Wednesday, July 22, 2009

18 months old

Coke and a smile
This photo was taken in our backyard two days ago.
You can view a larger size of this photo HERE.

sitting on a firetruck
This photo was taken at our neighborhood 4th of July party.
You can view a larger size of this photo HERE.

Our ray of sunshine turned 18 months old today. Usually she's such a happy girl. She loves to clap, make faces, feed us snacks, and imitate our body language. The fussing mostly consists of being upset when she's told "no." Hannah pouts by sticking out her bottom lip and slowly turns on the water works. She rarely throws a fit these days. The main source of misbehavior is using a sippy cup or a bottle to paint on the hardwood floor or on her foam play mat. After getting a large amount of liquid on the floor, she rubs her hands over it, smearing her milk/juice/water all over like fingerpaints. I don't even want to think about what the floor of our great room would look like if we still had carpet!

Hannah is officially a delayed walker now that she's 15 months adjusted and can not take five steps unassited. Our pediatric nurse practitioner advised us to have Hannah evaluated by First Steps Early Intervention if she wasn't walking in August. August is just around the corner, so I made the phone call today to arrange for an evaluation. I'm not stressing about this, but if a physical therapist can help her meet these milestones... let's do it. My girl is one amazing little cookie for having relatively few problems considering she entered the world three months ahead of schedule, weighing 2.6 pounds.

I'm getting more and more excited about our trip to the Chicago Dragonboat Races this weekend, as I keep finding about more and more people I "know" from Taiwan adoption circles that will be there. Yippie! Just hope the weather holds out, as there is a 40% chance of rain with scattered thunderstorms on Saturday.

Only five more days of old job left. I'm excited about a fresh start. I also have the "beo bei song" stuck in my head. I walk around work quietly singing to myself, "hua la la la la la, wo de bao bei, beo bei..." thinking of my "treasured little one."

14 comments:

  1. The Tongginator didn't walk until she was almost 19 months old. It's good that you are contacting early intervention. And it may just be that she needs more time. You won't know until she gets checked out. (The Tongginator was quite probably also a preemie, but we aren't sure.)

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  2. Happy 18 months, Hannah Claire!

    And yeah, that song is still stuck in my head after many, many months. Good luck shaking it.

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  3. Hope all goes well with early intervention. We have had an excellent experience with them here so far & Ryan has his first speech therapy appointment today. Like you, trying not to stress, but taking all the help we can get for him. Have a great weekend & hope your last few days of work are uneventful!
    Happy 18 months, Hannah Claire.
    p.s. Love those little teeth.

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  4. amazing! 18 months already?!?!? i'm so glad you've contacted early intervention. they can provide some wonderful services (at no charge to you!) all in your home!

    i love your wonderful photographs of your beautiful little one. i love seeing her sweet smile!!! she's absolutely perfect, and it continues to be such a blessing to watch her grow!

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  5. We used first steps for our little guy who had trouble chewing and not choking on food. They were awesome and we only needed them for a few months. She is so adorable!

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  6. Happy 18 months old! We too used First Steps for our two kiddos and loved them to pieces!

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  7. We used first steps starting when Drew was 10 months old (he wasn't crawling, rolling over, or pulling to sitting position). He qualified for PT, OT, DI and speech. We used their services for almost exactly a year... he was discharged in April from all services. We had such a great experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone. They know how to give them the extra push they need, and help you to know better how to work with them. DO IT!

    kathy

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  8. I have never commented before, but I wanted to share something with you. My nephew was delayed with his walking due to his eyesight. You might want to check this out. He started wearing glasses when he was about 14 months old and was walking within 48 hours of getting them. Have a blessed day!

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  9. Ya know, lots of my friends babies were late walker for other reason than they did when they were good and ready and not before! :) BUT I'm a firm believe in having things checked out and using Mama's intuition; it never hurts a bit to double check!! :)

    Soooo hoping for those sunny skies for Saturday and can't wait to you all AND your 18 mos. old cutie pie!! Yay!! Rain, rain go away!!
    Hugs, Lisa

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  10. Happy 18 Months Little Lantern!!! Gracyn was barely walking at 2, and has just recently mastered running (although she still face plants!) - Some kids just prefer to be CARRIED! LOL Glad you're getting early intervention - maybe even an occupational therapist can evaluate her - helped Gracyn immensely!

    Love the new photos - as always. . .

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  11. Happy half bday! She's such a sweetie. Brady was almost 18 mos when he started walking. But I also think it's great you're having it addressed. There's no harm in that. Lucy goes to 1 hour a week for PT and it definitely helps. I'm happy to answer questions...

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  12. Therapists will be lining up for her (and the two of you of course). She's so completely adorable.

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  13. I found your blog after you visited Kelli (I live near her). Just wanted to say that I think it's great you went ahead and called First Steps. Our youngest son sees an OT and a Nurtitionist. It takes a while to get in the program, so you'll be glad you got started before August!

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