Because the kiddos were preemies, we see a specialist every 3-4 months to make sure that the kids are progressing as they should. You'll remember that this is the doctor that classified Harper as "Failure to Thrive" and got the ball rolling trying to find a feeding solution. The last time we saw the specialist, things went really well. This time...well, you can decide for yourself...
Jack:
-Growing well; now weighs 18 lbs (our big boy- in the 10%-25% of the chronologic growth chart)-27" long (5%)
-head is 46.5cm (75%-90%)
-just started crawling Thursday evening (I was lucky enough to capture this on video, but can't figure out how to post it to the blog)
-plays clapping games
-bangs toys together
-is working on grasping small objects with his fingers
-sits very well and moves from crawling position to sitting position nicely
-needs to work on building trunk tone to help with ease of crawling
-Gross Motor Skills- 8 1/2 months
-Fine Motor Skills- 9 months
-Cognitive Ability- 9 months
-Expressive Language- 8 months
-Receptive Language- 8 1/2 months
Overall: Development on target
Harper:-Growing well, although still small; now weighs 14 lbs (5-10% adjusted growth chart, but at least we're on the growth chart-yee haw)
-25" long (5%)
-head is 45 cm (95%)
-is "crusing" around and is ready to start practice walking
-crawls all over the place (explored the play room and played with all the toys)
-sits well to play (this is new; she was in the habit of just crawling away)
-bangs toys together to make noises
-duplicated motions made by the therapist
-pokes fingers into peg board
-waves "bye-bye"
-still needs to work on stretching for the torticollis, but it looks a bit better
-Gross Motor Skills-11-12 months
-Fine Motor Skills- 10 months
Cognitive Ability- 10 months
Receptive Language- 9 1/2 months
Expressive Language- 9 months
Overall: Development on target
Harper does have an asterik on her visit. After measuring Harper's head, the therapist left and came back 5 minutes later and asked to measure my head and Tony's head. She then came back in with the head doctor. We were told that they are concerned about the rate at which Harper's head is growing. Her head has grown quite a bit in the last 3 months, and if it continues to grow at this rate, she'll be referred for a CT scan in February. After measuring Tony's noggin (which is off the charts), the doctor seemed a bit more at ease, but she is worried that Harper may have hydrocephalus (water on the brain). She said that if we have a family history of large heads (like Tony's family), then it just might be genetic, but she wants to watch Harper's head growth and told us to look for Harper's soft spot to "bulge"- a sure sign that we need to call for a CT scan ASAP. If it's not one thing with that girl, it's another. So now we're on soft spot watch. I hope it's nothing to worry about. The doctor has also given us a referral to a cranial orthotic to see if Harper could be fitted with a helmet to help her torticollis. We have decided to see a physical therapist about the tight neck before we talk helmet- our appointment is on the 30th with the PT; we want Harp to get all the help she can, so we'll see how it goes.
So, overall we had some great news and some not so great news. Everytime I look at that little girl and that little boy, I feel beyond blessed that God chose us to be their mom and dad. How is it that those little ones have been through so much, and still laugh and smile and grow and learn despite it all? My little miracles- thank you, Lord.
Tomorrow I'll post about our trip to Houston- stay tuned!
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