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Details on Gracie

Many are asking what Gracie can do, so here's some info!

She's basically at most at a one year old level of development in all aspects.

She just sat on her own spontaneously today propped with her two arms between her legs, but otherwise is too floppy to sit on her own.

She occasionally stands in a fairly non-functional way if well supported. Her legs lock up so that she cannot take any attempts at steps while standing.

She cannot feed herself but I have succeeded in getting her to use her hand at times to guide the food to her mouth so I think that she is not too far from learning that she can feed herself.

She understands limits set but tries to push them as much as possible. She has figured out things that we praise her for (saying "ga," standing, pushing up, etc) and will do these things when she's in trouble to get us smile and laugh. She giggles hilariously when anything falls, bumps, jumps, thumps, when she burps, etc.

She cannot talk but vocalizes very strongly and fills the house with "screams of joy" when she gets going. This bodes well for learning to speak once we get to have som mouth control as well.

She of course is not potty trained - that might be a bit far from our reality right now, but perhaps we we're home with with a routine and electricity and running water all day we'll be able to work on it!

She drools a lot - we call her the "drool meister" - but has decent control of her drooling when she's not anywhere close to a meal.

She did not cry for three days straight but now she is clearly out of the honeymoon period and into the secure period where she feels that she can whine and fuss for what she wants. 2-on-1 attention will do that to a child!

She is a lefty - she has to be encouraged to use her right hand, but can use it when she remembers that it exists.

She has started playing with objects, not just focused on people and receiving attention from people and she just started noticing animals (kittens, cats, "softly softly" ).

She is a "fine" child and people love to come up and pinch her cheeks and talk to her because she is so lovely and rewards them with a huge smile. Apparently when she was born she was so beautiful that all the nurses at the hospital just kept passing her around and made a big deal about her!

When she laughs or thinks something is funny she curls up in a little ball or throws her entire body out in wild extension with wildly flung arms and whole body laughter.

Comments

Anonymous said…
She sounds like so much fun! I cant wait to play with her! Have her help you hold the spoon while you are feeding her. She might not be able to do a lot of things independently but think of any possible way that she can be involved.
Abby R said…
that's a great idea - we started doing that a few days ago and she seemed to catch on - I am moving slowly with it so that she first bonds and then works on independence. but after i did that was when she started putting things toward her mouth - I think the utensils and bowl that you got her will help a lot!! She does likes to make a mess!! :)

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