9 Month Checklist
Brinley is now 9 months old!! I just can’t believe that we’ve gone from this..
to this…
I thought this would be the appropriate time to update everyone on how Brinley’s doing and what’s new with her. I’m not sure how many of you understand how her disorder affects her. It mainly slows the communication from the brain to the body, so even though Brinley has the muscles to do a lot of normal baby things and sometimes even seems to know what she wants to do, her body just isn’t getting the message. These muscle issues cause her to fatigue easily and also the health problems with reflux and apnea. It also means that she can’t hold her head up, sit up, crawl, and she is also affected somewhat mentally. She seems to be only slightly behind though. She is very aware socially and seems to be right on with that area of development. She sees a physical therapist twice a month, occupational therapist once a month, and a speech therapist once a month. This is along with a monthly visit to her doctor and other checkups with doctors at the hospital. We’ve done another round of genetics tests but still no answers. Everything comes back normal. So now what is Brinley doing?
- Babbling LOTS! Mostly na, ta, da, gi, la, ba, bi. The speech therapist explained to me that tongue sounds will be easier for her because she doesn’t have to use the muscles to bring her mouth together.
- Along with the babbling she let’s us know how she’s feeling with the intonation of her talking now. She’s very good at furrowing her brow and “fussing” at me.
- She also has a nice shriek now when she’s playing.
- Brinley has a loud tongue click. She’ll usually do it back and forth with us too.
- She finally has a tooth coming in!! I found it on Monday (Oct. 5th) when I was letting her suck on a piece of cereal and I felt a sharp poke.
- Even though it’s difficult for Brinley to roll over without help she finds ways to get to things. For instance, she can roll her head all the way over to what she wants and kind of throws her body forward and grunts at what she wants. I tell you she’s going to find a way to get what she wants!
- Sleeps through the night!!!
- Brinley loves to kick (hence the kicker Aaron made).
- She has MAJOR separation anxiety. She won’t let anyone get near her except Mom and Dad. It’s quite exhausting and not cute at all.
- Everything goes in her mouth–can grab her toys with two hands but mostly uses one hand. Her favorites are toys that light up and vibrate (like our electric toothbrushes which keep her in a trance).
- She eats stage 2 foods and meats but isn’t quite ready for chewing table food. We give her practice though because she loves to watch us eat. Grapes and green olives are favorites to suck on.
- Scared to death of her swing now…still not sure why.
- Loves bath time…anything that excites her causes her to kick, a lot, and she has managed to kick so hard she flipped herself over in her bathtub.
- Did I mention that she kicks all the time? Brinley has a tent-like enclosure over her bed to keep the oxygen in and in the morning or after naps when I come to get her. I can hear her kicking because she knows I’m coming. It’s so dang cute to see that excited face (and legs)!
I’ll stop there for now. She is so much fun and I can’t begin to tell you how much she has added to our lives.
October 29th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
She’s gorgeous. I am so proud of you guys. The hardest thing in the world must be to see your child struggle. You are giving her every hope and that I think will make all the difference. If you ever get to SC let me know I would LOVE to come down and see you guys.