September 13, 2006
Dear Family and Friends:
We are on cloud 9. Alexia brings so much joy and energy to our lives. We love every minute with her. Watching her personality emerge, watching her learn and grow is a daily adventure, we are so incredibly blessed.
Alexia had a wellness checkup with her Pediatrician today. Yeah, no shots this time around. From this point on we will be scheduling her wellness visits and immunization visits a week apart. It is important that Alexia start to have positive experiences at the doctors office.
Alexia is in excellent physical health. She weighed in at 25lbs 6oz., this is 1lb 6oz more than her 18 month checkup and 5lbs over the last 6 months. Her height checked in at 34.25 inches. WOW, she is a tall little girl. This is 2 inches taller than her 18 month checkup and just under 3 inches over the last 6 months. Her feet have also grown 3 shoe sizes since April, although it is a narrow foot at that. All of Alexia’s blood work has come in within the normal ranges. She has one last set of blood work to be done and then that’s it for that horrible experience.
Our adventures with food with Alexia may be easing up some.
She seems to be getting over her cows milk issue. We allowed her to have a
cheese quesadilla with real cheese the night before her doctor appt. If she was
going to have an allergic reaction it would be present the next morning, and
then the doctor could see the breakout and advise us accordingly. So far no breakouts, and she LOVED the quesadilla with the real cheese.
We have given her stuff with vegan slices and it doesn’t go over very well. If
she is really able to tolerate cow’s milk products more now, that will make
things so much easier. You would be surprised how many every day convenience
items have either cheese enzyme or milk protein in the ingredients list. Now we
can’t wait until she is two and we can try peanut butter. Oh my, lunch time has
just gotten so much easier. Alexia also loves spicy food. Much spicier than
Alexia is making great strides developmentally. She is RUNNING, walking, crawling everywhere. She loves to climb and has started jumping. She loves to play hopscotch with Mommy (look for video clips). She is very independent. Her fine motor skills are really growing. She can match shapes and colors, build small towers with blocks, toss and kick a ball around. She loves to color with both markers and crayons. She has made real progress with the spoon and fork. She still gets stuff all over but much more makes it into her mouth and body these days. It is a real struggle to let her do it all herself and not help. We aren’t concerned with the mess, but we want to be sure she is actually eating food and not just wearing it and using it for a face mask.
Alexia’s verbal language is finally starting to grow. She understands us without any issue, but she has chosen so far to take her time building her verbal vocabulary. She is learning new words all the time, but uses them sparingly. Her signing has grown enormously and is a very key component in communicating right now. Alexia has been seen by both an Occupational Therapist and a Speech Pathologist. Both agree that her delays in both language and cognitive skills are due to English being her second language and having only been exposed to it for 6 months. Everybody has every confidence that she will catch up. Alexia loves books, she can’t get enough of books. And much to our chagrin, she loves Teletubbies. We find it annoying, but she thinks they are just the funniest things on earth. The only other TV Alexia is allowed to watch are her two Sesame Beginnings Videos. She can identify Elmo, Big Bird, and Cookie Monster.
Alexia’s emotional and social development and adjustment has
very much been in question over the last 3 months. On the surface Alexia
appears to be settling in very well. When at home, at classes and church, or in
public places (i.e. park, grocery store, mall, etc) she definitely refers to either
of us as her security base. She loves to spend time with other children,
especially older children. She gets very excited and has a great time with
Lauren (age 6) and Carly (age 7). She also gets excited to see Alyssa and Kiana, friends that are the same age as Alexia. She is also
curious about the babies in the family but keeps a bit of a distance, which is
best until she can be more gentle. Recently we’ve been
to the park and to dinner with Alyssa and Lauren and their parents, it was too
darling to watch Alyssa and Alexia interact. Alyssa came up to hug Alexia and
Alexia allowed it and later reciprocated with a hug of her own to Alyssa, and
to watch the two girls hold hands and walk together was just too much. Unfortunately
when we add other grownups to the immediate mix (inner circle) is a point of
confusion for Alexia. It has become painfully obvious that Alexia is grappling
with the changes that have taken place in her short life, exactly who WE (Mommy
and Daddy) are to her, just what is a Mommy and a Daddy, and then where do all
these other adults clamoring for her attention fit in the picture. To clarify the definition of Mommy and Daddy
that Alexia will be taught are Mommy and Daddy are the two people that take
care of you, they feed you, clothe you, provide a place to live, keep you safe,
make you feel better when you are sick or hurt, they give cuddles, hugs, and
kisses for no other reason than they love you, they put you to bed at night and
get you up in the morning, they help you with school and play, and are there
for you everyday of your life. Alexia knows the words Mama and Daddy, but
she doesn’t use them in direct reference to us. If you ask her to give
something to Mama or Daddy she will give it to the appropriate one of us, she
knows
Alexia started having Night Terrors when we were in
We are all happy and healthy. And we thank God everyday that we are a strong family, and we can use this strength and have the resources to help Alexia get past any hurdles and help us give her the strongest foundation possible for her life and her future.
Thank You
Ken and Erin Pietrasik