Little miss bright eyes (but no smile):
Anna holding Carolyn (2 months old):
A few little baby smiles!:
A few minutes in the day of Jordan – 1,2 and 3! You all might be wondering what his stimming looks like. What his walking looks like. How he’s manipulating stuff more to be toys. His ability just keeps growing and growing!
Jordan’s Mad Skilz 1:
Jordan’s Mad Skilz 2:
Jordan’s Mad Skilz 3:
I’m wondering if Sophia will stim very much. She seemed so out of it most of the time when we were there. She never made eye contact or really seemed to notice us, but I didn’t see any stimming either. Did you notice Jordan stimming when you visited him in the orphanage? My Caroline from Ukraine, would rock her head back and forth, back and forth or even bang it on her bed as she went to sleep but that is the only thing she did. She was really young when we adopted her — 16 months when we got home. I’m just wondering if I should expect stimming from Sophia. Bella seems less likely to as she is younger and seems better adjusted. I think she is better cared for and gets out of her room a little more. Just wondering your thoughts.
Sharon, when we met Jordan, he was sometimes very within himself and non-interactive. And other times he was really smiley and giggly and at ease. He sucked/chewed his hands every visit, but I can’t remember how much he stimmed during visits. He stims the most when he is bored or playing on his own, so he probably would have done less while visiting with us. Also, it took us awhile to recognize what different motions are “his” stimming motions.
Three of the four little ones from his orphanage (Sophia included) show a much more withdrawn child than I would expect from the average kid with DS. I wonder if that is chance or environment. From the limited information I have about Sophia (just your blog!), I would guess that she has some amount of cerebral palsy, causing her one arm to be so much less active. I suppose you’ll know after she’s been home awhile. I bet you’ll see her strength and activity increase a whole lot after she gets home! Nothing like being out of a crib to promote learning and growing!
She really is such a beautiful child. You have been very blessed on the cute scale! lol Hopefully the biting won’t be too terrible. ha. Jordan isn’t a problem biter, exactly, but I am afraid to put my fingers in his mouth and he has hurt me some before…. his mouth can open SOO wide that his teeth can get me when he’s just playing. He has bitten a few times and my yelp and flicking his cheek to get him to let go has thankfully reduced it to mostly unintentional meetings of teeth and mama.
That first couple months, I expect you’ll have a scared little girl… Jordan’s stimming was the WORST then. It was so intense. Grinding his teeth until it hurt him. 🙁 That stopped though… haven’t heard teeth grinding for ages! Yay!