July 29, 2014

Aubrey had her barium swallow test a couple of weeks ago, and, after much crying (hers) and much struggling (mine) to get the stuff in her mouth (she of course wouldn't drink from a straw since it wasn't her idea--finally got it down with a spoon), the speech therapist decided that she did fine swallowing regular thin liquids.  She said to thin them down slowly over time though since Aubrey will take in more liquid at a faster rate with the straw.  I've been thinning stuff down since then, and she seems to be doing fine with it. The therapist said to watch her for any respiratory issues, and if she starts having trouble to thicken her drinks up a little.

I sort of imagined a daughter of mine being like this--cute dress and shoes but can chunk a football.

I asked the speech therapist about Aubrey's talking, or rather her not talking.  She says a few words, but not on a regular basis.  The therapist said not to worry since Aubrey understands the majority of what we say; she said now that Aubrey has her motor skills under control, she will more than likely start working on her words.  She should have 10-15 down on a regular basis by the time she's 2ish, but if she hasn't increased her vocabulary by a month or two after her second birthday, we might have to have her evaluated by the speech therapist again.

We went to the beach for a few days with my family, and Aubrey wasn't really sure what to think about all that sand and water at the beginning.  She warmed up to the sand pretty quickly since she likes dirt in general, but I think the swirling of the water and the way it pulled the sand out from under her feet disoriented her.  By the second day she did better, splashing in the little waves and digging holes in the sand and trying to do everything her cousins did.  When she saw other people playing with a ball of some kind, she wanted to steal it.  She pointed and grunted at two college-age guys tossing a football until one of them brought it to her and let her throw it a few times. Charming the boys already. :)

Cutest beach baby ever

She played so hard that she had to stop for a snack.

We saw Aubrey's pediatrician yesterday for a weight check.  She now weighs 17lb 15oz (so close to 18lbs!) and gained 14oz since April.  While the doctor wasn't thrilled that Aubrey isn't a little bigger, she's not worried about her since she grew taller.  She said that if Aubrey stops gaining all together or gains very little and doesn't get taller, then we'll worry.  The way Aubrey has eaten the past week, though, makes me think she's working on a growth spurt.  She has eaten everything I've fed her plus whatever else she could get her hands on, and that's fine by me.

With her buddy Murphy

-Keli