It’s August and time is passing too quickly these days to properly keep up in our cyber and real worlds! We still have photos & tales to share from 2 of our 3 family vacations this summer, a whole host of new developmental milestones, general prettiness and wackiness of daily life, emapthies for our friends who are struggling right now and opinions galore about society and its goings-on. Not to mention a celebration of a year of happy blogging having come and gone already!

For now though; we’ll forego orderliness and the desire to be clever and just start updating.

This spunky gal turned 18 months in August. The Quail is so much still our sweet baby and yet has her little arms outstretched to big-girldom barreling after her sister.  On 8/7/10 she got her third molar in- the top right one. On 8/12/10 Jodie managed to position her into a free-stand and with the helpful distraction of her classmates she didn’t even notice or balk until 5 seconds into it she looked around and realized no one was supporting her and down she went headfirst. The next two times she was a  bit more graceful in making a choice to plop down bum-first. On 8/15/10 she managed to pull up to standing on her new awesome Plan Toy Walker  from Momma’s lap. We love this one compared to the others we have because it allows you to adjust the tension in the wheels so it is a little less likely to peel out from under her when she shifts her weight on it. The night before this big event she had been sitting by me on the couch at our new friend’s house and had tried to use my hair to haul herself up for a kiss.  Then yesterday on 9/29/10 we were out for a swim in our lil yellow pull and she about gave me a heart-attack as she plopped down on all fours in the water, crawled over to the side and hoisted herself up to standing on the side of the pool with the assistance of only Poseidon to keep her safe. I do have a blurry photo of this progression which I’ll post later. I had a half second of debate on whether to capture the moment or launch myself at the pool to prevent any untimely aspiration. Even with all of us cheering her on she managed to remain stable until she decided to plunk back down in the water. It truly is amazing to watch her development unfold itself in it’s own time. She’s getting there and we’re so pleased.

The chat-a-thon continues. I think the best way to explain the difference from a month or so ago is that when you show her something and tell her its name she tries to repeat it back to you. We thought the signing would come easier than the speaking with the oral-motor strength and motor planning issues but it is still unclear as to which she’ll take too when you show her both. Two weeks ago in speech therapy we got out some crackers and repeatedly showed her the sign while saying the word. The intensive repetition seems to be what enables it to stick. By the end of the session she was attempting the sign but even better attempting the word.

She moves into the Toddler room this upcoming month as well and we’ve been having her go visit to transition in. Snack-time for the toddlers includes a lesson in manners. You say please and thank-you when it’s your turn. So last week in speech we worked on this and she got it so quickly! You could hear the quiet little “lease”, but she prefers the sign. So now we have our third sentence (after Hi Da-da! and Night bird), “Eat please!” But she signs it, and if you don’t give her the treat quickly enough she’ll proceed to sign the please portion of the sentence with increasing pleading in her eyes and harder thumping on her chest till you hand over the goods. If anyone has ever looked earnest in signing it would be the Quail. “Thank you” though she prefers to speak.

On 8/22/09 at tubby time she told her first joke. She and her sister were in the tubby, she looked at me, looked down at the water and then looked back up at me and signed drink (which is putting her thumb to her mouth like she is sucking it for us) and then started laughing. For us she’s right in time with her sister’s first joke. One night when Zuzu was about 18 months old I was in bed not feeling well and she had come up and asked me if my nose was running. When I said yes, she said, “You better go catch it!”, laughed heartily and ran off. Apparently the sense of humor is genetic.

 and maybe- just for grins…and kitty cats…and cheers…and toys…and hugs and kisses. But don’t put those Puffs away just yet…

But she did it! She crawled from kitchen to tubby- get this- without a food incentive- just my big ole grin- or maybe it was because she wanted to pet Chula Cat and I was brushing her a few feet away. This is a huge, happy, grinning ear-to-ear, we’re more alike than different moment in our nest. Zuzu’s early crawling memories for me center around after dinner when we would put her on the ground and she would scramble down the hall so excited for tubby time, which eventually evolved into a sprint and most recently a streak.

Wednesday morning I saw her get up from belly to sitting. Maybe knowing she can get out of it she’s more interested in getting in it. It definitely seems like she has gone from she can crawl to she is interested in crawling. She started out sitting in the kitchen and with our big, loud hollers of “Come on! It’s tubby time! You can do it!” She would get down, grinning crawl a few feet then get back up in sitting and grin at us, then a few seconds later repeat. When she got within a few feet of where Chula and I were sitting you could totally see her thinking it through. She would realize she could reach out and almost touch me laying down, but in the process of backing up into sitting would then find herself further back then she thought she was. So she’d flop down and try again for a few pulls then back up and measure the distance with her arm. After about the 3rd or 4th try, she would then put one arm out and grin at me to take her little hand, then reach the other out and look at me like I was a sled dog. So stinkin cute! She did it again thursday night as well.

Also thursday when our dear Jodie (EI) came to visit we were all sitting in the living room criss-cross- applesauce and the Quail reached both hands out and chortled at me to take them. I did and she pulled herself up to standing! She then went down and repeated the performance a few more times. It gave me a huge grin because it was just 3 weeks or so ago that I had tried to get her to pull up to stand and she refused so profusely I briefly wondered if she was regressing and just couldn’t. She definately has a stubborn streak that will serve her well as an adult. But for now “adult-driven” activities- well she’s not so keen on it. Kathy has let us know that this is a problem- thus the idea of brushing. She thinks that it is a function of the Quail feeling uncomfortable when she can’t control her bodies movement in space and that is what is triggering her resistance. I can see that- but what I grapple with is whether that’s a good survival instinct or reflex, versus an aversion or problem that needs to be overcome. I’ve always admired Zuzu’s determination and confidence and I’ve worked hard to train my own eye and mind to see it that way. I have a hard time then backing up and saying that because the Quail has a disability it’s not determination and confidence- it’s a problem and hard-wiring that needs to be overrode. I don’t doubt that the medical explanation for the behavior might be the same in both girls. I’m fairly certain I have some stronger sensory modulation issues then an average or typical person. I’m just not ok trying to override it in her right now. I have a much more long and drawn out thought about this issue-but never the time to fully articulate and process it. So for now- this will have to suffice.

She has just gotten soooooo strong lately.  In brute force and will. We may have to change her nickname to something more fierce then her delicate little quail image. I’ll need to find a pretty bird that embodies her strength, joy and fierceness all rolled into a charming increasingly chatty little package!

We’ve also had our Kathy give a program plan update on her Sara Rosenfeld Johnson plan. We got it in the beginning of May and there were a few weeks there that I thought we might not finish it up by our next visit in October. But it looks like we are well on the way. With all the chompin and chattin in the Quail’s repotoire these days we have flown into her next straw and will probably move up to the 3rd one shortly. We’re also moving onto the red chewy tube but not quite ready to let go of the Zvibe yet. Last time we tried the chewy tube she cried at the first suggestion that she bite it. This time we heard a good crunch right off. We are still working and sort of hovering in the same spot with the syringe feeding though. It looks like maybe Momma and Daddy are to blame for this regression though. We read the directions wrong and were angling the food a little too sharply down in the pocket and may have created a jaw jut in compensation.

We’re also going to start with a new OT for fine motor therapy next week. Kathy has been marvelous navigating us through the feeding world and will continue to check in with us on those issues but it’s time to focus on fine motor and our schedules no longer match up for the fall. It will be interesting to see how long it takes the Quail to warm up to a new friend. Wish her luck- and I do mean the new OT!

Finally the illusive more made it’s comeback on Sunday! We’ve also heard crib, attempts at diaper and on monday morning (8/2): Momom! We were sitting on the floor in her room and I was eating cereal- she wanted the cereal like nobody’s business- I’m not sure if it was an attempt at saying more or momma or a combo- either way I’ll take it! M sounds are hard to come by so I’m particularly pleased to have heard her say it so loudly and distinctly- whatever it was!

 She also started signing book this weekend right before bed, and after her jammies were on- which is when we most consistently read, and then again monday morning when I got her out of her crib. I’ll say this- we’re a loud family- it’s hard to get a word in edgewise. So the times that I can hear what she is saying is most often in the early quiet morning before her sister has realized she is awake or at the end of the day when Zuzu is otherwise engaged.  Today during OT we were looking at an animal book and when we got to the dog I said, “Say Dog!” expecting her to sign it- instead she said it! Then tonight when I was changing her diaper- I said- “Say Diaper!” and she did! She definately seems to be in the mode of being willing to try saying words!

So the updated list for my records:

She says:

Hi

Dada

Daddy (8/2)

ittycat

ball

baby

crib

Momma (this one was said one time a loooong time ago and hasn’t resurfaced yet- m’s are hard) (8/2- it’s back!)

bird (8/2- she has musical birdies on her crib that she can turn on and off- this morning when I sat by her crib before taking her out she said bird and turned it on!)

dog

diaper

Night-night

Big Sister

Kiss pig (8/13/10)

She signs:

Up

more

eat

book (signed it on 8/1)

momma (signed it on 8/1)

all done (signed it on 8/2 in fury when the cereal we were sharing was all gone)

Sunday night was her first big girl meal. I was thrilled for her! We chopped up a dolphin (it was chicken I promise, no dolphin’s harmed here), sweet potato and sweetcorn and put it out in front of her. We learned fairly quickly that since these don’t dissolve we had better only put out a few bites and wait for her to sign eat or more before offering more on her plate. She was so happy to eat, her pincer grasp so good- even with the slippery sweet potato and Sara Rosenfeld Johnson will be so pleased- she just chomped, chomped and chomped- just like a big girl! We’ll be getting an update shortly on our program.

My other big discovery- is a happy quadraped position for all of us! I don’t know why it took me so long to figure this out but If I’m laying down and holding her so we are belly to belly- I can position her in quadraped and she will stay up in it for up to 10 minutes before dropping her head down to rest! And I think it’s helping for the last 3 days when I go to get her in the crib in the morning she turns over and gets fully up to the quadraped position and then is soooooo close to pushing up to sit- I typically inch her arm closer to her and inch her leg under her so that she is getting a minimal assist from quad to sit- when her bum hits the mattress I cheer and cheer and her little face lights up just so bright! Way to fly lil bird!

It seems to me we have a little mini-language explosion all of a sudden in the last week. As I’ve mentioned before, she’ll say or sign a word but then we won’t hear it again for a while, and then it will magically resurface in regular rotation. So here’s what we’ve heard or seen of late:

She says:

Hi

Dada

ittycat

ball

baby

crib

Momma (this one was said one time a loooong time ago and hasn’t resurfaced yet- m’s are hard)

She signs:

Up

more

eat

She understands:

Look!

Say ____

Where are your spiders? (We ask this whenwe’re about to sing & sign the Itsy Bitsy spider. She’ll hold her little hands up and is starting to initiate some of the gestures)

Kiss Momma

Hug Momma

Where’s_____ (insert any of the people or toys she sees on a regular basis)

Up!

Down!

Come here!

Tubby

Eat

Feed the baby! (she’ll hold the bottle up to baby’s mouth- this is inconsistent- the motor planning issue gets in the way here sometimes and her arms go out and the bottle goes flinging)

More tickles- and she’ll reach over and tickle your feet.

Give____ (she’ll usually give you what she’s holding- but if she really just wants it for herself- she’ll squirrel it away- she starts to pivot away from you in an effort to hide it as soon as you reach for it)

Baby, block, bottle, ball, diaper, book, sheep, cow, horse, dog, cat, bird, bird- These are some of the receptive language items we are working on- we’ll put 2 items out and ask her Where’s the___ and she’ll grab it- for some reason we can’t get her to grab the chicken…

She pays rapt attention to singing time- and likes you to do hand over hand help with the gestures for Twinkle, Twinkle (her song from the start- it calms her down if she is wildly upset if you start singing it), Itsy Bitsy spider, Pat-A-Cake.

Hear that?

That quiet chomping?

That’s the sound of the Quail eating solid foods!!!!! By herself!!!!

Chewing, chewing, chewing, swallowing, taking a drink, swallowing, flinging her cup to the side; first with abandon, then with a quick hand-off-to-the-other-side & mom-blocked-me-so-I-dodge-her-to-fling-it-to-the other side and then back to happily chewing.

More? She wants more? She signs eat! Maybe she signs more, but she prefers to sign eat. At the beginning of the meal I do a full prompt of her hand to her mouth to ask for more to eat, then as the meal and puffs go on I can cue her with a light touch to her wrist and she’ll do the follow through. Her and Zuzu have had many a Puff party in the last few weeks since this started. They sit down together on the floor each with a straw cup of kefir and a little plate of puffs or brown rice cereal and have a little tea party. It’s SO cute!

This has been a long time coming and still feels a little nervewracking to us. But the Quail has been hollering throughout feeding time lately and Monique had suggested if she had some food to feed herself between bites she might lay off of us a bit- and indeed it did the trick! We’ve now added a full spectrum of meltable foods to her diet and even risked some scrambled eggies. Yesterday Monique reminded me that we have a little hand-held foodnet that we could put some of what we are eating into and hand her so that she can reaccustom herself to food other than the standard grade orange or green offerings that her diet has flittered down to since weaning. So last night we started her on every preggos staples: pickles and curried potato salad! I know it sounds weird but a) it’s what we had in the fridge and b) we’ve been told that due to the low sensitivity issues highly flavored foods are more likely to be pleasing to her palette then ones that are more mild. She loved it! It gave me enough confidence to start offering the Stage 3 mixed textures to her- this gave a little pause, we did have a gag or two on the whole peas in it- but I think it was the issue of the mixed textures and it catching her by surprise. As long as we went slowly she was still open to it so we’ll proceed with caution.

I must say it’s hard to find a balance between sticking to a feeding protocol and knowing when to venture out and try the next level up. With Zuzu I found the path to solid foods incredibly nerve-wracking- she had no actual diagnosis but I was always weary of choking. Frankly I chickened out with most of those transitions and let the more experienced daycare teachers to the training since they were more comfortable with it. So when the Quail came along with bonafide, diagnosable issues with feeding- well let’s just say it amped my worry up about 1000%. So I need a little prodding to expand her horizon, but we’re doing it and she’s doing awesome!

And another little brag- with all the therapy the Quail gets- she comes by her pincer grasp naturally! We’ve worked little to none on enhancing this and the girl can rake a raisin like nobody’s business! Incidently- that development marker noted in the infamous What to Expect series has always given me pause about the rest of their wealth of information considering how sharp the learning curve would be to test your infant’s ability to rake a raisin since if she passes the test she’s probably well on her way to testing your recall on your infant CPR exam.