gagging but we're making progress.
I know that things will only continue to improve. I can see that as she feels better and is finally getting the nutrition she needs that she is starting to explore the world much more. She was completely shut off from everything for the first 9 months of her life. She felt so horrible that she wouldn't explore anything. She wouldn't even touch toys. I always felt bad doing anything around the house because all she would do is sit there. So now when I see her playing with toys, rocking back and forth on her hands and knees and wanting to learn about everything around her, it makes me smile. She had a very late start so we are suffering a lot of delays because of it, but she has learned so much in such a small time frame and even if it doesn't mean she walks until she's 2 or 3, I can rest assured knowing she feels better and is getting the calories she needs.
Yes, 2011 is going to be our year. I can feel it!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Fun Times
I admit that I am guilty of often posting the negatives regarding The Chubs' refusal of food, or her development delays etc. Sometimes they can really get me down or overwhelm me and writing things out is often therapeutic for me. But I also realize that just as therapeutic as it is for me to write down my fears/worries/stresses, it is just as, if not more, beneficial for me to focus on all the great things that she is doing instead of dwelling on the progress she still needs to make.
Regardless of the feeding struggle and concerns about her gross motor skills (or what have you), this is an extremely fun time. The Chubs has become so interactive and is starting to communicate so much more. It's fun to see things "click" in her head as she figures out this big world. The most fun/exciting developments of late are these:
Without demonstrating it for her, she will do the following if we say these words:
She's started to try to sign "more", although it looks more like a clap since it's a similar motion. Today I tried showing her the sign for "Book" and "I love you" and she was trying really hard to do it.
She has started to seemingly intentionally call me mama. This mostly happens when I pick her up. She will look at me and go "mama". It's so cute.
So although she is still not doing several things, I'm choosing to focus on all the things that she is doing. It's fun to see her grow up and turn into a tiny little person. I'm so excited for this new year and all it has to offer.
Regardless of the feeding struggle and concerns about her gross motor skills (or what have you), this is an extremely fun time. The Chubs has become so interactive and is starting to communicate so much more. It's fun to see things "click" in her head as she figures out this big world. The most fun/exciting developments of late are these:
Without demonstrating it for her, she will do the following if we say these words:
- Clap
- Wave
- Blow a Kiss (Instead of putting her hand over her own mouth she puts it over mine and lifts it off. It's adorable)
- Where's my nose? (She'll grab the nose of whoever says this)
- Where's Daddy (or Mommy) in a picture (Will point or put her hand on our faces)
- Where's the ball? (She will grab the ball or stare at it)
- High Five
- Where's Baby? (There's a doll in her room that my mom made that whenever I say this she'll look at it and want to touch the doll's face)
She's started to try to sign "more", although it looks more like a clap since it's a similar motion. Today I tried showing her the sign for "Book" and "I love you" and she was trying really hard to do it.
She has started to seemingly intentionally call me mama. This mostly happens when I pick her up. She will look at me and go "mama". It's so cute.
So although she is still not doing several things, I'm choosing to focus on all the things that she is doing. It's fun to see her grow up and turn into a tiny little person. I'm so excited for this new year and all it has to offer.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wait, you want what?!!
Something monumental happened today. Something I never thought I would ever hear in my entire life.
The Chubs ASKED for her bottle today before nap time. Yes, my daughter, you know the one that hates eating and for months loathed her bottle with a passion.
For the last few months I have been very careful with her bottle. We used to offer it to her all the time because she wouldn't eat more than an ounce at each feeding. We also administered medicine with it. Bad, bad things to do. The problem with constantly offering the bottle is that she never had a chance to want it. It was something she hated so much and it was being put in her face constantly. The problem with giving medicine from the bottle is that we HAD to make her take all of her medicine or else her reflux wouldn't be controlled which would cause further issues so we had to continually shove the bottle in her mouth until she took all of it. This always ended in tears on both of our parts. At the time she wouldn't open her mouth for a dropper or anything for that matter. Finally I decided (once we found out her reflux was being controlled by her medication) that we would only offer the bottle every 3-4 hours and no more medicine given by bottle (unless it's hidden in her milk and we know she'll drink all of it). Things improved drastically after that.
Lately Lexi has been in a lot of discomfort. She got her second top tooth along with another tooth on the bottom at the same time. She is now getting tooth 6 and 7, so she has been a teething mess. Because of this, the spoon has been her nemesis. It's clear that she is hungry when I try to feed her solids but it hurts too much so she refuses and simply licks her lips.
Before nap time today I was changing her and she kept opening her mouth wide and saying "baba" which is what we always refer to her bottle as when we offer it to her. She babbles all the time so I didn't think much of it at first. But she continued to repeat this over and over again and open her mouth wide like she was hungry. I continued to shrug it off, but after I had put her down I started wondering... what if she really was asking for her bottle? I don't want to ignore that or brush it aside. I want to encourage her to ask for food. Something I never thought I would ever witness her doing. So I made a few oz of formula and brought it up to her. She drank it down immediately. She clearly wanted her bottle.
I cannot believe that MY child is finally showing some interest in eating. She has never been one to be comforted by food. She's never been one to be excited by food or to even really anticipate food. But if this is the beginning of an interest and eagerness to eat, I am going to do cartwheels and stand on my head because only in my wildest dreams would I have imagined this could happen.
The Chubs ASKED for her bottle today before nap time. Yes, my daughter, you know the one that hates eating and for months loathed her bottle with a passion.
For the last few months I have been very careful with her bottle. We used to offer it to her all the time because she wouldn't eat more than an ounce at each feeding. We also administered medicine with it. Bad, bad things to do. The problem with constantly offering the bottle is that she never had a chance to want it. It was something she hated so much and it was being put in her face constantly. The problem with giving medicine from the bottle is that we HAD to make her take all of her medicine or else her reflux wouldn't be controlled which would cause further issues so we had to continually shove the bottle in her mouth until she took all of it. This always ended in tears on both of our parts. At the time she wouldn't open her mouth for a dropper or anything for that matter. Finally I decided (once we found out her reflux was being controlled by her medication) that we would only offer the bottle every 3-4 hours and no more medicine given by bottle (unless it's hidden in her milk and we know she'll drink all of it). Things improved drastically after that.
Lately Lexi has been in a lot of discomfort. She got her second top tooth along with another tooth on the bottom at the same time. She is now getting tooth 6 and 7, so she has been a teething mess. Because of this, the spoon has been her nemesis. It's clear that she is hungry when I try to feed her solids but it hurts too much so she refuses and simply licks her lips.
Before nap time today I was changing her and she kept opening her mouth wide and saying "baba" which is what we always refer to her bottle as when we offer it to her. She babbles all the time so I didn't think much of it at first. But she continued to repeat this over and over again and open her mouth wide like she was hungry. I continued to shrug it off, but after I had put her down I started wondering... what if she really was asking for her bottle? I don't want to ignore that or brush it aside. I want to encourage her to ask for food. Something I never thought I would ever witness her doing. So I made a few oz of formula and brought it up to her. She drank it down immediately. She clearly wanted her bottle.
I cannot believe that MY child is finally showing some interest in eating. She has never been one to be comforted by food. She's never been one to be excited by food or to even really anticipate food. But if this is the beginning of an interest and eagerness to eat, I am going to do cartwheels and stand on my head because only in my wildest dreams would I have imagined this could happen.
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