Today, I took Kendall to her Therapist appointment for her 9 month evaluation (which is her adjusted age). I was very excited and nervous ... we've had this appointment set for 3 months now ... it was set at her 6 month eval. (She's part of the NICU Graduate program and we will have these Therapy evaluations every 3 months or so until she turns 2 years old ... this appointment is our 4th one.) A lot of this information is so that we'll remember ... it's detailed!
We've all 3 (Kendall, her Daddy & me) worked really hard these past 3 months in achieving the goals that they set for us at our last appointment. I knew Kendall had grown and development a ton over these past 3 months, but I was anxious to hear what her 3 therapists had to say (being the professionals, and all)! (Plus, I was really hoping today Kendall would not have a meltdown and not want to do anything that they wanted her to, like our last appointment.) Today, she was in great spirits the entire time (even though we had to wait for 50 minutes before we were seen!) ... smiled & flashed her little teeth to everyone in the office & all the therapists that passed by us during our wait ... and still put on quite a show for her 3 therapists for an hour! Way to Go, Kendall!
For Sarah (our Language & Speech Therapist), Kendall ate her applesauce like a champ (which is exactly why I brought her the applesauce ... this girl does not refuse applesauce these days)! She is now been approved to begin using the next size spoon (we've been using the Gerber soft-bite 4month spoon and now we're moving to the 9month one ... yay!). Kendall also ate a couple of Yogurt Melts and Puffs for the first time ... Sarah said she was really to try these types of beginner finger foods, as they are easy to manipulate & dissolve easily in their mouths. She tried them for Sarah and she did great ... she picked up each little bite, tried to get them into her mouth, let Sarah put it in her mouth & she munched on it ... no gagging (gagging is a common issue with preemies, so we are soooo thankful for the no gagging!). After our appointment, Kendall & I went to the store to get some Cheerios, Yogurt Melts & Puffs ... she did really good eating a couple tonight, although we're working on actually getting it into her mouth after she picks it up ... but she ate them, happily! (She also had green beans & avocado tonight, besides her bottle.)
(Besides applesauce, she apparently also enjoys freshly-picked grass ... yummy!)
For Sabrina (our Occupational Therapist), Kendall did everything Sabrina asked of her ... picking up blocks, banging them together, pulling out puzzle pieces, and using her thumb-and-finger pincer grasp (and many more things that I just can't remember). During the evaluation, each therapist will ask me several questions regarding things that Kendall may or may not be doing or able to do, that they just wouldn't be able to observe during our time together. So, I did have to laugh out loud when Sabrina asked me, "Can Kendall take off her socks?" Can she? That would be a YES! This girl doesn't want socks or shoes on her feet ... at all ... ever! (I looked at Kendall's feet to see that she was actually still wearing her cute white Stride Rite sandals (that I'd gotten for $7 at the JBF sale ... score!) ... she'd had them on for over an hour & they were still on ... amazing!) We've been battling the "removing of the socks" for months & months ... I never thought that would be a developmental skill that they'd be looking for ... ha! She graded Kendall at a 10 month level (on one of the skills and of course I can't remember which one) and all the rest were at an 11 month level ... which is great, because that just means that Kendall is passing her "adjusted age development" and is working on catching up to her true 11 1/2 month age, had she been born full-term ... so this is awesome news! Yippeee!
For Kelly (our Physical Therapist), Kendall pulled out all the stops! She sat up, she wouldn't let Kelly push her over (in testing for balance and re-positioning), she crawled, she turned around, she sat back down from crawling, and she pulled herself up ... and I'm sure there was more that I'm leaving out here. I did bring a few of Kendall's favorite toys to make sure she was motivated to crawl ... you know, things like my iPhone and a Diet Dr. Pepper can (and I meant to bring the tv remote, but I forgot it!) ... but, I really did bring some of HER toys as well. But she didn't need the extra motivation, she was happy to crawl for anything today! Kelly graded her at an 11 month old development (even though she's just learned to officially crawl).
We are so thankful for another good report ... actually, this was a fantastic report! We are just so happy & thankful to have our sweet Kendall with us each day, no matter what today's evaluation would have been ... but we are very blessed that Kendall is doing so well and are so proud of her in working so hard to get this far! Kendall is doing well ... so well, they don't want to see us again until November ... what? NOVEMBER! That is 7 months away and that appointment will be for her 18 month evaluation ... woo hoo!
We enjoyed our time outside today ... the weather was beautiful ... 80 degrees with a light wind ... so we had to take some pictures! I just LOVE this little outfit that Kendall wore today ... it was a baby gift from Larry & Martha Hoff (long-time friends of the Rogers fam ... they live in Canada where Ashley grew up) ... I. LOVE. SMOCKING! (I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that smocking is in style! Smocking always reminds me of my childhood dresses and I just think it's so cute!) This outfit is a 6-12 months from Janie & Jack (I love that store and all the clothes that she's been given from there!) ... and I've just been waiting and waiting for Kendall to be able to wear it. They also gave her a precious little coordinating white sweater with cherries on it that she'll also be sporting sometime soon ... especially in June when we're in Canada!
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