Park fail, winning mail-NO EXCUSES

Yesterday I mentioned I was going to try out a park side bible study. We went and I tried to listen but Lil C is in the stage where she wants to play at the park but she still needs my help and she was not about to let me listen and then play. So I would take her to the swings and then listen and repeat for the 2 hours. Unfortunately I think I will have to stick to bible studies that provide childcare until she can play independently in that type of setting.

I was kind of discouraged but then I checked the mail! It was a great mail day!!

For our anniversary J bought me a Birch Box subscription. I love it!! I'm not sure which I love more the cool samples or getting a box monthly giving me something to look forward. My favorite sample this month was the nail polish (which I have become obsessed with lately). This picture doesn't give the nail polish color any justice. It's a neon peach...excited to try it out soon :)

I also got the books I ordered YESTERDAY!! I love amazon prime!!

Lil C has some developmental delays. She caught up mostly in gross motor but is still catching up in the speech and communication department. She is super super smart and always figures out a way to get what she wants or needs but that will not always carry her. She needs to learn to adjust to the world around so she can become more independent. I bought Raising A Sensory Smart Child to help me help her figure out this sensory overloaded world. After reading the first chapter I would recommend this book to anyone. We do live in a very fast world and it can become overwhelming to anyone but imagine that you are unable to communicate your feelings and needs? The world has moved on before you can get your thoughts out? How scary and frustrating that must be!

 

I also got my new bible study, Bad Girls of the Bible. So excited to get that started in the morning!

 

Before I go to bed I am catching up with my Advocare team and catching up on some excellent videos created by some of the greats and leaders in Advocare. The common theme tonight throughout the call and throughout the videos...NO EXCUSES. If you want something there is no excuse that should be able to stop you!! As I go to sleep I will be praying on this and thinking on this...what excuses are stopping me and what are those excuses stopping me from gaining and changing in my life?

Charlotte takes life one step at a time

Just a few weeks ago Charlotte started walking and now she is climbing stairs...time to get the baby gates out again. Life is never dull with kids learning new skills everyday!

11 Months old...no way!

This is the last monthly update before Charlotte turns one! This has been one of the best and challenging years of my life. She is the sweetest, loving, challenging, stubborn baby girl and i could not be more happy to be her mommy.

There have not been any doctors appointments since the last monthly update except her physical therapy (whole other post) so I'm guessing on her growth. I would say she is roughly 26 pounds and about 26 inches long. She is wearing anything that fits and that could be from a 6 month to an 18 month and even some 2t shirts?!? Diapers are about to get more expensive because she is moving from a 3 to a 4...you know less diapers in the box equals more per diaper.

She is still eating roughly 24 oz of formula and on her last can...on to milk! As far as table food she is really eating so many new things and new textures I can not keep track! I was told from her therapist and infant specialist that eating may be an issue for her with the SPD but lately it hasn't stopped her. Charlotte is finding independence in the eating department as well and that is fun to watch and not so fun to clean up. While we do not condone food throwing she fells like rubbing it all over herself and the highchair are necessary for a well balanced experience.

Sleeping has been the same except that she is getting up around 6-630 now but it really works out best for us anyway despite how much I want to push the snooze button :)

No new teeth.

Charlotte is now saying: mama, yaya(dada), KK(Clayton), nana(banana), na(no), nanu (thank you) and she can sign tons of things! Some are in her own language but we can usually figure it out.

She can high five and low five and she can also make the Indian chant noise/mouth movement...you know what I'm talking about? (I'll try for a video) 

As far has her gross motor delay she is progressing little by little. The major improvement is bearing weight on her feet and legs. The next big step with be to stand with out assistance. She is also booty scootchin, her version of crawling.

2 months until 1 year!

So my little miss has entered her 11 month of life already. She turned 10 months on the 3rd of March and I can not begin to tell y'all how that makes me feel. But I will also say because she is still so baby like to me I don't see her as this close to one. Since her last monthly report she really hasn't changed that much. The only big different is that she is now being seen by a physical therapist to help her with a diagnosis of Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). You can read the beginning stages of that process here.

Growth: I am assuming she is roughly 22 lbs and around 26/27 inches long...still short but starting to equal out...maybe :)
She is wearing anything from 6-12 month clothes and size 4 diapers.

Eating: She has 4 bottles of 5oz a day and 9 cubes (18 tbls) of fruits/veggies and 4-6 tbls of cereal . Part of her SPD is textures in food. So while she will eat almost anything she will only in certain forms. For example she will not anything mixed like a casserole or spaghetti. She is basically eating at a stage 2 food. Cookies (biter biscuits) and soft fruits/veggies are OK sometimes but it usually takes a really long time for her to eat them and involves quite a bit of screaming :(

Sleeping: She is now sleeping from 7:30ish pm to 6:30 am, with 2 1.5 hour naps during the day. I shifted her whole day up by about a n hour to make room for the twice weekly PT. Bless her heart she is cutting 3 teeth and the teething is really effecting her sleep. She is just really restless and hard to get her down initially, but is still sleeping through the night.

New developments:
         6 teeth, that's 3 more than last month
         She loves to clap and do hand motions to songs IE. Wheels on the Bus and Patty Cake.
         Still only saying "mama" but is not signing "daddy" "eat" "more" "bottle" "milk"
         Screaming: when she is excited, mad, happy...I can not figure how to make it stop!!

She is still really struggling with gross motor. After evaluation from the PT she was placed at a 3 month development level but only in gross motor she is average if not above in every other aspect.

Charleigh Grace is really coming into her own. She knows what she likes and doesn't, she will laugh when its funny but doesn't waste that energy if it isn't.

The Journey to mobility...Sensory Processing Disorder

I will start this post by saying 1. I wrote this in several sittings so it may seem choppy and 2. I am only speaking about the military or Tricare way of maneuvering through referrals and insurance claims. I am very unfamiliar with how other insurance companies work. So yes it seems one sided at times but I only know one side!

At Charlotte's 9 month check up her pediatrician referred her to the California Early Intervention program because she believed that she may have a gross motor delay. Disclaimer: she does have a gross motor delay but the reason was unknown to the ped. so she wanted a specialist to look at her. Once the referral was sent through I was told it could be several days even weeks before I heard anything. Several people in our community have tried to get referrals for one reason or another and had a very difficult time so I prepared myself that she may be over a year before the specialist saw her and therefore she would be even farther behind. I cried and prayed and started researching. Well, it all worked. I got a call from a physical therapist in the next town saying that she had been given our case but that their office no longer had a pediatric PT and that she though after looking at Lil C's record that a Peds PT was needed. She gave me the number to school about an hour away that could see Lil C but that I needed to call both the school and Tricare to make sure they were "compatible".
Again I dreaded the task ahead but it went so smoothly. What helped was that I by passed calling the recommended school and instead went on the Tricare website to see if a PT that a friend recommended was on their list. They were, so I called the PT, got an appointment and THEN called Tricare back to have the referral switched to this new office. Seriously it took maybe an hour and everyone was so helpful and nice. At this point I had no idea the road ahead and I am very glad that I was able to start on nice foot.

Her first appointment was March 5th and that was just an evaluation and to make sure we were going to work well with the PT. The appointment was great. ( I wish I had taken some pictures but I was so nervous it slipped my mind). Going into the office I had several outcomes playing in my mind...she's just too big for her height to move, there is something neurologically wrong, there is something in her hips, something in her legs/spine...etc. What the PT said had never occurred to me!

After some quick exercises she instantly mentioned sensory issues..WHAT? I never went that direction at all. Jennifer (the PT) said she wanted to see Charleigh twice a week. OK, not the most convenient for me with Clayton in pre-k and the drive is 40 miles each way and gas is $4.25 but we really need to act on this so putting all that aside and working out Clayton's pick up from school we agreed to twice weekly therapy.

She placed Charlotte on a gross motor level of a 3 month old and she was 2 days shy of 10 months old so that is quite a bit to catch up on but I am confident she is going to do it.

The Thursday after her appointment the PT called and said she had emailed me a symptom list that would help her put together a program. I checked what applied and emailed it back. The list was very similar to this. Jennifer called me back with a preliminary diagnosis...Sensory Processing Disorder.

Of course I started researching and I felt OK with the diagnosis it seemed like something we could handle and work with her at home as well as in therapy. Basically she has an adversity to different textures and sensations on her hands, feet and with food. I have always noticed her pulling her hands from people but assumed it was her eczema. I never thought she might not bear weight because the feeling on her feet overwhelmed her sensory receptors. There are so many things that Charlotte has always done that are linked back to this disorder. Examples: sleeping in one position, HATES being on her tummy, doesn't reach for anyone other than me (she will go to other's but not reach for them), doesn't seem to "bond" well, doesn't do well in large crowded situations.This will be a weird possibly long and difficult road but knowing that there is something we can do to help her is nice.

She starts therapy on March 12 (which is actually the day this will publish). I'm excited to get started.