So on Wednesday I took Giselle to her first Early Steps consultation. Early Steps in a program where they examine your child if you think they are going to be developmentally delayed. With her having Down Syndrome, it's a very likely possibility she will need some sort of therapy, whether it's physical, occupational, speech and/or all 3.
Anyway, I went in and they were very nice. They mainly just asked questions since Giselle is so small. Questions like "Does she nurse well?" "Does she calm down to your voice?" "Does she flinch to loud noises?" "Is she trying to hold her head up?" Giselle has been doing all of these things for a few weeks now. They were even floored to hear that she rolled over at 6 weeks old! You should have seen their faces. They told me I was doing a fantastic job as a mommy (something I really NEEDED to hear), and to just keep doing what I'm doing. They gave me some information and tips to help keep her on track and I've been doing them with her.
I would just like to add that it is no coincidence she is doing so well. EVERYDAY we have tummy time at least once. I use her boppy pillow and lay her over the back face down and she holds her head up desperately to see Spongebob on the TV. We dance to the toddler tunes, she practices finding her thumb and trying to roll over. She tries to scoot and I let her keep it up till she gets frustrated. We have black and white patterns to look at to strengthen her vision. I even do little baby arm exercises. They asked me how I knew to do these things and I replied, " I dunno." I guess I just thought of all the doctors telling me she would need physical therapy. I said to myself "What are they gonna do to a baby?" And I started doing all those things. So far so good. I'm very proud of myself...and I think that it's okay to puff out that chest every once in a while.
::Pumpkin Patch::
We took Giselle to her first pumpkin patch today! We went to the one in Mandarin and it was huge! They had all kinds of photo ops set up but unfortunately Giselle was too small for all of them. She can't hold her head up on her own (which she shouldn't because she's only two months!). But we did manage to prop her up on some pumpkins while daddy held her head. There were a lot of other babies there, older than Giselle by a few months. They were able to hold their heads up and that was about the only difference I'd noticed. It was one of the first days I didn't look at the other babies and think "I hope Giselle can do those things soon." I didn't realize I didn't think those things until we were in the car. It was awesome! I feel like I'm starting to stop worrying so much and just enjoy the little things. Like our little families first visit to a pumpkin patch. It was wonderful.
I took a few other pics when we got home too. Enjoy. :)
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