Appt with Dr Alonso

Lydia saw Dr. Alonso this morning, and we didn't really get any new information. She was happy with the amount of weight she gained since her last visit...a full pound in less than a month. She was also happy to hear that she is taking 4 oz at every feeding. She encouraged me to give Lydia as much as possible...try to increase to 5 oz when possible and try to increase amount of oatmeal to see how she does. She already does sometimes take 5 oz, so I will continue to offer it to her when she seems hungry enough for it. Most of the time, though, she finishes the 4 oz just under the wire (30 minutes) so I don't give her any more. Thirty minutes has been the max feeding time suggested because if she eats for longer than that, she burns more calories than she takes in. I don't think I'll try to increase the oatmeal just yet...I want her to be successful at eating for a little while longer before I shake up her world again. We are scheduled to see Dr. Alonso again in January.

Elise's last day of therapy for the semester at LSU:
Our finale meeting today went well! Elise's therapist, Megan, showed me lots of data that she collected during the semester. She tracked Elise's immitated words and spontaneous words throughout the semester. She graphed that Elise uttered 48 words spontaneously during her sessions. 48 words on her own!! I was amazed. I had to ask to clarify a few times because I could hardly believe it. I know that Elise says immitated words a lot, but I was impressed that she used 48 different words spontaneously. She didn't add up her immitated words, but that number was significantly greater. Elise met many of Megan's goals for her for the semester, and some goals will transfer to the new therapist that starts with her in January. I also inquired about some sounds that she said she was working on with her.../b/ /p/ /m/. I told her that she once used those sounds a lot, but I now I don't hear them as much. It bothers me when she loses sounds and/or words, but the supervisor Ms. Kauffman was not discouraged by that. She said that as Elise experiments with different new sounds and words, she will say others less but it doesn't mean that she has lost them persay. I asked how long that would be considered appropriate, but she didn't want to put a time limit on it. She said we should work at Elise's timelines. So...some good information, and some advice to just keep trucking on the way we are. Megan gave us a "break packet" for us to work on during the semester break. So, we'll become the therapists for a while. Also, Suzanne, Elise's Early Steps therapist, may try to see her twice a week in the interum.
A celebration: Elise always sleeps with a book in her bed each night...in the mornings, she usually hands it to me to pick it up. Yesterday morning (and today), when she handed it to me, she said, "book up." It is not very often that we hear her put two words together. It is exciting to celebrate all of the little steps along the way to developing her language skills!