"Mama"

I have a lot of things to report, mostly because I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks. I was thinking today that I fear for my blog when I go back to school, because I've hardly found the time to write while I've been staying at home. And then I thought that I actually blogged more while I was in school, so maybe it won't die out after all. And then I thought that I should probably just go write a post since I am wasting all this time thinking about blogging.

First: Caroline's 9 month appointment. It wasn't fantastic. (Someday, I will be able to come on here and brag that we had an amazing appointment and it went perfectly and I did not have to spend the entire rest of the day on the phone trying to get specialist appointments. Unfortunately, that day was not last Friday.) The pediatrician decided that since she hasn't been at least trying to sit up, creep, crawl, or pull up to stand, she has a slight gross motor delay that we needed to get evaluated. She also is still making this loud raspy noise when she inhales due to her laryngomalacia (floppy airway-- common in preemies). She really should have outgrown this and her snoring by now, but since she hasn't, we need to get her in to see a pediatric ear/nose/throat specialist.

So, last week a teacher and a physical therapist from a Birth to Three program came to our apartment to check out Caroline's skillz. They said that she was fine in all areas except gross motor, in which she falls into the 16th percentile (for an 8 month old, her adjusted age). She didn't qualify for services, which was great news, but we need to really push the tummy time and call back if she isn't crawling in a couple more months.

I also set up an appointment with an ENT at the children's hospital for December 22. Sigh... we were just about to get released from the GI there and I was really looking forward to not going back. Oh well-- I will try not to complain as long as she doesn't need surgery, which is really the only treatment for laryngomalacia other than time. They'll do a scope to see what the problem is and to decide whether or not surgery will be necessary. I am trying very hard not to imagine my little baby knocked out on an operating table... or even sedated for a scope. Poor thing. And poor me, a little bit, because I am going to be a freaking basket case and no one needs to deal with that insanity.

Moving on.

Even though she may not be crawling, my baby has awesome communication skills :) She now signs "more", "milk", and "drink", and says "done", "all done", "dada", and... my favorite... "mama"!! Prepare yourself for extreme sappiness because this was seriously one of the highlights of my entire life. (Is that sad? I think it might be, a little, but nonetheless--)

This past weekend, Caroline was sitting in her highchair and eating while Tyler and I ate our lunches and talked to her. She was looking at him saying "da da da" and smiling, and I got jealous and said "Caroline, why don't you ever say 'mama' to me??" She looked right at me, reached out her arms, and said "ma ma ma!" I teared up and gave her a big hug. It was so sweet. Tyler said, "No, get her to say it again, she's going to get confused because you're crying!"

Sigh. Just thinking about it makes me smile. I am so in love with this chubby little thing and her silly parted hair.

(Edited) I forgot to add that yesterday was National Prematurity Awareness Day. Here's a link from the March of Dimes if you are interested in becoming more informed about prematurity and how to prevent preterm birth. Even late pretermers like Caroline can deal with health consequences months down the road. Hopefully soon, researchers will be able to determine more about the causes for premature birth, and more effective ways to prevent it.