Monday, August 22, 2005

Equivalent birthday (postponed)

Over the weekend we had a bit of a non-event: my girls' 2nd "Equivalent Birthday". That is, August 20th is two years from their due date. If you think back to how long ago I posted about their 2nd birthday party (2 years from their actual birth date) on June 1st, that tells you how seriously premature they were - they missed out completely on about twelve weeks they should have been in utero. They've come a long way since they were teensy 2-pounders!

We're very lucky that these girls are happy and healthy and doing great. Catherine is perhaps a couple of months behind a regular developmental schedule, but talking away and jumping and running and doing everything right in sequence. She is seriously far-sighted, though - a opthalmologist appointment this week may tell us how soon she needs to get fitted for glasses. They're inevitable by the time she's 4 or 5.

Elisabeth has substantial speaking delays. Since she had a bad heart (that was repaired at 5 months) she was very weak her first year. She only learned to walk this April at 22 months, and hasn't quite learned to run yet. She was fed mostly through a tube until about 8 months, which delayed the proper development of her speaking musculature. She only said her first word within the last few weeks, after much coaching and prompting - finally she says "mum mum" for "more" food. She knows dozens of signs, though, and adores watching her signing videos.

We had a breakthrough today, though: Elisabeth signed a sentence on her own! We were having breakfast together and talking about how Daddy left earlier. Elisabeth signed "bye-bye", "car", and "all gone" all in a row, showing me she knew that's how Daddy left! Even though she makes clear progress every day, it's still reassuring to Mom to see that her mind is working and thinking about conceptual things that aren't visible in front of her!

We're looking forward to having a family celebration of their "Equivalent Birthday" in a few weeks when their paternal Grandpa visits and we can combine it with a celebration of his 80th birthday.

3 comments:

:) said...

How cool. They are precious and I know you are very proud of them. I can see it in your writing! They are doing great and progressing because of the great job you are doing with them!!!

Pat yourself on the back, super-mom!

Downhillnut said...

Another really cool thing about Elizabeth's sentence is that not only is she thinking about daddy's wherabouts, and not only does she know the words and method for communicating, but that she wants to share that with you!

Glory in her connection with you. Keep nurturing that incredible bond!

*jeanne* said...

Yay, girls and Mom and Daddy, too!

Happy Equivalent Birthdays! :-)