The Toddler

Chris and I have decided our little girl is no longer Baby Bella, but Big Girl Bella. She is doing so many new and intriguing things every day. Oh, and the big one...She's WALKING. She took her first three steps by herself a few weeks ago. Of course this was prompted with food. After that feat, we decided to keep encouraging her with food. Even though sometimes I felt like I was training one of the dogs to do a trick, it really seems to have worked. Now she is venturing away from furniture on her own and enjoying walking what few little steps she can at one time. There were some days I thought that she would crawl until she was two or older. She has so much more confidence crawling. But it appears that her confidence in walking is beginning to emerge. On top of the walking she is beginning to communicate with us in her own little way; letting us know when she does and does not want something, she approaches us to snuggle when its time to sleep, makes gestures when she wants to sing a song, and laughs preciously when she thinks something is really funny.

ECI (the group in Texas designated to help children with developmental delays) evaluated her a few weeks ago because she has been in the program for a year. When she was evaluated last year a month after we got home, putting her actual age at 5 months, she graded as a 2 month old; which was close to her adjusted age (if she had been born on time). At the year evaluation she was right over 17 months and for a preemie born at 24 weeks she has made remarkable improvements. She scored as follows:

Cognitive = 18 months
Social/Emotional = 16 months
Adaptive Behavior = 15 months
Communication = 13 months
Physical Development = 11 months (this was for not walking!)

All in all, these signs of development along with her recent walking tell us that we now have toddler on our hands!

Little brother has officially made it farther along in the womb than Bella did. That mark came and went this past Friday. I was full of emotion...fear, anxiety, uncertainty...as Friday came and went. Luckily I had a doctors appointment on Friday with the OB and everything looks normal. We will keep up the appointments and shots as is for now. Once July hits we will probably get a steroid shot and stop the progesterone. God continues to bless us each day that little man stays put.

Crazy hair after my nap!

Time to go to the pool!

Playing with my Monkey-in-the-box!!


Reading one of my many books!