Esther Marie turns 31 months old today. I had her weigh this morning and she was 26.2 lbs. on our scale. Yesterday she was about 27. I know weight fluctuates but that seems like alot for a "little bit" like her. She has a great appetite and eats quite a variety of foods. The only thing I have real trouble getting her to eat is meat, like chicken and fish. I think she doesn't really like the texture. If I help her, she ends up eating some of it.
Her early intervention appointments are going very well and she is progressing with language and motor skills. She still is way behind where she needs to be, but overcoming the cleft palate issue (even after surgery) and the language is going to take some time. She will probably be around 4 to 4 1/2 before she catches up to where she needs to be.
Our goal (for now) has been to get her to learn new words and to say them as clearly as possible. She went through a two to three week period of refusing to say much, but now she is back on track and repeating most of what we ask her to. Clarity...that is another issue, and it should improve with age and therapy. At her speech therapy appointment on Monday, she showed off quite a bit. She did puzzles and repeated color names. Our "homework" assignment is to offer her choices and to try to get her to pick which item she wants and to say the word......juice or milk, cracker or cookie, etc. She doesn't understand choices yet, but this should help.
She still is daring and wants to try things she is not ready to do! She doesn't seem to get it that throwing herself off of furniture can hurt her. After a cracked collar bone and a split open head, we are watching her more closely now than ever. A neighbor yesterday said not to be surprised if she calls me one day when she is older and tells me she is getting ready to jump out of an airplane! (laugh) Makes me wonder what she will be when she grows up! All this movement is helping to strengthen her mid-section and her thighs. Both were weak from being in a baby bed for too many hours per day. We figured she probably never really crawled and that skill is weak so we encourage her to do that to strengthen muscles.
Esther Marie's bonding with the family is going great! She seems to be pretty attached to me and won't just let anyone pick her up any more. We went to that birthday party a couple of Saturdays ago and twins' mom wanted to pick her up and Emmie refused. That made ME happy! She now "frets" when I leave the room and she doesn't go with me. This may not sound like a good thing, but it is. She loves her daddy a whole bunch too and that bond is stronger. She is especially thrilled with our other three children and has gotten into the habit of hollering out their names, looking for them when they are away at school. When we drive up for pick-up from the elementary school, she squeals with delight when she sees Joshua and MaryAlyce coming toward the car. She copies EVERYTHING that they do, or tries to...and it is very sweet.
We are very pleased with her progress and look forward to sharing more with you as time passes. It is amazing the changes that can be seen in a child once they are receiving love, attention and nurturing. We are very blessed to have her as part of our family!
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