Developmental Milestones

The boys just had their high-risk follow-up appointment at the NICU. It was fabulous. The amazing people who saved our kiddos' lives in the first place did a comprehensive follow-up to make sure that there were no lingering problems after their rough start. They did all the normal check-up stuff, and then some. I had an extensive consultation with a pediatric dietician. She was very pleased that the boys adore broccoli and cantaloupe, and gave me some good tips on how to get more protein into these little herbavores. Meanwhile, a nice lady (I can't remember if she was a nurse or an occupational therapist) took them into a room full of all sorts of fun toys, and checked for their motor skills and cognitive development. They did quite well. While Nathan is a little further along on language and gross motor skills, she said that Isaiah displayed more focus and concentration, and did better than big brother on putting together a simple puzzle. That made me feel a lot better. I'd been mildly concerned, since Nathan is a few months ahead of Isaiah in the obvious areas. Which is very much to be expected, given Isaiah's rough start... and very sad, too, since that would be the result of irreparable damage. But the nice lady (whatever she was) seemed to think that they were just their own little persons, with different sets of strengths. And both of them normal, praise God!

Of course, just playing with them for a half-hour, she couldn't see everything she needed to know, so she asked me a lot of questions to fill in the blank.

"Can they run?"
"Yes."
"Good. Are they very fast?"
"I'm hard pressed to catch up with them, if that's what you mean."
"Wonderful! What about stairs? Can they climb up stairs with a little help?"
"They can climb up stairs without any help."
"Terrific!"
"Er... that's one way of putting it..."

Wuggies-o-mine, I'm so glad that you can do all these wonderful things... now would you please, please, please refrain from doing them?!