Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Princess's stats

You know that life with Jax is not so much therapies and IEP's, but more medical doctors and hospitals. We celebrate holding his head up for 30 seconds, and rolling from his back to his belly. Our more recent celebrations are grabbing for toys, and hoping someday he can communicate with some kind of switch device.

The princess had her annual testing with her Early Intervention therapist. She doesn't get a lot of services, Early intervention only comes twice a month, and when she does, its more watching her and me telling her what she's doing.
When she showed me the results, she scored around a 12 month in most area's of development. Social was the highest at 14 months. (of course!) She is currently 23 months old. I think those are fantastic results! I could care less that she is 23 months and only scoring around a 12 month range.
First of all, who made the rules of development? Tanner didn't walk until 15 months, Carter was riding a two wheeler at that age! No kidding, he really was! Every child is different, extra chromosome or not.
Second, this girl spent the first 13 months of her life in either an orphanage crib, or if she was taken out, she was plopped in a walker to spend the day. We've only had her home for 10 months, so she made 12 month strides in 10 months. I'd say that was pretty damn good!

I have 5 children, they are all so different. Mondo is 13, yet he's shy and terrified of roller coasters, he needs extra help to get schoolwork done, and he has a hard time making friends. Tanner is autistic, he is quite far behind his typical peers, but the kid can dance like no other, and he puts on skits in his class, picking other kids to play certain roles. You get him on stage and the social skills just come alive! The kid is an inner genius, and I swear he's going to be an actor/director! Carter is the all around kid. He did everything early and on his own. He is really good in school, is super friendly to everyone, and oh so helpful with anything that needs to be done. Everyone likes him and he makes friends easy. Teachers love him and I call him my student body president. Quite the neapolitan of kids I'd say. So you won't find me whining about how far Arina is supposedly behind "typical" kids. She is my little rock star!

I really think her brothers play a huge role in her development. The morning of this picture, I fed her breakfast, and was getting her bottle. Mondo and Carter were asleep on the family room floor. When I bring her bottle, she usually follows me from the kitchen to the family room, and as soon as she hits the carpet, she lays down for that food! This morning she crawled up so she was right smack in the middle of her brothers, and layed there to drink her bottle!

The boys are a constant source of entertainment for her. Actually, I think it may be the other way around. She has those boys smitten in every sense of the word!!




11 comments:

Not a Perfect Mom said...

I think Arina is doing fantastically! and you're so right...Blake and Hope walked at 15 1/2 months and Jack at 12, they're all different...

Becca said...

She's doing FANTASTIC!! Thanks for that reminder about how all kids do things differently. I stopped subscribing to those BabyCenter bulletins where they say what your kid should be doing at this age - they always made me sad or mad. LOL

Ohhh, that girl is a heartbreaker!! Lucky, lucky girlie and big brothers!!

Rochelle said...

She is doing great, LOVE the pic of her in between the two boys. Priceless!

Runningmama said...

I hope I get to meet all of you one day. Maybe we'll meet at a conference one year, I hope!

Junior said...

such a sweet girl and she is doing fantastic.

Twilson9608 said...

I am with you! While I admit I am intrigued on Vada's development and growth in comparison to all other children (with and with out Ds) I over all just don't care. I. Know. That. She. Is. Doing. Great. and that's all that matters. I watch her grow and learn each and everyday and if it is slow in comparison so be it. She is fantastic and like you said every child is different!

Scrappy quilter said...

What an incredible blessing she is. She is doing so VERY well...actually amazing for where she was for the first year of her life. I love this post...so precious cause it tells about all your kids. Hugs

Melanie L said...

Your kids are so beautiful.

Melissa said...

Arina is doing fabulous! She has made such huge strides since she's been home. And I love the pictures of her with her brothers!

Colleen said...

She is doing amazing, especially considering spending all that time in an orpanage. She's so blessed to have a loving family that helps her thrive!

Unknown said...

sounds like everything is great!! siblings rock! smiles