We’ve had a great month of progress with our sixth daughter. Here are some of the milestones we celebrated with Heidi this month.
She is making more sounds and it sounded like she said “hi” to Anne.
She met my dad and his wife, Denise, for the first time. It took her a little but she warmed up to both of them.
She started to bite me and I told her “no!” Heidi looked at me very seriously and nodded her head “yes”. Such a little stinker!
We be day she got some ground up noodles on her finger and then licked it off. Something we’ve been working hard at is self-feeding and understanding that food goes in your mouth and your hands are tools for feeding.
One day during sensory play she was able to pick up a bean with her finger and thumb (pincer grasp). Usually if she picks up small items it is between her pointer and middle finger.
Once again when I told her “no” (for spitting out milk) she nodded yes. Her little personality is starting to come to light!
While she is walking well she has not yet attempted climbing. But when Anne was lying down on the floor she tried climbing over her legs to get on her back.
She is daily hugged, kissed, patted, rocked, and smooshed with love. (Whether she likes it or not).
(So many squishes!)
We got our Christmas tree which she was curious about. She even picked up tinsel and tried to eat it.
We’ve been trying to substitute unhealthy/orphanage habits for healthy ones. When Heidi is upset or tired she does not seek out parents. She will hit herself in the head, rub her forehead on the carpet, or sometimes just lie down on the floor and stare at her hand. We’ve encouraged thumb sucking and pacifiers. Usually that doesn’t work but we were excited to see her suck a pacifier one evening for about 5 seconds and also just yesterday she was sucking her thumb.
Perhaps most exciting this month is that she has started to lose her fear (a tiny bit) of other people’s hands near her face and mouth. She licked peanut butter dessert off Trent’s finger one evening. Then she took the inside of a mandarin orange from my hand at lunch a few days later. We are finally starting to see her take some bites of food and sometimes chew.
But she still loves ice cream best of all.
She looked briefly at her first snow but she hates to be cold so it was really just for a snapshot then back inside for her.
We’ve had so many really good days this month with a couple of hard days thrown in for good measure.
We are so happy with the progress we have made. But we also know we have so much farther to go. She was so understimulated for nearly two years and it will take a long time to overcome the challenges she has because of it.
When you look at Heidi she looks perfect. It’s understandable to not be able to recognize her special needs. In fact, we don’t even have a label or diagnosis to share with you. Our Occupational Therapist told me today that she hasn’t done the sensory processing test with her yet because she still barely knows Heidi and hasn’t worked with her very long (only 3 sessions). However, it’s evident that she does have some sensory challenges. We have great hope that she will overcome her current difficulties.
In the midst of her trials we are given the gift of getting to give her love and receive her smiles and love in return.
Happy 3 months home, Heidi the Brave. We are better because of you. We love you so much!
No comments:
Post a Comment