Show Us What You've Got, Baby Girl

Today was an eventful day for Miss Charlotte!

Adventure #1...A trip to the pediatrician! The past couple of days Charlotte has been doing a whiney sort of cry and rubbing her ears a lot. After a quick trip to the doctor with Daddy it was determined that she doesn't have an ear infection, though there was a small amount of fluid in her ear. They told us to just keep an eye on her for now, but there is no indication that she needs any treatment. GOOD NEWS...we don't need any more meds!

Adventure #2...A visit from the South Dakota Birth to 3 Program. This is a state run program that provides free screenings and services to children who are disabled or at risk for developmental delays. When we first came home from the hospital we were referred to the program. They came out when she was 2.5 months old, but at that point there wasn't much to evaluate.

Basically, a woman came out to our house and played! It was great! Charlotte was leery at first, but warmed up fairly quickly. After the evaluation we learned the following--

• Social/emotional development is right on track. I think it melted the woman's heart when midway through the evaluation Charlotte leaned in and gave me a kiss! Ok, Ok....it melted mine a bit too!
• Verbal skills, which I thought might be behind average are also right on track for the average 9 month old (they evaluate her from her due date since she was 3 weeks early). She showed off her "dadadada" skills and her excellent lip smacking. During the next few months we're hoping to hear some other letters (hint hint mmmmmmmm) come into the picture!
• Fine motor skills are EXCELLENT! The evaluator thought she could trip her up by offering her a itty bitty Cheerio....silly lady! Charlotte picked it right up with her thumb and pointer finger and proceeded to immediately hand it off to her other thumb and pointer.
• Last but not least....gross motor. I was nervous about this one. We know that she's behind in this area, but just HOW behind we weren't sure. You see, between surgery and a wound vac, Charlotte spent little to no time on her belly for the first 2 months of her life. We had just gotten her comfortable with tummy time again when it was time for another surgery. Now she just flat out hates it (unless she's sleeping)! SOOOO.....at this point, Charlotte isn't considered "delayed" but is on the low end of where they would like to see kiddos her age. She isn't getting into a sitting position on her own or pulling up to a standing position, and when she does stand, she's quite wobbly.

The woman was great and gave us some pointers on things to work on and how to get her to "practice" the things she is lagging behind on. While I thought it was great, Charlotte will undoubtedly see things differently! We are going to work with her at home over the next 2-3 months and then they will come out to check on her progress. If at that point she isn't making steps in the right direction, they will make a referral for a full PT evaluation.

Something about this visit made me emotional...

Its not a sad emotional because of her delays...not at all.

Its a happy emotional. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in all of the little things that keep our life so crazy that I forget to just sit back and soak in all of Charlotte's accomplishments. She is learning so many new things and I am one PROUD mama!