10 Mos and more.... October

Omgoodness!! Molly is 10 months old

Lost to tell where to start. Molly has woken up so much it is unreal and so relieving. Molly has now made it to 4-5 month mile stones, a few still to be desired but she is moving her legs and her arms and talking up a storm. So Much that Mikaela tells her to be quiet. We think she said her first word and I am counting it."ba ba" When she was asked twice on two different occasion for a Ba Ba ( bottle) she said " ba ba , ba ba, " and got very excited as if she was shown her bottle. That is a huge step for her.

We have begun Physical Therapy and Mikaela has begun Preschool but that is for another spotlight all on her own.

Molly now grabs toys on her highchair, not well but she is grabbing at toys and bableing the typical words an 8-10mos should ma ma, da da and ba ba. She is eating at age appropriate standards for 10 mos. However we are still feeding them to her. Picking up things is still a challenge for her, even toys are a challenge. Her hands are still tight and fisted on some day but for the most part with massage and EI she is leaving her hands more open. We are exploring the hand issues a little more with the OT ( Occupational Therapy)and the Orthopedic. Molly is interested in the sippy cup but getting it to her mouth and drinking from it is another challenge but she is attempting it which is what we want to see. Toys are finally going to the mouth too. Mikaela yells at Molly " no no no..... not in your mouth Molly" which is so funny to hear from her sister. We tell Mikaela all the time get it out of your mouth and now she is passing that on.

Mikaela takes care of her sister very well. It's great to see this because Molly just adores Mikaela. Evene if Mikaela sucks up all the attention with her koo koo monekyness.


Molly is begining to enjoy bath time a bit more and is splashing a bit. We are explorering bath seats so we can ditch the infant recline bath seat.

Molly is showing typical shyness of new people wither with a big lip and cry or hiding her face in Mommy's chest and then she look sat me to check if it is ok. So cute! Her personality is finally showing through. I almost feel that we hit that big awakening week; 20 weeks, when all babies seem to come in to their own and wake up from the fetus stage. I feel we hit it. It was like Molly was a 2mos old for 9 mos of her life. We feel better about her development progressing but we have a long way to go. She is still 75% delayed but progression is taking place FINALLY!!!!!!

I am still broken hearted by all of this and So is Matt but rightfully so. However She is so happy and so sweet that she will be great someday and all of this just means that Mommy and Daddy will be Molly and Mikaela's biggest supporters in everything they want to do and think before we say no because, life is so precious. We might hold on to the girls a little tighter but who wouldn't.

I feel that this whole situation is making me stronger and better at what I do as a wife, mother and woman. When I return to teaching and the special needs population, I will be more fine tuned than a clock. Everyone thinks the teaching I did was just reading , writing and arithmatic but it was way more; it was... "Super Nanny" bevaiour specialist for those who needed help with their anger and frustration, a subtitute Mom for those who didn't have any kind of parent, a Therpaist to continue on what the therpaist planned for my students and so much more besides teaching.

Molly has gained so much since we started EI ( Early Intervention) I look foward to so much more progress. slow but steady she will get there.

Molly's Progress

Here is a short update on Molly's progress....

Now some of you haven't seen Molly in a bit and don't expect to see the huge difference in her that we do but it is huge. It shows up even more when you put her in a room of babies on track. It didn't hit me until I was at a play date and the baby girl who joined our group was 7 months old. I knew she was behind and something was different from 3 months old but it really was obvious after that.

Now you can all tell me, that all babies develop at their own pace and I understand that. Molly is so different. She is so happy and just so content with who she is that it makes it easier to deal with the delay but it still hurts. It is still weird on how far behind Molly really is.
Early Intervention says she is (30% percent)
Meaning Molly is behind 70% from age appropriate behaviour in babies her age. I cannot check off on the list of milestones for anything for her age. With Mikaela I could always check off one or 2 out of a list of 10 things. Molly is still at 3 mos old.

Enough of her lack there of ,lets celebrate her accomplishments thus far.She us going to EI and Chiropractor. I do have to say that with each visit to Dr. Bear the Chiropractor Molly does something new. After 2 visits to Dr. Bear Molly jumped in the jumperoo. She never ever jumped or even tried to prior to her adjustments. Molly also began to babble ,ma mas, ba ba, and dadas.

With a daily massage Molly now opens her hands so much more then before. Which was barely and when we did pry her hands open she would cry. Molly tolerates Little Gym front rolls so much better , maybe because her hips are lined up correctly now and it doesn't hurt.

Who wants to move when they are so tight it hurts. Just imagine waking up with a stiff neck and having to move it before you stretch. Molly's body is like this all over. Molly also is doing so much better with doing mini push ups and turning her head. Molly was never able to cuddle as an infant. Molly never slept on her tummy on our chest because she couldn't turn her head. Well recently after therapy and Chiropractor started she can. Not alot but she is able to turn her head more and cuddle before bed time with Mommy or Daddy. Tummy time is so much easier now that she can look to the side and not have to worry about being face down in her own drool.

Molly tried to push her rattle on her high chair tray to her other hand and then tries to hook the rattle with her open fingers and shakes and bangs it. She also reaches for toys now on her tummy and food from Mommy's hand. She can recognize her bowl and spoon and tries to grab it, well, fists it's. Her hands are mostly fisted but if they are open it's because she is not tired or had a really good massage the night before.

Just these little things are huge for her but we still have a long way to go.