Tuesday, March 3, 2009

I'm So Proud of My Baby



I've been teaching Sophie baby sign language since we got her on Dec. 8, 2008 and has learned words at an incredible rate! So far she can use 25 different words. Here's the list of words in the order that she learned them. Notice the food words are the ones she learned first!

milk
banana
eat
all gone
book
duck
bird
dog
love
sleep
in
out
water
cat
cow
hat
fish
hurt
toothbrush
stars
bath
no
yes
go
hungry

I'm currently working on teaching her juice, want, gentle, cereal, mama, and daddy. She's right on target for language production! Now all we have to do is work on getting her lips and tongue to do their job. With her palate repaired and the goop drained out of her ears, she should be on the road to speaking and hearing better. Please pray that she learns quickly!

Another thing that we are so proud of Sophie for is her large motor skills. She started taking steps on January 10th and learned to crawl on January 15th, but it wasn't until February 23rd that she actually started taking off everywhere. She walked from the kitchen to the bathroom and back again. She was 15 months when that happened, within the normal limits according her pediatrician.

When we first brought her home she was delayed in everything and qualified for Tri County Regional services for physical and speech therapies. But because she is soooo smart and very capable, they have told me that she doesn't need early intervention or physical therapy anymore. She'll just be monitored monthly to make sure everything is going smoothly. The therapists said that all she needed was the opportunity to do these normal activitites-like crawling on the floor, standing up, sitting and playing-to catch up with her peers. It's amazing to see her grow and learn new things every day!

Even though it's only been a week since the doctors closed her palate, I can hear her making new sounds. She makes a modification of "N" and "Y". Yippee! We love those consonant sounds! Before she only made the "M" sound. She LOVES learning, practicing her new skills, and entertaining her family. God is such a compassionate, loving God who loves nothing more than providing for all of her needs.

4 comments:

string cheese said...

Evening, Sophie is getting to be a little lady, everyday...and she is really growing up...before you know it, school and etc....but she is still the little, cute girl, and always will be...hugs from auntie kiki and a lick from killer...

LeeJ said...

Hi all,
Les, Lee, Mara and Lyla here. Wow, way to go Sophie!! We are so proud of you. So great to see all of the photos and hear about your fantastic progress. We think of you often and are very pleased to hear that you are all doing so well. Lyla is also learning sign language and has a few actual words now, "ma ma", "da da" and "cat" are her favorites. She is a very spirited little girl. Her favorite activity is to "get down" with sis to music in our living room. So far we have no concern to think that she will require heart surgery but rather just need to be monitored for a few more years.

Give little Sophie a great big kiss for us.

Hugs, Les

Anonymous said...

With all the love that the family has shown Sophie it's no wonder that she continues to show her many talents. It's amazing that the last time I was down she was still a little wobbly standing, and now it sounds like I'm going to have to run to keep up with her. Give her a squeeze from her Auntie Lisa, and hugs to all.

Amy said...

Been thinking you you all!! love that picture of Sophie. hope all is well for you!!
love, David, Amy and Elisabeth
(check out our new blog)