April - May 2006 (Catch-Up)

The following summarises the main events that happened between April and May 2006:

SATURDAY 1st APRIL 2006
Emma has worn her implant all day and been turning consistently to 'come here' and 'come on'. Her eyes move to the correct jigsaw piece when asked where the blue/red/green one is.
She has walked towards both mummy and daddy whilst holding one of their hands and has been quite happy to do so. She has been very affectionate and allowed both mummy and daddy to cuddle her.
She actually placed her beaker on the table once she had finished it instead of throwing it!
She doesn't like stories being read to her yet and prefers to sit on her own with a book and look at the pictures.
She waited patiently for mummy to stack the cups before knocking them down and she even managed to open the door that hides the dog on her pop-up toy completely on her own.

WEDNESDAY 5th APRIL 2006
Emma was very grizzly at the Children's Centre for the first hour and hated being made to sit in the chair. The second hour she was fine and so long as she had her bottle she was happy to sit. She picked out a picture of a cat and started making 'miaow' sounds. She has made quite a few new sounds, including 'brum', 'ba' and 'gra'.
Her eyes have been deviating to the left quite significantly - I wonder if it has something to do with her trying to understand and produce speech, or maybe something to do with learning to walk.
She turned to daddy calling her name even when the TV was on.

FRIDAY 7th APRIL 2006
Emma spent the morning at Nursery and actually made some eye contact with a few of the children. She lay on mummy's lap for a good 20 minutes on the return home. Her implant keeps cutting out so Great Ormond Street Hospital have been called for replacements (again!).
She pulled her implant off a few times but actually tried to replace the coil herself three times.
She has willingly taken a few aided steps and is very happy about moving between furniture unaided now.
She managed to eat some banana without gagging or choking.

WEDNESDAY 12th APRIL 2006
She was seen by the OT's today who have said that her fine motor skills are on a par with her cognitive ability, i.e. those of a 12 month old. She rolled a ball to them once and was very quick to figure out how a toy worked. She has worn the implant all day (bar when the coil cable broke and it needed replacing!).
We have been advised to use sensory toys with her and to encourage her to undress herself. She managed to take her tights and trousers off pretty well on her own with only minimal assistance.
She has really developed an interest in jigsaw puzzles and the stacking rings and is now playing with them for up to 5 minutes at a time.
She managed a Mini Chocolate Egg without any problems!

MONDAY 17th APRIL 2006
Emma has been grizzly most of the day and was given some Paracetamol in the end to try and make her feel more content - I think it's teething as she is grinding her teeth lots and chewing on everything she can find.
She has refused to wear her implant pretty much all day and has been pulling it off the moment it is replaced.
She has mostly been playing on her own and not wanted to interact with anyone.
She has wanted to be held lots today.

THURSDAY 20th APRIL 2006
Emma started another morning at Nursery today but has been pulling her implant off loads and uncooperative. With it on, however, she has been very vocal and been making some nice new sounds - 'ra ra ra', 'ba ba ba'.
She is still grinding her teeth lots and wanting cuddles.
She managed to stack 2 play cups whilst in the bath four times, all on her own and really persevered with it for at least 10 minutes.

WEDNESDAY 26th APRIL 2006
Emma put out her hand when mummy asked for it (without using any visual prompts). She also banged her feet on the floor when daddy was reading an action book with her that asked that she 'stamp her feet'.
She went to the children's centre where she sat on a chair without any support and engaged in an activity with another little boy for a good 5 minutes
She put all the stacking cups inside each other in the correct order.
She managed to take a few unaided steps. Her teeth still seem to be aggravating her - at least I hope it's her teeth causing her problems!
She claps at herself when she manages to put the correct jigsaw piece into the hole.
She pulled her coil off her head several times when told 'No!' about something!
She seems to be understanding 'up' as she goes straight upstairs on hearing it.