A successful appointment

Paige had another appointment with EI on Friday. I was very anxious about having this session because I had some concerns that had been eating away at me for the past several weeks. Because of her lack of responsiveness to her name, I started to get paranoid about other things. I was worried about the fact that she hangs out in her crib and never cries when she's awake and I also feel like she sometimes "spaces out" mostly when she's in the stroller. I spoke to her occupational therapist at the start of the session and she didn't seem concerned, especially about the crib issue. She said this was likely to be part of her personality. After working with her for an hour I asked her what she thought about her from a development standpoint. She said she had absolutely no concerns at all, not even a slight one at the back of her mind. She did say she would be honest with me and tell me if anything ever did concern her which is really important to me. Phew, a huge weight lifted for now!

Overall Paige is at a really fun age. She's changing every day and it's so much fun to watch her learn things. She now loves to play peek-a-boo and constantly covers her face to start the game. She waves, claps and even "dances" while sitting down if fun music is playing. We thought she had started saying kitty but now it seems like she says cat...either way, she seems to be getting close to saying some words. She definitely understands things and can point out a cat in a book or her butterfly and tiger at her high chair. She still isn't really picking up on the sign language so I'm not sure if that will ever progress. I really cannot believe she'll be a year in less than a month!!!!

First EI appointment

Yesterday we had our first appointment with Early Intervention. The vast majority of the hour and a half was dedicated to paper work that we needed to complete for the services. We discussed the goals for the next six months and answered all sorts of other questions about Paige, our family, etc. Our occupational therapist, Diana, did spend some time with Paige and gave us some good tips. In terms of her gross motor skills, she's having us do some "sit ups" with her because the main concern seems to be her lack of core strength. We basically lie her on her back and hold her legs down between our knees. Then we put our hands out for her to hold and she just automatically pulls herself up. I thought she was pulling her until she had me try it but Paige does all of the work. We also have her sit on the floor in a different way which she hated so that probably won't be much fun doing that on a regular basis.

We also talked about her lack of imitation with the language. I recently had noticed that Paige was completely unresponsive to her name and we discussed this as well. In the evaluation they had noted that she had responded to her name and the Goddard School also says she turns when she hears it. However, when Diana was here I showed her how, no matter how many times I said it, she didn't respond. She found it strange but wasn't too worried about it. She said she sees so many kids and she doesn't think she has any major problems, just needs a little push in both of these areas. She also suggested that her chronic ear infections this winter could have temporarily impacted her hearing which may also be the cause of her being behind in this area.

Overall I felt pretty good about the appointment and I think it will be really good for Paige. We're going to meet every other Friday and she may also do an occasional visit at the Goddard School which would be really helpful as well. While I'm still a bit worried about the name issue I think it will probably be fine since she's so social, happy and interactive otherwise.

Other than that, we've been plugging along through this terrible summer weather. Paige did well on the Cape despite the fact that it rained almost every day and there was little for us to do but sit in the cold damp house. She didn't really know what to think of the beach and wasn't a big fan of the sand. She also hates wearing a hat which makes it challenging to be in the sun for any length of time. Hopefully the weather will turn around soon so we can spend some more time outside and at the playground!