new things

Sorry for the long overdue update!

Amelia had her post surgery follow-up about 3 weeks ago and her doctor was very happy with the way her palate has healed. She still has a small opening at her gum line which we didn't realize will be there until she gets a bone graft at 6 or 7 years old. She will need that to help her adult teeth come in properly. We were disappointed to find out that she will have a hole in her palate for that long but I'm sure she will figure out how to deal with it and it won't slow her down at all. She is trying all kinds of new foods and very little comes out of her nose now.

Omi took Amelia to her physical therapy appt last week and that went very well. The therapist hadn't seen Amelia since before her surgery and was suprised at how far she has come. In those couple months Amelia has learned how to crawl, pulls herself up to standing, "cruises" along furniture and sits unassisted for long periods of time. The next step is walking......yikes! It may take her a little longer to fiqure that out since she is most likely missing the balance nerves in her ears but she is a very determined little girl and will get it eventually. The therapist said that her development at about the level of a 10 month old and for everything that she has been through so far that is pretty amazing.

Amelia is figuring out how to communicate with sign language and has really taken off with it. We counted ~ 30 signs that she seems to understand and tries to imitate. She is very engaged when we play with her and will now bring us toys that she wants to play with. She especially enjoys chunky puzzles, playing with magnets on the fridge and books. She is very curious and is into everything!