Virginia is 18 months old today!
Ill get her height and weight on Friday at her appointment but I think she is about 30" long and weighs around 20.5 pounds.
She is still reluctantly taking steps. True walking is still a little ways off.
Despite her reluctance to be on 2 feet, she is a total daredevil when it comes to climbing.
She is still a great eater and will usually eat anything we put in front of her. This weekend that included sirachi rice one day and an everything bagel another day. crazy girl!
She has a few words including: dog, dada, hello, up, and uh-oh and knows a few signs as well.
She is super lovable. I live for our morning snuggles and her sweet kisses.
She is testing us all the time and is definitely a rule-breaker. Virginia has always been this way and we know this is partly what kept her alive. We are embracing it and know that she will do great things with that fire inside of her.
The further we get in this journey the more I am learning about healing, parenting and living.
I am learning that the whole "catch up by 2" thing is so bogus. This deserves a whole separate post which I know many other bloggers have covered as well. I think it is sorta like writing your birth story, as coming to terms with there being absolutely nothing magical about age 2 is part of the healing process
I am learning that there is not an expiration date on anxiety. I thought nothing of going for my post-op appointment at my OB's office this morning until I got there and just felt a wave of uneasiness. After I left I realized I hadn't been to that particular office since 2 weeks after Virginia's birth.
I am learning that all the challenges of parenting a preemie become more and more unique as time goes on. There are certainly threads that bind us all as parents of preemies, but these journeys are all so different.
I am learning with each day there is greater joy, more love, bigger challenges, louder whining and of course many more laughs!
Like you, I've learned that this journey with prematurity doesn't suddenly end at age 2. I really wish docs would stop mentioning this age as some magic moment...do they not know what we know? I've blogged about my little guy, now 2.5yrs, as well as myself "catching up by 2." http://jackryansjourney.blogspot.com/2012/11/do-preemie-parents-catch-up-by-2.html
ReplyDeleteyour catch up by two post says it all! I remember thinking that 2 was so far off when we were in the NICU and certainly thought that Virginia would be caught up by then like they said she would. The medical community is constantly emphasizing that each kid is different and stress not comparing on the playground, yet there is this lingering textbook(?) blanket statement that all preemies without major morbidities will be caught up by 2. Its just crazy.
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