Becoming Human: 10 Months!

This has been an insane month and filled with more transition for Sofie. She has had so much in her short little life. She is dealing with it so much better than we could have hoped for though!

This month we moved. We packed up our home, all our earthly belongings and came to a beautiful new home. Sofie has been doing great with it. She really does seem to be taking comfort in her family rather than her surroundings. It is amazing to see. I don't think I expected this level of attachment this quickly. Sofie is such a miracle and testament to what love and security can do for an innocent child.

She hasn't had one night terror since moving to the new house either. We expected at least a few. Actually, I can't remember the last night terror she has had at all! Maybe only one in the last two month! This is truly a miracle. When she first came home she was having them 4-5 times a week. They are horrible to see and there is nothing I can do to help. I'm so thankful she knows peace now. What a privilege to be a part of giving her that peace.

Singing Open and Shut Them, one of her favorite songs.

Sofie has been having some extra behaviors with all these transitions. She has been hitting more and been extra clingy and needing to be held but i guess that is expected. That hasn't stopped her from developing! She is now putting two word signs together like "drink milk", "more/all done eat", "sorry Mommy", and a few more that I can't think of right now. She is also saying more words. "Drink" is the most common one. She answers yes or no questions about her preferences appropriately and has started handing me things trying to communicate that she wants me to do something with the object. Today she handed me sunglasses and did not want me to put them on her but on myself :) She has also learned her aunties names and can say her own name and identify herself!... most of the time :) She has come for far.

.... "do not let them in!" ....part of Open and Shut Them.

Another big thing this month is we've beginning to transition her to a big girl bed. We have completely child proofed her room... at least we hope we have... and took one of the rails off her crib. We put a short toddler rail up for her. The first night she fell straight to sleep! In her bed! We were not expecting that. Each night since she has fallen asleep on the floor. We are trying to get her ready for sharing a room again with Livi once baby comes. They will have bunk beds, so hopefully it will work out better than when they can see each other. We'll see...

Singing Itsy Bitsy Spider... She really washed the spider away :)

Yesterday Sofie had another appointment at Children's Hospital. They are so wonderful there. We got there an hour early to see the ENT about possible sleep apnea. He got us in right away. After mentioning I wasn't impressed with the three audiologist appointments we'd had in our home town, he got us right in to see the audiologist! Who was wonderful and got the most response out of Sofie at one of these appointments. These doctor's listened to me. They acknowledged my concerns as valid and are pursuing non-invasive treatments first to rule out things. The home town audiologists wanted to send her for a ABR (sedated brainwave test) despite my concerns of sedation for Sofie. She has opposite reactions to it and I think she has sleep apnea. The ENT agreed that she probably has sleep apnea and wants to get a handle on that before doing any sedated testing or procedures. He, like what I've been trying to say to the doctors, feel that the lack of oxygen could be contributing to her lack of physical growth, among other things. I was so thankful for this affirmation from a specialist! He is going to try a nasal spray for two months to see if it is as simple as that to help the snoring and restlessness at night. I think the next step is tonsils and adenoids out.

As for her hearing, she has some mild hearing loss, possibly more in one ear rather than the other. With both ears working together, she doesn't really seem to have much hearing loss at all. After the sleep apnea is figured out we may pursue the ABR test depending on how she is responding in her audiology appointments. The ENT did mention a possible problem with the three little bones in her ear, and hinted that that is probably the worst case scenario, but we are crossing our fingers that her hearing loss is much simpler than that.

Cutie :)

As for her growth, she is continuing to gain and grow steadily. She could definitely do with a little more fattening up and growing taller! She is 26 pounds still and 34 1/8 inches tall. That isn't up basically any at all in two months. A little frustrating.

For her 10 month anniversary home she got sick. Really sick. My poor baby has never had anything worse than a cold. This morning she started crying halfway through breakfast and holding her stomach. All she wanted was cuddles. I held her and she just lay on my chest. Then came the throw up. It was gross and all over me... not good for a pregnant Momma. I felt so bad for her though. She was so sad and lethargic :( After we got all cleaned up Sofie was just done. She just lay on my chest and fell asleep for an hour. She hasn't fallen asleep on us since Bulgaria! I loved the cuddles but my baby was so sick :(

This kid has an amazing imune system though because shortly after her morning nap, she bounced back! I know three other kids who have been hospitalized for dehydration because of this bug this week. Sofie ate her small lunch and kept asking for more and more dinner! Crazy kid! She was slower but played and sang and danced as usual! So much for having a "medically fragile" child :) I'm sure she will defy more stereo types than just that in her life!