Isabella's 9th Month

Current Stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 11 oz. - We met the 10 lb minimum goal weight for the cleft palate surgery

Length: 23 inches - Almost 2 feet long YAY!

We have outgrown newborn sized clothes and are ready to fill in the 0 to 3 month set.


Vision

She can track and follow us around the room.

She seems to be more aware of her surroundings.

She still seems to have better far vision.

She sometimes follows the sound of mommy's voice

She will stare at her hands and feet. She will also move her fingers and stare at them for long periods of time. It looks like we won't be needing baby toys for awhile. Body parts seem to be enough to entertain her.


Language and Social Development

She makes happy sounds which are mostly Mmmmm, Mmmmms. She will make vowel sounds like Aaaaahhh when she is calling for us or when she is upset.

Her cyring is much louder now.

The doctor was asking about her development one time and was asking if she was making consonant sounds. I told him that Mmmm is a consonant sound, but I guess it was not really a qualifiable yes response to the question. I think he was looking more at sounds like Ba-ba-bas, Ta-ta-tas, Pa-pa-pas, and Ga-ga-goo-goos.

It seems like she now calls for us when she does not see her in the room with her. She makes loud Aaaahhh sounds to call for us that stops and turns into a smile the moment somebody checks on her.

She will let out an accidental giggle every now and then. She managed to let out a giggle when we tickle her. it seems like she was not sure how to handle the tickling and thus a giggle came out of her. Pretty soon her giggles will be more puproseful and social in nature.

She is a happy baby. She is very easy to take care of and not demanding. She will cry when she needs her diaper changed or when she wants to be held. The moment her needs are met she will stop cyring. Every now and then she will cry when she is hungry.


Feeding

She eats semi solids alternately with her milk feeds during the day. She takes in about 40 mls of semi solids. She eats carrots, peas, apples and pears. The peas are her favorite.

She takes in 70 mls of milk during the day per feeding. She can orally take in 35 mls of milk using the pigeon nipple/bottle.

She still is fed via kangaroo pump through the night. She takes in 25 mls per hour throughout the night (10 to 7am.)


Sleep

She sleeps well throughout the night. She sleeps at around 9 to10pm and will wake up with a cry to get her diaper changed around 5 am. She will go back to sleep right after.

She takes 2 long naps during the day of about an hour each.

She sleeps better on her belly. We let her sleep on her belly during her day time naps.


Motor Development

She can turn with ease from side to side when we lay her on a flat surface.

She can turn from belly to her back.

She can also turn from her back to her belly, but sometimes still gets stuck on her side. She is getting better and better at moving her hand out of the way when she turns or being able to push harder with her leg to be able to make that turn.

She can definitely hold her head up. She likes being propped to sit on our leg or while leaning on pillows. She also likes sitting on her high chair inclined at about 100 degrees.

She can put her finger in her mouth or the back of her hand to her mouth.


Medical Stuff

Her PEG was changed into the less conspicuous Mickey button.

She has epsonic seizures. These are absence seizures. The EEG report says that she has about 1 to 3 seizures in a minute that last about 1 to 3 seconds each. Honestly my husband and I have not seen these "staring" seizures. We told the neuro that she sometimes does the blinking of her eyes with some jerking of the hands and feet that last only for a couple of seconds and has no known triggers nor patterns and are very spaced apart in occurence. Doctor says that these are also characteristic of the epsonic seizures. He added that Isabella's seizures are benign and she will not be needing medication at this time. He advised us to watch out for epileptic seizures and should we witness one we need to meet and talk about medication.


Others

She does not do the moving of her head from side to side when she is soothing herself to sleep. The hair at the back of her head now has a chance to grow back in.
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This month was filled with a lot of positive progress. We are looking forward to how Isabella will surprise us in the succeeding months.

To read about Isabella's previous development update, click here

  

To read about Isabella's previous developmental update, click here