Walking

During PT yesterday Ellie took 2 more unassisted steps. I was so excited and proud. I asked the PT what else Ellie needs to learn to walk. Basically, just falling. Well, balance I guess is more appropriate. She has none lol. I asked when we could expect Ellie to start walking. The PT said walking takes the longest to learn as it is one of the hardest skills to master. I was hoping 3 months, she said 6 at the latest. This saddens me. 6 months?? So long. And of course it has to be Ellie's idea. She wont do it just because we ask. She has to believe it's a good idea, and her own.

XRAYS ARE CLEAR

No hip problems!!! HOORAY!!!!

1 yr stats, xray

She stayed 27.5 inches long. She weighed in at almost exactly 15 lbs, which is good because if we keep the weight gain no feeding tube. She seemed to check out just fine, and is in the normal range for development (no signs of delay or autism). The doctor said he expected her to be delayed b/c of all she had been through, whatever the hell that means. She presumably has low iron b/c he put her on an iron supplement twice a day. Anyway, he ordered an xray of her hips since she was breech and he hadn't ordered one previously. Today we went to our usual place- CHoA Scottish Rite. We got the Xray and I have a bad feeling. The Xray tech asked, twice, which hip I hear pop. She asked, twice, about Ellie being in physical therapy. She said to the tech student, "See on 2? Right there." to which the student replied "yeah I see it." And when I questioned the tech she replied, "I'm just gonna make sure a doctor sees it." So we're waiting for the call back.

Speech Therapy Eval

Ellie's speech therapy evaluation with Dr Riski was fantastic. She has no nasality and her palate seems to be working great. Dr Riski said he thought she had a small palate but I explained that she had one of the largest Dr. Williams had ever seen. He was very impressed with Dr. Williams' work (as am I). In any event, he gave me "Straight A's" on parenting. Ellie's speech is perfect, he wants us to keep reading to her, signing with her, talking to her, etc. He wants a big vocabulary which she will pick up as she ages, along with more verbal sounds (like "d" for dada). When we return in 6 months we will also see the pediatric dentist. She may still need speech therapy between the ages of 3-5 but right now, she's great!

First Steps!

During physical therapy today, Ellie took TWO UNASSISTED steps! I couldn't believe it, even though I witnessed it with my own two eyes. I was nothing short of shocked. She had been practice walking by holding on to my hands, and we had been using two chairs as parallel bars for her to walk with support but to take unassisted steps?!?! SHOCKING! Of course, she was LIVID that I made her do it and for a solid hour (at least) following she wouldn't even stand but then she she stood up and pivoted from the couch to coffee table unassisted. So she's definitely learning and one day it's going to be over, I'm going to have a full-fledged walker. Her first birthday party is Saturday so it's really breaking my heart a bit. She's so grown up! :*(

GI Follow up

She weighed in at 13 pounds, 15 ounces. I was NOT happy. She gained 10 ounces in two months. The GI was not upset about her growth, but we had both hoped for more weight. I explained that now she's crawling, and learning to walk in PT, and we try our damnedest to get her to eat all we can but she's schizophrenic about her eating. She's not on a schedule, she won't eat certain things at certain times (sometimes the only thing we can get in her are cheerios, other days it's all about the bottle). She's turning 1 year in just 3 weeks so she's at the age where their weight levels off and their appetite diminishes. He agreed that all those things make for normal baby appetite. However, Ellie cannot afford to be a normal baby. So, our prime directive is to stop the bottle, add in more table food (still with whipping cream and butter), add in pediasure to her sippy cups, and an RX to increase appetite. It's called Periactin. It's an old benedryl concoction, used to treat hay fever and allergies but it also works to stimulate appetite. We do have to watch for the side effect of extreme drowsiness. At her one year appointment we are looking for her to be at about 15 pounds. I don't know what else to do, but she simply CANNOT have a feeding tube. She'll just rip it out all the time. She's smart, she's strong and she's FAST.

Pool Party

Ellie had her first trip to the pool. I had asked her PT how she felt Ellie would do and her reply was "Who knows? Ellie is an enigma. Things we think she would like she hates, things we think she would hate she loves." Which is true. She doesn't mind toys being zoomed up to her face but if you put her in the swings she thinks she's going to absolutely positively die. In any event, she seemed to be ok with the pool situation. At first she seemed pretty scared of the whole ordeal, but then got used to floating around while eating a rubber duck and suddenly things became a lot more chill for her. She clung to mommy and daddy every now and again but other than that, she wasn't happy, she wasn't mad or sad. LOL