I think back to when Madi was 9 months old and she was so different then from how Ali is now. I can’t help but wonder how things would be different if Ali didn’t have CS. Would she be sitting and crawling and going through all my cupboards like our beautiful little Madi did? Would she be able to polish off an entire Avocado in two minutes? Would she love sweet potatoes and hate peas? Or would she be a totally different from her big sister anyways? I also wonder about myself, Jason and Madi. Who would we be today? Would we realize how lucky we are? Would we realize the joy of the small steps? Would we value the things that we value today? I guess some things we’ll never know but I can honestly say that I have now gotten to a place where I don’t think of those things with regret anymore. I remember Madi fondly getting into mischief at 9 months and I just accept that Ali isn’t there yet. I firmly believe that she will get there, in her own time and that’s okay even if it takes years. Our little Ali is such a determined little thing that one day she will drive me nuts just like my beautiful Madi does. I’m sure of it!

So anyways, Ali went to the pediatrician today and he was absolutely thrilled with her progress. She has grown both in length and weight (16 pounds and 66 cm long) and for the first time has managed to grow a “typical” amount for the month! She is still small (10th percentile) but hasn’t lost any ground since our last appointment. The pediatrician seemed thrilled with her development in all areas. He asked if she reached for toys, could pass from one hand to the other, could vocalize and roll over front to back and back to front and I got to say yes to everything (although her rolling technique really stinks!). She’s still not sitting independently or making vowel sounds but hopefully that will come soon. The most amazing thing is that she’s really engaged with her environment these days. She attempts to roll over (hit or miss as to whether she makes it)when she wants to see what is going on behind her and she’ll roll from side to side to retrieve toys rather then just crying for help. She smiles and laughs at Jason and Madi’s craziness rather then crying and when her eyeballs cooperate she watches them play. She is becoming an amazing little person and we are so happy for her and for us!

We are going to be going to a rehabilitation hospital to have an assessment done (Physical Medicine) just to make sure that we are covering our bases but at this point we don’t expect that any serious problems will be discovered. We would like to have access to the seating clinic at this point! We are also going to really concentrate on the tone in her legs, bum and abdomen as that seems to be her weakest area right now. She still doesn’t really have any strength in her legs.

Anyways, it’s been a good day. As I was leaving the Pediatrician’s office today the doctor told me to aim high and that’s what we’re going to do.