This was a big month for Kaitlyn. She is doing so many new things!
- We've swaddled Kaitlyn for every nap and at night since she as born. That is a LONG time to swaddle. I did it though, with the approval and encouragement of our physical therapist and neurologist. She simple couldn't calm down without it, her little arms would just flail about. Our PT explained that low birth weight babies (which Kaitlyn was) often have a hard time "organizing" their body in order to go to sleep because their nervous system is not fully developed when they are born. Anyways, I finally decided it was time for her to sleep without the aid of the swaddle. Last week I stopped swaddling one arm; this week I started leaving both arms out, though I still wrap a blanket around her middle. She is doing great, sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night and I wrap her all the way up, but all in all she is sleeping with her arms out. This is a huge accomplishment for us! Last night Kaitlyn turned completely sideways in her crib :)
- Kaitlyn is putting a few more things into her mouth. I'm hoping that this is a step toward her eating table food, though we still have a ways to go. Tonight she let me put some bread in her mouth, and she didn't gag. She didn't want another piece, but still--progress! We've learned to be very pleased with the small steps.
- She is sitting really well and moving the tiniest amounts while she is sitting. She is also leaning to the side and putting her weight on one hand and reaching with the other (something we've been working on in PT). She is also bearing a lot more weight on her legs. Her little monkey arms reach everything and her fine motor skills are continuing to stay on track.
- She is talking! She blew me away the first time she imitated a word, well, kind of a word. We were in a session with her teacher for the deaf and she was showing her animals and such and telling her what they said. She first showed her a horse and said, "neigh!" Kaitlyn did this funny little laugh that sort of sounded like a neigh and we laughed, thinking it was funny that it sounded so similar. Then she showed Kaitlyn a duck and said, "quack quack quack!" Kaitlyn said, "aaa aaa aaa." We decided then that it wasn't a coincidence, but that she was really trying to say it. Our teacher then showed her a boat and said, "puh puh puh" (apparently that is the sound a boat makes if you have a unilateral hearing loss :) and Kaitlyn said, "huh huh huh." We were thrilled. She had never imitated anything like that before. The next morning I said "uh oh" about something and Kaitlyn said it right back. She's been saying it ever since. It is so cute. She is getting clearer and clearer. She says it when she wakes up in the morning over and over until I go get her out of her crib. She has also been dropping things and saying it, she really gets it. She has also been saying "ba ba ba" and sometimes even "ma ma ma" (which she started saying on Father's Day, ironically). I can't even put into words the feeling I get when I hear her speak. Having been told, numerous times, that she might never talk and then to watch her do it anyways is amazing. She is amazing.
Our little jabber box. I took this video while Dora was on, so she is slightly distracted but she still did a pretty good job. Funny little bug.
2 comments:
Her little uh-oh is so cute! Owen and Gabe have started to jabber too, but they don't know what they are saying.
That is awesome, and a year (almost) already?? wow! time sure does fly!
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