Yes, yes we know - babies all grow and develop at different ages. It was one of the most frustrating things when Abby was first born when someone would ask "Is she walking yet?" - even as early as 5 months they were asking! Abby never crawled on all 4s and she wasn't walking until well after turning one year old. So, we've learned not to worry about what someone says or thinks about a milestone any of children may or may not have met. But with that being said, we do have a mental checklist that we think about in terms of their development. Here's a few milestones to consider about the twins.
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Milestones for a 7 month old (their corrected/adjusted age). This is where we look at the girls in terms of their development...their corrected age. So, even though they are 10 months of age, because of their preemie status, you look at the milestone for 7 months, such as:
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Milestones for a 10 month old (their real/birth age). in comparison to the milestones for the corrected age...here are examples of a non-preemie 10 month old's milestones and how the twins may or may not have reached the same - remember that these are in addition to the above as well as a lot of other 8-9 month milestones:
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After seeing Abby work out things on her own timeline, we know that Reagan and Blaire will do the same thing. What happens happens and we are ready for anything! Here are a couple of pics of the girls and what they love showing off what they can do!
Reagan: Sitting alone and standing
Blaire: Sitting alone and up on all fours ready to crawl
**The milestones from above are from the book "What To Expect The First Year" by H. Murkoff, A. Eisenberg, and S. Hathaway.
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Milestones for a 7 month old (their corrected/adjusted age). This is where we look at the girls in terms of their development...their corrected age. So, even though they are 10 months of age, because of their preemie status, you look at the milestone for 7 months, such as:
-They SHOULD be able to:
(1) Feed themselves a cracker: Check
(2) Make razzing sounds: Check
(3) Coo or babble when happy: Check
(4) Smile when interacting with someone: Check
-They WILL PROBABLY be able to:
(1) Sit without support: Check...both did this about a week or two ago and are growing stronger and stronger each day when we work on this
(2) Bear some weight on legs when standing: Check
(3) Work to get a toy that's out of reach: Check
(4) Look for a dropped object: Check
(5) Turn in direction of a voice: Check
(6) Play peek-a-boo: Check
-They MAY POSSIBLY be able to:
(1) Creep or crawl: The girls scoot in circles and around the floor...you can put them on the floor on one end of the den and in less than 5 minutes they are at the other end. But no crawling yet. However, Blaire can get up on all fours and will be crawling soon!
(2) Pass on object from one hand to another: Check
(3) Stand holding on to something: Some-what check. They can do this for very brief periods. But we're working on it!
-They MAY EVEN be able to:
(1) Pull up to a standing position from sitting: Not yet
(2) Move from a stomach position to sitting without help: Not even close, ha!
(3) Pick up tiny objects with fingers: Yes
(4) Say certain words: Yes! Blaire now says "Daddy" and "Hey" (which is hysterically funny when she says it to her reflection!), Reagan not says "Daddy"
(5) Have teeth: Yes...Reagan has 1, Blaire has 2
(1) Feed themselves a cracker: Check
(2) Make razzing sounds: Check
(3) Coo or babble when happy: Check
(4) Smile when interacting with someone: Check
-They WILL PROBABLY be able to:
(1) Sit without support: Check...both did this about a week or two ago and are growing stronger and stronger each day when we work on this
(2) Bear some weight on legs when standing: Check
(3) Work to get a toy that's out of reach: Check
(4) Look for a dropped object: Check
(5) Turn in direction of a voice: Check
(6) Play peek-a-boo: Check
-They MAY POSSIBLY be able to:
(1) Creep or crawl: The girls scoot in circles and around the floor...you can put them on the floor on one end of the den and in less than 5 minutes they are at the other end. But no crawling yet. However, Blaire can get up on all fours and will be crawling soon!
(2) Pass on object from one hand to another: Check
(3) Stand holding on to something: Some-what check. They can do this for very brief periods. But we're working on it!
-They MAY EVEN be able to:
(1) Pull up to a standing position from sitting: Not yet
(2) Move from a stomach position to sitting without help: Not even close, ha!
(3) Pick up tiny objects with fingers: Yes
(4) Say certain words: Yes! Blaire now says "Daddy" and "Hey" (which is hysterically funny when she says it to her reflection!), Reagan not says "Daddy"
(5) Have teeth: Yes...Reagan has 1, Blaire has 2
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Milestones for a 10 month old (their real/birth age). in comparison to the milestones for the corrected age...here are examples of a non-preemie 10 month old's milestones and how the twins may or may not have reached the same - remember that these are in addition to the above as well as a lot of other 8-9 month milestones:
-They SHOULD be able to:
(1) Stand when holding on to someone or something: Some-what check. They can stand with assistance for short, very short, periods of time.
(2) Exchange back and forth gestures with you: Eh, not really. We are working on them holding up their arms when we take them from a bouncy seat or high chair. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
-They WILL PROBABLY be able to:
(1) Walk while holding onto furniture: No
(2) Understand "NO": Um, no. Ha ha. In fact, we are still working on getting our 4 year old to master this development!
(3) Get into sitting position from stomach: No
-They MAY POSSIBLY be able to:
(1) Stand alone momentarily: No
(2) Say "Daddy" or"Mommy": Yes
(3) Point to something they need to want: Some-what. They will look for something and grab for it. Or grab for their bottles.
-They MAY EVEN be able to:
(1) Indicate what they want without crying: No
(2) "Play Ball" (rolling a ball back and forth with you): No
(3) Drink from a cup: We've introduced Sippy Cups in the last month or so. Reagan's all for it, Blaire isn't. We still haven't found the "perfect cup" for them, ha! And they aren't holding their bottles on their own yet. They are trying but they are not there yet.
(4) Say a word other than Daddy or Mommy: Yes
(5) Walk well: No
(1) Stand when holding on to someone or something: Some-what check. They can stand with assistance for short, very short, periods of time.
(2) Exchange back and forth gestures with you: Eh, not really. We are working on them holding up their arms when we take them from a bouncy seat or high chair. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
-They WILL PROBABLY be able to:
(1) Walk while holding onto furniture: No
(2) Understand "NO": Um, no. Ha ha. In fact, we are still working on getting our 4 year old to master this development!
(3) Get into sitting position from stomach: No
-They MAY POSSIBLY be able to:
(1) Stand alone momentarily: No
(2) Say "Daddy" or"Mommy": Yes
(3) Point to something they need to want: Some-what. They will look for something and grab for it. Or grab for their bottles.
-They MAY EVEN be able to:
(1) Indicate what they want without crying: No
(2) "Play Ball" (rolling a ball back and forth with you): No
(3) Drink from a cup: We've introduced Sippy Cups in the last month or so. Reagan's all for it, Blaire isn't. We still haven't found the "perfect cup" for them, ha! And they aren't holding their bottles on their own yet. They are trying but they are not there yet.
(4) Say a word other than Daddy or Mommy: Yes
(5) Walk well: No
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After seeing Abby work out things on her own timeline, we know that Reagan and Blaire will do the same thing. What happens happens and we are ready for anything! Here are a couple of pics of the girls and what they love showing off what they can do!
Reagan: Sitting alone and standing
Blaire: Sitting alone and up on all fours ready to crawl
**The milestones from above are from the book "What To Expect The First Year" by H. Murkoff, A. Eisenberg, and S. Hathaway.
Yay girls! They're doing great! Thanks for pointing out their "real age" - lately I forget how early they were. They look so chubby and happy and healthy! Love those babies!
ReplyDeleteAlex