Shame on me!

How many days ago did I write about my impatience with Skyler’s development and my worries that she would always be behind? Was it two?

Today she did several “new” things, all in a matter of hours. First, she was playing with my cell phone on my lap, which she loves to do. I decided it was time for a diaper change so I took it away from her and set it on the table. Commence screaming! Yes, to my surprise, she screamed at me for taking it away. I realized right away and decided giving it back to her was probably not the answer. This was our first little “lesson” in who’s boss, I guess you could say. We went to the changing table with her crying in anger and hurt – how dare I take the phone away (premonition of fourteen years down the road, maybe?)! But on the changing table I got her situated and then handed her a different toy to distract her, and she was immediately satisfied. Whew! I think I won that one…all in all I thought it was pretty funny. I hadn’t seen that attitude before now!

Later we were playing ont he floor. I’ve been trying to work on ways to help her learn to sit up. I lay her between my legs on the floor and then grab her hands and pull her up to sitting position. There I let her steady herself while holding her hands, but I try to let her hold herself up on her own. I just pull on her hands slightly if she wobbles over. Normally she doesn’t seem terribly interested and we get bored of this activity real fast. But tonight, she started her own “exercise.” She started pushing her feet into the floor or my legs while pulling back on my hands and arching her back. The action didn’t produce any real progress, but I realized that she was attempting to pull herself up to standing. I was shocked! She hasn’t attempted pushing up or down on much of anything with her feet, except while on the floor she’ll push to roll to her side or push against whatever is in front of her to scoot back. But actually putting any weight on her legs in an upright position is totally new! So we kept playing like this, and she kept trying. She’s way to weak yet to make much of it, but the more we do it, the stronger she’ll get!

Later I held her under her arms and let her “bounce” on my lap by pushing her feet into me and then lifting her high into the air. She loved it. She doesn’t have much force with her legs yet, but she’s trying! And, we are SO not supposed to pick her up under her arms till she is two months post-surgery, but I’ve been testing the waters and it does not seem to bother her at all. I try to at least hold her lower down on her right side where the incision is.

Finally, our girl is officially a carnivore! She has now had chicken and beef. She loves both. I actually think she loves all food at this point. I have to quit feeding her even when she’s sitting there with her mouth wide open, because I fear we’ll over do it and end up with a pukey mess to clean up. I’m so happy for her though. I just feel so good that she’s eating her full bottles AND eating lots of baby food! That’s my happy little eater!