Ruthie's 14 month stats

Ruthie's stats:
Chronological Age: 14 months, 1 day
Adjusted Age:  10 months, 2 weeks, 1 days

Weight:  17 lbs 1oz 
Height:  27ish inches - she hasn't been measured in several weeks

Head circumference: 17ish inches

Diapers: still in a 3 with plenty of room to spare

One-Pieces & Dresses: 12 months

Sleep'N'Plays (what we use for pjs):  12-18 months

Shoes: size 1s, but we still don't bother trying them

Teeth: FINALLY!!! She has 2 bottom teeth - the right one is about halfway in, the other is just coming in

Naps:  I've given up on any kind of schedule here with all we have going on therapy-wise - ideally she'll take a 30-45 minute nap and another 1-1.5 hr nap - she alternates which one comes first

Sleeps:  7:00/7:30pm to 8:00/8:30am

Feeds: 100% G-tube fed nutritionally, but starting to accept a few small bites of things - maybe enough to be considered a light snack

Personality: Batten down the hatches - the girl is EVERYWHERE! She's learning to accept "no" when she's getting into things she shouldn't, and we're going to have quite a time learning to accept "no" without tantruming. She's really come into her personality and is learning her independence, and with that independence is coming a little defiance. I have no idea where she gets that. :)

We've been taking Ruthie to the church nursery on Sundays and she loves it! She gets excited at the door and can't wait to get down and play with her little friends. She has yet to cry, though I can't say the same for me. She could care less when we drop her off, but she's always happy to see us when we come back.

We're switching therapists, yet again. I now totally understand why parents of past clients I've had get so bothered by the frequent schedule changes that company kept in place - it is very unnerving to have to get to know a new person, help your child get to know a new person, and hope that new person can be successful with your child's therapy. It's so comfortable to have someone know your child backward and forward, know what makes her tick and what makes her happy, and I dread changing. Our first PT change was entirely necessary, as none of us liked each other and I didn't like the way she treated Ruthie. That change worked out great for everyone involved and I'm hoping this one will, too. Our current OT has changed companies and won't be able to keep Ruthie on the schedule Ruthie needs to be on, so we're switching to a new company. We felt strongly that she needed to continue being seen twice a week - she's making so much progress and I already worry that she'll regress with a new therapist. We are sad to change - we have loved her OT! She knows Ruthie's ins and outs and what makes her happy, and even what little things make her stop gagging.

Ruthie is making huge strides in her gross motor development. She crawls faster than we can catch her, she pulls up on everything, she's cruising all the furniture and learning to go from one to another when they aren't right next to each other. Yesterday, she even stood alone for about 3 seconds. She'll be walking before we know it!

We started speech therapy a few weeks ago and she's making progress in little baby steps. We've been working primarily on the "b" sound, as well as verbal imitation, means end, and object permanence, among other things. She's made a random "ba" sound two times since starting, but she's making a lot of new "vocal" sounds and intonations that I haven't heard before. She's learning to pay attention to our sounds and the movements our mouths make so she can try to do it, too. Yesterday she threw an epic tantrum in speech therapy, the first big one I've seen from her. She did NOT want do what she was being asked to do, did NOT want to sit, did NOT want to be guided into any activity - she threw herself on the floor, arched when she was picked up, screamed and kicked and swatted.....it was hard not to laugh. We obviously need to continue working on obedience. :)

We took Ruthie to the NICU reunion a few nights ago - her first time being a NICU graduate! They had a pirates and princesses theme and Ruthie got to have her picture taken in princess gear. I have never seen her so.....ELATED.....she couldn't take it all in fast enough. Zebra prints, fuzzy pink chairs, purple feather boas, princess tiaras & wands....she was living it up for the few seconds she got to be on that little stage. I wish we had videoed it, but I had no idea her reaction would be like that. We only got one photo and while it is happy and adorable, it didn't even come close to capturing the JOY she was feeling up there. It made my heart swell to see her so excited - it went far beyond her "Mickey Mouse" excitement. I've added the picture below, along with a few more with our fellow micro-friend and former NICU suitemate Calvin.

Her very first set of double-piggies!

 Friends from the beginning: Calvin (23weeker - 18mos) & Ruthie (24 weeker - 14mos)

A true princess