Vital Stats: One Year

By Melissa on June 15, 2011 in Down syndrome

Well, here we are. A year later. The party over, the cake eaten, the giant pile of tissue paper and ribbon finally in the trash.

We’ve had our one year well baby visit, our one year developmental evaluation, and some fun firsts in the last week.

Since my blog is used by friends and family to stay updated on my girl, here are the vital stats for Rowenna Anne:

-17.5 pounds and 27.5 inches of smiles, giggles, cuteness, and spunk (that’s 10 pounds and 7.5 inches in the last year for those of you counting at home)

-2 teeth (bottom front) and 4 (yes, four – poor thing!) coming in all at once on top

-a fully repaired heart, off all cardiac medication, and showing zero signs of any residual heart issues (aside from a bicuspid valve which causes no problems and is just a “watch and wait” thing)

-sitting independently, army crawling, standing with support, tackling poor Jax and trying his patience

-self feeding puffs, bread, watermelon, and oranges

-saying “dada” in context, giving high fives, saying “mamamama” when needing comfort, using a wide variety of consonants and vowels with inflection

-healthy, happy, pudgy, and wonderful

Rowenna and Daddy Having Fun in Madison

Developmentally speaking, what may have been a blow a year ago elicited nothing more than a mutual “meh” from hubby and I. Because she had heart surgery, Rowenna has a developmental evaluation at Childrens Hospital in Milwaukee. It’s pretty intense – a visit with a nurse, then three therapists crowd into the little room to evaluate Rowenna all at once, then a visit with a doctor. Whew! All that to tell me that my child with a developmental disability is, well, delayed.

No brainer, huh? Anyways, for those keeping score at home, Rowenna tests out at around a 9 month level for gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, and language skills. To which hubby and I simply say: “meh.” The therapists fell all over themselves to be polite and upbeat, despite us assuring them that none of it was news to us and we are not worried in the slightest. We’re just not worried about it. We have services in place and an arsenal of techniques to try at home. We know she’ll walk and talk eventually. In the meantime we have the pleasure of watching her discover ever more creative ways to reach the things she wants. (Typically, what she wants is Jax.)

Spooning with Jax

As for the firsts in the last week or so, we’ve been having a lot of fun. We took swimming up a notch and brought her to her first swim class. Hubby is the one who will be taking her so they can have some special daddy-and-baby time. She absolutely loved it! Her delighted shrieks filled the room and her teacher was impressed with her willingness to put her face in the water.

Rowenna and I went to her first movie. We saw Kung Fu Panda 2 through an Easter Seals program that offered a showing for individuals with sensory processing issues. (Rowenna does not have any issues at the moment but they let us tag along anyways.) They left the lights partially on and had the volume low and it made for a great environment for a 1 year old to watch a movie. She actually watched some of it, then drank a bottle and fell asleep. A success, I think, for a first movie.

And last, Rowenna has started a teeth-brushing routine at bedtime. She happily lets us brush her gums and two little teeth and then insists on “brushing” them herself before it’s time for pajamas and a story. It is just too cute to see!