Showing posts with label Milestones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Milestones. Show all posts
Thursday, March 24, 2011
She Knows
Last night I was rocking Piper for a little while before bed. She's always super cuddly at night and likes to be held for as long as possible before I put her in bed. I sang her a few songs and said prayers. She was quiet for a bit as we rocked a little longer. As I stood up to put her in her crib she said, "Mama... Mama," very clearly. I asked her "Where's Mama?" and she tapped her little finger on my chest. Ah, sweet sweet words.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Breakthrough
With potty training! For weeks Morgan would suddenly decide to take off her pants and pull-up and go sit on the potty. Nothing would happen. From the state of the pull-up I think she had just gone, but had not connected that she had to sit on the potty before she peed in it.
A few times last week I would just let her run around naked for a while. She would hold her pee and eventually for nap or bedtime she would just wait to go in the pull-up. Last night I was determined to see what she would do if she got desperate. When she has to go she asks for her pull-up, or as we call it Princess Pants (as there are Disney Princesses on them). I simply said no when she asked. She got a little nutty, running around and whining and asking for her pants. Eventually (and oddly always in the same spot) she would get to a point where she couldn't hold it any more and she would just start peeing. Then we had to run her to the potty to try to "catch" some of the pee in the bowl. When she did this we would clap and cheer! She looked so proud of herself and she said "I did it!!" We were able to do this twice before bedtime. Each time she also got a sticker and some M&Ms.
This morning I slept in (got Morgan and Piper's sickness, ugh). When I got up Morgan was, again, without a pull-up or panties. David doesn't like the naked butt running around, but I told him he'd have to deal with it for now. She said she had to go and I went in the bathroom with her. This time I told her, Morgan, just push out the pee, relax and let it out. To my surprise I heard a tinkling sound, then a whoosh...she did it! The look on her face was priceless! She stood up and looked in the potty and said "I did my pee pee!!" Then she added to it and said "Look at the beautiful pee pee!" (The last few days she's been very into calling things pretty or beautiful. She even called a picture of an ugly gorilla..."the beautiful monkey.") Anyway, it was hilarious! I agreed that it was beautiful pee pee. :-)
Today she peed in the potty all day, except for nap time. I also made sure to offer her lots of liquids so we'd have more opportunities for success. We're working on just pee right now. I didn't expect her to poop in the potty and sure enough, she waited for the pull-up. That's just fine. Oh, and she was all about the M&Ms. Several times she said she had to go, ran in the bathroom for a few seconds then came out and said she "did her pee pee and want M&Ms." I went and looked...no pee pee. She was very ticked that she didn't get her M&Ms.
We are thrilled with this progress and hope it continues tomorrow. There may be setbacks and other issues, but I'm shocked we've come this far as quickly as we have. Go Morgan!! What a big girl you are!
A few times last week I would just let her run around naked for a while. She would hold her pee and eventually for nap or bedtime she would just wait to go in the pull-up. Last night I was determined to see what she would do if she got desperate. When she has to go she asks for her pull-up, or as we call it Princess Pants (as there are Disney Princesses on them). I simply said no when she asked. She got a little nutty, running around and whining and asking for her pants. Eventually (and oddly always in the same spot) she would get to a point where she couldn't hold it any more and she would just start peeing. Then we had to run her to the potty to try to "catch" some of the pee in the bowl. When she did this we would clap and cheer! She looked so proud of herself and she said "I did it!!" We were able to do this twice before bedtime. Each time she also got a sticker and some M&Ms.
This morning I slept in (got Morgan and Piper's sickness, ugh). When I got up Morgan was, again, without a pull-up or panties. David doesn't like the naked butt running around, but I told him he'd have to deal with it for now. She said she had to go and I went in the bathroom with her. This time I told her, Morgan, just push out the pee, relax and let it out. To my surprise I heard a tinkling sound, then a whoosh...she did it! The look on her face was priceless! She stood up and looked in the potty and said "I did my pee pee!!" Then she added to it and said "Look at the beautiful pee pee!" (The last few days she's been very into calling things pretty or beautiful. She even called a picture of an ugly gorilla..."the beautiful monkey.") Anyway, it was hilarious! I agreed that it was beautiful pee pee. :-)
Today she peed in the potty all day, except for nap time. I also made sure to offer her lots of liquids so we'd have more opportunities for success. We're working on just pee right now. I didn't expect her to poop in the potty and sure enough, she waited for the pull-up. That's just fine. Oh, and she was all about the M&Ms. Several times she said she had to go, ran in the bathroom for a few seconds then came out and said she "did her pee pee and want M&Ms." I went and looked...no pee pee. She was very ticked that she didn't get her M&Ms.
We are thrilled with this progress and hope it continues tomorrow. There may be setbacks and other issues, but I'm shocked we've come this far as quickly as we have. Go Morgan!! What a big girl you are!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
"My Turn"
Morgan is really starting to show a desire to become more independent! Lately she is communicating this desire by saying "My turn!" whenever she wants to do something without our help. Sometimes we also hear "I do it!" We are thrilled with this development!
Many times in the past I have heard of friends who will say that their kids start to assert their independence...and I've always thought "will Morgan ever do that?" She's always been comfortable with letting us help her do things like dress and undress her, put toys away, etc. Yes, she is starting to do this later than most kids, but I'm just glad she is doing it! Today she even insisted on putting on her own sneakers! Those are not easy shoes to put on! This tells me that her fine motor skills are really improving because she is feeling more and more confident in doing things like this on her own. We've now got her buckling herself into her own booster seat and buckling the chest strap on her car seat. You should see the look on her face when she completes these tasks. She is SO proud of herself! She gets a big smile and says "I did it!" Sometimes she claps for herself too. Piper has also started to imitate her clapping too!
I have also made a concerted effort lately to let Morgan do things on her own instead of helping her with them because it's faster or neater. Yesterday she also hung up her coat all by herself for the first time! Usually she says "please help with me." I kept asking her if she needed help and she would say "No!" Then I heard a happy "I did it!" and off she went to play with some toys. Go Morgan, go Morgan, go Morgan!
Many times in the past I have heard of friends who will say that their kids start to assert their independence...and I've always thought "will Morgan ever do that?" She's always been comfortable with letting us help her do things like dress and undress her, put toys away, etc. Yes, she is starting to do this later than most kids, but I'm just glad she is doing it! Today she even insisted on putting on her own sneakers! Those are not easy shoes to put on! This tells me that her fine motor skills are really improving because she is feeling more and more confident in doing things like this on her own. We've now got her buckling herself into her own booster seat and buckling the chest strap on her car seat. You should see the look on her face when she completes these tasks. She is SO proud of herself! She gets a big smile and says "I did it!" Sometimes she claps for herself too. Piper has also started to imitate her clapping too!
I have also made a concerted effort lately to let Morgan do things on her own instead of helping her with them because it's faster or neater. Yesterday she also hung up her coat all by herself for the first time! Usually she says "please help with me." I kept asking her if she needed help and she would say "No!" Then I heard a happy "I did it!" and off she went to play with some toys. Go Morgan, go Morgan, go Morgan!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Parent-Teacher Conference
We had our very first Parent-Teacher Conference yesterday at Morgan's school. It was totally casual. We even sat at the little chairs in Morgan's classroom as there was only one adult sized desk chair in the room. Ha ha!
Morgan is doing well! We went over the goals in her IEP (Individualized Education Plan). They are as follows:
Social - During a freeplay setting, Morgan will engage in functional play with peers
Her overall long term goal is "80% of the time with minimal prompting." This is to be met in one year's time. Her short term goal (by Feb. 18) is "30% of the time with prompting." Her current status is "40% of the time with prompting." So that is 10% better than the short term goal! Go Morgan!
Social - Morgan will independently acknowledge (saying hello/goodbye, asking for help if needed, etc.) familiar peers and adults during the arrival and departure routines.
Her short term goal is "2 out of 5 opportunities." She is meeting this goal! I was concerned about this one. We really are working on it, but it didn't seem to me like she's catching on yet, but apparently they think so. Yippee!
Social - Morgan will independently follow the preschool routine
Her short term goal is "4 out of 5 opportunities with physical and verbal prompting." She is at "4 out of 5 opportunities with physical prompting." The teacher said she transitions well during the day from activity to activity (in and outside of the classroom, recess and bathroom). The only time they have a little trouble is at the end of the school day when it's time to put on her jacket and backpack to leave. All the kids have their cubbies lined up next to each other right by the door. Morgan will go to her cubby, but will get distracted by her name tag and other kids' name tags (reading the letters, of course) and won't put on her jacket. The teacher says she usually has to take her away from the cubbies and other kids to help her put on her jacket. She thinks maybe the noise and "chaos" of the getting ready to leave process might be a little overwhelming for her. This is her guess...but they are still working on how to best keep Morgan focused on this task so they can all be ready to go out the door together (the teachers walk Morgan out to the buses/parking lot where I meet them).
Morgan's Occupational Therapist could not be at our meeting, but we ran into her in the hall on the way out. She gave us some quick details (in addition to what her teacher had already reviewed with us). She is REALLY pleased at how well Morgan is doing! She also said that when they do their sessions Morgan comes right over and is eager to work with her.
Fine Motor - When given a model, Morgan will copy a horizontal line, circle and cross with a writing tool.
Morgan's long term goal is completing this task at 4 out of 5 sessions. Her short term goal is 1 out of 5 sessions. She is already completing the line and circle 4 out of 5 sessions!! They are still working on the cross. Good job Morgan!
Fine Motor - Morgan will complete simple visual motor tasks (i.e. string beads, puzzles, stack 10 cubes, snip paper with scissors, lace holes with a string, place small objects in small holes/slots, etc.)
Her long term goal is also 4 out of 5 sessions. She has met this goal with the stringing beads, puzzles and small object in small holes. She is still making progress with the scissors. The therapist said she is doing well with the lacing and stacking cubes too.
And then the Occupational Therapist told us she doesn't think Morgan will need OT much longer! Whoopee!
Overall Morgan's teacher is also very pleased with how well she is doing. Obviously her biggest challenge is her social skills. We are glad she is making progress in this area. Her teacher said she seems to be forming some "bonds" with a few of the other girls in her class. We ultimately decided to keep her in this morning class...it turned out that the afternoon class will be structured very similar to the one she is in now, so there didn't end up being a benefit to switching her. This was a relief for me as I was having a hard time making a decision on this. It ended up working itself out.
We were also glad to hear that Morgan has displayed NO behavioral issues in her class. She has been such a challenge at home with the "no's" and just plain defiance that we were concerned this might be happening at school too. Her teacher said once in a while she'll resist doing something initially, but will join in pretty quickly. Even if she resists, it is only with slight body language (turning away from the person or looking away), none of the yelling and screaming that we see at home. We were really glad to hear this. It sounds like she's testing us like any other three year old would, but knows somehow that this will not be acceptable behavior at school. Thank goodness! Now if we can only figure out how to improve this behavior at home!
I also discussed with her teacher about working on some potty training in March. Shad made a good paoint about Spring Break being the first week of April. She said they would plan on working with Morgan on this for a week before the break with the goal of her continuing progress at home the week of the break. This sounded good to me as it will give us a solid week of "operation panties" at home without having to deal with the school schedule. Crossing our fingers that something "clicks" for her during that time.
So, for our first meeting, this went VERY well! If I could have this kind of feedback from here on out I'd be thrilled! I'm sure we will have bumps in the road along the way, but this only confirms that this school is the right place for her and she is making great progress on her goals.
Morgan is doing well! We went over the goals in her IEP (Individualized Education Plan). They are as follows:
Social - During a freeplay setting, Morgan will engage in functional play with peers
Her overall long term goal is "80% of the time with minimal prompting." This is to be met in one year's time. Her short term goal (by Feb. 18) is "30% of the time with prompting." Her current status is "40% of the time with prompting." So that is 10% better than the short term goal! Go Morgan!
Social - Morgan will independently acknowledge (saying hello/goodbye, asking for help if needed, etc.) familiar peers and adults during the arrival and departure routines.
Her short term goal is "2 out of 5 opportunities." She is meeting this goal! I was concerned about this one. We really are working on it, but it didn't seem to me like she's catching on yet, but apparently they think so. Yippee!
Social - Morgan will independently follow the preschool routine
Her short term goal is "4 out of 5 opportunities with physical and verbal prompting." She is at "4 out of 5 opportunities with physical prompting." The teacher said she transitions well during the day from activity to activity (in and outside of the classroom, recess and bathroom). The only time they have a little trouble is at the end of the school day when it's time to put on her jacket and backpack to leave. All the kids have their cubbies lined up next to each other right by the door. Morgan will go to her cubby, but will get distracted by her name tag and other kids' name tags (reading the letters, of course) and won't put on her jacket. The teacher says she usually has to take her away from the cubbies and other kids to help her put on her jacket. She thinks maybe the noise and "chaos" of the getting ready to leave process might be a little overwhelming for her. This is her guess...but they are still working on how to best keep Morgan focused on this task so they can all be ready to go out the door together (the teachers walk Morgan out to the buses/parking lot where I meet them).
Morgan's Occupational Therapist could not be at our meeting, but we ran into her in the hall on the way out. She gave us some quick details (in addition to what her teacher had already reviewed with us). She is REALLY pleased at how well Morgan is doing! She also said that when they do their sessions Morgan comes right over and is eager to work with her.
Fine Motor - When given a model, Morgan will copy a horizontal line, circle and cross with a writing tool.
Morgan's long term goal is completing this task at 4 out of 5 sessions. Her short term goal is 1 out of 5 sessions. She is already completing the line and circle 4 out of 5 sessions!! They are still working on the cross. Good job Morgan!
Fine Motor - Morgan will complete simple visual motor tasks (i.e. string beads, puzzles, stack 10 cubes, snip paper with scissors, lace holes with a string, place small objects in small holes/slots, etc.)
Her long term goal is also 4 out of 5 sessions. She has met this goal with the stringing beads, puzzles and small object in small holes. She is still making progress with the scissors. The therapist said she is doing well with the lacing and stacking cubes too.
And then the Occupational Therapist told us she doesn't think Morgan will need OT much longer! Whoopee!
Overall Morgan's teacher is also very pleased with how well she is doing. Obviously her biggest challenge is her social skills. We are glad she is making progress in this area. Her teacher said she seems to be forming some "bonds" with a few of the other girls in her class. We ultimately decided to keep her in this morning class...it turned out that the afternoon class will be structured very similar to the one she is in now, so there didn't end up being a benefit to switching her. This was a relief for me as I was having a hard time making a decision on this. It ended up working itself out.
We were also glad to hear that Morgan has displayed NO behavioral issues in her class. She has been such a challenge at home with the "no's" and just plain defiance that we were concerned this might be happening at school too. Her teacher said once in a while she'll resist doing something initially, but will join in pretty quickly. Even if she resists, it is only with slight body language (turning away from the person or looking away), none of the yelling and screaming that we see at home. We were really glad to hear this. It sounds like she's testing us like any other three year old would, but knows somehow that this will not be acceptable behavior at school. Thank goodness! Now if we can only figure out how to improve this behavior at home!
I also discussed with her teacher about working on some potty training in March. Shad made a good paoint about Spring Break being the first week of April. She said they would plan on working with Morgan on this for a week before the break with the goal of her continuing progress at home the week of the break. This sounded good to me as it will give us a solid week of "operation panties" at home without having to deal with the school schedule. Crossing our fingers that something "clicks" for her during that time.
So, for our first meeting, this went VERY well! If I could have this kind of feedback from here on out I'd be thrilled! I'm sure we will have bumps in the road along the way, but this only confirms that this school is the right place for her and she is making great progress on her goals.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
The Pumpkin Piper
My "changes" post was supposed to post TODAY, not yesterday... so my Wordless Wednesday became Wordy Wednesday. Oh well.
On to more updates. Our little Piper is now 17 months old and is turning into quite a character, at least around us. Our neighbor watched her yesterday while I had a dentist appointment and said she didn't talk at all. Hmmm. Maybe she's got the shyness gene I have. We'll see.
Here are some words Piper has added to her vocabulary lately:
Dance - "Da... da" (usually while swaying back and forth or turning in circles)
Stomp - "tomp" (If you're happy and you know it, stomp you're feet!)
Open - "op"
Ball - "ba"
Beep Beep - "bee-bee" (like honking a car horn, or pushing the "buttons" to the microwave in her play kitchen)
Apple - "a-puh"
Button (Belly button) - "dubba dubba"
Pretty cute. I still worry that she doesn't say "Daddy" or "Mama" really. Some times she'll say it when you tell her too, but not voluntarily. If you ask her "Where's Daddy?" she'll look right at him, so she knows who we are, she just doesn't use our "names." It just seems so strange that she's adding other words, but not our "names." I'm going to ask the Dr. about this at her 18 month appointment, if she doesn't start saying it by then. She definitely has way more words and overall better "functional communication" (pointing and body language) than Morgan did at this age. This gives me hope, but I still have a lot of worries.
On the other hand, she is impressing me by what she is picking up from us. Just this morning we were in the car at Morgan's school and I put some lotion on my hands. She watched me rub the lotion in and started making the same movements, rubbing her hands together. She seemed very pleased with herself for doing this. I think little things like this do show that she is socially aware of what other people are doing around her. Also, she was doing it totally on her own, without any prompting from me.
Piper is also doing a lot of pointing at things she sees, like pictures on a wall or something bright colored. She's been saying "ba-da!" while she does this. I'm not sure what this means, but she's calling our attention to it. This is something Morgan only does once in a while.
I hate to compare the two of them, but I really can't get around it. They both have their strengths and challenges. We still call Piper "hyper Piper" sometimes. I don't really think she's hyper, but she reacts very quickly and intensely when she wants something or if something is taken from her. We joke that the little ponytail on the top of her head is a fuse because she's a firecracker about to go off. David says someday she's just going to spontaneously combust.
We have two girls who are very strong willed. Challenging, yet I'm glad they know what they want. The other day I had a basket of clean laundry on the floor while I got Piper dressed for the day. She went and grabbed a shirt out of the basket and put it around her shoulders. This is how she "puts her clothes on." I grabbed a different outfit from the basket and tried to put it on her. She screeched and pushed the shirt away and went and got the first shirt and brought it to me. I guess that's what she wanted to wear that day because I was able to put it on her without a fight. She also seems awfully fascinated with shoes. Uh-oh.
She's getting better at using a spoon. She won't let me feed her anymore, so I have to put up with the mess if I'm going to let her learn. I'm behind on working on the open cup because I'm dreading more mess. Gotta get on that one.
What else? She's still pretty wobbly on her feet sometimes, but she still moves pretty fast. I've also got this on my list for the Dr (the wobbly part). She doesn't crawl anymore, so I know this will get better, but she falls down an awful lot. It doesn't seem to bother her though. She climbs on everything. She can even climb into her car seat all by herself which is especially impressive in David's bigger car. She really wants to climb up onto the stools in our kitchen... but I won't let her. She gets pretty mad, but sorry kid, you're not ready for that (or I'm not).
This kid's got some pretty good fine motor skills. Her Dr. mentioned this at her 2 month appointment as she tore apart the paper on the exam table as he was giving her the exam. She stacks blocks pretty well and puts the Little People in their various vehicles. She scribbles in coloring books (when she's not trying to eat the crayons) and she works well with the magnets on her doodle board. Pretty good.
Piper is even starting to display some pretend play. She turns any rectagular or oblong object into a phone and says "hi, hi." She puts play food in the pots in the play kitchen and stirs them with a spoon. As mentioned above, she pretends to push the buttons on the microwave. She pours us "tea" from her teapot and "drinks" from her own teacup. She brings us play cookies to eat. A good start, I think.
Oh and I almost forgot. The other day we went to Jump and Bounce again and Piper climbed all the way up the "ladder" on the biggest slide and slid down all by herself. She took her time getting up and didn't mind when the bigger, faster kids went around her. She just chugged her way up. She slides down any slide feet first on on her belly. So funny to watch. Go Piper!
On to more updates. Our little Piper is now 17 months old and is turning into quite a character, at least around us. Our neighbor watched her yesterday while I had a dentist appointment and said she didn't talk at all. Hmmm. Maybe she's got the shyness gene I have. We'll see.
Here are some words Piper has added to her vocabulary lately:
Dance - "Da... da" (usually while swaying back and forth or turning in circles)
Stomp - "tomp" (If you're happy and you know it, stomp you're feet!)
Open - "op"
Ball - "ba"
Beep Beep - "bee-bee" (like honking a car horn, or pushing the "buttons" to the microwave in her play kitchen)
Apple - "a-puh"
Button (Belly button) - "dubba dubba"
Pretty cute. I still worry that she doesn't say "Daddy" or "Mama" really. Some times she'll say it when you tell her too, but not voluntarily. If you ask her "Where's Daddy?" she'll look right at him, so she knows who we are, she just doesn't use our "names." It just seems so strange that she's adding other words, but not our "names." I'm going to ask the Dr. about this at her 18 month appointment, if she doesn't start saying it by then. She definitely has way more words and overall better "functional communication" (pointing and body language) than Morgan did at this age. This gives me hope, but I still have a lot of worries.
On the other hand, she is impressing me by what she is picking up from us. Just this morning we were in the car at Morgan's school and I put some lotion on my hands. She watched me rub the lotion in and started making the same movements, rubbing her hands together. She seemed very pleased with herself for doing this. I think little things like this do show that she is socially aware of what other people are doing around her. Also, she was doing it totally on her own, without any prompting from me.
Piper is also doing a lot of pointing at things she sees, like pictures on a wall or something bright colored. She's been saying "ba-da!" while she does this. I'm not sure what this means, but she's calling our attention to it. This is something Morgan only does once in a while.
I hate to compare the two of them, but I really can't get around it. They both have their strengths and challenges. We still call Piper "hyper Piper" sometimes. I don't really think she's hyper, but she reacts very quickly and intensely when she wants something or if something is taken from her. We joke that the little ponytail on the top of her head is a fuse because she's a firecracker about to go off. David says someday she's just going to spontaneously combust.
We have two girls who are very strong willed. Challenging, yet I'm glad they know what they want. The other day I had a basket of clean laundry on the floor while I got Piper dressed for the day. She went and grabbed a shirt out of the basket and put it around her shoulders. This is how she "puts her clothes on." I grabbed a different outfit from the basket and tried to put it on her. She screeched and pushed the shirt away and went and got the first shirt and brought it to me. I guess that's what she wanted to wear that day because I was able to put it on her without a fight. She also seems awfully fascinated with shoes. Uh-oh.
She's getting better at using a spoon. She won't let me feed her anymore, so I have to put up with the mess if I'm going to let her learn. I'm behind on working on the open cup because I'm dreading more mess. Gotta get on that one.
What else? She's still pretty wobbly on her feet sometimes, but she still moves pretty fast. I've also got this on my list for the Dr (the wobbly part). She doesn't crawl anymore, so I know this will get better, but she falls down an awful lot. It doesn't seem to bother her though. She climbs on everything. She can even climb into her car seat all by herself which is especially impressive in David's bigger car. She really wants to climb up onto the stools in our kitchen... but I won't let her. She gets pretty mad, but sorry kid, you're not ready for that (or I'm not).
This kid's got some pretty good fine motor skills. Her Dr. mentioned this at her 2 month appointment as she tore apart the paper on the exam table as he was giving her the exam. She stacks blocks pretty well and puts the Little People in their various vehicles. She scribbles in coloring books (when she's not trying to eat the crayons) and she works well with the magnets on her doodle board. Pretty good.
Piper is even starting to display some pretend play. She turns any rectagular or oblong object into a phone and says "hi, hi." She puts play food in the pots in the play kitchen and stirs them with a spoon. As mentioned above, she pretends to push the buttons on the microwave. She pours us "tea" from her teapot and "drinks" from her own teacup. She brings us play cookies to eat. A good start, I think.
Oh and I almost forgot. The other day we went to Jump and Bounce again and Piper climbed all the way up the "ladder" on the biggest slide and slid down all by herself. She took her time getting up and didn't mind when the bigger, faster kids went around her. She just chugged her way up. She slides down any slide feet first on on her belly. So funny to watch. Go Piper!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Ch-ch-ch-changes
Just when we think we've adjusted to a new routine, something changes. Ugh. Morgan doesn't do changes well and honestly, I like my routine too. We'd just started to get into a nice groove after the holiday break. Morgan was looking forward to school each day and I've been taking advantage of having just Piper for a few hours in the morning so I can get some errands done or even have a few play dates with friends/kids closer to Piper's age.
Now Morgan's preschool teacher wants to switch her to the afternoon session. There are a lot of reasons for this and some against it. We are leaning towards the switch, but it's a tough decision. The afternoon session starts this week and her teacher is taking a little time to get to know the new kids. We don't have to make a decision right away, but it will be in the next week or two. We are also hoping one of the Morgan's "friends" from her class will move with her so she has one other child who is familiar to her. Luckily the teachers will all be the same. One pro is that there may be more opportunity for "academics" (letters, numbers , etc.) in the new class since there will be more kids at a similar level as Morgan. Of course she knows all her letters and numbers, but I'm sure they will gear the activities towards something challenging for her.
Other info on Morgan:
Language
Morgan is gaining some more spontaneous language. At least we think it's spontaneous because we know it didn't come from us. It could be some things she's heard at school too. When we ask her a yes or no question she'll respond no, no way, nope, yes, yep, okay and sure. Sure? Don't know where that came from. Yesterday I asked her to hang up her coat and she said "Okay Mama, that's a good idea!" Hee hee. Yesterday at dinner we asked her if she wanted anything else to eat (as usual, she was not touching what we gave her), and she said "cinnamon rolls!" Hmmm. Unfortunately we had no cinnamon rolls to offer (and would not have given them to her for dinner anyway), but it was a unexpected suggestion. There are a lot of other examples, but overall she's making strides. This makes me feel good that she's still making progress, though she's not currently receiving speech/language therapy. You may remember she didn't qualify for this through the school, but it's still an area of concern for us.
Fine Motor Skills
Morgan is also making strides in this area. Her Occupational Therapist says she is doing so well that she may have to write new goals for her already. Go Morgan! As you saw in yesterday's Wordless Wednesday, she is now (finally) building with her Lego's. It's so neat to see her create on her own. She usually wants me to do it for/with her. She's also using her coloring books with a lot more skill too. We still don't know her "handedness" yet though. She switches back and forth between her right and left pretty equally.
Potty Training
Still a no-go. Will sit on the potty, but won't do anything in it. I read something that said that many kids with autism spectrum disorders do not show clear "readiness" signs like typical kids do. Basically you have to switch totally to undies and deal with the accidents until they "get it." I'm tentatively thinking that I may want to start in March and I've started to tell Morgan that the pull-ups are going away "soon." We'll see if I stick to the plan. Yikes!
I think that's whats going on with Morgan for now. I'll do a Piper update soon too.
Now Morgan's preschool teacher wants to switch her to the afternoon session. There are a lot of reasons for this and some against it. We are leaning towards the switch, but it's a tough decision. The afternoon session starts this week and her teacher is taking a little time to get to know the new kids. We don't have to make a decision right away, but it will be in the next week or two. We are also hoping one of the Morgan's "friends" from her class will move with her so she has one other child who is familiar to her. Luckily the teachers will all be the same. One pro is that there may be more opportunity for "academics" (letters, numbers , etc.) in the new class since there will be more kids at a similar level as Morgan. Of course she knows all her letters and numbers, but I'm sure they will gear the activities towards something challenging for her.
Other info on Morgan:
Language
Morgan is gaining some more spontaneous language. At least we think it's spontaneous because we know it didn't come from us. It could be some things she's heard at school too. When we ask her a yes or no question she'll respond no, no way, nope, yes, yep, okay and sure. Sure? Don't know where that came from. Yesterday I asked her to hang up her coat and she said "Okay Mama, that's a good idea!" Hee hee. Yesterday at dinner we asked her if she wanted anything else to eat (as usual, she was not touching what we gave her), and she said "cinnamon rolls!" Hmmm. Unfortunately we had no cinnamon rolls to offer (and would not have given them to her for dinner anyway), but it was a unexpected suggestion. There are a lot of other examples, but overall she's making strides. This makes me feel good that she's still making progress, though she's not currently receiving speech/language therapy. You may remember she didn't qualify for this through the school, but it's still an area of concern for us.
Fine Motor Skills
Morgan is also making strides in this area. Her Occupational Therapist says she is doing so well that she may have to write new goals for her already. Go Morgan! As you saw in yesterday's Wordless Wednesday, she is now (finally) building with her Lego's. It's so neat to see her create on her own. She usually wants me to do it for/with her. She's also using her coloring books with a lot more skill too. We still don't know her "handedness" yet though. She switches back and forth between her right and left pretty equally.
Potty Training
Still a no-go. Will sit on the potty, but won't do anything in it. I read something that said that many kids with autism spectrum disorders do not show clear "readiness" signs like typical kids do. Basically you have to switch totally to undies and deal with the accidents until they "get it." I'm tentatively thinking that I may want to start in March and I've started to tell Morgan that the pull-ups are going away "soon." We'll see if I stick to the plan. Yikes!
I think that's whats going on with Morgan for now. I'll do a Piper update soon too.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Piper is 10 Months Old!
I can't believe how time has flown! Look at how big our girl is! Here's the best shots I could get in between the crawling, rolling, playing with sister, almost-fall-off-the-couch-moments...
Sweet smiles
I've fallen down and I can't get up (check out those thighs too!)
I just learned how to wave this week too!
Morgan made sure the bear was in the picture
Am I really 10 months old?!
Sweet smiles
I've fallen down and I can't get up (check out those thighs too!)
I just learned how to wave this week too! 
Morgan made sure the bear was in the picture
Am I really 10 months old?!This month Piper has mastered crawling, pulling up to her knees and waves Hi and Bye! The waving was a surprise. I had her in the bathroom the other day and she looked at herself in the mirror and started waving! I thought it was a fluke so I had David try it. She waved again! Then we just waved at her and said "Hi Piper!" and she waved right back! Good girl! We also painted her bedroom this weekend. It looks SO good! I'll post pictures soon.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Catch up
Aack! It's been over a week since I blogged. Sometimes the days just get away from me. Here's a list of some things that have been going on since I last checked in:
- Piper started crawling on her hands and knees! "Real" crawling I call it. It's still about 25% of the time, but good progress! She even likes to pull up to her knees on the fireplace hearth and bathtub... thus we are making some adjustments to counteract little miss "grabby hands." She's pulled over the diaper basket on her head a few too many times.
- Aunt Ali came for a visit over Memorial Day. Morgan was much more interactive with her this time. She let Ali read her LOTS of books and made visits to the guest room to try on her Aunt's pretty jewelry.
- We had our dear friends Pete and Kathy come to visit Spokane for a wedding this weekend. They stayed with us and we had a great time catching up as well as meeting their 18 month-old precious daughter, Leilani. With baby #2 on the way for them we had LOTS to talk about. I have some pictures I'll post soon.
- We're venturing into more "finger foods" for Piper. She really likes to hold them in her pincer grasp, but not eat them. She has munched on a few peas and carrots...but much of it comes back out as she is still getting the hang of chewing them and swallowing.
- We are still waiting for Piper's upper two front teeth. Two weeks ago at her 9 month appointment the Dr. said they looked like they were coming soon, but they are nowhere in sight. she's even drooling a ton and got a runny nose... but still no teeth.
- Piper started crawling on her hands and knees! "Real" crawling I call it. It's still about 25% of the time, but good progress! She even likes to pull up to her knees on the fireplace hearth and bathtub... thus we are making some adjustments to counteract little miss "grabby hands." She's pulled over the diaper basket on her head a few too many times.
- Aunt Ali came for a visit over Memorial Day. Morgan was much more interactive with her this time. She let Ali read her LOTS of books and made visits to the guest room to try on her Aunt's pretty jewelry.
- We had our dear friends Pete and Kathy come to visit Spokane for a wedding this weekend. They stayed with us and we had a great time catching up as well as meeting their 18 month-old precious daughter, Leilani. With baby #2 on the way for them we had LOTS to talk about. I have some pictures I'll post soon.
- We're venturing into more "finger foods" for Piper. She really likes to hold them in her pincer grasp, but not eat them. She has munched on a few peas and carrots...but much of it comes back out as she is still getting the hang of chewing them and swallowing.
- We are still waiting for Piper's upper two front teeth. Two weeks ago at her 9 month appointment the Dr. said they looked like they were coming soon, but they are nowhere in sight. she's even drooling a ton and got a runny nose... but still no teeth.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Switcheroo
We had a BIG event last night! It was Morgan's first night in her "big girl" bed and Piper was transitioned to the crib. It was time. Here are some "before" photos before they went to bed.
Morgan's new bed all made up.
Trying it out for the first time
Piper's checking out the mobile. See Morgan's head behind the crib? She likes the music the mobile plays too and now goes in the room and says "more!"
I thought I'd throw in a random pic of Piper in the Jumperoo. She's gotten the hang of jumping this week because more of her feet touch the floor now.
Morgan's new bed all made up.
Trying it out for the first time
Piper's checking out the mobile. See Morgan's head behind the crib? She likes the music the mobile plays too and now goes in the room and says "more!"
I thought I'd throw in a random pic of Piper in the Jumperoo. She's gotten the hang of jumping this week because more of her feet touch the floor now.Soo...our first night in the "new beds" was a little rough. We got them to bed late as it took us a while to switch the rooms/furniture around when they got up from their afternoon naps. After some stalling and a little crying everyone was asleep by about 10:30 pm. This process included a few Piper soothing sessions and one "standing in the bed" incident for Morgan. Whew! Piper woke up earlier than usual in the night, but that was better then expected. Morgan woke us all up at 5:00 am with some yells. A look in the video monitor showed that she was not in the bed at all. Yikes! We're not sure if this included falling out or if she climbed down on her own, but when David opened the door she was standing right there. There was no going back to sleep after that though. We hope she will sleep in later tomorrow. One night down, it can only get better from here!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Rolling and Talking
Piper rolled over for the first time on Tuesday and has done it several times since! It was especially nice when she rolled over for the Physical Therapist who was here yesterday (for Morgan). Nice performance!
So, Wednesday a Speech Therapist, Physical Therapist and Teacher came to our house to do an evaluation of Morgan for Early Intervention. To bring everyone up to speed, at Morgan's 15 month well baby appointment the pediatrician was concerned about her verbal communication development. She fell in a borderline area, not way behind, but a little behind. Basically she's supposed to be putting together some phrases (maybe not full sentences) and really use her words to express her wants and needs. She uses some words ("please" and "down" most often), but when she gets upset she just yells instead of trying to communicate what exactly she wants.
We decided to wait until closer to her 2 year appointment to do any further evaluation. At one of Piper's early appointments I obtained the questionnaire that they use at Morgan's 2-year appointment so I could determine where she was at...and she still fell in a borderline area. I decided it wouldn't hurt to contact Early Intervention to have a full evaluation. Early Intervention is a program that is run (in our area) by the Spokane Regional Health District. They provide services for children with "special needs" from birth to 3 years old. Not that I think of Morgan as a child with "special needs," but they provide some helpful services if your child is either slightly or more severely behind developmentally.
The therapists put Morgan though some exercises and asked me a lot of questions. The speech therapist called me later in the day at let me know that Morgan "just" qualified for speech therapy (apparently 25% behind), so we will start some weekly sessions in January. I'm pretty sure Morgan will catch up to her age group soon and especially when she starts her first preschool class next fall, but I will appreciate any help the therapist can give us and so we can learn how to help her along with her communication.
I haven't heard back from the other therapists yet, but they are moving offices next week. They said if she qualifies in one area she can get therapy in all areas, so we will wait and see what they say.
So, Wednesday a Speech Therapist, Physical Therapist and Teacher came to our house to do an evaluation of Morgan for Early Intervention. To bring everyone up to speed, at Morgan's 15 month well baby appointment the pediatrician was concerned about her verbal communication development. She fell in a borderline area, not way behind, but a little behind. Basically she's supposed to be putting together some phrases (maybe not full sentences) and really use her words to express her wants and needs. She uses some words ("please" and "down" most often), but when she gets upset she just yells instead of trying to communicate what exactly she wants.
We decided to wait until closer to her 2 year appointment to do any further evaluation. At one of Piper's early appointments I obtained the questionnaire that they use at Morgan's 2-year appointment so I could determine where she was at...and she still fell in a borderline area. I decided it wouldn't hurt to contact Early Intervention to have a full evaluation. Early Intervention is a program that is run (in our area) by the Spokane Regional Health District. They provide services for children with "special needs" from birth to 3 years old. Not that I think of Morgan as a child with "special needs," but they provide some helpful services if your child is either slightly or more severely behind developmentally.
The therapists put Morgan though some exercises and asked me a lot of questions. The speech therapist called me later in the day at let me know that Morgan "just" qualified for speech therapy (apparently 25% behind), so we will start some weekly sessions in January. I'm pretty sure Morgan will catch up to her age group soon and especially when she starts her first preschool class next fall, but I will appreciate any help the therapist can give us and so we can learn how to help her along with her communication.
I haven't heard back from the other therapists yet, but they are moving offices next week. They said if she qualifies in one area she can get therapy in all areas, so we will wait and see what they say.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Communication
Morgan has her 18 month Pediatrician appointment next week. As this is approaching I've been thinking a lot about how she is learning to communicate with us. At these appointments the Dr. gives us a checklist to go through so they can determine if she is on track developmentally. I've been trying to think of how she has progressed since her last appointment at 15 months.
The biggest thing I've noticed is that though she has not added a lot of words to her vocabulary, she really understand a lot of what we say to her. Just yesterday I was giving her lunch and I simply asked her "eat some more corn" and to my surprise, she did. Now, she's still enormously picky right now, but I'm happy with a few more corn kernels. I think it's amazing how we can actually ask her to do things now, like she'll get her sippy cup from wherever she left it while playing and she'll find her lovey when it's nap time. We're working on putting books on the shelf, but I'm just satisfied that she'll bring it to a spot close to the shelf instead of just dumping it on the floor by the couch when we're done reading it.
One of the cutest things she does with the short list of words she has involved meal times. She knows what breakfast, lunch and dinner are. Any time we ask her, "are you ready for breakfast?" she'll shout out "eat!!" She does the same for lunch and dinner. One morning I asked her, "Morgan, where do we go for breakfast?" and she went right to the stairs, climbed down (with a little help) and went to the kitchen. Sometimes she will even say "eat!!" before we mention a meal and it is usually right around the correct time. Many of her words are still a reaction to something we say, but she is starting to realize she can possibly get what she wants if she uses them on her own too.
Now, I know of many other kids who are way more advanced developmentally or verbally than Morgan, but I believe she is still in the range of normal. At least I think so. We'll give you the update next week!
The biggest thing I've noticed is that though she has not added a lot of words to her vocabulary, she really understand a lot of what we say to her. Just yesterday I was giving her lunch and I simply asked her "eat some more corn" and to my surprise, she did. Now, she's still enormously picky right now, but I'm happy with a few more corn kernels. I think it's amazing how we can actually ask her to do things now, like she'll get her sippy cup from wherever she left it while playing and she'll find her lovey when it's nap time. We're working on putting books on the shelf, but I'm just satisfied that she'll bring it to a spot close to the shelf instead of just dumping it on the floor by the couch when we're done reading it.
One of the cutest things she does with the short list of words she has involved meal times. She knows what breakfast, lunch and dinner are. Any time we ask her, "are you ready for breakfast?" she'll shout out "eat!!" She does the same for lunch and dinner. One morning I asked her, "Morgan, where do we go for breakfast?" and she went right to the stairs, climbed down (with a little help) and went to the kitchen. Sometimes she will even say "eat!!" before we mention a meal and it is usually right around the correct time. Many of her words are still a reaction to something we say, but she is starting to realize she can possibly get what she wants if she uses them on her own too.
Now, I know of many other kids who are way more advanced developmentally or verbally than Morgan, but I believe she is still in the range of normal. At least I think so. We'll give you the update next week!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Grandma and Grandpa B Visit, Part 1
Let's see if I can get this posted before Morgan wakes up from her nap. I will have a few posts on Grandma and Grandpa B's visit. We had a nice time. We didn't go out much as it's still pretty cold here, but as I was looking through the pictures (thanks G&G!) we kept ourselves pretty busy.
Grandma bought Morgan a few new books. She loves this one with the bright colors and pretty pictures.
Morgan walking to Grandpa
This is the "scrunchy face" Morgan makes for the red eye flash on Grandpa's camera.
Walking to Mama
Walking to Daddy, with a big hug at the end! Also, notice the baby "mullet." I just can't bear to cut her hair yet. David can't wait!
It looks like she's running...but she's walking to Mama. Please excuse my no makeup and old glasses. Ugh.
Grandma bought Morgan a few new books. She loves this one with the bright colors and pretty pictures.
Morgan walking to Grandpa
This is the "scrunchy face" Morgan makes for the red eye flash on Grandpa's camera.
Walking to Mama
Walking to Daddy, with a big hug at the end! Also, notice the baby "mullet." I just can't bear to cut her hair yet. David can't wait!
It looks like she's running...but she's walking to Mama. Please excuse my no makeup and old glasses. Ugh. As you can see, Morgan finally had a breakthrough and started doing some real walking the day that Grandma and Grandpa B arrived. In fact, it was right before we left for the airport that she took about 6-7 steps. She'd only done about 1-2 steps in a row before. We've been waiting a long time! Apparently it is completely normal for some kids to not walk until up to 18 months. She just didn't show much interest until recently. Since these pictures were taken (a week ago), she is getting even braver, going longer distances. It seems she doesn't have to concentrate quite as hard either. She was so hesitant before. We're so proud of her!!!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Bye Bye Binky
David and I made a spontaneous decision this weekend to have Morgan not just wean, but go totally cold turkey from her "wubby" (binky/pacifier). She has had this terrible cold virus that kept her from using it anyway, as her nose is so plugged up, so we thought just take advantage of the opportunity. The last couple of days/nights have been hard for many reasons. Her cold, cough and her 1st molars coming in have already made her pretty miserable. We hate to throw this on top of it, but she really couldn't use the wubby anyway.
I'm a little sad. She really grew to like it and it helped her sleep better. The pediatrician said she could use until she was two, but that seemed a little long to me. I'm also concerned about it affecting the alignment of her front teeth too. She already has a chip in one of them that looks a little odd. It was time. Poor girl is having a really hard time going down for her nap right now, but that could be for several reasons. I hope she sleeps...she is so tired.
Please pray that we see improvement the next few days on all counts. We're all pretty exhausted, and I've got some serious cabin fever. We did go for a ride in the car today which helped and Morgan could get some scenery other than our bonus/playroom.
I'm a little sad. She really grew to like it and it helped her sleep better. The pediatrician said she could use until she was two, but that seemed a little long to me. I'm also concerned about it affecting the alignment of her front teeth too. She already has a chip in one of them that looks a little odd. It was time. Poor girl is having a really hard time going down for her nap right now, but that could be for several reasons. I hope she sleeps...she is so tired.
Please pray that we see improvement the next few days on all counts. We're all pretty exhausted, and I've got some serious cabin fever. We did go for a ride in the car today which helped and Morgan could get some scenery other than our bonus/playroom.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Standing Queen
She's not yet dancing, but she's definitely standing! A few nights ago she surprised us with standing on her own (for longer than she's ever done before) right before her bath. She was standing next to the big tub watching the water fill up her inflatable ducky tub. She got impatient near the end and started trying to take the diaper off herself...with both hands! She just stood there messing with the tabs. David and I held our breath and she kept working at it. After a decent amount of time we helped her with the diaper and put her in the tub.
Then last night we had some play time between dinner and her bath and she was standing all over the place! We'd give her toys to hold and tempt her with her favorites...the TV remote and toy cell phone. The best was when we put the camera up on the arm of the couch and she took two steps on her own to try to get it!! Incentives...we need incentives.
Check this out! She's almost as tall as I when I'm sitting!
She had another first yesterday too...peanut butter!! I've been short on meal offerings lately and finally decided I had to get over my fear of allergies and let her have some peanut butter. David and I really have no known allergies ourselves, so we've been told that she probably won't have any problems, but I still was nervous. I was eating some pretzels with peanut butter for a snack and gave her a taste or two. After about 15 minutes...and no anaphylactic shock, I decided she was probably OK. Get this...she ate a whole Eggo waffle with peanut butter on it for lunch (cut into pieces of course)! She was a little stickier than usual at clean-up time, but we're excited that we've gotten past this hurdle. Next is chocolate! Yum!
Then last night we had some play time between dinner and her bath and she was standing all over the place! We'd give her toys to hold and tempt her with her favorites...the TV remote and toy cell phone. The best was when we put the camera up on the arm of the couch and she took two steps on her own to try to get it!! Incentives...we need incentives.
Check this out! She's almost as tall as I when I'm sitting!
She had another first yesterday too...peanut butter!! I've been short on meal offerings lately and finally decided I had to get over my fear of allergies and let her have some peanut butter. David and I really have no known allergies ourselves, so we've been told that she probably won't have any problems, but I still was nervous. I was eating some pretzels with peanut butter for a snack and gave her a taste or two. After about 15 minutes...and no anaphylactic shock, I decided she was probably OK. Get this...she ate a whole Eggo waffle with peanut butter on it for lunch (cut into pieces of course)! She was a little stickier than usual at clean-up time, but we're excited that we've gotten past this hurdle. Next is chocolate! Yum!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Happy Birthday Baby Girl!
Today is Morgan's first birthday! When she woke up (early as usual) we went into her room singing the happy birthday song. She didn't know quite what to make of it, but she smiled at us as usual and pulled herself up in her crib to standing to be picked up. She got lots of kisses from us and gave us lots of kisses back. They're still a little slobbery, somewhere between a kiss and a lick...but we'll take it.
Auntie Ali arrived this morning and soon we were off to have some birthday and holiday pictures taken. I have a CD of the final shots which I will post here soon! Check back later...party preparations are calling!
Auntie Ali arrived this morning and soon we were off to have some birthday and holiday pictures taken. I have a CD of the final shots which I will post here soon! Check back later...party preparations are calling!
Monday, October 6, 2008
10 Months Old!
Morgan is 10 months old! Her "photo shoot" was really difficult this time, even with David helping. She wanted to do everything, but sit and look at the camera. Here's are few more shots:
Hopefully all these images will still enlarge when you click on them. A few of you have said that sometimes you can't make them bigger. I think when I move them around to get them in the right place in the post, something happens to a few of them. I'm not sure how to fix it though.
Morgan had a fun weekend. We had a BBQ with some neighbors on Friday. They have two little boys who are 4 and 2 and a girl on the way, due right around Morgan's birthday. Morgan was fascinated with the boys and they were so sweet to play with her. Saturday was David and my 5th wedding anniversary. We celebrated with a great steak dinner and Morgan got to hang out with our friends Barry and Christine. She was so good! The nursery caregivers at church also commented on how good she always is. She's not a crier...at least, not yet.
Happy 10 Months Boo Boo Girl! We love you so much!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
"9 Month" Dr. Appointment
We finally made it to the pediatrician for Morgan's "9 Month" Well-Baby appointment (at almost 10 months). Here are the stats:
Length: 30 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs 14.5 ounces (just under 90th percentile)
She's a tall girl, but proportional. At one point the doctor said "she looks amazing." I guess that's good! She's meeting all her developmental milestones and even pulled herself up on the wall next to the exam table during the exam. The doctor was worried she wouldn't be able to get down, but I assured her Morgan would be able to, and she did. In the last few days, several times she scooted herself over to the wall in our bonus room and pulled herself up to standing, like she wanted to scale it. Odd...I don't know?
The doctor does want us to meet with an opthamologist to check on a possible blocked tear duct. Her left eye is a dead-giveaway for when she has a cold, but sometimes it gets weepy when she's not sick. Not a big deal. We'll get it checked out.
She also got two more of her scheduled doses of vaccinations as well as a flu shot today, also a toe-prick for iron levels, which were fine. She just cried a bit with the shots, but perked up pretty quickly. I expected her to nap longer this afternoon, but it was a no-go on that. She's just as animated and playful as usual.
So then, we're on to increasing her amount of table foods, moving away from the baby food-like purees. We've already been doing this, but will continue. Only egg whites, honey, shellfish and peanut butter are off-limits at this point. At about 12 months she'll start on whole milk. Our baby's growing so fast it is hard to believe!
Length: 30 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs 14.5 ounces (just under 90th percentile)
She's a tall girl, but proportional. At one point the doctor said "she looks amazing." I guess that's good! She's meeting all her developmental milestones and even pulled herself up on the wall next to the exam table during the exam. The doctor was worried she wouldn't be able to get down, but I assured her Morgan would be able to, and she did. In the last few days, several times she scooted herself over to the wall in our bonus room and pulled herself up to standing, like she wanted to scale it. Odd...I don't know?
The doctor does want us to meet with an opthamologist to check on a possible blocked tear duct. Her left eye is a dead-giveaway for when she has a cold, but sometimes it gets weepy when she's not sick. Not a big deal. We'll get it checked out.
She also got two more of her scheduled doses of vaccinations as well as a flu shot today, also a toe-prick for iron levels, which were fine. She just cried a bit with the shots, but perked up pretty quickly. I expected her to nap longer this afternoon, but it was a no-go on that. She's just as animated and playful as usual.
So then, we're on to increasing her amount of table foods, moving away from the baby food-like purees. We've already been doing this, but will continue. Only egg whites, honey, shellfish and peanut butter are off-limits at this point. At about 12 months she'll start on whole milk. Our baby's growing so fast it is hard to believe!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Morgan Updates
There have been a lot of small things Morgan has been doing that I thought I'd compile into one post as they are soo small to warrant their own.
* Morgan has now been doing a "real" crawl on her hands and knees about 50% of the time. If she needs to go longer distances she still plops down on her tummy and drags herself along. It seems that this method is still faster at this point. Before her nap this morning she crawled on her hands and knees the entire time she played.
* She is eating more and more "finger foods." We've been trying to incorporate them slowly, still feeding her some thickened purees for each meal as well. She now eats bits of veggie burgers (the ones with lots of actual vegetables, not "pretend meat" burgers), tofu, pieces of baked chicken and special Gerber crackers (small and easy to chew). She's doing pretty well with these, but some days is more interested in us feeding her that feeding herself.
* She is loving her "puffs" more and more. She now recognizes the containers and gets very excited when we open the cabinet and pull them out. She doesn't yet eat the 61 (yes, 61) puffs they say are in a serving, not that this is really a goal, but it is so odd I thought I'd mention it.
* Morgan has her "9 month" well-baby check this Thursday. Originally this was scheduled for a few weeks ago, but the many changes we had in travel plans forced us to schedule the appointment at almost 10 months. I did learn that she will be getting two shots at this appointment. Previously I thought she had a break until her 12 month appointment, but no luck there. Poor baby! We were able to set her 12 month appointment for December 8th, so her "stats" will be more acurate for her age at that one.
* My "little baby" is starting to look more and more like a toddler to me. It is odd to see her standing at her activitiy table and pulling up on anything and everything. She greets us after her naps standing in her crib. So cute! She is looking like she has more and more balance and agility on her feet. A new friend asked me the other day if she could walk...huh? Then I noticed she was standing, holding on with only one hand and truely looked like she might be able to just "take off" walking. No, not yet, but who knows when? The only thing that keeps her baby-like to me at this point is that she still doesn't have a lot of hair. It is growing slowly though, but it's still not quite enough.
* In most of her clothing, Morgan is wearing 9-12 month sizes. Though, anything that is one-piece (onesies, sleepers, etc.) we are thinking we're going to have to move to 12-18 months sizes soon. She's not wide, but long-waisted. As we say alot around our house, "such a big girl!" We had a little one in the 5-10th percentile visiting us last night. She is one month younger than Morgan and is teeny-tiny. Morgan looks like an amazon next to her! There is such a range of sizes at this age.
* No more teeth, yet. She's got four on the top and 2 on the bottom. I keep thinking she's going to get two more on the bottom, but they are nowhere to be seen at this point.
That was more than I thought I had. We'll, I've got to run and take a shower while Morgan naps. Hopefully, we're off to church when she wakes up...and after I determine whether her runny nose is going to get us in trouble at the church nursery. They are sticklers in there!
* Morgan has now been doing a "real" crawl on her hands and knees about 50% of the time. If she needs to go longer distances she still plops down on her tummy and drags herself along. It seems that this method is still faster at this point. Before her nap this morning she crawled on her hands and knees the entire time she played.
* She is eating more and more "finger foods." We've been trying to incorporate them slowly, still feeding her some thickened purees for each meal as well. She now eats bits of veggie burgers (the ones with lots of actual vegetables, not "pretend meat" burgers), tofu, pieces of baked chicken and special Gerber crackers (small and easy to chew). She's doing pretty well with these, but some days is more interested in us feeding her that feeding herself.
* She is loving her "puffs" more and more. She now recognizes the containers and gets very excited when we open the cabinet and pull them out. She doesn't yet eat the 61 (yes, 61) puffs they say are in a serving, not that this is really a goal, but it is so odd I thought I'd mention it.
* Morgan has her "9 month" well-baby check this Thursday. Originally this was scheduled for a few weeks ago, but the many changes we had in travel plans forced us to schedule the appointment at almost 10 months. I did learn that she will be getting two shots at this appointment. Previously I thought she had a break until her 12 month appointment, but no luck there. Poor baby! We were able to set her 12 month appointment for December 8th, so her "stats" will be more acurate for her age at that one.
* My "little baby" is starting to look more and more like a toddler to me. It is odd to see her standing at her activitiy table and pulling up on anything and everything. She greets us after her naps standing in her crib. So cute! She is looking like she has more and more balance and agility on her feet. A new friend asked me the other day if she could walk...huh? Then I noticed she was standing, holding on with only one hand and truely looked like she might be able to just "take off" walking. No, not yet, but who knows when? The only thing that keeps her baby-like to me at this point is that she still doesn't have a lot of hair. It is growing slowly though, but it's still not quite enough.
* In most of her clothing, Morgan is wearing 9-12 month sizes. Though, anything that is one-piece (onesies, sleepers, etc.) we are thinking we're going to have to move to 12-18 months sizes soon. She's not wide, but long-waisted. As we say alot around our house, "such a big girl!" We had a little one in the 5-10th percentile visiting us last night. She is one month younger than Morgan and is teeny-tiny. Morgan looks like an amazon next to her! There is such a range of sizes at this age.
* No more teeth, yet. She's got four on the top and 2 on the bottom. I keep thinking she's going to get two more on the bottom, but they are nowhere to be seen at this point.
That was more than I thought I had. We'll, I've got to run and take a shower while Morgan naps. Hopefully, we're off to church when she wakes up...and after I determine whether her runny nose is going to get us in trouble at the church nursery. They are sticklers in there!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
She knows "No"
David and I have figured out that Morgan now knows what "no" means. We are trying to be very careful about how much we use the word "no" with her as we have heard if you use it too much it's not as effective.
She has this one thing she loves to do that makes us nuts! She crawls over to her jumperoo and tries to gnaw on the metal base. Her teeth make this awful clicking sound when she does this. She already has a small chip in one tooth and we're trying to help her avoid another. Each time she crawls over and attempts to chew on the bar we'll say "Morgan, no" in a stern voice. At first she would stop abruptly and look at us with a quizzical look on her face. Then it evolved to her lifting her head up and smiling at us (we knew we were in trouble then). Now she crawls over and gives us a mischievous look and a grin even before she tries to munch on the bar. She knows it is a no-no and is already testing us.
We looked at each other yesterday and said, uh-oh...she's going to be a handful. Just yesterday I was reading my Baby 411 book and it said that it may be necessary to start the discipline process as early as 9 months. I had no idea it would be that early...but after we saw that grin we knew it was true. I'll try to get a picture of it sometime soon. She certainly gives us lots of opportunities!
She has this one thing she loves to do that makes us nuts! She crawls over to her jumperoo and tries to gnaw on the metal base. Her teeth make this awful clicking sound when she does this. She already has a small chip in one tooth and we're trying to help her avoid another. Each time she crawls over and attempts to chew on the bar we'll say "Morgan, no" in a stern voice. At first she would stop abruptly and look at us with a quizzical look on her face. Then it evolved to her lifting her head up and smiling at us (we knew we were in trouble then). Now she crawls over and gives us a mischievous look and a grin even before she tries to munch on the bar. She knows it is a no-no and is already testing us.
We looked at each other yesterday and said, uh-oh...she's going to be a handful. Just yesterday I was reading my Baby 411 book and it said that it may be necessary to start the discipline process as early as 9 months. I had no idea it would be that early...but after we saw that grin we knew it was true. I'll try to get a picture of it sometime soon. She certainly gives us lots of opportunities!
Friday, September 5, 2008
9 Months Old!
Here she is!! It's amazing how much easier taking pictures is when you have two people. One person to "entertain" that the other takes the pictures. Here are a few more:
When I was taking the pictures by myself she kept crawling away...so I thought I'd include a few of those shots as well. She also repositioned herself that her back was to me. I just missed the shot where she was looking at me.
Her 9 month Dr. appointment has been rescheduled to the beginning of October...so she'll be almost 10 months old at that point. We've had to move some travel plans so this disrupted the earl er appointment we had scheduled. I did weigh her on our bathroom scale yesterday and she was 21.5 lbs. BIG girl! According to Baby Center's calculator this is between the 75th and 90th percentiles. I think it's closer to the 90th because I put in 22 lbs and it calculated to the 90th percentile. This is where she's been all along. Even though she's big, she growing consistently.
We'll give the report from her appointment on October 2nd.
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