Liliana & Frankie update

We took Lily to her one-year checkup last week with her new doctor, and praise the lord she is healthy! Her ears look good, she is gaining weight, and for the most part, her development is right on track.  Except for the fact that she is not standing/pulling up/walking.  The doctor was concerned because she is not pulling up to stand and she really does not like to bear weight on her legs at all.  She referred us to a physical therapist, so of course I am worried.  Frankie was running and jumping by now, and she is not even trying to walk.  She also still mostly scoot/crawls instead of regular crawling.  I am hoping she is just a late bloomer, but only time will tell.

She now weighs just over 18 pounds (between 40 and 50 percentile) and is 28.5 inches long (40 percentile).  She has had a major growth spurt in the last two months!  She loves solid food and whole milk, and she is a fantastic little eater.  It amazes me that she eats eggs, beans, and almost any kind of meat.  She is now growing out of her 9-month clothes and wearing exclusively 12-months.  She is still in size 3 diapers.

We had a follow-up appointment at the audiologist today, and her hearing is back to normal, yay!  I am so happy we did the tubes.  She has not had a single ear problem since she got them.  I think her speech is getting better too.  Her words are dog, dada, doll, banana, mama, no, and all done.  She babbles a ton.  Mostly, she has such a sweet, gentle, and loving disposition.  She is very curious and into anything she can get her hands on these days.  She will pick anything up off the floor and try to eat it, so we really have to watch her these days.  Her brother loves her to death, and her two favorite playmates are her brother and her dog.  She also loves books and her baby dolls.

Frankie is having a blast this summer.  I think he is finally settling into a routine at home with Ms. Kiersten and Lily.  He is getting to do a lot of fun art projects and go to a lot of cool places during the day.  His main activity this summer has been his swim lessons.  We tried group lessons earlier this year, and they were a complete disaster, as he would not even get in the pool.  So, we put him in private lessons up at the Four Seasons, and he has been doing great!  I am so proud of him.  He started the summer terrified to be in the water by himself and refusing to dunk his head or go in the pool without his floaties.  Now, one month and eight lessons later, he is jumping in the water and swimming from one side of the pool to the other.    I am so happy we made the decision to try these private lessons.  They are expensive, but they are worth every penny.  He is still a bit obsessed with cleaning, but it is not as crazy as it used to be.  He is now very excited about playing pretend, and he can actually occupy himself for awhile now, which is nice.

His behavior has improved dramatically in the last month.  We are not having nearly as many huge meltdowns or tantrums as we were, and he is not waking up with night terrors anymore.  Now, the biggest issue we have is putting him to bed at night.  He stalls and then gets out of his bed and comes down stairs over and over and over every night.