I think those are Mommy's eyes!

 

"Having kids is like living in a frat house. Nobody sleeps. Everything's broken. And there's a lot of throwing up"

Romy had an ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) appointment today. It's a really great program. They have a a nurse and a counselor come by and interact with Romy, weigh her, measure her, etc. They're trained to look for any type of problem or delay, and the second one pops up, they'll send out physical/speech/development therapists to come and try to nip whatever the problem is in the bud. It really helps put my mind at ease. Well anyway, Romy is 8.5 pounds and 19.5 inches long! She's still barely on the charts for her adjusted age, but she's on them! Her development is all over the place. She ranges from 1-4 month old in different areas. She's behind in cognitive skills, basically meaning that she has yet to pick up the whole "cause and effect" thing. She's also behind on social skills, because she doesn't smile consistently (although I did get 3 huge gummy dimply smiles in one day last week, but she hasn't given me another one yet)and she still hasn't cooed. We think it might have something to do with her hearing. I know the kid can hear, she startles at loud noises and perks up if I make a funny sound. I just don't know how well she can hear. I've noticed that she doesn't respond if her right ear is covered, so I think she has a bit of hearing loss in her left. That's okay, I know people deaf in one ear, and it hasn't slowed them down any. The nurse also noticed that she had high muscle tone, meaning she's kind of stiff and rigid at times. If it continues they're going to bring a physical therapist into the picture to work it out so she can crawl/walk in time. But they did note how strong and alert she is, and how she's very observant and aware of other people. She was completely hamming it up for the nurse and counselor. She would nuzzle their necks and bat her super long eyelashes. So overall I think it went pretty well, I expected a few delays. I feel confident that she'll get the ball rolling soon. We have an audiology appointment in two weeks, so I'll keep you updated on that. Keep praying for the little munchkin. Oh and for those wondering how Ray is doing....he's doing well. As well as being in Iraq can get I guess. He still sounds like he's happy to be out there playing GI Joe, and we're very proud of him!