18 month check up

She got her polio and Dtap shots. She answered an assessment of questions looking for what I think is either autism or any form of delay (does she smile when you smile, does she know her name, is she overly sensitive to loud noise, etc). No ear infection even tho she sticks her fingers in her ears all the time. Breathing sounded good. Did seem to have a yeast rash forming on the diaper line, and her sensitive skin requires some 2.5 hydro cortisone cream. He also said to get her a potty seat to sit on while we go potty just so she gets used to the idea.

He asked if she said 15-20 words. She says 1, "mama." Speech therapy eval is Feb 1 and he's very, very interested in it. She communicates through grunting and pointing. She used to use sign language but now she just walks over to what she wants.

She's in the 3rd percentile for weight at 17 lbs 11 ozs and 10th percentile for height at 30.5 inches.

Since she's been choking lately (3 times in one week) on food she eats normally (apples, goldfish crackers) he ordered a swallow study. Great, just what I need, another reason to go to CHoA.

I was really hoping we were getting away from this nonsense but now its Speech Eval Feb 1, GI Feb 14 and swallow study who knows when.

Walking update

I don't know if its because she used her walker all over the daycare lady's house or because her daddy helped her push a luvs box all over the house but she's been super interested in walking lately. She spontaneously started walking one handed with the "pooh mobile" this afternoon. Between walking with the box and the pooh toy, and the walking at daycare (and today at the mall) I'm starting to get my hopes again!

*yawn* walking, daycare

Well, its been officially established by the PT and our services coordinator that there is nothing wrong with Ellie physically, she just has no desire to walk. They are continuing services though. She can walk, and she will if she wants to or we force her to do so. Its not like we can bribe her with cash or cars or tv or video games. She just has to want it on her own. Further, because of her small stature, crawling has not been shown to be a hindrance to her. She can move quickly and easily through any situation without pain or problem so walking isn't a necessity at this point. Tomorrow I am bringing her walker to daycare.

Daycare is going great. We found a fantastic woman to do in home daycare with her twin 3 year old girls and her 4 month old son. Ellie was excited yesterday when she realized where we were going and today when I put her down with the toys she was happy as a clam. Daycare is trying to help facilitate the walking with a bathrobe belt under her armpits, or holding her hands as they walk somewhere but overall, still no desire. Ellie will walk until she doesn't, and then sit down.

A toddler is like a ghost

Living with a toddler is like living with a ghost. Things are always just a little off and you can't always tell what's different. Things go missing only to turn up days later in a wildly unexpected place. Random hand prints show up on your walls and appliances. When you hear noises that you can't explain, it causes your heart rate to go up. When you can't see who is causing all the damage, you get worried. Stains being to magically collect. Your batteries always seem drained. Every now and again a smell will rub your nose and disappear. You will not know why that smell appeared or where it came from. Objects move from one side of the room to the other when you step out of the room for only seconds...

Walking and talking and day care, oh my!

My lil turkey decided to show off for her Nanny and Buppa. She repeatedly took 4-5 steps all over their house during our holiday vacation stay at their house. We were consistently shocked and delighted. And as predicted by her PT, her talking has dramatically increased. We're all so proud. Once again, I'm excited and anxiously awaiting her next PT session.

Tomorrow we interview a woman who is running a day care center out of her house. I've written down a list of several questions. I'm hoping it works out. I'm nervous, anxious, happy, sad. My big girl is growing up!

Bad News/Good news?

I took Ellie to the pediatrician on Friday. She has a cold, with some fluid in her right ear (presumably that's the one the tube fell out of). Not contagious, or so we were told, but her daddy and I both caught it. The worst, however, was the weight loss. 16 lbs 10 ozs. The pedi tried to tell me not to worry b/c its a net gain, and since she's been sick own. her appetite has likely been dbut honestly I wanted cry. Looks like we're not about to lose the GI. She weighed 17 lbs at her last appointment, and she should have gained since then. So crushing and heartbreaking.

Ellie surprised the dickens out of me. I sat her on her stool and said "Stand up and walk to mommy!" AND SHE DID! I couldn't believe it. We did it probably 100 times. I recorded it 2 or 3 times on 2 cameras. To top it off, I let her hold my scarf while she walked down the hall. She basically walked on her own for the most part, I barely held the scarf at all. I'm so proud of my big girl! Of course now I'm worried that she got my hopes up and will never do it again.

Looks like her 7th tooth finally came through, poor thing. It was really bothering her today, she didnt want to chew her food at all. No cookies or goldfish, or she'd eat them on 1 side of her mouth.

At least she's feeling better.

Progress?

Not really. That's why I haven't posted in over a month. She can walk, she just won't. She hasn't said any new words, just babbles. Speech therapy is going to be a long process, I can tell already. Tomorrow I'm considering getting her weighed in hopes of dropping the GI. The GI appointment isn't until the end of Jan (thought it was Dec but when I called, they said no appointment was on record). So my thought process is that if I get her weighed at the pedi, and she's 18 pounds, maybe we can tell the pedi to contact the GI and have her dropped. Pipe dream, I know.

Anyway, back to walking. The PT and I are still pulling our hair out wondering why on Earth Ellie is refusing to walk. She's physically capable, she just doesn't want to. The PT assumes its because crawling gets her everywhere she needs to go (and she can do it at a very high rate of speed). She has very poor spatial awareness so we're working on falling (putting cushions everywhere and just letting her fall onto them when she reaches the end of the couch). PT says she has a contraption of some sort that someone built for her that she will bring to the next session. Which leads me to my next thought process.

Losing PT. If PT is out of tips and tricks, and we can't make Ellie want to walk, maybe its time we save our sanity and give up on PT. Technically Ellie isn't behind yet (18 months is behind), although she's getting there rapidly. On the other hand, I don't want her to start to get behind. Still, walking is the only working on and Ellie will do it when she wants, and not a minute before. Of course, if Ellie is going to start daycare in January, we need her to be walking before then. Cutting out PT could make that more difficult. It's not like we're paying for it, and the PT has been a great success until this point. It's only costing me my sanity and time at this point.

Decisions, decisions.