Each night, I fully intend to blog. I even write the blogs in my head during the day. But then night comes, the Bean is sleeping, and I am toooooooooooo tired to write . . . and usually have work to do to boot. We had an incredibly busy week last week -- with our regular two PT appointments, an OT appointment, and a neurologist appointment. Plus, our nanny was out of town, so we had house-guests -- B's mom (a/k/a Nana) spent the week with us to take care of Sammie B. We are so lucky that she's willing and able to drop her life in Cleveland for a week to come help us. I know that to her, the time with Sammie makes it all worth it, but we really are appreciative. And, like me, Nana's favorite part of the day was naptime . . . there's nothing sweeter. Nana also brought Sammie B her first toothbrush for her two partial teeth!!!
This brings me to a confession . . . Sam has not taken a nap in a crib in 4 months. Not since she left daycare. I never made her nap in a crib at home, I always just nap with her, or hold her for her naps. Our nanny does the same. Generally, Sam's naps are short (like 45-minutes) so it just works. I truly believe this time in her life is about loving her, and teaching her to trust and love, so I don't care what the books tell me about naptime or sleep training. Nap times are glorious.
B's dad (Papa) and aunt and uncle also joined us for the last weekend that his mom was here, so we all got to spend time together. It was a good week and weekend with family.
Sam's OT evaluation went well last week (the regional center is paying for OT once a month right now; just for monitoring; though we are pushing for once a week) -- no surprises from the evaluation -- gross and fine motor delay; no cognitive delay; and no social/emotional delay. Same news, different day, but always reassuring. Having multiple evaluations over time is good for me - so I can SEE the progress, b/c its easy to miss it in the day-to-day shuffle where it really feels sometimes like we are just creeeeeeeeping along. Its also fun to watch the evaluations -- as Sam gets older, the tests change. For instance, this time the therapist brought out something new - a yellow plastic thing with holes. I asked, "what's the point of that one?" and she said, "just to see if she's curious to explore it and if she thinks to put her fingers in the holes." Sam did both. Immediately.
She's been SO curious lately. She's really changing right before our eyes. When we sit her on the couch, she immediately leans as far as she can toward her toys. She reaches for things in ways she didn't before, and she's finally starting to sit and play (with both hands) which is incredible. Its so exciting to watch her, and as her motor skills improve, the world just opens for her (and us) in new and exciting ways. She is such a joy.
She's also saying "mama" and "dada" more and more. Not always discriminantly, but sometimes (or at least we believe so). The other night, she was crying and saying "mamamamama" and when I picked her up, she stopped. Melted my heart.
Her first birthday is just around the corner. The party invites are out. What an incredible year. What an intensely wonderful year.
No comments:
Post a Comment