How Big is Cayman?

So Big!

Cayman looks incredible posed in her crawling stance! She needs a lot of assistance in order to hold herself in this position, but even just this alone shows a lot of progress!

Sitting unsupported still is a struggle for her. I feel confident that she is strong enough to sit all by herself if she desired to.

You might recall her misery in sitting was linked to the helmet causing too much pressure on her head. {If you missed it, you can read about it here.}

Well, we think there's more to it now than just that.

She definitely has shown great improvement since we removed the helmet permanently. She's mastered rolling and head control perfectly. But sitting is still bothersome to her. She whines and fusses. Not often, but sometimes she'll even cry. For Cayman, crying is a big deal because she rarely does it. Something is definitely wrong if she is in tears over it.

Cayman's Physical Therapist, Jodi, discovered that only in a sitting position, Cayman's hips are not even and her lower spine slightly curves. Likely, this feels uncomfortable for her and that is why she is uneasy about sitting.

However, that does not bring flawless understanding since Cayman is happy sitting supported. She'll sit joyfully in her BeBe Pod, playing. She sits on our laps, in her high chair, and car seat without any complaints.

So maybe, she feels unsteady when trying to balance herself in sitting?? We're not really sure.

She wouldn't be Cayman if she didn't keep someone always guessing about something.

So the next plan of action is for a set of x-rays to be taken of Cayman's spine and hips. That will rule out or confirm a malformation. It will also give her health care providers a picture to compare over time to monitor her spine curvature.

******************************

A couple weeks ago, an evaluation was performed to see where Cayman is at developmentally as a 14 Month Old. Her last evaluation was in January when she was 10 Months Old.

Here are those compared results:

Gross Motor Skills:
Current Developmental Age: 6 months old.
Janaury's Evaluation: 6 months old
She did not move up in developmental age in this category because she's not doing anything new such as sitting or crawling. But she's getting stronger in the Gross Motor Skills that she has learned; rolling, head control, tummy time, etc. So even though the charts do not show it, there is improvements in this area.

Fine Motor Skills:
Current Developmental Age: 10 months
Janaury's Evaluation: 7 months

Cognitive:
Current Developmental Age: 10 months
January's Evaluation: 9 months

Language:
Current Developmental Age: 10 months
January's Evaluation: 9 months

Self Help:
Current Developmental Age: 14 months
January's Evaluation: 12 months

And the one that cracks us up...the one area that Cayman is not behind in, but actually advanced is:

Socially:
Current Developmental Age: 15 months
January's Evaluation: 10 months


Even though I see for myself how well Cayman is doing and her scores are overall great, I always feel nervous for these evaluations. I think it's because, in my mind-my world, at home-everything feels "normal". Then when these developmental numbers are laid before me, my "normal" feels a bit shaken.

But I realize, a charted number does not make any difference. It doesn't change Cayman nor how proud of her I am!

It's easy to not get caught up in statistics or prognoses when I remember the blessed thoughts of Albert Einstein:

There are only two ways to live. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

It does not matter what her developmental age is compared to her chronological age...everything Cayman does is miraculous! And that is what we celebrate!