Speech Therapy Visit

Last week we took Maddie to Texas Children's Hospital for a follow up speech evaluation. We were feeling somewhat confident that she would have a good report prior to arriving for her appointment.

The Speech Therapist talked with us briefly and we pieced together a prior medical history from what little we knew of her first 2 years. After our brief conversation it was Maddie's turn. The Speech Therapist had a book with many pictures that she showed Maddie and Maddie would in turn tell her what they were. Keith and I were quite amazed at 2 things - 1 was her ability to recognize and verbalize what she was seeing and 2nd was her actual speech. The Speech Therapist was equally as impressed. After the evaluation we received a summary of her findings and recommendations.

- Throughout the evaluation, there were only 3 times that the Speech Therapist heard bursts of air coming from Maddie's nose as she spoke. The therapist recommended a wait and see approach to this issue. She feels that this is a timing issue with the soft palate and will likely correct itself as she gets older. If not there is a surgical remedy, but I pray will do not have to go down that road.

- The speech evaluation was scored in relation to age. Maddie scored a 2.7 (2 years 7 months old). She is actually 2 years and 11 months old but the Speech Therapist stated that she was on-target and was pleased with her progress.

- Ongoing Speech Therapy was not recommended for Maddie at this time. This was great news!

- A hearing test was recommended just to make sure that no hearing issues exist. I have scheduled this for October with our local Pediatrician.

- We will follow up with the Speech Therapist in 1 year and Dr. Stahl, the surgeon in 14 months to re-evaluate any surgical needs Maddie may have as she grows and develops. We will also have an Orthodontist evaluation in 12 months as well with the Orthodontist at Texas Children's.

Another interesting fact that the Speech Therapist shared with us is that Internationally adopted children normally will be caught up on their comprehensive level after being home for 1 year. Maddie is again on target for hitting that benchmark.

This was an amazing visit and an answer to prayers! Maddie is growing and thriving. She is very bright and healthy! Praise God for small miracles!

Bedtime Stories

It has been quite some time since my last post. As you can imagine we have been so busy getting back in the swing of things with school and after school activities.

For the most part things have been really good in the Portie Household. We did have a blip in the road though. Shortly before school started, I planned to move Maddie upstairs to her room to sleep in her "big girl" bed. I purchased the video monitor and finished coverting her baby bed to a full bed. We were ready! Maddie was actually open to the idea - she likes climbing the stairs. The first few days were fine. I laid down with her until she fell asleep (which usually was after I fell asleep) then I went downstairs to my room for the remainder of the night. She would wake up around 5 or 6 am and I would go and get her and bring her to my room until it was time for everyone to wake up. After we did that routine for a few days, I wanted to start weening her off of me staying in the room until she fell asleep, so I changed the routine up a bit. This is where it started getting complicated and utlimately spun way out of control. I would read her a story and then lay with her for only a few minutes and then go downstairs and watch her until she fell asleep. The first time was perfect - I thought for sure we have conquered the bedtime and bedroom issue. NOOOOO - the 2nd night was a disaster - she did not want to stay in her bed without me laying with her and by the 3rd night refused her big bed altogether and just wanted to sleep in Mama's bed. After a week without restful sleep I gave up. AHHHH! Why fight it. She is sleeping in my bed and is proud to let everyone know that she sleeps in Mama's bed. It's really cute the way she says it and smiles like the Cat that just ate the Canary. lol She has thankfully mastered sleeping all night without needing to get up and potty. That's a big accomplishment!

So I am relaxing a bit and enjoying having a 2 year old in my bed, loving on me and rubbing her feet against my leg and having a sweet smiling face wake me up on the weekends with a hug and a kiss. She will eventually move to her room and want her own space, but for now she just wants to be with me and her daddy and I am savouring every moment!