Monday, June 9, 2008 - Update

This morning, her teacher and physical therapist came out to evaluate Olivia. Overall, she was very impressed with what she saw. The only concern was that Olivia is not yet reaching for toys. They believe this may be related to her vision, so I have a list of questions to ask her eye doctor at tomorrow's appointment.

I have a few exercises to do with her to get her arms straightened underneath her. When she pushes up on her arms, she seems to roll right over. I am also supposed to sit up with her and place a toy on each of my legs and allow her body to twist (right arm reaches for toy on the left, left arm reaches for toy on the right) Of course, she needs to show an interest in reaching for those toys. She LOVES her Elmo and likes to look and laugh at him, but she doesn't seem to want to grab him. She loves to put her hands in her mouth and I was actually told that it's even a good thing when she tries to gag herself. This type of experimentation is good and will help move that gag reflex farther back in her mouth.

I'm happy to have so many exercises to work with her on. I always figured that if you gave your child tummy time, they would just naturally do all of these things and progress from one stage to the next. In this instance, I think because of her prematurity, she just needs a little more direction. I think because she is doing so well, we sometimes forget that she was born 17 weeks early and expect her to be doing more. She's had to overcome so much more than most babies and I am so very proud of her.