At Madeline's six-month checkup, we mentioned to her pediatrician that she still hadn't rolled over. The doctor referred us to early intervention. Her argument was basically, it can't hurt; might help.
The evaluation today tested all of Madeline's skills, not just the area we are concerned about. At the end of the evaluation, they tallied up the numbers to find out if we qualified for their services or not.
Madeline's numbers revealed that when it comes to her social skills, she is ten months developmentally. Woo-hoo, Maddie Bear! This didn't really surprise us. Madeline is very verbal and extremely friendly. She smiles and interacts with everyone.
It also wasn't a surprise that when it comes to her gross motor skills, she is only at five months. (You mean to tell me my child is smart, but not at all athletic?! Shha, where did she get that from??) This qualifies her for their services.
They will be meeting with Madeline once a week for the next six months. At the end of that time, Madeline will be tested again to measure her progress. At each appointment, they will work on her tummy-time skills. They will also continue to give us tips and "homework" to work on with her.
They've already given us some good suggestions. For example, at the first meeting with them last week, they suggested that we place a small, rolled up towel under Madeline's chest to help her "cheat" at getting her head up off the ground. It's forced Madeline to use her arms a lot more already.
It seems like such common-sense advice, but we never would have thought of that on our own. And trust me, it's not like we haven't tried putting Madeline on her tummy before. We do it every day. But instead of working out a way to move, she just puts her face in the ground and screams bloody murder until we pick her up.
The early intervention people told us that babies with a history of reflux issues have a hard time with being on their tummies. When she had her reflux problems as a newborn, it probably didn't feel good to lie that way, so she learned to associate tummy time with bad feelings. Again, duh!
I'm glad we're getting services. It doesn't seem like rolling over is a big deal because in all other areas she's completely on track, but the women today kept stressing how important tummy skills are. She needs to learn to develop her chest and neck muscles so that she can push herself up, crawl, even write.
Plus, it was kinda fun and really interesting to watch. The ladies showed up with a huge suitcase full of toys, put Madeline on the floor, and essentially watched her play. Maddie was so excited to have the full attention and applause of four adults at the same time. She kept turning her head over her shoulder to make sure all of us were watching her perform her tricks.
She's quite the show-off, our little social butterfly.
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