Ada: Age 1 year

Here are snippets from my journal entries during Ada's second year.

12 months
I discovered that she is curling up her toes when I put her shoes on. After about an hour of wearing shoes with her toes all curled up, her feet get quite painful and she gets VERY upset. It took me two times of this happening before I figured out what was going on. When I took her shoes off, she screamed in pain and even screamed when I just touched her toes (which had deep ridge marks in them). So it's barefoot or socks for now until she grows out of this habit. I hope she grows out of it soon though, because she'll need shoes when the weather turns cooler.

A few weeks ago at her 1-year check-up she weighed 18 pounds 5 ounces (15th percentile). She was 30 inches tall (75th percentile). She also had her follow-up EKG. She did well during the exam at first, but then got pretty upset. We had to wait an hour for the exam. We will get the results of the EKG on Thursday with the pediatric cardiologist.

Today was Ada's echocardiogram. The pediatric cardiologist said the echo is the only way to be 100% that the hole has sealed up. She said she fully expects that it has but this way we will know for sure. We weren't sure how Ada was going to do for the echo. She has to lie still for about an hour, but she did great! The tech lady had a Veggie Tales video for her to watch (which she didn't really) but she just laid there and was sooo good! I fed her some cheerios and she got to have her pacifier. I laid down beside her on the hospital bed and I think she liked that. The echo took about 40 minutes. We're supposed to get the results next week.

13 months
Today is Ada's 13-month birthday! Ada had another physical therapy session this morning. Today was one with all 3 therapists for the assessment we do every 6 months on all her skills. The development therapist was really impressed with her vocabulary skills. The other day she, "Hi Nana" to my mom on the phone - that was the first time she's put together two separate words. Of course, we were prompting her to say it, but it was pretty cool. She tries to say "cheese" and is getting better at saying "kitty" and she tries to say "Jesus." She can say ball and baaa for balloon. She also understands a ton of what we say - "Where's the light/nose/Jesus/ear/toys?" etc. and other simple directions. She can turn off light switches, splashes in the tub, and knows how to use a hairbrush (sort of). She tries to put her socks and shoes on her feet - no success but it's cute :-).

She is getting closer and closer to walking but I think it'll still be a few weeks or a month or so before she gets it. Her newest skill is walking along the wall. There is some concern about her flat feet - especially in her right foot and she still has some of her infant toe-grasping reflex. This makes it really hard to have shoes on her for any length of time because after about 30 minutes of curled toes inside her shoes, her feet hurt and she lets us know it. So we're sticking with socks for now when we're out in public places where she'll be on the ground. Most babies have flat feet at this age, but her right foot is especially flat footed and that effects the way her ankles line up, her knees, hip, back and on up the line. The physical therapist is thinking/hoping that her toe curling will disappear as she gets more time up on her feet. Her thumbs and grasping patterns are the best ever now and we're going to switch the occupational therapist from coming every month to just every other month. She'll need to wear her little splints for about an hour a day or so for another 6 months and then we should be done with those. I called today for the results of her echocardiogram, but it wasn't ready yet. We'll try again tomorrow.

Ada still has her VSD, but it is smaller. This means we will do another echocardiogram in another year to two years. Ada had another "assessment" done by the all the therapists that see her. She is meeting all her developmental milestones right now. She scored around the age of a 16/17 month old for her language skills. Her social skills were right at 13 months and her gross motor skills were at 10 months since she isn't walking yet. Ada will walk behind her little car toy and push is around the room now though. She learned to say "poop" the other day as I was changing her poopy diaper. LOL

Ada sorta kinda took some first steps today. Abe and I were about a foot from each other and she was trying to get from him to me. She had to let go of him and stumble toward me to do it and we didn't help her, but it was only a split second before she was close enough to grab my knee. But it was definitely the closet she's come to taking steps on her own. She has also stood up on her own for a few seconds a couple of times in the past two days. Soon she'll be off and running!


14 months
Ada took her first real steps today! She toddled for three or four steps from my mom over to Abe and I sitting on the couch. She did it three separate times, but we haven't gotten her to do it again since. It was so exciting! We were all clapping and cheering and then Ada joined in on the clapping too. It was neat that my mom could be here to see it too. Soon she'll be walking across the room!

She is getting very good at walking around behind her toy cars and while holding our hands. So far she has stood alone for about 5 seconds before lowering herself to the floor. This weekend she also tried to get into a standing position from a sitting position all by herself, without pulling up on anything. She didn't quite make it though, but gave it two tries. I've noticed that when she does walk, she is still tightly curling her toes underneath her feet. This makes it harder to balance. Our physical therapist is coming out in a couple of weeks and has some ideas to share on how we can get her to relax her toes a bit. I hope it will work because once she is off and walking and the weather turns cooler or when we go outside, she will need to have shoes on. For now, when I put shoes on her, the shoes start hurting her feet after about 30 minutes because her toes are all curled up inside and the shoes press in on her toes leaving deep painful groove marks.

Ada weighed 19 pounds 7 1/2 ounces at her appointment this morning. Our pediatrician put her on antibiotics because it turns out she has an ear infection.

Ada took about 10 steps in a row this weekend. We made it a game. Abe sat on the couch and I was on the floor a few feet away. We encouraged Ada to walk back and forth to us. A couple of times she started walking from a stand still, but usually we had to help her get started and then let go. We clapped and cheered for her and she loved every minute of it. A few times she started to lose her balance, but was able to steady herself and then keep going. At church on Sunday morning I was carrying her and she wanted down so she could try to walk. I held onto her hand, but she tried to pull it away. She wanted to do it all by herself. She's growing up! :-)

Ada is getting much better at walking. She is more balanced and can take many more steps in a row before falling down. Yesterday and today she has been practicing so hard at standing up on her own without pulling up on anything else. She is determined to get it right. She can do it about 90% of the time, but it takes some balance and work. It's so cute to watch her. At her therapy appointment earlier this week, we talked a lot about her toe curling and shoes. We're trying to "desensitize" her feet by rubbing them with a rough washcloth a few times a day. This is supposed to help decrease the toe-curling reflex. Her big toes are what she curls the most. We also talked about getting some shoe inserts to help position her flat-footed feet.

Ada continues to get better and better at walking. She is choosing to walk more now to get to places. She is very good at getting up into a standing position and she can carry things around with her while she walks.

15 months
Ada is going to have a little brother! We found out this week. Ada was so cute during the ultrasound - she kept saying, "Baby!" the whole time. At her 15-month check-up on Tuesday of this week she weighed 19 pounds 13 ounces. I can't believe she isn't twenty pounds by now. She seems to eat a lot. She was 31 and 3/4 inches long (80th percentile). Her weight was still around 25th percentile.

While we were at Ada's 15-month check-up, I asked about her possible scoliosis. Our pediatrician thinks he sees some signs of it, but didn't feel comfortable treating her, so he recommended we take her to a pediatric orthopedist again. We are also going to ask about her feet while we are there (they are flat footed and she still curls her big toes when she walks) and also her chest bone. She walks more than she crawls now and doesn't hold her arms out as much for balance.

Ada is really into "reading" her picture books now. She points at all the objects she knows and says them out loud. She knows ball, kitty, cheese, shoes, banana - which she actually pronounces "mamas" right now :-), baby and hat. She sits down and "reads" all by herself a lot, but she also likes to bring us a book and have us point to the object and say, "What's that?" She is tries to say "bellybutton" now and knows where to find it. Diapers she calls "ba-ber." She knows where her nose, ears, mouth, eyes, and feet are too. She can walk around now with her arms down at her sides instead of like Frankenstein :-). She really likes to ride around on her toy car now... which she can only push herself backwards on so far, but likes to be pushed around the house really fast :-). She has finally discovered that drawers can open, so it's time to install the safety latches :-). And she's thrown her first few toddler-esk fits lately. If she is trying to get somewhere or do something and you prevent her or pick her up she can get really upset. She arches her back, cries loudly and sometimes she even swings an arm at you in frustration. Fortunately, she's easily distracted with a toy or something else to play with so the fit is short-lived, but this reaction is a new thing for us. Oh, and the other day she used the spoon all by herself. Normally we either just feed her or she holds onto the spoon with us, but the other day she was able to get some applesauce on the spoon by herself and feed herself. We're starting to wonder if she might be a lefty. She seems to feed her self predominantly with the left hand. I'm not sure when right or left-handedness emerges. She can and does use her right hand sometimes, but more often she uses her left. Both Abe and I are right handed.


16 months
Our occupational therapist was here last week. She said Ada's grasping patterns have never been better and is quite pleased with her progress. Also, Ada showed a predominantly right-handed grasping pattern. She can ride on her push car now and make it go forward. She's also started climbing up onto the couch. She can't always make it up, but several times she has. When we are out she loves to get down and walk around - she doesn't want to be carried as much. If we are moving, she'll be carried, but if we are standing still, she wants to get down and explore.

Yesterday we took Ada to her appointment with the pediatric orthopedist. It was a long and somewhat stressful day. We saw a physical therapist, a resident pediatric orthopedist, and the pediatric orthopedist (also the assistant Chief of Staff there). It was basically all good news. They don't see any signs of scoliosis yet and they don't think we need to do anything special for her feet. They do want her to see a hand surgeon though just to rule out surgery on her fingers. We do have to return in May for a follow-up visit. They told us to continue what we have been doing with her physical therapy. Ada did not enjoy the visit while they were examining her. She screamed the whole time. I think she learning that doctors means shots. She doesn't mind her physical therapy at home. Plus, she was pretty tired at the time of the appointment.


18 months
At her 18 month check-up she weighed 22 pounds (25th percentile).

Today Ada drank out of a cup without a sippy lid on it. We weren't sure she'd be able to do it, but she drank it all down like she's been doing it for months! It was really cute. She looked so much like a little toddler holding a cup like that. Our little girl just keeps growing up!

Ada has been learning shapes this past week. She knows circle, oval, square and star so far. She is also getting good at the various animal sounds. She knows that a cow says moo, a duck says quack, a dog says woof, a kitty says meow, and a horse says neigh.

19 months
Ada became a big sister this week! Her little brother, Asher, was born on Wednesday! He was 8 pounds 13 ounces! Labor was a breeze - no medication this time and it lasted just 2 hours 40 minutes. And we played Uno for the first 90 minutes of it! Woohoo! Ada and Asher are 19 months and 4 days apart in age.


20 months
Ada had her therapy evaluation appointment on Tuesday of this week. All the therapists came. They did assessments of her development at 18 months (back in December) and she no longer needs therapy!! She didn't qualify for treatment - this is a good thing - it means she is doing very well. They will continue to monitor her though every 3 months until she is two and then reassess. They were all so impressed with her verbal language skills. Ada was looking through a big animal picture book one of them had brought along and they were so impressed by how many animal names she could pronounce, like elephant, giraffe, monkey, camel, etc. They do want us to go to a hand surgeon though just so she can be seen by an "expert" to look at her thumbs and her right pinkie.


22 months
We took Ada to see the pediatric orthopedist and pediatric hand surgeon. The orthopedist said to just keep watching her for now and not to anything for her feet. Her bones are straight so she should outgrow the pigeon-toed walking. He also said that since her toe curling isn't bothering her when she wears shoes to not do anything about that now either. The hand surgeon decided against surgery on her pinky finger for fear that he could make it straight, but that she would lose the flexion in it. He took x-rays of the finger and the bone is fine, so the problem is with the skin and muscles. He said it might be camptodactyly which doesn't respond to physical therapy. That would explain why it's the only join that hasn't gotten better for her.

23 months
Ada's second year is nearly over! She will be two in two days! She's turning into a little girl right before our eyes. She is such a little chatterbox. She repeats nearly everything we say. It's so much fun. When she counts now she usually says, "1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10!" This weekend she started singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with me - it's so sweet. Abe has taught her to say, "Yo 'sup!" to people - very cute. We bought her an outdoor playhouse and set it up on the deck. She really likes it. She said, "Big house!" when she first saw it and she likes for our dog to come in the house with her. She really enjoys Asher these days. She likes to lay down on the blanket with him and she brings him toys. She can say his name pretty well now too. Last week we took her to Vacation Bible School for the first time at church. It was late nights for her (one night we kept her home so she could go to bed on time) but she enjoyed it. Friday was the carnival at church and she got to go on her first pony ride and she liked that too. We've been teaching her how to jump and she is getting closer. She likes to dance around too. Friday she has her 2-year checkup. I'm curious how tall she is now - it seems like she has grown a lot in the past 6 months. We will be scheduling another echocardiogram for her soon. For her birthday we got her some new books, a toy stroller, a magnetic drawing board, a "farm animals" barn, and a stuffed Elmo doll (we're having an Elmo-themed party). We practiced blowing out a candle last night and Ada had no trouble with that! We're so proud of our little girl. We love her so much and are so thankful that God gave her to us! We can't wait to see what the coming year will hold for her.