Her timing was slightly off, though. Yesterday morning our community health nurse came by (this is a service offered to NICU parents; it's kind of like having a pediatrician appointment in our home). The nurse did Daphne's 4 month screen, making sure she is meeting all the developmental milestones for her age group. I am not a fan of these screens, but we did it anyways. Daphne scored above and beyond in all categories, her highest score being in the gross motor skill section. Her lowest score, although still within the range of normal, was in communication. The reason for her low score was because we had to answer "no" to two questions (as opposed to "yes" or "sometimes"). She had never laughed or chuckled.
Our nurse said that I should be talking to her more to encourage her communication skills. I wanted to tell her that the reason Daphne had probably never laughed was because I talked to her so much that she was most likely doing her best to ignore me in order to get some peace and quiet. When I'm home with her while David is at work, I have to talk to someone. I used to talk to the dogs, and even occasionally my hydrangea plants, but now I have a living and breathing person to talk to.
Anyways, the reason I don't like these screens is because the screener finds the little things that your baby might not be doing quite yet, and then tells you how to make sure to bring her up to speed. No matter that it's completely normal to achieve some skills earlier than others. No matter that it's perfectly OK that Daphne hadn't found anything worth laughing at yet. They just tell us to "get to work" on it. It kind of irritates me.
But last night we decided to go to Dairy Queen for ice cream to celebrate our 80 degree weather. David had Daphne half on his lap, half on the table in front of him. Dairy Queen had a TV onto the news, and David was making fun of the music they were playing. Daphne thought this was hilarious and gave her little laugh. Both David and I were staring at her saying, "what is she doing?" I didn't know it would be so hard to recognize your baby's first laugh. But once we figured out what she was doing, we realized it was the cutest little sound we had ever heard. Too bad it hadn't been about 8 hours earlier, because then I wouldn't have been told to make sure I'm talking to Daphne enough.
Despite this bad screening incident, Daphne has officially let us know that she's happy here. And she really likes warm, sunny days. And tulips.
6 comments:
Way to go Daph! I can't wait to hear you laugh :) Enjoy the sunny day!
Doesn't matter what the nurse says, Daphne is perfect. Hope she will laugh on Sunday.
That blue blanket makes her eyes even bluer!
Perfect...just like her auntie e!
haha, at least I hear the tantrums are the same
I also hate when doctors tell me my kid should be doing something. I think there is entirely too much pressure and comparison with kids these days! You're a wonderful mommy! I just loved those first little baby laughs! They're so sweet!
Thanks Daphne! You make me smile.
Hurray! I love her so much already and haven't even met her!
You'll have to tell me more about how you've utilized the Community Health Nurse when we get together because I haven't really known how to use our visits. (She's come twice. We canceled her third visit due to the heat. And I just rescheduled it to October for after Ellie's neurodevelopmental screening. But maybe I should have her come more...just haven't fully found the benefit of the visits.)
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