Clara turned 6 months old on the 8th of this month. I wanted to write an update that day, and then when the day got away from me I thought I would write it the following day. Now it's two weeks later. Where are my priorities?
Well, now the little miss is 6 and a half months old. I don't have any shocking revelations, but since she is at her half year mark I feel I should say something. A toast, perhaps?
She had her six month check-up with the regular pediatrician on her half birthday. He was happy to see her looking so healthy and putting on weight, though she is still just at the 5th percentile in growth for babies her age. I think to make me feel better, though I didn't feel bad, the doctor printed a Down syndrome growth chart (finally) that he will also use to track her growth. On that chart she makes it to the 50% mark, meaning her size and weight are pretty average for a baby with Down syndrome.
He also noted that developmentally she is on par with babies who are four months old. When I told Clara's provider (state provided therapist), she remarked that she thought Clara was more like five months. I'll take either because it doesn't really matter to me. And being that it seemed Clara slept the first three months of her life away, I think she's doing great.
Clara holds her head well now. She has great control. On her tummy she lifts her upper body with her arms to have a look around. I don't know why, but I didn't feel like we were ever going to get to this point. But, I also wasn't as aggressive as I'm sure her provider would have liked for me to be, for no other reason than that Clara hated tummy time. Now, she can intentionally roll over (she's been rolling over for a while without realizing it) and seems to like tummy time a lot more because she chooses to do it, not because Mommy tries to make her do it. Because of the control she has gained I also give her a lot more floor time with her toys, which she seems to enjoy. She is also handling her toys in her hands with more intent, and bringing them to her mouth to chew. I have watched Clara work to get to this point. It's like she always knew she could do it, but she just couldn't get her muscles to cooperate with her. I think her mind is further developed than the rest of her body will allow her to be.
Her favorite toys are still her footsies. She brings them up and handles them and chews on them, and coos contently all the while. I like her footsie time because it's her time to herself--like, Mommy doesn't have to hold her time.
She's also made gains socially. At her visit the doctor asked me if she was only making vowel sounds or if she was starting to sound consonants, too. I hadn't even thought about this as being a marker for development. And I realized that she doesn't sound consonants, but only vowels. However, she does yell at me to get a reaction. It's the cutest darn thing. It started accidentally a couple of weeks back. She made a darling squeal sound, and I acted surprised and jumped a little. She made the squeal again to see if I would react the same, and I did. And so now, often when I hold her in my lap facing me we play her game. I love it, and I think she knows it because she will smile between the squeals.
She has started actually laughing, too. Her laughs are usually a coughing sound and I don't know why this is, but it is. A few days ago I found out she was ticklish under her arms and for the first time real laughs came from within her.
And at the suggestion of her provider Clara now has a bumbo seat. She sits great in it, and because of this she started eating solids this past week. The doctor had said there was no rush because of her development being at four months, but I think we were ready. Clara loves peas and sweet potatoes; green beans and squash not so much.
I'm also giving her the bottle more than the breast now. I haven't set a date, but sometime in the near future I will completely ween her, which makes me sad. As with Lxkas, I'm sure it will hurt me more than it does her. I see an "ode to breastfeeding" entry coming up soon.
Next week we have a couple of doctors to visit who we haven't seen in a while. She will visit the hematologist to check her platelet levels, which until May had been low, but then in May they were too high, which the doctor explained was probably just them overcompensating after having been low. I'm not sure which hematologist we will see since Clara's regular hematologist took a job at St. Jude's Children's Hospital, which is a bummer because she was the sweetest doctor we've had. But, I have to be happy for her that she gets to go to a renowned hospital because she is that good.
The same day as the hematologist we will see my favorite doctor (not), the cardiologist. Last time we saw her she scared me with the whole pulmonary hypertension thing. I think I wrote about that. Clara appears to be so healthy that if she tries to scare me this time with some crap I don't understand I might have to give her a piece of my mind.
And lastly, some happy news. The family, and I mean grandmothers, grandpa, aunts, siblings, myself and Cxdy, will be participating in the 2013 Buddy Walk to raise money for the National Down Syndrome Association as well as our local chapter. I'm really excited to be taking part in this. I plan to design t-shirts for our team and we are thinking after the walk we will have a cookout for everyone who participates on Clara's behalf. I hope we have good participation and this can become an annual event for everyone who gets involved.
So, there is the rundown on my little big girl. I can't believe we are half way to a year. It goes by so fast, yet it seems like she's always been part of the family. I know. It makes no sense. But what does make sense is that the love that I have for her is immeasurable and I'm so glad she found her way into our lives. I was telling her grandmother the other day that when I was pregnant and crying myself to sleep after finding out she had Ds, if only I could have seen 6 months into the future I would have been smiling myself to sleep instead. Silly Mommy!
Anyway, cheers to my Clara, a most amazing and curious little creature.
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