Developmental Assessment

Last week Elise had her four-month developmental assessment with a pediatrician who specializes in neurodevelopment and a physical therapist.  She did awesome.  They gave her various toys to play with (a pink plastic barbell, a silver bell, a pair of red dice, etc.) and showed her various flashcards (plain gray box next to a black and white striped box, a bunch of primary color balloons next to a primary color beach ball, two bunches of balloons, the beach ball and balloons in reverse order, etc.).  It was fun to see Ellie choosing what she thought was most exciting to look at.  On the card that had two of the same pictures of balloons, her eyes went back and forth many times before finally just picking one bunch to look at.  They even tried to offer her a Cheerio.  I thought she might really go for it because she's always staring at me when I eat my Cheerios for breakfast, but she was only mildly interested (which is fine for her age).

Then they laid her on the floor with the toys and did various things to see how she does with rolling over, including putting her in positions to assist in rolling.  They also tried to have her sit up while they held her on the floor.  She did her usual back arching to fight sitting.  (As I've told a few friends, whereas most kids would slump forward when placed in a sitting position, Ellie normally flings herself back, which could easily result in hurting her head quite badly given the veracity with which she flings herself.)  In the floor exercises she exhibited things typical of premature babies who never got cramped enough in the womb to be forced into the fetal position (lots of straightening of the body and trying to arch backward).  So they gave us some worksheets with exercises to do with her to encourage her to learn to roll, sit and ultimately crawl/walk correctly.

Overall though she tested in at four months and ten days.  They were counting her as being four months and one day so that was definitely a good assessment.  The only area where she came in low was language.  But the PT said before the assessment that she doesn't like the language part because it's not very accurate at this age.  She also said as she was giving the results (and Ellie was yammering) that Ellie would have scored higher if she had been talking like she was then during the assessment.  In other words, Ellie's doing great!!

The PT will see her again at eight months adjusted age.  The doctor didn't see any signs of neurological issues that would require her to see Ellie at eight months.  So she she and the PT will both see Ellie at twelve months adjusted.

Also, they showed me her size on the premature girl growth chart, and she was in the 90th for height and head circumference and the 50th for weight.  She's getting to be a big girl!  I can't remember the measurements from that appointment, but on Monday she was 13 pounds, 3.5 ounces at the nephrologist's office and about 25 inches.  That means she's officially put on over 10 pounds and 10 inches!!!!

And now more recent pictures...

Showing off her cute hat and onesie from Unce Sean and Aunt Laura.

 

It's still a little big, but her hat is a reversible hipster cap.

 

Waking up from a nap after she rolled onto her tummy.

 

 Still a little groggy.

 

A sneeze.

 

Tummy time.

 

Hey, mom!

 

Trying out  her mini-Boppy (much better than a rolled blanket) for extra support per the developmental exercise sheet.

 

Must...reach...toys.

 

All ready to go for a drive.  Now she just needs a pink car to match her keys.