Early Intervention, Gymboree, and Reflection over the past 2 months

Of course, the first morning where we could have slept in because Jess didn't wake up at the crack of dawn, we had to get up for the EI evaluators. Oh well. Jess did well at her eval. She just barely qualified for fine and gross motor services. She had to score below 14 months and she scored at 13 in both of these areas. It's funny; she just started walking a week ago and now walks frontward, backward, side steps, carries things, squats and picks things up then returns to a stand - all of these things raised her score up significantly. If they'd been here last Thursday morning, she would have scored as much more delayed (she started walking Thursday night). She scored low in language (no surprise there considering she's only heard English for 2 months) 9 months in receptive and 11 months in expressive. Her social/emotional was 11 months but the evaluator said she thinks it's actually higher than that and that her score was affected because due to all the changes in her life recently, she is not as independent as an average 19 month old would be - she reached for me throughout the eval. She didn't qualify for services in self-care or cognition as they're closer to age appropriate. By the time the evaluators were getting ready to leave, Jess was beginning to warm up to them. The developmental specialist will be back next Wednesday to begin servicing her.

We had a snack after everyone left and then it was time to go to Gymboree. Jess had an awesome time! She went right to Miss Lee and held her hand although she did look to make sure I was next to her. For the next two weeks, we're working on strength building. She loved the area where she crawls up some foam steps and then slides down a foam wedge. She slides on her belly, holding her head up, and then when she gets to the end, she puts her face in the mat. She also worked on rolling down another foam wedge. She walked on an airlog and then Miss Lee and I each got a hand under an arm and leg and bounced her back down it. Jess is enthralled by the bubbles that Miss Lee blows at the end of the session. They don't pop immediately so we're all covered in them which is pretty funny. Jess is showing interest in the other kids and copies what they do. When we got back home, she was pooped and ready for her nap.

Two months ago, on the other side of the world, we waited in a hotel lobby for our babies to arrive. Two months ago, a nanny placed a very quiet, scared looking little girl into my arms and the baby soon started to sob. Two months ago, the baby couldn't hold a bottle, walk alone, or feed herself. Jess is doing all of those things now. Today we started using a straw cup in place of one of her bottles and she was able to get some of the drink up through the straw and into her mouth. She lets Mike hold her so that I can go to the bathroom, run an errand, or simply get a few minutes of relaxation. She laughs easily and frequently. She feels like she's been with us forever.