One-Year Adjusted Stats (by Meghan)

***NOTE***  
Meg began writing this post a month and a half ago and we're finally getting some time to finish it.


November 4th marked a very important day for our little ladies.  As of now, they are one year adjusted. At this point last year, we had 11-week-old preemies who were just passing their due dates. Sophie and Maddy were at home and Izzy still had a tough road ahead in the NICU with 1.5 months out of her 4.5 month stay remaining.

Today, you'd almost never know our girls were preemies, except for some delays in milestones. So, let's get down to the stats!




Sophia:
Weight: 23 lbs., 75th percentile
Height: 30.5 in., 85th percentile

Our little spitfire is getting faster each day. She walks everywhere and climbs on everything. Falling off is no problem her her.  Usually, she just gets up and tries again. She says baba, mama, dada and a whole bunch of other sounds. She's learning to sign.  Currently, she waves hello and goodbye, signs "all done" when she's done eating, shows "so big", and holds up her pointer finger when you ask her how old she is. She is also learning the names of many objects.  She knows who dada and mama are as well as the words ball, piggy, kitty, baba, book, and the phrase "turn the page."  Every day brings new learning!



She already loves shoes.  I think I need to find her a new passion, like cleaning the dishes.




Definitely the most jealous of the three, so far


Has huge smiles!



Madelyn:
Weight:  21 1bs., 50th percentile
Height: 30 in.,  80th percentile

Maddy is growing and learning every day, too. The therapists working with Maddy believe she has sensory processing disorder (SPD).  Because sensory processing issues are part of autism spectrum disorders we've been very worried about her.  The pediatrician was also concerned when we shared our observations of her behavior at home.  He advised that if she didn't start "coming out of her world" a bit more by the time she was 18 months adjusted, then we would start to worry about the autism spectrum.  Although kids with autism spectrum disorders have SPD, kids can also have SPD and not be autistic. Preemies with NICU experiences have increased risk of having a sensory disorder.

The great news is that over the last few months since our one-year check-up at the pediatrician, Maddy seems to be doing a lot better. She's not yet communicating with gestures like waving, but she is starting to communicate her needs and wants to us through crying.  She's also showing a much greater interest in being near us. Earlier, she would play for hours and never notice if we were in the room. She wouldn't look when we called her name.  Now if we're in the room, she sees us, drops her toy immediately, and makes a B-line toward our legs. This is great news and leads us to believe she does not have an autism spectrum disorder just a sensory processing issue.

Maddy had her re-evaluation for developmental therapy last week at which time it was determined she could benefit from adding this to her weekly routine. So now she gets speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and developmental therapy. As you can imagine we're busy, busy, busy!

Another celebration for Maddy is that she's walking! At just 12 months adjusted, two of our little ladies are walking. I still can't believe it sometimes!  Although she's not as stable as Miss Sophie yet, she's practicing all the time and getting better every day. She is so cute.  I often hear her giggling as she's taking steps and trying to keep her balance. :)

Funny, I thought she was going to have blue eyes


Since they're the only ones walking right now, Maddy and Sophie have a blast playing together, especially when they're playing "I get you!" and chasing each other around the room


By the way, we've since moved up to the big bathtub in our bathroom





Isabelle:
Weight: 20 1bs., 35th percentile
Height: 28 in., 15th percentile

Izzy has made leaps and bounds since our last post. She's crawling, pulling to stand, and cruising on the furniture!  Just a few weeks ago, she wasn't crawling yet and look at her today. Every time she pulls herself up she looks to us for celebration, so now we're clapping all the time.

Although physically she's a bit behind, her cognitive development is right on track.  She's waving hello and goodbye and clapping and she's starting to match words to objects like mama, dada, and kitty.

Such a pretty lady








I can't remember what I said, but it sure was funny




Also, we have had lots of small graduations recently and they're definitely worth celebrating!

1. We packed up the bottles and Sophie and Maddy are using bottles.
2. Izzy is off of oxygen! Yahoo!
3. The cranial bands are done as of this week and they made a huge difference for both girls. 
4. Maddy and Sophie are self-feeding regular table foods.
5. We're down to one nap.
6. Did I say two out of the three are walking already? :)
7. Maddy is done with reflux and reflux medicine!

Until next time...