KIYA WALKS!!! That's right. Kiya is finally officially a full fledged walking toddler. She just let go and did it while we were are my parents house this weekend.
She was walking here and there between one piece of furniture to another before this weekend but my parents house has lots of open space. I honestly thought she was going to crawl a lot this weekend. Boy was I wrong! Now she will walk across the room. ALL BY HERSELF. You can set her down in the middle of a room and she will stand there and then just take off walking. She will pull herself up to a stand and then off she goes.
We are finally there :) She is a tad dramatic about all of it and can sometimes be caught fussing and walking at the same time. Such is the life of an overly dramatic, teething, almost two year old.
Some serious obstacles have been presented to Miss Kiya and she has stared each one down and conquered it. She is truly an amazing kid. I so did not give her enough credit. I thought after the cast she would be so mad and just give up. She was the opposite. She bounced back bigger and better (and straighter) than ever.
So thank you Mehta/EDF cast and Sure Step ankle braces, you helped make my 22 1/2 month old a full fledged toddler. I am so proud of Kiya and just love to watch the joy in her eyes as she walks across the room all by herself. You can see she is just so proud of herself and so are we.
Showing posts with label development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label development. Show all posts
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Walking?
So tomorrow we hit two weeks in cast and 1 week in her ankle supports and guess what....we have a sort of walker :) She would take independent steps before but usually only after much coaxing and really only to me or to Dave.
Now that is not the case. On more than a few occasions today did I spot Miss Kiya taking off walking all on her own. She even stopped a few times even and just stood there not holding on to anything. She would walk from her toy box to the coffee table to get her sippy cup. She walked from the window to the couch to try and get the remote control. She walked from the couch to her table to play with her puzzles. I could go on but that would be boring. In the past Kiya would crawl to get to these things but it appears she might be leaving the crawling behind.
I am not going to say she is a full time walker yet but we have a solid part time walker. The best part is she will walk with her shoes and supports and without :)
My baby girl is going to be running soon...pray for us.
Now that is not the case. On more than a few occasions today did I spot Miss Kiya taking off walking all on her own. She even stopped a few times even and just stood there not holding on to anything. She would walk from her toy box to the coffee table to get her sippy cup. She walked from the window to the couch to try and get the remote control. She walked from the couch to her table to play with her puzzles. I could go on but that would be boring. In the past Kiya would crawl to get to these things but it appears she might be leaving the crawling behind.
I am not going to say she is a full time walker yet but we have a solid part time walker. The best part is she will walk with her shoes and supports and without :)
My baby girl is going to be running soon...pray for us.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
What's new with Kiya?
I know it has been awhile again so here are some highlights as to what is new with Kiya.
1) Dora or should I say "Gora" is a HUGE hit around here. I thought she would get over it but no. This kid is seriously in love with Dora. She can spot her on balloons, at Target and can turn the TV on and ask for it. So 2nd birthday theme is likely you guessed it Dora.
2) Baby dolls. She is so fascinated with all things baby. She yells baby every time we see a baby and she has started putting her doll in her high chair and trying to feed it. So cute. Let's hope this love for babies sticks around for awhile as in a year or two so she will be instantly in awe and love of her brother.
3) Talking. Yup she is still talking or singing pretty much every waking moment unless she has food in her mouth and even then that isn't a guarantee. She is trying to repeat and say everything so we are very careful to spell certain words, not say things we don't want her to know and watching what music is on in the car. I have completely lost track of how many words she actually knows as everyday it changes. She is getting closer and closer to being able to say the dogs names. She almost has Badger down and well I don't blame her for not being able to say Sebastian but the other day it sounded like she said "bastian" which is pretty darn close. As for singing, she is really quite good. She is the singer in her daycare class as she is the only one that will sing along and sometimes rather loudly to the music. Her teacher is convinced she will be a rock star :)
4) Walking: I don't even want to talk or think about it anymore. We have hit a MAJOR road block. She totally can walk we have seen her. I have watched her in the living room and if she sees me she stops. We make her walk everywhere and are using the tips given by her therapist like not holding her hand above her head, etc. She is just a very stubborn and crooked kid. Scoliosis is definitely part of the issue but she is also just hard headed. I am anxiously awaiting our Birth to 3 therapy session...oh wait guess they have to call and schedule that first....sigh....we need help big time. She is very content getting the attention from others at home and daycare by not walking. People have to come to her and she loves that. She loves the attention. So while she insists on feeding herself or brushing her own teeth (don't worry I still do it too) she won't give it up and just walk. sigh....
5) Puzzles. Kiya LOVES puzzles and is really very good at them. Her favorite is her Animal Sounds puzzle. It makes the animal sounds when you put the pieces in. Kind of annoying but she likes it. She knows where all of the pieces go and can put at least half of them in correctly without any help. She also loves her shape sorting toy. She can do all of the shapes by herself and usually on the first try. She turns the cookie jar around to find the right shape and then puts it in. She used to get frustrated with the heart shape as it is harder to do but not anymore. She then claps for herself and says yay when she has all 5 shapes in. She also has a buckle bunny that has 5 different types of buckles on it. She can't open them yet and isn't supposed to be able to but she can now match the right sides together and even buckle 2 or 3 of them all by herself. She used to get frustrated with this toy so it would go in timeout sometimes but now that she is figuring it out it isn't as bad.
6) Napping. Yeah, she has been on this kick of nap fail for awhile. She didn't nap 3 out of 4 days last week. If it is one day here or there she is usually okay but 2 days in a row was tough. She was crabby. I have a bad feeling that she may give up napping well before this Mama is ready for her to.
7) Daycare. We got word that Kiya will be transitioning to this make shift 2 year old room at the end of September. There are a lot of kids turning 1 prior to Oct. so they need the room in the 1 year old rooms but there are a lot of kids who don't turn 2 until the end of the year like Kiya so they are making an 18 month old + room. I think Kiya is ready. She is one of the oldest kids in her class and she is hands down the most talkative. She sees and calls some of the other kids babies even though they walk and she doesn't. It also means new teachers which frankly I am kind of excited about. She needs a change and maybe the new teachers can challenge her in a way her current ones aren't. My one fear is that there is going to be a lot of change in a short period of time. New classroom, new teachers, new kids and let's throw in the high possibility of her being in a body cast. It may get a little interesting this fall....
So I think I have rambled enough :)
1) Dora or should I say "Gora" is a HUGE hit around here. I thought she would get over it but no. This kid is seriously in love with Dora. She can spot her on balloons, at Target and can turn the TV on and ask for it. So 2nd birthday theme is likely you guessed it Dora.
2) Baby dolls. She is so fascinated with all things baby. She yells baby every time we see a baby and she has started putting her doll in her high chair and trying to feed it. So cute. Let's hope this love for babies sticks around for awhile as in a year or two so she will be instantly in awe and love of her brother.
3) Talking. Yup she is still talking or singing pretty much every waking moment unless she has food in her mouth and even then that isn't a guarantee. She is trying to repeat and say everything so we are very careful to spell certain words, not say things we don't want her to know and watching what music is on in the car. I have completely lost track of how many words she actually knows as everyday it changes. She is getting closer and closer to being able to say the dogs names. She almost has Badger down and well I don't blame her for not being able to say Sebastian but the other day it sounded like she said "bastian" which is pretty darn close. As for singing, she is really quite good. She is the singer in her daycare class as she is the only one that will sing along and sometimes rather loudly to the music. Her teacher is convinced she will be a rock star :)
4) Walking: I don't even want to talk or think about it anymore. We have hit a MAJOR road block. She totally can walk we have seen her. I have watched her in the living room and if she sees me she stops. We make her walk everywhere and are using the tips given by her therapist like not holding her hand above her head, etc. She is just a very stubborn and crooked kid. Scoliosis is definitely part of the issue but she is also just hard headed. I am anxiously awaiting our Birth to 3 therapy session...oh wait guess they have to call and schedule that first....sigh....we need help big time. She is very content getting the attention from others at home and daycare by not walking. People have to come to her and she loves that. She loves the attention. So while she insists on feeding herself or brushing her own teeth (don't worry I still do it too) she won't give it up and just walk. sigh....
5) Puzzles. Kiya LOVES puzzles and is really very good at them. Her favorite is her Animal Sounds puzzle. It makes the animal sounds when you put the pieces in. Kind of annoying but she likes it. She knows where all of the pieces go and can put at least half of them in correctly without any help. She also loves her shape sorting toy. She can do all of the shapes by herself and usually on the first try. She turns the cookie jar around to find the right shape and then puts it in. She used to get frustrated with the heart shape as it is harder to do but not anymore. She then claps for herself and says yay when she has all 5 shapes in. She also has a buckle bunny that has 5 different types of buckles on it. She can't open them yet and isn't supposed to be able to but she can now match the right sides together and even buckle 2 or 3 of them all by herself. She used to get frustrated with this toy so it would go in timeout sometimes but now that she is figuring it out it isn't as bad.
6) Napping. Yeah, she has been on this kick of nap fail for awhile. She didn't nap 3 out of 4 days last week. If it is one day here or there she is usually okay but 2 days in a row was tough. She was crabby. I have a bad feeling that she may give up napping well before this Mama is ready for her to.
7) Daycare. We got word that Kiya will be transitioning to this make shift 2 year old room at the end of September. There are a lot of kids turning 1 prior to Oct. so they need the room in the 1 year old rooms but there are a lot of kids who don't turn 2 until the end of the year like Kiya so they are making an 18 month old + room. I think Kiya is ready. She is one of the oldest kids in her class and she is hands down the most talkative. She sees and calls some of the other kids babies even though they walk and she doesn't. It also means new teachers which frankly I am kind of excited about. She needs a change and maybe the new teachers can challenge her in a way her current ones aren't. My one fear is that there is going to be a lot of change in a short period of time. New classroom, new teachers, new kids and let's throw in the high possibility of her being in a body cast. It may get a little interesting this fall....
So I think I have rambled enough :)
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
I'm Back....
I know it has been almost a week but things got a little hectic. Starting with me getting pretty sick. Sicker than I have been in quite sometime. I am feeling better now and am anxiously awaiting the antibiotics to really kick in and get rid of this nastiness that has all but consumed me in the last week.
So here is what has been going on:
+ Kiya is officially 20 months old :) She is just a dream really. So sweet and eager to learn. She can count to ten and sing the ABC song with you. Sure she doesn't get all the correct words or letters but she is so excited to do it with you. She can accurately complete her animal sounds puzzle and she LOVES to stack all 10 of her stacking cups and then of course knock them down. She is quite fascinated lately with baby dolls. She will hug them and rock them and kiss them. So sweet. She also likes to play pretend. I watched yesterday as she "poured" herself a cup of tea and then "drank" it. She has also become quite fascinated with Dora the Explorer. We only let her watch it occasionally but her potty book is Dora and she asks for that a lot. She is also really into Yo Gabba Gabba, a show I swore I would never let her watch as I find it annoying. She loves it. She dances and trys to imitate motions, etc. We also think that Kiya might be getting the concept that she has a messy diaper. Sure we ask her if she has a poop and she says yeah and sometimes she is right and sometimes not. But she has started to grab at her diaper when it is really wet or messy. This is a good sign. She has noticed her shadow and is not a fan. She first noticed it in the bath tub and totally freaked out. She frantically did the sign for all done and wanted out of that tub. She has since noticed it on the wall by her changing table and on the wall of the stairs. She is getting less afraid as we are telling her it is friendly and she can fist bump it. She says hi to it and bye to it. It is pretty cute really.
+ Check Kiya's Kare Korner for an update on our Shriner's process
+ Birth to 3 is coming for a follow up meeting tomorrow. Based on the evaluation they sent me, it looks like Kiya will qualify for physical therapy. We are anxious to get started with this and help her move forward. They estimated her locomotion skills at about a 14 month age level which given her muscle tone issues she is really right on track but hasn't caught up yet. In all other areas like speech, problem solving, fine motor, etc Kiya was at age level or higher. We are so proud of her.
+ Saturday is a big day. 11 years ago Saturday, Dave and I got married at Mission Santa Clara surrounded by all our friends and family. I cannot believe it has been that long. To celebrate we are going to the Brewers game :)
So I guess that is about it for now.
So here is what has been going on:
+ Kiya is officially 20 months old :) She is just a dream really. So sweet and eager to learn. She can count to ten and sing the ABC song with you. Sure she doesn't get all the correct words or letters but she is so excited to do it with you. She can accurately complete her animal sounds puzzle and she LOVES to stack all 10 of her stacking cups and then of course knock them down. She is quite fascinated lately with baby dolls. She will hug them and rock them and kiss them. So sweet. She also likes to play pretend. I watched yesterday as she "poured" herself a cup of tea and then "drank" it. She has also become quite fascinated with Dora the Explorer. We only let her watch it occasionally but her potty book is Dora and she asks for that a lot. She is also really into Yo Gabba Gabba, a show I swore I would never let her watch as I find it annoying. She loves it. She dances and trys to imitate motions, etc. We also think that Kiya might be getting the concept that she has a messy diaper. Sure we ask her if she has a poop and she says yeah and sometimes she is right and sometimes not. But she has started to grab at her diaper when it is really wet or messy. This is a good sign. She has noticed her shadow and is not a fan. She first noticed it in the bath tub and totally freaked out. She frantically did the sign for all done and wanted out of that tub. She has since noticed it on the wall by her changing table and on the wall of the stairs. She is getting less afraid as we are telling her it is friendly and she can fist bump it. She says hi to it and bye to it. It is pretty cute really.
+ Check Kiya's Kare Korner for an update on our Shriner's process
+ Birth to 3 is coming for a follow up meeting tomorrow. Based on the evaluation they sent me, it looks like Kiya will qualify for physical therapy. We are anxious to get started with this and help her move forward. They estimated her locomotion skills at about a 14 month age level which given her muscle tone issues she is really right on track but hasn't caught up yet. In all other areas like speech, problem solving, fine motor, etc Kiya was at age level or higher. We are so proud of her.
+ Saturday is a big day. 11 years ago Saturday, Dave and I got married at Mission Santa Clara surrounded by all our friends and family. I cannot believe it has been that long. To celebrate we are going to the Brewers game :)
So I guess that is about it for now.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
The results are officially in
After a phone call yesterday at 11am with no info from the doctor and a promise of a call back later on, I was discouraged. My mood got worse when it hit 5pm and no call back. I called again and left a message. At 6pm much to my surprise, the nurse called. She had our MRI results. And it is official....the MRI WAS NORMAL :) minus the curvy spine of course.
Huge sigh of relief to have the official news. So what's next? We have an appointment with the Ortho doctor next Wednesday to discuss treatment options. While we are breathing a sigh of relief, I ask for good vibes, prayers, whatever you can muster for another adoptive family who didn't get the same good news we did and may be looking at spinal surgery for their sweet little one.
We also had what will likely be our last physical therapy session this morning at the medical clinic. The therapist was thrilled with Kiya's progress. She thinks her new shoes are really helping. She is impressed with her muscle tone development. She thinks she is still a little weaker in muscle tone than other children her age but she is making positive progress. We went through some exercises to continue working on. She also referred us to Birth to 3 if we wanted to seek their assistance.
Well, Birth to 3 is coming next Tuesday for our evaluation so we will see if she qualifies for physical therapy through them and then decide what to do from there based on what they recommend.
So there are still some questions as to what is next but at least we know what we are dealing with. Kiya is a trooper so we are encouraged that in time all will work out.
Huge sigh of relief to have the official news. So what's next? We have an appointment with the Ortho doctor next Wednesday to discuss treatment options. While we are breathing a sigh of relief, I ask for good vibes, prayers, whatever you can muster for another adoptive family who didn't get the same good news we did and may be looking at spinal surgery for their sweet little one.
We also had what will likely be our last physical therapy session this morning at the medical clinic. The therapist was thrilled with Kiya's progress. She thinks her new shoes are really helping. She is impressed with her muscle tone development. She thinks she is still a little weaker in muscle tone than other children her age but she is making positive progress. We went through some exercises to continue working on. She also referred us to Birth to 3 if we wanted to seek their assistance.
Well, Birth to 3 is coming next Tuesday for our evaluation so we will see if she qualifies for physical therapy through them and then decide what to do from there based on what they recommend.
So there are still some questions as to what is next but at least we know what we are dealing with. Kiya is a trooper so we are encouraged that in time all will work out.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
19 months old
Miss Kiya is officially 19 months old today. I can hardly believe it. My little Peanut looks like such a big girl.
Here are some things the fabulous Miss Kiya has learned in the last month:
1) To use a cup holder. She places her sippy cup in the cup holder on the high chair and in the car. We have come a long way from her sippy cup throwing days :)
2) She has learned 5 almost 6 animal sounds. She can do cow, sheep, dog, cat, lion and we are teaching her snake :)
3) She has learned to say "yes" or "yeah" in response to questions. We don't get no all the time anymore which is so nice. And she is using it in the right context too.
4) When we ask Kiya if she is sassy, she responds with "sassy". So cute and so true.
5) She learned a little girl's name in daycare, Kylie. The sad part is that little girl is aging out of the room next week. Think she can say Donovan...that's the boy that is replacing Kylie.
6) She is learning how to pull up her pants. She can't quite get it but she is close.
7) She is learning (slowly) how to ask nicely for her music or a book. She has heard her CD's so much that she anticipates which song is up next or will ask for certain songs. Example: if she is clapping her hands she wants "If you're happy and you know it" and if she says "oe oe oe" she wants "Old MacDonald had a farm".
8) She has kicked a ball.
9) She has started asking, "What's this?"
10) Kiya has always been fascinated with garbage trucks but she can accurately point to the garbage truck in a puzzle my MIL gave her.
11) She is really quite good at brushing her teeth. I still help A LOT but she really likes to do it.
12) At bedtime, she gives us both hugs and kisses and then points to her crib.
13) She has learned to climb up the slide :)
14) She has decided that the big kids playground is way more fun than the little kids playground. She likes the big slides. Even the big curvy slides. She is such a daredevil.
So as you can see Miss Kiya is busy, busy learning new things all the time. We are so proud of her and all she has accomplished. We can't wait to see what she does next. We are hoping it is walk but you know we can't force her we can only encourage her. We have gotten up to 3 or 4 steps walking alone between Mom and Dad before she dives forward in a fit of laughter. Oh silly girl....we shall see what the ortho doc thinks tomorrow.
Here are some things the fabulous Miss Kiya has learned in the last month:
1) To use a cup holder. She places her sippy cup in the cup holder on the high chair and in the car. We have come a long way from her sippy cup throwing days :)
2) She has learned 5 almost 6 animal sounds. She can do cow, sheep, dog, cat, lion and we are teaching her snake :)
3) She has learned to say "yes" or "yeah" in response to questions. We don't get no all the time anymore which is so nice. And she is using it in the right context too.
4) When we ask Kiya if she is sassy, she responds with "sassy". So cute and so true.
5) She learned a little girl's name in daycare, Kylie. The sad part is that little girl is aging out of the room next week. Think she can say Donovan...that's the boy that is replacing Kylie.
6) She is learning how to pull up her pants. She can't quite get it but she is close.
7) She is learning (slowly) how to ask nicely for her music or a book. She has heard her CD's so much that she anticipates which song is up next or will ask for certain songs. Example: if she is clapping her hands she wants "If you're happy and you know it" and if she says "oe oe oe" she wants "Old MacDonald had a farm".
8) She has kicked a ball.
9) She has started asking, "What's this?"
10) Kiya has always been fascinated with garbage trucks but she can accurately point to the garbage truck in a puzzle my MIL gave her.
11) She is really quite good at brushing her teeth. I still help A LOT but she really likes to do it.
12) At bedtime, she gives us both hugs and kisses and then points to her crib.
13) She has learned to climb up the slide :)
14) She has decided that the big kids playground is way more fun than the little kids playground. She likes the big slides. Even the big curvy slides. She is such a daredevil.
So as you can see Miss Kiya is busy, busy learning new things all the time. We are so proud of her and all she has accomplished. We can't wait to see what she does next. We are hoping it is walk but you know we can't force her we can only encourage her. We have gotten up to 3 or 4 steps walking alone between Mom and Dad before she dives forward in a fit of laughter. Oh silly girl....we shall see what the ortho doc thinks tomorrow.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Birth to 3 visits again
So it has been 1 year since our initial evaluations with Birth to 3. To refresh your memory, Kiya at that time only qualified for speech therapy. At 7 months of age, she showed a 36% delay in her speech. We opted to not pursue therapy at that time and go with a wait and see approach. We always felt that in a year we would have Kiya re-evaluated so here we are.
I had called them with concerns about Kiya not walking independently yet and her speech. Kiya has been replacing the letter m in her words with the letter b. So Mommy is Bobby, Moo is Boo etc. She still says the letter m in words like yummy and vroom so it was just weird.
We had our initial screening this morning. The evaluator asked a bunch of questions and just watched Kiya play and scream. Kiya wasn't in the best of moods this morning.
The questions covered Kiya's speech and communication, fine motor skills, gross motor skills and problem solving skills. The goal by asking the questions was to determine if there were areas in Kiya's development that needed some additional attention.
Based on observation and the answers I gave, the evaluator determined that Kiya is slightly above average in speech and problem solving skills. In fine motor she was well above average and as to be expected her gross motor skills fell short of average. So we fully expected that.
So now what? Well, I will be waiting to hear from an Early Education teacher and a physical therapist to set up a more thorough screening. From there we will determine if Kiya qualifies for services.
Yes, Kiya has been seeing a PT already. However, we were seeing her maybe once a month and we were focusing on her neck muscle issue and her back issue. Sure her walking came up but it doesn't appear to be a concern for our current therapist. My mommy instincts told me to get another opinion. So hence we called Birth to 3.
We shall see what lies ahead. I do feel Kiya is very close to walking on her own. She did take 2-3 steps between Dave and I last night all on her own so we are going to keep working on that. Kiya does tend to roll inward on her ankles and turn her right foot out so between our Birth to 3 screening and our appointment with the Peds Ortho doctor we are hoping to get some answers and some things to work on to improve this.
I had called them with concerns about Kiya not walking independently yet and her speech. Kiya has been replacing the letter m in her words with the letter b. So Mommy is Bobby, Moo is Boo etc. She still says the letter m in words like yummy and vroom so it was just weird.
We had our initial screening this morning. The evaluator asked a bunch of questions and just watched Kiya play and scream. Kiya wasn't in the best of moods this morning.
The questions covered Kiya's speech and communication, fine motor skills, gross motor skills and problem solving skills. The goal by asking the questions was to determine if there were areas in Kiya's development that needed some additional attention.
Based on observation and the answers I gave, the evaluator determined that Kiya is slightly above average in speech and problem solving skills. In fine motor she was well above average and as to be expected her gross motor skills fell short of average. So we fully expected that.
So now what? Well, I will be waiting to hear from an Early Education teacher and a physical therapist to set up a more thorough screening. From there we will determine if Kiya qualifies for services.
Yes, Kiya has been seeing a PT already. However, we were seeing her maybe once a month and we were focusing on her neck muscle issue and her back issue. Sure her walking came up but it doesn't appear to be a concern for our current therapist. My mommy instincts told me to get another opinion. So hence we called Birth to 3.
We shall see what lies ahead. I do feel Kiya is very close to walking on her own. She did take 2-3 steps between Dave and I last night all on her own so we are going to keep working on that. Kiya does tend to roll inward on her ankles and turn her right foot out so between our Birth to 3 screening and our appointment with the Peds Ortho doctor we are hoping to get some answers and some things to work on to improve this.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
18 month check up
We had Kiya's 18 month check up today. Here are the numbers:
Weight: 25lbs (60th percentile)
Height: 32.5 (65th percentile)
Head circumference: 75th percentile
Kiya gained 2.5lbs in the last 3 months and grew another 1/2 inch. She is getting so big. Our doctor was quite pleased with how she is growing considering about 13 months ago she only registered for height on the CDC charts and that was only in the 10th percentile.
Here are the highlights:
Walking: Our doctor is not at all concerned that Kiya isn't walking yet. She saw her walk holding on barely to one of my hands and thinks she is doing just great and could walk any day. She is impressed with her crawling and climbing skills. She said that since Kiya is pulling up on everything and taking such good solid steps when holding on that she is ready and soon we will have a walker.
Back: She does think that Kiya's rib cage sticks out a little farther on the right side of her back which could be an indication of a curvature of her spine. She has referred us to a Pediatric Ortho doctor for an evaluation. She said that it likely happened in utero or due to a traumatic birth since there hasn't been any trauma here. My heart stopped for a second and I thought about Zinash and got a little teary eyed to think about her and the painful birth she described.
Talking: The doctor was quite impressed with Kiya's verbal skills. She can say upwards of 20 words. She can make 5 different animal noises and knows her body parts. She can also do some of her numbers and she is starting to say two and three words together. Her current favorite two word combos are: all right, all done, fall down, no way, hi Kiya, hi Daddy, hi Mama, Miss Staycee (her teacher), hot dog, bath time and she tried to say Princess Baby one of her favorite books :) She still loves to sing and will now sing the ABC song with you. She doesn't get all of the letters right but is getting more and more of them. She can also say the "now I know my ABC's" part pretty well. She also understands most of what people say to her which is great.
Fine Motor: The doctor was thrilled that she was drinking from a straw, could scribble with a crayon, use a fork and a spoon properly and Kiya even handed the doctor the most minuscule piece of fuzz off the carpet. Kiya can also stack some blocks and she LOVES to empty containers and then refill them with stuff.
On the forms we had to fill out Kiya scored highest in fine motor skills and problem solving skills. She is such a smart kid. Sometimes I think she is just too smart for her own good. Obviously, gross motor was the lowest but given where we were with that a year ago, Kiya is doing just great.
As for my guesses, I thought she would weigh maybe 24lbs and be about 33 inches long. So height I was close and she was little wiggly for that so who knows and weight just wow. I can't believe she is 25lbs.
Weight: 25lbs (60th percentile)
Height: 32.5 (65th percentile)
Head circumference: 75th percentile
Kiya gained 2.5lbs in the last 3 months and grew another 1/2 inch. She is getting so big. Our doctor was quite pleased with how she is growing considering about 13 months ago she only registered for height on the CDC charts and that was only in the 10th percentile.
Here are the highlights:
Walking: Our doctor is not at all concerned that Kiya isn't walking yet. She saw her walk holding on barely to one of my hands and thinks she is doing just great and could walk any day. She is impressed with her crawling and climbing skills. She said that since Kiya is pulling up on everything and taking such good solid steps when holding on that she is ready and soon we will have a walker.
Back: She does think that Kiya's rib cage sticks out a little farther on the right side of her back which could be an indication of a curvature of her spine. She has referred us to a Pediatric Ortho doctor for an evaluation. She said that it likely happened in utero or due to a traumatic birth since there hasn't been any trauma here. My heart stopped for a second and I thought about Zinash and got a little teary eyed to think about her and the painful birth she described.
Talking: The doctor was quite impressed with Kiya's verbal skills. She can say upwards of 20 words. She can make 5 different animal noises and knows her body parts. She can also do some of her numbers and she is starting to say two and three words together. Her current favorite two word combos are: all right, all done, fall down, no way, hi Kiya, hi Daddy, hi Mama, Miss Staycee (her teacher), hot dog, bath time and she tried to say Princess Baby one of her favorite books :) She still loves to sing and will now sing the ABC song with you. She doesn't get all of the letters right but is getting more and more of them. She can also say the "now I know my ABC's" part pretty well. She also understands most of what people say to her which is great.
Fine Motor: The doctor was thrilled that she was drinking from a straw, could scribble with a crayon, use a fork and a spoon properly and Kiya even handed the doctor the most minuscule piece of fuzz off the carpet. Kiya can also stack some blocks and she LOVES to empty containers and then refill them with stuff.
On the forms we had to fill out Kiya scored highest in fine motor skills and problem solving skills. She is such a smart kid. Sometimes I think she is just too smart for her own good. Obviously, gross motor was the lowest but given where we were with that a year ago, Kiya is doing just great.
As for my guesses, I thought she would weigh maybe 24lbs and be about 33 inches long. So height I was close and she was little wiggly for that so who knows and weight just wow. I can't believe she is 25lbs.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Miss Independent
It happened....Miss Kiya is now Miss Independent.
Nope not walking by herself yet but getting awfully close. We really think she could take a few steps by herself she is just choosing not to but that is to be expected of Kiya. Kiya does what she wants when she wants to not when someone else thinks she should.
She doesn't want our help anymore most of the time. She wants to try and do everything by herself and I mean everything.
She wants to feed herself so with a tiny bit of help from us still she does with utensils and really is very good. She can stab food with a fork and it goes in her mouth. She can scoop with a spoon and again in her mouth. Sometimes she takes way too big of a scoop so we try help scrape some off before we wind up with a huge mess. She also turns the spoon around to fully lick everything off. She can eat both right and left handed.
She started to climb the ladder for the slide all by herself at daycare on Friday. She got a few steps up and then looked over for help. She just crawled on over and started to do it. She was so proud of herself when she got to the top.
We were at my parents house and they have steep stairs leading to the loft. She walked up the stairs with a little help from Mom. We went to go scoot down the stairs and she stands up, grabs the hand rail and attempts to walk down the stairs. Needless to say Mommy stopped that one and helped her walk down.
She wants to brush her own teeth. She thinks she is talking in sentences but most times we only understand a word or two.
She has decided that she is in LOVE with ranch dressing. We allowed her to dip her fries in it one night at Chili's and we created an addict. She spotted it on a table the following week and wanted it for her fries. She dips quite well. Yesterday at lunch, my mom packed ranch dressing for her. She dipped fries, potato chips and pickle in it. Yes pickle. It appears that Miss Kiya likes pickles.
Miss Kiya will be 18 months in a few days and I can wait to see what this summer holds. I took a survey recently sent to me by another mom and one of the questions was what age has been your favorite so far. My answer: Every age. Sure each age has brought challenges but it is so amazing to watch her grow and learn and discover. There are pros and cons to all of it so sure we are in temper tantrum age but I love it. I loved the times before she could sit up , I look forward to the times she is running and I have loved every step in between. Can you blame me, Kiya is nothing if not fabulous and lovable.
Nope not walking by herself yet but getting awfully close. We really think she could take a few steps by herself she is just choosing not to but that is to be expected of Kiya. Kiya does what she wants when she wants to not when someone else thinks she should.
She doesn't want our help anymore most of the time. She wants to try and do everything by herself and I mean everything.
She wants to feed herself so with a tiny bit of help from us still she does with utensils and really is very good. She can stab food with a fork and it goes in her mouth. She can scoop with a spoon and again in her mouth. Sometimes she takes way too big of a scoop so we try help scrape some off before we wind up with a huge mess. She also turns the spoon around to fully lick everything off. She can eat both right and left handed.
She started to climb the ladder for the slide all by herself at daycare on Friday. She got a few steps up and then looked over for help. She just crawled on over and started to do it. She was so proud of herself when she got to the top.
We were at my parents house and they have steep stairs leading to the loft. She walked up the stairs with a little help from Mom. We went to go scoot down the stairs and she stands up, grabs the hand rail and attempts to walk down the stairs. Needless to say Mommy stopped that one and helped her walk down.
She wants to brush her own teeth. She thinks she is talking in sentences but most times we only understand a word or two.
She has decided that she is in LOVE with ranch dressing. We allowed her to dip her fries in it one night at Chili's and we created an addict. She spotted it on a table the following week and wanted it for her fries. She dips quite well. Yesterday at lunch, my mom packed ranch dressing for her. She dipped fries, potato chips and pickle in it. Yes pickle. It appears that Miss Kiya likes pickles.
Miss Kiya will be 18 months in a few days and I can wait to see what this summer holds. I took a survey recently sent to me by another mom and one of the questions was what age has been your favorite so far. My answer: Every age. Sure each age has brought challenges but it is so amazing to watch her grow and learn and discover. There are pros and cons to all of it so sure we are in temper tantrum age but I love it. I loved the times before she could sit up , I look forward to the times she is running and I have loved every step in between. Can you blame me, Kiya is nothing if not fabulous and lovable.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Kiya updates
Life has and will always be busy busy, but here are a few updates on the fabulous Miss Kiya.
1) Walking: Nope, not yet. She is still trying to stand up in the middle of the room and is getting better. She has also finally with some prompting and A LOT of dramatics started to push a walker toy across the room. They have her do this at daycare and we do it at home. She usually screams at us while walking of course. At this point we are just waiting for her to decide that she wants to do it. We don't carry her as many places anymore, we make her walk. She will do it eventually and when she wants to not when we want her to.
2) Scalp issues: Well, we are on week 1 of oral meds complete. We felt after much thought that we had no other choice. She got a patch of ringwom under her eye and we think in her ear and then we found an additional 3 spots on her head. It didn't look like ringworm but it sure was acting like it. We tried to get into a dermatologist but they were booked until June. Not fun. We hated to do it but we were outnumbered at this point. The plus side is that Kiya LOVES the medicine.
3) Speech: Kiya is learning her name though it comes out "teeya" or "deeya" sometimes but on occasion she says Kiya. Too cute. She has learned the word "go" but her favorite word is still "no." She can also say "hot dog", and "itsy bitsy". She has learned to shout which is fun. She talks non stop all the time and if she isn't talking she is singing. Usually ABC song or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We even catch her doing the hand motions for Twinkle Twinkle when she is singing to herself. She is also trying to say her teacher's name which is Staycee but comes (taycee) most of the time.
Kiya is such a joy to watch. She is learning so much and growing so much. We think she is going through another growth spurt. I can't wait for her 18 month check up to see how much she weighs and how tall she is. We are hoping for 24 lbs and we are sure she is at least 33 inches long. Some of her 18 month pants are starting to look a little short. Bring on short season please :)
We still have the occasional tantrum which is to be expected and they are usually frustration based that she can't get where she wants to and no one is going to help her get there. She is smart and can figure it out so we are not caving to her dramatics. I think once she walks that will help with the tantrums.
Kiya is such a feisty and energetic kid and is always on the go. She is wearing us parents out by the end of the day but we wouldn't have it any other way.
1) Walking: Nope, not yet. She is still trying to stand up in the middle of the room and is getting better. She has also finally with some prompting and A LOT of dramatics started to push a walker toy across the room. They have her do this at daycare and we do it at home. She usually screams at us while walking of course. At this point we are just waiting for her to decide that she wants to do it. We don't carry her as many places anymore, we make her walk. She will do it eventually and when she wants to not when we want her to.
2) Scalp issues: Well, we are on week 1 of oral meds complete. We felt after much thought that we had no other choice. She got a patch of ringwom under her eye and we think in her ear and then we found an additional 3 spots on her head. It didn't look like ringworm but it sure was acting like it. We tried to get into a dermatologist but they were booked until June. Not fun. We hated to do it but we were outnumbered at this point. The plus side is that Kiya LOVES the medicine.
3) Speech: Kiya is learning her name though it comes out "teeya" or "deeya" sometimes but on occasion she says Kiya. Too cute. She has learned the word "go" but her favorite word is still "no." She can also say "hot dog", and "itsy bitsy". She has learned to shout which is fun. She talks non stop all the time and if she isn't talking she is singing. Usually ABC song or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We even catch her doing the hand motions for Twinkle Twinkle when she is singing to herself. She is also trying to say her teacher's name which is Staycee but comes (taycee) most of the time.
Kiya is such a joy to watch. She is learning so much and growing so much. We think she is going through another growth spurt. I can't wait for her 18 month check up to see how much she weighs and how tall she is. We are hoping for 24 lbs and we are sure she is at least 33 inches long. Some of her 18 month pants are starting to look a little short. Bring on short season please :)
We still have the occasional tantrum which is to be expected and they are usually frustration based that she can't get where she wants to and no one is going to help her get there. She is smart and can figure it out so we are not caving to her dramatics. I think once she walks that will help with the tantrums.
Kiya is such a feisty and energetic kid and is always on the go. She is wearing us parents out by the end of the day but we wouldn't have it any other way.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
17 months
Kiya is 17 months old today! I can hardly believe it. I subscribe to a babycenter dot com newsletter that tells me things that could be going on with Miss Kiya. I got the email this morning. Here are the highlights....
1) Walking and running: Nope not yet but working on it.
2) Climbing Stairs, into chairs and able to turn around and sit face forward: Yup, totally does this like a pro.
3) No has become their favorite word: Yup again. In fact last night when we told Kiya is was bedtime she said "No way".
4) Taking off her socks: She has been trying to do this for months. Shoes she can easily take off. Sometimes she even tries to put socks on too.
5) Taking off her diaper: Well she hasn't fully taken it off yet but she can undo the velcro... not a fan of where this is going.
6) Take interest in household things and want to try them out: She LOVES to turn on and off light switches, she checks the mail everyday, she likes to push the button to unlock the car doors and close/open the garage door. She has figured out how to open and close drawers and she is still mostly insisting on feeding herself.
7) Go down to one nap: Kiya has been on one nap since about 13 months of age.
8) Thrive on routine: Yup. Kiya gets a little miffed if her schedule changes or things don't go the way they usually do. She is very clear about how she likes things.
9) Less wary of strangers: This depends. Most times Kiya is saying hi or bye bye to everyone in the grocery stores, Target, park, wherever. She can get a little shy in more intimate settings.
10) Talking; Yup again. Kiya is a chatterbox. She talks all the time unless eating or sleeping. She is learning new words all the time and is starting to put words together. There is still a lot of babbling too. She also LOVES to sing. I picked her up from daycare yesterday and they said she was singing all day and she actually sings pretty well.
11) Interest in art projects: Kiya loves to color with crayons and markers. We have an art box for her with lots of supplies. She makes a mess but she loves it.
12) Texture issues: Kiya had texture issues when she was younger and they went away for awhile and now they are back. Some of her favorite foods she now snubs. It is just a phase so we just keep offering her a wide variety.
So other than the walking stuff, Kiya is right on track. Well we think she is perfect just the way she is.
We saw the doctor this week and we talked about the not walking thing. She said that since Kiya has so little muscle tone in her legs at 5 1/2, she had a lot of catching up to do. She said her muscle tone was likely more like that of a 1-2 month old. So while 17 months, her muscle tone may be closer to that of a 13 or 14 month old. The doctor is not at all worried that she isn't walking yet and is confident that she will soon. Kiya is continuing to make progress in her gross motor development so that is all that matters in the grand scheme of things as she is right on track or above average in all other areas.
We love you Kiya and are so proud of you. We can't wait to see what happens next.
1) Walking and running: Nope not yet but working on it.
2) Climbing Stairs, into chairs and able to turn around and sit face forward: Yup, totally does this like a pro.
3) No has become their favorite word: Yup again. In fact last night when we told Kiya is was bedtime she said "No way".
4) Taking off her socks: She has been trying to do this for months. Shoes she can easily take off. Sometimes she even tries to put socks on too.
5) Taking off her diaper: Well she hasn't fully taken it off yet but she can undo the velcro... not a fan of where this is going.
6) Take interest in household things and want to try them out: She LOVES to turn on and off light switches, she checks the mail everyday, she likes to push the button to unlock the car doors and close/open the garage door. She has figured out how to open and close drawers and she is still mostly insisting on feeding herself.
7) Go down to one nap: Kiya has been on one nap since about 13 months of age.
8) Thrive on routine: Yup. Kiya gets a little miffed if her schedule changes or things don't go the way they usually do. She is very clear about how she likes things.
9) Less wary of strangers: This depends. Most times Kiya is saying hi or bye bye to everyone in the grocery stores, Target, park, wherever. She can get a little shy in more intimate settings.
10) Talking; Yup again. Kiya is a chatterbox. She talks all the time unless eating or sleeping. She is learning new words all the time and is starting to put words together. There is still a lot of babbling too. She also LOVES to sing. I picked her up from daycare yesterday and they said she was singing all day and she actually sings pretty well.
11) Interest in art projects: Kiya loves to color with crayons and markers. We have an art box for her with lots of supplies. She makes a mess but she loves it.
12) Texture issues: Kiya had texture issues when she was younger and they went away for awhile and now they are back. Some of her favorite foods she now snubs. It is just a phase so we just keep offering her a wide variety.
So other than the walking stuff, Kiya is right on track. Well we think she is perfect just the way she is.
We saw the doctor this week and we talked about the not walking thing. She said that since Kiya has so little muscle tone in her legs at 5 1/2, she had a lot of catching up to do. She said her muscle tone was likely more like that of a 1-2 month old. So while 17 months, her muscle tone may be closer to that of a 13 or 14 month old. The doctor is not at all worried that she isn't walking yet and is confident that she will soon. Kiya is continuing to make progress in her gross motor development so that is all that matters in the grand scheme of things as she is right on track or above average in all other areas.
We love you Kiya and are so proud of you. We can't wait to see what happens next.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Life with a climber
Okay I know it has been awhile but we have been busy busy and quiet playtime is no longer really happening in our house.
You see since Miss Kiya has learned to crawl she is all over the place and is VERY fast. She can be in her toy area one minute and the next half way up the stairs.
Yes, Kiya has learned to climb the stairs. She can do all of them in a matter of minutes. She is quite good at it actually but for us parents it means we can really never turn our back on her. A baby gate is going up this weekend so access to the stairs will be only when mommy and daddy want her to have access. I have a distinct feeling she isn't going to like this.
She has also learned to climb into her chair and the stand up in it and try to climb over the arm of the couch and thus onto the couch. She hasn't been successful at it yet but she keeps trying. We thought after she fell off of her chair while standing that she would stop but that didn't stop her in the least.
She is also pulling up on EVERYTHING. Tables, couches, chairs, mommy's pants, her high chair, anything and everything. We are excited for her. You can see the confidence starting to come through as things that were a struggle and now a piece of cake.
With this new love of pulling up, she is into EVERYTHING she can reach. Yesterday it was the Kleenex box and Daddy's ESPN magazine. Then it could be a coaster or the strap for the diaper bag. Tabletops are being cleared. My tables have never been so clutter free. Still working on the kitchen table but that has to happen fast as I discovered that she can in fact pull herself up in socks on the slippery kitchen floor and reach the top of the table.
Let's just say life with a toddler is never dull. She is full of life, energy and love. She is just so sweet and yet is very opinionated. Her new favorite word is No. Sigh.... Before it was just a head shake or Na but we get a very clear no and it is used appropriately. She has also learned the word happy and she can say Otto which is my parent's dog's name. We are also working on getting her to tell people how old she is by holding up 1 finger. We ask her, Kiya how old are you? and then we hold up one finger. Sometimes she does it and other times she just says No.
She also ate her first Oreo cookie. My daughter ate a cookie. I think her dislike of sweets is not so strong. She seems to like ice cream, Oreo's, rice krispy treats but still no cake. That is a texture she just doesn't care for.
So Miss Kiya is keeping us on our toes...and we couldn't be more thrilled with all of her progress.
You see since Miss Kiya has learned to crawl she is all over the place and is VERY fast. She can be in her toy area one minute and the next half way up the stairs.
Yes, Kiya has learned to climb the stairs. She can do all of them in a matter of minutes. She is quite good at it actually but for us parents it means we can really never turn our back on her. A baby gate is going up this weekend so access to the stairs will be only when mommy and daddy want her to have access. I have a distinct feeling she isn't going to like this.
She has also learned to climb into her chair and the stand up in it and try to climb over the arm of the couch and thus onto the couch. She hasn't been successful at it yet but she keeps trying. We thought after she fell off of her chair while standing that she would stop but that didn't stop her in the least.
She is also pulling up on EVERYTHING. Tables, couches, chairs, mommy's pants, her high chair, anything and everything. We are excited for her. You can see the confidence starting to come through as things that were a struggle and now a piece of cake.
With this new love of pulling up, she is into EVERYTHING she can reach. Yesterday it was the Kleenex box and Daddy's ESPN magazine. Then it could be a coaster or the strap for the diaper bag. Tabletops are being cleared. My tables have never been so clutter free. Still working on the kitchen table but that has to happen fast as I discovered that she can in fact pull herself up in socks on the slippery kitchen floor and reach the top of the table.
Let's just say life with a toddler is never dull. She is full of life, energy and love. She is just so sweet and yet is very opinionated. Her new favorite word is No. Sigh.... Before it was just a head shake or Na but we get a very clear no and it is used appropriately. She has also learned the word happy and she can say Otto which is my parent's dog's name. We are also working on getting her to tell people how old she is by holding up 1 finger. We ask her, Kiya how old are you? and then we hold up one finger. Sometimes she does it and other times she just says No.
She also ate her first Oreo cookie. My daughter ate a cookie. I think her dislike of sweets is not so strong. She seems to like ice cream, Oreo's, rice krispy treats but still no cake. That is a texture she just doesn't care for.
So Miss Kiya is keeping us on our toes...and we couldn't be more thrilled with all of her progress.
Friday, March 26, 2010
AMAZING
Kiya crawls!!! I can hardly believe it but out of the blue she decided to crawl today!!! So exciting!!!
Her therapist is going to be thrilled. She said that crawling or walking would be best to help Kiya with her curved spine :)
Then for the icing on the cake, Kiya scoots on over to the coffee table and stands up. She pulled her self up to standing with ZERO help from me. She has done this before but usually while right next to me or grabbing on to me in some way. This time is was all by herself, I was on the opposite side of the table.
Kiya never ceases to amaze me. I am so honored to be her Mom and so thrilled to see her thriving. She just has her own time table. She will do things when she wants to. So for her she wanted to crawl at 16 months...it works for her so it works for us.
Bring on the next level of baby proofing....
Her therapist is going to be thrilled. She said that crawling or walking would be best to help Kiya with her curved spine :)
Then for the icing on the cake, Kiya scoots on over to the coffee table and stands up. She pulled her self up to standing with ZERO help from me. She has done this before but usually while right next to me or grabbing on to me in some way. This time is was all by herself, I was on the opposite side of the table.
Kiya never ceases to amaze me. I am so honored to be her Mom and so thrilled to see her thriving. She just has her own time table. She will do things when she wants to. So for her she wanted to crawl at 16 months...it works for her so it works for us.
Bring on the next level of baby proofing....
Monday, March 22, 2010
Pure joy
Everyday with Kiya brings me pure joy. I can see the joy and innocence on her face and it makes me smile.
Take for example, her recent attempts to pull herself up. She has been successful pulling herself up from sitting on the ground a few times now which is BIG progress for her. She has gotten to a stand at the coffee table, the couch and her toy box. When she does do it she gets this grin and not just a little grin but a huge, "I am so proud of myself grin". You can see her whole face light up and sometimes she even claps for herself.
Or how about the times when she gets the shapes in her shape shorter. Again with the grin and again with the clapping.
Or better yet, the time this last week when she took two unassisted steps from her chair to her Daddy and then lunched forward in a full belly laugh.
Or even the time she, with our help, climbed up the stairs. She was just so thrilled.
Or the way she will try to splash all of the water out of the bathtub while laughing hysterically.
Or the way she will peak around a couch or cabinet or chair or even a piece of paper to play peek a boo. Such joy in her face.
Or when she figured out how to change the letters in her Fridge Alphabet toy. Such excitement that produced much dancing to the new letter sound and much clapping.
I should try and capture that grin as it is always the same grin but hard to get on camera.
She has such a joyous spirit and an innocence about her that I envy. She doesn't yet have the burdens of life and reality on her shoulders. She can live life to the fullest with little worries at this point and it is sweet to see her do so everyday.
Take for example, her recent attempts to pull herself up. She has been successful pulling herself up from sitting on the ground a few times now which is BIG progress for her. She has gotten to a stand at the coffee table, the couch and her toy box. When she does do it she gets this grin and not just a little grin but a huge, "I am so proud of myself grin". You can see her whole face light up and sometimes she even claps for herself.
Or how about the times when she gets the shapes in her shape shorter. Again with the grin and again with the clapping.
Or better yet, the time this last week when she took two unassisted steps from her chair to her Daddy and then lunched forward in a full belly laugh.
Or even the time she, with our help, climbed up the stairs. She was just so thrilled.
Or the way she will try to splash all of the water out of the bathtub while laughing hysterically.
Or the way she will peak around a couch or cabinet or chair or even a piece of paper to play peek a boo. Such joy in her face.
Or when she figured out how to change the letters in her Fridge Alphabet toy. Such excitement that produced much dancing to the new letter sound and much clapping.
I should try and capture that grin as it is always the same grin but hard to get on camera.
She has such a joyous spirit and an innocence about her that I envy. She doesn't yet have the burdens of life and reality on her shoulders. She can live life to the fullest with little worries at this point and it is sweet to see her do so everyday.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
15 month check up
Today was Kiya's 15 month check up. I surprisingly had to wake her up at 8:15 so we had time for breakfast and could get out the door. This didn't go so well. Kiya HATES to be woken up so she was a tad crabby for her appointment but she managed.
Here are the numbers:
Weight: 22.7lbs (39th percentile)
Height: 31 inches (60th percentile)
Head: 46 cm (50th percentile)
Since her one year check up, Kiya has gained over a pound and a half and grown almost 2 inches in height and 2 centimeters in head circumference.
To think 10 months ago she was in the 5th percentile for height, and less than 5th percentile for weight and head circumference. She is doing just great! The doctor was very pleased with the numbers and just how well Kiya is doing.
She met all of the developmental milestones except walking of course. She gives kisses, turns pages in books, scribbles with a crayon, can point out body parts, etc. In terms of the walking the doctor isn't concerned but is glad we are consulting with a therapist and recommends we keep with that. She noted that the therapist is not concerned yet so neither is she.
They asked me how many actual words she says and I responded 12-15. Now to be clear she can say that many words but uses some more than others. She can now say: mama, dada, doggy, ball, uh oh, no, up, hi, bye bye, mouth (minus the th), that (dat), bow wow, ruff, papa (she says this sometimes for puppy and grandpa), daddy, mommy, ear (ee while pointing at ear, oh and she can moo like a cow. She says a bunch of other sounds too but we can't figure out what she is talking about yet. Bubba is a favorite and we aren't sure yet what she is trying to say--maybe Badger....guess we shall see.
The doctor was thrilled with her speech development. She couldn't believe she was ever behind in her speech. She was also impressed with how much Kiya understands. She responds (not very well) to the word no and she can follow simple directions like touch your head or can you switch hands (transfer toy to other hand). We say this a lot when she is getting dressed and undressed.
Kiya got 3 shots today :( But won't get anymore until she is 2 :) We couldn't get a good look at her teeth but it appears that she now has 6. She is getting two more on the top.
We made her 18 month check up appointment for June. I can't wait to see what she is doing and saying then. Fingers crossed she is walking by then and if not we will move on to plan B with that one but for now we are just thrilled to keep watching Kiya discover new things and grow big and strong.
Here are the numbers:
Weight: 22.7lbs (39th percentile)
Height: 31 inches (60th percentile)
Head: 46 cm (50th percentile)
Since her one year check up, Kiya has gained over a pound and a half and grown almost 2 inches in height and 2 centimeters in head circumference.
To think 10 months ago she was in the 5th percentile for height, and less than 5th percentile for weight and head circumference. She is doing just great! The doctor was very pleased with the numbers and just how well Kiya is doing.
She met all of the developmental milestones except walking of course. She gives kisses, turns pages in books, scribbles with a crayon, can point out body parts, etc. In terms of the walking the doctor isn't concerned but is glad we are consulting with a therapist and recommends we keep with that. She noted that the therapist is not concerned yet so neither is she.
They asked me how many actual words she says and I responded 12-15. Now to be clear she can say that many words but uses some more than others. She can now say: mama, dada, doggy, ball, uh oh, no, up, hi, bye bye, mouth (minus the th), that (dat), bow wow, ruff, papa (she says this sometimes for puppy and grandpa), daddy, mommy, ear (ee while pointing at ear, oh and she can moo like a cow. She says a bunch of other sounds too but we can't figure out what she is talking about yet. Bubba is a favorite and we aren't sure yet what she is trying to say--maybe Badger....guess we shall see.
The doctor was thrilled with her speech development. She couldn't believe she was ever behind in her speech. She was also impressed with how much Kiya understands. She responds (not very well) to the word no and she can follow simple directions like touch your head or can you switch hands (transfer toy to other hand). We say this a lot when she is getting dressed and undressed.
Kiya got 3 shots today :( But won't get anymore until she is 2 :) We couldn't get a good look at her teeth but it appears that she now has 6. She is getting two more on the top.
We made her 18 month check up appointment for June. I can't wait to see what she is doing and saying then. Fingers crossed she is walking by then and if not we will move on to plan B with that one but for now we are just thrilled to keep watching Kiya discover new things and grow big and strong.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
10 months ago
I was sitting at work today and thinking about 10 months ago. I was in Ethiopia 10 months ago. Wow. I still miss Ethiopia but that is for another day. We were at the care center spending time with our dear sweet little Peanut. We had met her just the day before and we were all just trying to figure each other out.
Now we have been home for almost 10 months and we are still sort of figuring each other out. I say that because as Kiya grows and learns things change. Our way of doing things changes.
She is a vivacious and spunky 15 month old with a definite opinion about what she wants and how she wants it. Take bedtime for example. We have to start setting limits with her. She will stall otherwise. We tell her very clearly that bedtime is in x amount of minutes and that we will read x amount of books. If we don't, wow can that kid stall. She will "drink" more milk. Hand you another book and/or scoot over to a toy and start playing. She loves bed and she sleeps well so not sure where this new found stalling technique is coming from but we are on to her.
Kiya's 15 month check up is next week. I can't believe it. 10 months ago she was barely 12lbs and couldn't move really. Now she is sitting up, scooting, rolling, standing and....just kidding she isn't walking yet but she will. I try not to worry. What gets me the most is the comments from other people that there must be something wrong with her, you should take her to a doctor, my son/daughter was 11 months when they walked or 13 months and that was late, or my favorite has been you must carry/hold her too much that's why she can't walk. Really, I wanted to say you don't hold you kid? I love to hold mine :)
I posted on our amazing new forum seeking reassurance that it isn't that unusual that Kiya isn't walking at 15 months and got a TON of support and reassurance and stories of kids that walked at 17 month or 19 months etc. But the best piece of advice I got came from Abby on how to deal with the comments. And I quote:
"Have you ever seen Kiya do anything by the book? She's a smart, spunky little girl and she figures life out as she needs it"
Seriously that couldn't be a more perfect way to describe my daughter.
We have come along way in 10 months. I look forward to what is coming next. Admittedly I am slightly terrified as my spunky little one has a big ol'personality wrapped up in that little body and it is starting to poke through more and more each day. She is generally a very sweet and loving little girl but she has her moments when that big dramatic personality shines to the fullest as if to say watch out world Kiya is coming and you better get out of the way.
Now we have been home for almost 10 months and we are still sort of figuring each other out. I say that because as Kiya grows and learns things change. Our way of doing things changes.
She is a vivacious and spunky 15 month old with a definite opinion about what she wants and how she wants it. Take bedtime for example. We have to start setting limits with her. She will stall otherwise. We tell her very clearly that bedtime is in x amount of minutes and that we will read x amount of books. If we don't, wow can that kid stall. She will "drink" more milk. Hand you another book and/or scoot over to a toy and start playing. She loves bed and she sleeps well so not sure where this new found stalling technique is coming from but we are on to her.
Kiya's 15 month check up is next week. I can't believe it. 10 months ago she was barely 12lbs and couldn't move really. Now she is sitting up, scooting, rolling, standing and....just kidding she isn't walking yet but she will. I try not to worry. What gets me the most is the comments from other people that there must be something wrong with her, you should take her to a doctor, my son/daughter was 11 months when they walked or 13 months and that was late, or my favorite has been you must carry/hold her too much that's why she can't walk. Really, I wanted to say you don't hold you kid? I love to hold mine :)
I posted on our amazing new forum seeking reassurance that it isn't that unusual that Kiya isn't walking at 15 months and got a TON of support and reassurance and stories of kids that walked at 17 month or 19 months etc. But the best piece of advice I got came from Abby on how to deal with the comments. And I quote:
"Have you ever seen Kiya do anything by the book? She's a smart, spunky little girl and she figures life out as she needs it"
Seriously that couldn't be a more perfect way to describe my daughter.
We have come along way in 10 months. I look forward to what is coming next. Admittedly I am slightly terrified as my spunky little one has a big ol'personality wrapped up in that little body and it is starting to poke through more and more each day. She is generally a very sweet and loving little girl but she has her moments when that big dramatic personality shines to the fullest as if to say watch out world Kiya is coming and you better get out of the way.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Posture update
We had a follow up appointment with the physical therapist this week to evaluate Kiya's posture and neck again. The appointment went surprisingly well. Kiya had her moments where she was just done being fussed over and she made sure to let us know but she did well and I was proud of her.
As far as her neck muscles go, the therapist thinks there has been great improvement. She had good range of motion and her head isn't as tilted as it was before. We worked on some more exercises to help even more.
As for her posture, well she is sitting up straighter sometimes but still prefers to slouch. The therapist says this can be common for kids that scoot versus traditional crawling. She did notice improvement which was good but we for sure need to keep at it.
Where does the big green monster fit in? Well Kiya is no longer afraid of it. She sits on it and bounces and will roll on her back on it with our help of course. She is getting there and she has learned to say "ball".
We will also be working on getting Kiya to bear more weight on her knees and to try and get her to kneel in a more traditional fashion. If she kneels her legs look like she is sitting Indian style and not straight out behind her. She isn't such a fan of this but we do a little bit multiple times throughout the day so it isn't too bad.
Kiya showed off her many words while there and she showed the therapist how she gets herself into a sitting position. Last time we saw the therapist, Kiya couldn't put herself into a sitting position from laying down so the therapist was very pleased to see this improvement.
So the plan is to keep working with her both at home and at daycare. One of Kiya's teachers is familiar with the exercises and the therapist as her son also went through something similar so she is helping Kiya. We will see the therapist again in March for a progress check.
In the meantime we are just chugging along and watching our baby girl flourish in her own dramatic fashion.
As far as her neck muscles go, the therapist thinks there has been great improvement. She had good range of motion and her head isn't as tilted as it was before. We worked on some more exercises to help even more.
As for her posture, well she is sitting up straighter sometimes but still prefers to slouch. The therapist says this can be common for kids that scoot versus traditional crawling. She did notice improvement which was good but we for sure need to keep at it.
Where does the big green monster fit in? Well Kiya is no longer afraid of it. She sits on it and bounces and will roll on her back on it with our help of course. She is getting there and she has learned to say "ball".
We will also be working on getting Kiya to bear more weight on her knees and to try and get her to kneel in a more traditional fashion. If she kneels her legs look like she is sitting Indian style and not straight out behind her. She isn't such a fan of this but we do a little bit multiple times throughout the day so it isn't too bad.
Kiya showed off her many words while there and she showed the therapist how she gets herself into a sitting position. Last time we saw the therapist, Kiya couldn't put herself into a sitting position from laying down so the therapist was very pleased to see this improvement.
So the plan is to keep working with her both at home and at daycare. One of Kiya's teachers is familiar with the exercises and the therapist as her son also went through something similar so she is helping Kiya. We will see the therapist again in March for a progress check.
In the meantime we are just chugging along and watching our baby girl flourish in her own dramatic fashion.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Adventures in meal time
Meal time in our house has become quite the adventure. You see Miss Kiya has decided that she would prefer to feed herself. Not just finger foods mind you but cereal, yogurt, soup, anything and everything and she wants to use a fork and/or a spoon by herself.
Here are a few pictures of our recent adventures. To her credit she is quite good with a spoon I think for being almost 15 months. She scoops quite well and actually holds the spoon pretty well and gets it mostly in her mouth. Sometimes she puts too much stuff on the spoon which is fun.
As for a fork she can't quite stab the food herself but if you help her get the food on the fork she can feed herself from there. As you can see in the photos she is quite focused and very proud of herself. We are proud of her too and are learning to let go of the utter mess that has become meal time.
Here are a few pictures of our recent adventures. To her credit she is quite good with a spoon I think for being almost 15 months. She scoops quite well and actually holds the spoon pretty well and gets it mostly in her mouth. Sometimes she puts too much stuff on the spoon which is fun.
As for a fork she can't quite stab the food herself but if you help her get the food on the fork she can feed herself from there. As you can see in the photos she is quite focused and very proud of herself. We are proud of her too and are learning to let go of the utter mess that has become meal time.
Could she be any cuter even when she is so messy? Our baby girl is growing up and is so independent.
Monday, February 1, 2010
The big Green Monster
A little back story before I explain the Monster.
When Kiya was in for a sick baby visit a couple weeks ago, the pediatrician, that I very much dislike was the only one available at the two clinics closest to us, made a passing comment that Kiya's ears are asymmetrical and that she has a flat head and would likely need to wear a DOC band to correct it. She said nothing else and barely answered my questions and sent me on my way with the antibiotics for Kiya's ear infection, a referral to a pediatric therapist and a TON of anxiety.
No one who regularly interacts with Kiya thinks she had a flat head but I made the appointment with the therapist anyway. I was going NUTS. I truly believe all medical websites should be banned for new parents. They are AWFUL!
After a week of obsessively checking Kiya's head every chance I got, we had our appointment. The physical therapist was nice enough and she was willing to explain things which was helpful. She measured Kiya's head and said her ratios of length to width were all very good. She did think Kiya's ears were a little off but let me tell you this was a less than accurate test as it involved trying to get Kiya to sit still and then using her fingers as the measuring device. Anyway, after hearing what she had to say, we opted not to go the DOC band route as much research suggests that they aren't effective in children over 10 months, it cost $3000 and the therapist felt that Kiya's head shape wouldn't necessarily change and wasn't in anyway severe or even moderate.
While there though, we did discover that Kiya has TERRIBLE posture. She slouches. It is very obvious if you look for it. She has stronger neck muscles on one side which is part of the issue. A lot of this stems for her finger sucking. She leans that way to suck on her fingers so her body has gotten comfortable that way. The therapist and I went through a bunch of exercises that we are starting with Kiya to help straighten her out. We will see the therapist again in a few weeks and then decide what to do next. One option may be calling Birth to 3 again and having them come out and reevaluate her and proceed that way, but we shall see.
One of the things the therapist suggested was to get a big yoga ball and use it to help Kiya stretch her back and core muscles as well as practicing shifting her weight from one side to the other. So obediently I went out and bought one. I got the smallest one I could and yet we now have....the Big Green Monster.
Kiya is terrified of the ball. This came out of nowhere as she was fine with the ball at the therapists office. She freaked out. We worked with her slowly and sat on the ball with her. She is getting better but will only bounce on it, rock side to side on it and stretch her back on it. We haven't been able to successfully stretch her tummy out on it as that freaks her out. We will keep at it and hope she gets used to it. The first day if we even walked by it she would grab on to us harder and start to fuss. By Sunday she was able to sit on the floor next to it and pound on it with her hands.
So it will be slow going with that one. We do have other exercises to work with her on also which she isn't always a fan of hence maybe the need to call in an outside therapist so we aren't always the bad guy. Time will tell. We have noticed more of a desire to pull herself up on just about anything and everything and she will even venture for 1 independent step before lunging forward and laughing hysterically and last night she was laying on the floor and the got herself into a sitting position. I know most kids do this long before this age but she just never did. The therapist said it is likely due to the way her muscles have developed so the exercises will help.
We are anxious to see Kiya's progress with all of this. It was nice to hear the therapist say that overall developmentally Kiya is doing great and showing progress which is a very good sign. She felt that Kiya's fine motor skills were really quite good and that for gross motor she was at the low end of average. She would be more worried if the desire wasn't there. The desire is there she just needs a little push in the right direction and the therapist said it was totally fine that Kiya wasn't walking. We knew that but still nice to hear.
When Kiya was in for a sick baby visit a couple weeks ago, the pediatrician, that I very much dislike was the only one available at the two clinics closest to us, made a passing comment that Kiya's ears are asymmetrical and that she has a flat head and would likely need to wear a DOC band to correct it. She said nothing else and barely answered my questions and sent me on my way with the antibiotics for Kiya's ear infection, a referral to a pediatric therapist and a TON of anxiety.
No one who regularly interacts with Kiya thinks she had a flat head but I made the appointment with the therapist anyway. I was going NUTS. I truly believe all medical websites should be banned for new parents. They are AWFUL!
After a week of obsessively checking Kiya's head every chance I got, we had our appointment. The physical therapist was nice enough and she was willing to explain things which was helpful. She measured Kiya's head and said her ratios of length to width were all very good. She did think Kiya's ears were a little off but let me tell you this was a less than accurate test as it involved trying to get Kiya to sit still and then using her fingers as the measuring device. Anyway, after hearing what she had to say, we opted not to go the DOC band route as much research suggests that they aren't effective in children over 10 months, it cost $3000 and the therapist felt that Kiya's head shape wouldn't necessarily change and wasn't in anyway severe or even moderate.
While there though, we did discover that Kiya has TERRIBLE posture. She slouches. It is very obvious if you look for it. She has stronger neck muscles on one side which is part of the issue. A lot of this stems for her finger sucking. She leans that way to suck on her fingers so her body has gotten comfortable that way. The therapist and I went through a bunch of exercises that we are starting with Kiya to help straighten her out. We will see the therapist again in a few weeks and then decide what to do next. One option may be calling Birth to 3 again and having them come out and reevaluate her and proceed that way, but we shall see.
One of the things the therapist suggested was to get a big yoga ball and use it to help Kiya stretch her back and core muscles as well as practicing shifting her weight from one side to the other. So obediently I went out and bought one. I got the smallest one I could and yet we now have....the Big Green Monster.
Kiya is terrified of the ball. This came out of nowhere as she was fine with the ball at the therapists office. She freaked out. We worked with her slowly and sat on the ball with her. She is getting better but will only bounce on it, rock side to side on it and stretch her back on it. We haven't been able to successfully stretch her tummy out on it as that freaks her out. We will keep at it and hope she gets used to it. The first day if we even walked by it she would grab on to us harder and start to fuss. By Sunday she was able to sit on the floor next to it and pound on it with her hands.
So it will be slow going with that one. We do have other exercises to work with her on also which she isn't always a fan of hence maybe the need to call in an outside therapist so we aren't always the bad guy. Time will tell. We have noticed more of a desire to pull herself up on just about anything and everything and she will even venture for 1 independent step before lunging forward and laughing hysterically and last night she was laying on the floor and the got herself into a sitting position. I know most kids do this long before this age but she just never did. The therapist said it is likely due to the way her muscles have developed so the exercises will help.
We are anxious to see Kiya's progress with all of this. It was nice to hear the therapist say that overall developmentally Kiya is doing great and showing progress which is a very good sign. She felt that Kiya's fine motor skills were really quite good and that for gross motor she was at the low end of average. She would be more worried if the desire wasn't there. The desire is there she just needs a little push in the right direction and the therapist said it was totally fine that Kiya wasn't walking. We knew that but still nice to hear.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Where to begin....
I know bad blogger again but trying to keep up with an almost 14 month old who only naps once a day now and that is usually at daycare is very tough.
Kiya is still fabulous even with the double ear infection she is fighting off. For a sick baby, she does pretty well. A couple of rough nights but not too terrible. Here are some things Miss Kiya has been up to lately:
--She pretty much insists that she feeds herself the majority of her meal. If she is really hungry she will tolerate letting you feed her cereal or yogurt but the rest she wants to do by herself. She does pretty well too, most of the food makes it in her mouth, a few occasional pieces make it to the begging dogs on the floor and every once in awhile she will put food in her hair. Okay that is the nice version, she does well but absolutely LOVES to put things on her head including food. We were at a restaurant and she was eating green beans and she put one on her head and just left in there. It is pretty funny.
--Walking....well that is still a work in progress. We can see just how badly she wants to it is just those darn long legs and tiny feet making it tough to balance. She is getting better and more confident. I have a feeling she will just do it one day when no one is watching but not until she is sure she can do it perfectly.
--Pulling up. This is also a work in progress but we have seen LOTS of growth in this area. She is trying to pull up on her toy box and she got one foot going the right way and then mommy saw what she was doing so Kiya stopped. She is also trying to pull up in the bath tub, yeah not the best place but she is trying. She still prefers our fingers and will climb into our laps to get to them and use them to pull up. We got some great tips from her teacher and some other parents on things to do to help her gain confidence and we are starting to see the pay off of implementing those tips.
--She LOVES to talk. She can now say mama, dada, doggy, wow, hi, bye bye, uh oh, night night, puppy, ta da, vroom, and then she is trying to say mouth. We ask her where her mouth is and she points to it and says "mou" so cute. She is also trying to say belly button or bee bo. She can point to her belly button and say "bo". She is attempting to say 'no' and usually it comes out 'na' along with a head shake. She also does baby signs for more, eat and all done. She is big on imitating what we are saying so we are really starting to watch what we say in front of her.
So as you can see she is busy busy learning new things and we are just trying to keep up. Her social calendar is getting fuller as we had playgroup yesterday with a fairly large group of adopted children from Ethiopia and she has a play date this coming Friday with 2 other great kids from Ethiopia.
Kiya is still fabulous even with the double ear infection she is fighting off. For a sick baby, she does pretty well. A couple of rough nights but not too terrible. Here are some things Miss Kiya has been up to lately:
--She pretty much insists that she feeds herself the majority of her meal. If she is really hungry she will tolerate letting you feed her cereal or yogurt but the rest she wants to do by herself. She does pretty well too, most of the food makes it in her mouth, a few occasional pieces make it to the begging dogs on the floor and every once in awhile she will put food in her hair. Okay that is the nice version, she does well but absolutely LOVES to put things on her head including food. We were at a restaurant and she was eating green beans and she put one on her head and just left in there. It is pretty funny.
--Walking....well that is still a work in progress. We can see just how badly she wants to it is just those darn long legs and tiny feet making it tough to balance. She is getting better and more confident. I have a feeling she will just do it one day when no one is watching but not until she is sure she can do it perfectly.
--Pulling up. This is also a work in progress but we have seen LOTS of growth in this area. She is trying to pull up on her toy box and she got one foot going the right way and then mommy saw what she was doing so Kiya stopped. She is also trying to pull up in the bath tub, yeah not the best place but she is trying. She still prefers our fingers and will climb into our laps to get to them and use them to pull up. We got some great tips from her teacher and some other parents on things to do to help her gain confidence and we are starting to see the pay off of implementing those tips.
--She LOVES to talk. She can now say mama, dada, doggy, wow, hi, bye bye, uh oh, night night, puppy, ta da, vroom, and then she is trying to say mouth. We ask her where her mouth is and she points to it and says "mou" so cute. She is also trying to say belly button or bee bo. She can point to her belly button and say "bo". She is attempting to say 'no' and usually it comes out 'na' along with a head shake. She also does baby signs for more, eat and all done. She is big on imitating what we are saying so we are really starting to watch what we say in front of her.
So as you can see she is busy busy learning new things and we are just trying to keep up. Her social calendar is getting fuller as we had playgroup yesterday with a fairly large group of adopted children from Ethiopia and she has a play date this coming Friday with 2 other great kids from Ethiopia.
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