These past couple of weeks I have been able to attend a few play groups with other down syndrome children. I was amazed at how different they all were on their development. There was a 1 yr old who was very tiny, ( smaller than Penny) other than that the only difference was he could sit. I was amazed. I think Penny is doing great now and it gave me much hope, on the other hand there was a 3 yr old who couldn't talk, but he could do some signs. So I was discouraged at seeing how little verbal communication he had. It is impossible for me to be able to tell how well Penny will be at that age but I am hoping with hard work we will be further along that that little boy.
With all this in mind it is good to realize that every child is different. They all learn to do things on their own schedule. They may be great and some things and struggle at others.
So to give you an idea where Penelope is right now take a look at this chart. average is shown in ( ).
smiling
Typical children 1/2 - 3 months (1)
D.S. Children 1 1/2-4 mo (2)
Penelope 2 1/2-3 mo
D.S. Children 1 1/2-4 mo (2)
Penelope 2 1/2-3 mo
rolling over
Typical children 2-10 mo (5)
D.S. Children 4-22 mo (8)
Penelope once at 2 mo, regular at 6 mo
Typical children 2-10 mo (5)
D.S. Children 4-22 mo (8)
Penelope once at 2 mo, regular at 6 mo
sitting alone
Typical children 5-9 mo (7)
D.S. Children 6-28 mo (10)
Penelope not yet
Typical children 5-9 mo (7)
D.S. Children 6-28 mo (10)
Penelope not yet
I think Penny is doing great. Everyday she learns something new. Lately she has been babbling more. She lays in her crib in the morning and says ba ba ba. It is so cute and I love waking up to those noises. It took her a while to learn how to do this consistently but she never gave up. Right now we are doing therapy exercises to strengthen her core so she can learn to sit. She is also trying so hard to move forward. Just this weekend she started to do a frog like move to push forward. She doesn't get it every time but once in a while she will move forward about an inch. It is so cute to see her working so hard.
I am constantly doing research to learn how to help her develop these skills better. I read about how they get from rolling to sitting and then I show Penelope how. I don't spend every waking hour teaching her because I think learning by exploring is just as important.
Anyway I just wanted to give you an idea how the milestones compare and the difference between each child. So what did you learn?
4 comments:
I learned that they have a buddy walk in Missoula but not one in Hamilton. So I might have to work on that. You would just have to bring my buddy. Love ya,
It looks like Penny is doing quite well! And she has a great mommy to help her along!
We liked the idea that Down Syndrome kids tend to live up to their parent's expectations. So this makes them just like the rest of the kids in the world doesn't it? Expect the best!!!!!!
When pregnant with Nathan, I researched a lot about trisomy 21 too. I learned that children with Down Syndrome are definitely more alike other kids than different. Penny is so adorable. I love that picture of her smiling!! Sounds like she is doing great with milestones. One thing I've learned with milestones, is to not stress too much about them. With Rachel she did everything about average, and with Nathan, he does everything really late. He wasn't sitting alone well until about 8 months, and is only army crawling now at 12 months. He doesn't pull up yet either. Like you, I try to practice with him, and just figure that he will learn it on his own time frame. All babies are different and develop differently, regardless of their chromosomes, right? Thanks for your post. I love to read your blog. Penny is such a cutie. Next time we are in Boise, we should get together!!
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