I learned
long ago not to compare Paityn’s growth and development to that of her brother Cohen.
He did everything early, he was walking on his own at 9 ½ months. Paityn was
just barely learning to sit on her own when she was 9 ½ months. At the time I just
thought she was behind and would eventually catch up, I had no idea what kind
of a ride we were in for with her.
Fast forward
four years and it is still hard to see how far behind she currently is. Tonight we were
outside playing with some kids in the neighborhood and a cute little girl, who I am
guessing was about 3 years old, was riding her little 3-wheel scooter. She kept
letting Paityn have a turn and I would work with her and try to show her how to
do it but she just didn’t have the coordination. It broke my heart for her
because she wanted to ride it but just couldn’t figure it out.
Last week I met with
Paityn’s teacher to go over her progress at school. Paityn is 60
months old and this is where she is on the charts:
Gross Motor-24 months
Fine Motor-15 months
Cognitive-11 months
Language-14 months
Self-Help-19 months
Personal/Social-16 months
It might
seem discouraging to see that an almost 5 year old is this far behind, but the
good news is she is making improvements in each area. So I am going to focus on
her achievements. One being that she points to things! With her actual pointer
finger! She used to just hit what she
wanted with her hand so it is great that she can do this. A new goal we are
working on with Paityn is responding “hi” and “bye” and waving at appropriate
times. Right now I hold her hand and prompt her to wave. Hopefully it will become something that she does on her own. Slowly but surely we will keep making
improvements with our sweet Paityn.
