I've been beating myself up lately and I'm not sure how to quit. There is no doubt that Emma is doing so great, growing every day. (It's so much fun to be around her!!) She is cruising constantly and crawling on her knees everywhere (except the wood - too slippy!). When we gave her a bath last night I said to Scott, there is no way a year ago we could have even imagined the live wire we have now!
I have received praise for helping Emma get stronger and become the girl she is today, and while I may have had a small hand I don't want the credit! You see if I take the credit for her success, I must also take responsibility for the delays.
For her age, Emma is behind in feeding, obviously, speaking words and following commands related to certain things (like picking up the pig, not the cow etc). Her speech therapist is pushing me to feed her 3 times a day, work on getting her to recognize animals and say words appropriately. Sure, I need pushing, but I am really struggling to get consistent with them.
I managed to feed Emma 3 times last week, after being asked to try it daily. When I did that it suddenly jumped to 3 times a day. I have not fed her once since that session! I don't know what the problem is. It is tough trying to remember when I also have to tube feed her (she doesn't get hungry and remind me!), give her meds, get her down for naps and all the other chores around the house. Any minor change to the schedule throws me for a loop!
I'm also not good at talking all day, no seriously! I can't describe every little inane task and detail, I'm not good at talking about the 'little piggy' toy or even reading books to Emma (she always closes it after a couple pages! Maybe I'm a boring narrator!). I feel like it's my fault she has yet to say anything approaching a real word.
Perhaps it is a personal problem. I know that when I really want to commit to something (anything!) that needs daily action, without fail, I seem to fail, spectacularly!
Anyway, so I'm feeling guilty because in this case my in-action is effecting Emma's progress, and while walking and crawling is something she's really developed on her own, I don't think she can get the feeding thing down without my help!
I have now asked for help though! I've enlisted Scott to feed her once a day, and I will aim for twice (and hopefully get at least once!). It is my dream that Emma will get most of her nutrition by mouth before her second birthday.
Unfortunately there is one uncontrollable variable in all this - Emma! As she displays in every therapy session, she is a very smart, stubborn child! She will not do anything you ask if it does not suit her mood or purpose. (I heard that!!) Thankfully it is often things we know she can do, so it's not concerning. As the speech therapist has not been around Emma much it may be that she doesn't realize how vocal she is!
On a different note, Emma has really picked up the sign language. Here's a list of her current American Sign Language vocabulary:
more
sorry
please
all done
I'm hurt
potty
wash hands
hat
car
horse
shoes
I have seen her do blanket and socks too, but can't get her to do them again! 11 words is in fact advanced for her age, if at 18 months children should have a vocabulary of 10 words and she is only 14 months! Unfortunately the speech therapist doesn't count the signs as words, even if the neurologist does!
I have received praise for helping Emma get stronger and become the girl she is today, and while I may have had a small hand I don't want the credit! You see if I take the credit for her success, I must also take responsibility for the delays.
For her age, Emma is behind in feeding, obviously, speaking words and following commands related to certain things (like picking up the pig, not the cow etc). Her speech therapist is pushing me to feed her 3 times a day, work on getting her to recognize animals and say words appropriately. Sure, I need pushing, but I am really struggling to get consistent with them.
I managed to feed Emma 3 times last week, after being asked to try it daily. When I did that it suddenly jumped to 3 times a day. I have not fed her once since that session! I don't know what the problem is. It is tough trying to remember when I also have to tube feed her (she doesn't get hungry and remind me!), give her meds, get her down for naps and all the other chores around the house. Any minor change to the schedule throws me for a loop!
I'm also not good at talking all day, no seriously! I can't describe every little inane task and detail, I'm not good at talking about the 'little piggy' toy or even reading books to Emma (she always closes it after a couple pages! Maybe I'm a boring narrator!). I feel like it's my fault she has yet to say anything approaching a real word.
Perhaps it is a personal problem. I know that when I really want to commit to something (anything!) that needs daily action, without fail, I seem to fail, spectacularly!
Anyway, so I'm feeling guilty because in this case my in-action is effecting Emma's progress, and while walking and crawling is something she's really developed on her own, I don't think she can get the feeding thing down without my help!
I have now asked for help though! I've enlisted Scott to feed her once a day, and I will aim for twice (and hopefully get at least once!). It is my dream that Emma will get most of her nutrition by mouth before her second birthday.
Unfortunately there is one uncontrollable variable in all this - Emma! As she displays in every therapy session, she is a very smart, stubborn child! She will not do anything you ask if it does not suit her mood or purpose. (I heard that!!) Thankfully it is often things we know she can do, so it's not concerning. As the speech therapist has not been around Emma much it may be that she doesn't realize how vocal she is!
On a different note, Emma has really picked up the sign language. Here's a list of her current American Sign Language vocabulary:
more
sorry
please
all done
I'm hurt
potty
wash hands
hat
car
horse
shoes
I have seen her do blanket and socks too, but can't get her to do them again! 11 words is in fact advanced for her age, if at 18 months children should have a vocabulary of 10 words and she is only 14 months! Unfortunately the speech therapist doesn't count the signs as words, even if the neurologist does!
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