3 Months!

Our little lady is 3 months old!

~Abigail is such a happy girl!  She's very smiley and content.  There are time I've had to wake her in the morning and she wakes up with a big smile!
~She is growing fast! We've commented a few times that she seems to look bigger during a day at the babysitter's.  We've packed away many clothes that are too small and will be digging into the 6-9 month clothes soon
~Abby is a good sleeper!  She has slept through the night about half of the past month.  She sometimes goes back to sleep without difficulty.  Sometimes, she ends up in tired Mommy and Daddy's bed where we can easily return her pacifier to her mouth after she looses it.  We put the boppy pillow around her head for safety.  Naps are inconsistent and are usually in a vibrating chair or Mommy's arms.  She's so snuggly and Mommy can also sneak in an afternoon snooze, it's hard to resist!  We plan to work on naps in her crib soon.
~She enjoys being around people and wants to be in the same room as us.
~Abigail is adored by her brothers.  Gavin likes to snuggle with her and try to make her talk by "coo-ing" at her.  Brennan likes talking to her, receiving smiles from her, and making comments such as, "She's so cute!"

2 Months!

Our adorable Abigail is 2 months old!  Abby celebrated her 2 month birthday with her first trip to Grandma and Grandpa Mealy's house.  She was also attended the beautiful wedding and reception of Susan and Mark Mitchell.

~Gabby Abby!  Abigail loves to coo and be cooed at.  She'll carry on a "conversation" for several minutes!
~She has an adorable smile that lights up her entire face!  She's a very smiley young lady and we love to receive her smiles!
~Abigail is a great sleeper!  Naps vary throughout the day.  Sometimes she's awake the majority of the morning and sleeps away the afternoon.  Sometimes she takes cat naps throughout the day.  Naps at home are in a bouncy seat or in our arms.  We'll transition her to her crib for naps soon, but we love having her around and snuggling!  She sleeps in her crib overnight.  Recently, she's fallen asleep around 9pm and wakes up once over night for a fresh diaper and to eat before heading back to dreamland.
~She's been doing very well at the babysitter's house during the day.  She typically drinks about 15 oz and is adored by the sitter and the other kids.
~Abigail is doing a great job holding up her head.  She can hold it up for extended periods when being held, including changing directions.  She'll tolerate tummy time for a few minutes.
~Abby's hair is beautiful!  She hasn't lost any of it and it's growing longer and longer!  It's quiet dark with beautiful red and blonde highlights.
~I frequently comment that Abby is a perfect third child -- very snuggly, happy, tolerant and patient.  We can't imagine our family without her.

Current Stats:
24.5 inches (98th percentile)
13 lbs 13.5 oz (93rd percentile)
15.25 inch head circumference (60th percentile)
She's getting so big!  The doctor gave her a clean bill of health and oogled over her adorableness.  Abigail got three vaccines (1 oral, 3 pokes) at her appointment.  She wasn't a fan, but calmed down quickly with snuggles and nursing.  Our next appointment is at 4 months.

Help Me Grow

We've decided to take the next step to help progress Gavin's expressive language.  After continued concerns, seeing him become frustrated when unable to effectively communicate with us, and witnessing other kids that are receiving speech assistance make incredible progress, we decided it was time.  I spoke with the pediatrician about our concerns at one of Abigail's appointments.  It was recommended that we start with Help Me Grow, as the doctor has had many patients have positive experiences with the program.  She explained that if we weren't happy with Help Me Grow, she could make a referral to outpatient therapy.

First, I met with our Service Coordinator, who briefly observed Gavin at home and asked me several questions. Based on our intake appointment, she predicted that he would qualify for services.  Our next step was to complete an evaluation, using the Battelle.  At the evaluation, Gavin scored well within the normal limits for all measured areas -- cognition, receptive language, motor skills, adaptive behavior, social, etc -- with the exception of expressive language, where he scored 1 point below average.  His score alone did not qualify him for services, but the evaluators agreed that he would benefit from services and he qualified through clinical override.  We met with our Service Coordinator and Early Childhood Intervention Specialist and developed our Individual Family Service Plan.  Our EIS will meet with us 2x a month. Since he qualified through clinical override, he will be evaluated again in 6 months.  He won't receive direct therapy, but we'll be given strategies and resources to help encourage his expressive language skills. 

We've toyed with the idea of also starting him in outpatient therapy but are putting it on hold for now.  He scored higher than we expected in the area of expressive language through HMG.  Through my career, I've yet to see an outpatient therapy report not find area(s) of need, but we wondered if he would qualify.  Also, through talking with the office, we've discovered it will be difficult to get him to therapy sessions while we are both working full time.  Of course, if we take this route, we'll find a way to make it work. The pediatrician provided us with a referral, which is good for a calendar year, should we choose to pursue this option later.

Of course, as kids like to do, Gavin has decided to prove us wrong.  Since our initial intake appointment, he has gained many words and is very willing and excited to repeat words -- something he showed little interest in doing before.  He has the sweetest voice when he says words and is very proud of himself!  His language skills still need some work, but we're heading in the right direction!