Annabelle's Thirteen-month Update

Well, it hasn't been too long since my last Annabelle update, so this will be brief.  In the past two weeks, Annabelle has continued to hone her rolling and sitting skills.  At therapy last week, she was able to sit completely independently for thirteen seconds.  It doesn't sound like much, but it's a starting point.  I was also thrilled that during her thirteen-month photo session, she was able to sit for a short time propped up in the Boppy pillow, which she hasn't been able to do before.

Yay, Annabelle!

I think Annabelle's understanding of the world is improving.  Mom and I have both noticed that she is "helping" when we get her dressed now.  She straightens her arms to put them through her sleeves, Mom said she pulled a sleeve down yesterday, and I could have sworn she pulled her onesie down off her face this afternoon.  She shakes her head yes and no all the time, sometimes at appropriate times in the conversation, although that may be chance.  And tonight, before eating, Mom signed "eat" (putting your hand to your mouth), and Annabelle put her hand to her mouth in imitation!  Annabelle's first sign!  Also, she has been turning pages in her board books.  I get it started for her, and then when she is able to get her little fist under the page, she pushes it over to get to the next page.

Eating is still a struggle.  Anything with a texture lumpier than applesauce is highly suspect to Annabelle, and sucking things off the spoon is the preferred method of eating.  But she seems to enjoy eating a great deal and always smiles excitedly when we sign eat and show her the spoon.  I'm really hoping that some oral skills will click with her in the next couple months.

My Girls the Movie Stars

The girls have been extra adorable lately, so I wanted to share some of their antics.

Annabelle is getting more and more engaged with her world, especially with her beloved birthday balloon.

She is also starting to understand that she can imitate (and maybe even communicate through?) gestures, which is so exciting I can barely stand it.

Not to be outdone, Sophie has been really into music lately.  She and her friend Portia treated us moms to a concert yesterday.

All this activity is exhausting!

Annabelle's One-Year Update

Annabelle is a year old!  She continues to make great strides towards some big milestones.  She has been rolling with greater success, both from back to tummy and tummy to back.  Her supported sitting is improving by leaps and bounds, although if you take the support away, she immediately scoots her bottom out from under herself.  Our physical therapist hypothesizes that she may be a scooter rather than a crawler, but we shall see.  Actually, today was the first time that crawling was mentioned as a goal on the horizon, which is super exciting!

Annabelle's vision has noticeably improved recently.  She seems to be able to see and to be more interested in objects further away.  For example, when I hold her and other people come over to say hi, she will look at them.  Before, she would not focus on things outside of about a foot away from her face, so this is big progress.  Her hand-eye coordination has improved correspondingly.  She can now reach for a hanging toy with purpose and grab it.  She loves looking at books, and pats every page energetically and with laser-like focus.  Sometimes it even looks to me like she is trying to turn the page, although she is not able to do that yet unless I help her.  It must be close to a year ago that I was crying in the NICU thinking that Annabelle might be blind and never able to look at books.  Obviously, we are very glad that that NICU ophthalmologist was wrong!

We are making slow progress with solid foods.  We are still working on purees.  Anything with a slightly lumpier texture is unlikely to pass muster with Annabelle, although she does try almost anything.  We've been experimenting with pureeing chunky soups and rice and with fruit combinations, and she has been accepting most everything we try.  She is eating about twice as much at a sitting (up to two teaspoons!), and can deal with bigger spoonfuls (more than one molecule at a time!).  So I am encouraged, although it doesn't look like we will forego the feeding tube any time soon.

Another encouraging skill is that Annabelle is very responsive now to imitation games and will imitate some sounds and gestures.  She has learned to nod her head yes, with much concentration, and she loves to give kisses, which is about the cutest thing you'll ever see.  She has not started babbling yet, and I am a little afraid that she will not have the mouth control or coordination to speak.  But I am trying to be patient.  And she is certainly motivated to communicate - she makes all kinds of cooing sounds, clucks her tongue when she wants kisses, and kicks her legs delightedly when instructed to "run, run, run."

Annabelle's birthday was spent with a surprise visit to the hospital with a horrible chest cold, which turned out to be pneumonia.  She was a trooper and went home the next day after a full regimen of breathing treatments and antibiotics.

Cool as a cucumber in the hospital.

The day after her birthday we had an impromptu barbecue celebration, and we were able to get some birthday photos.

Annabelle's slinky party was moved back to this past weekend, and we had a wonderful time.  We are so lucky to have made such wonderful, supportive friends here.  Annabelle enjoyed her birthday balloons, her first taste of chocolate ice cream, and playing with Grandma while Mommy enjoyed chatting with her friends, Sophie ran amok with the other kids, and Daddy played cornhole outside with the guys.

More chocolate!  MORE!

So proud of her sitting!