Our Little Coconut Talks!

Granny was trying on winter jackets, so Meg tried on hers!

ABC

Meghan has endured a lot of medical tests, procedures, and doctor visits this summer, but she is still her cheerful self.  Her verbal skills are coming along nicely.  About two months ago I started teaching her the alphabet by having her repeat each letter after me.  She now skips the repetition and just says the next letter in line, followed by a giggle.  Meghan speaks very clearly and lets us know what she wants, when she wants it.  She knows a lot of words, but her favorites are eat, done, Granny, Papa, please, no, yes, bubbles, and outside.  Every so often, Meghan will put three words together and form a sentence.

Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do

Meghan is also very musical.  She loves to sing Elmo's song.  She sings "La la la, Elmo" all day long as she plays.  At mass she sings "La la la" whenever the music begins.  She has also taken to singing Alleluia during mass and at home as well.  Given her success with the alphabet, I decided to teach her songs in solfege.  Solfege is the "do re mi" system of assigning syllables to notes of a scale.  I am amazed how quickly she learned this and at her ability to sing on-key.  Perhaps we have a musical prodigy?  (Or maybe just a crazy mommy!)

The only area Meghan struggles in is growth.  Despite her two pound gain in the spring, she is not catching up or keeping up with a normal toddler's growth.  She weighs about 16 pounds right now.  Her height and head circumference have also "fallen off" several curves this summer along with her weight.  So far all tests have come back normal.  The GI doctor did every test she knew, including scoping her entire digestive tract from top to bottom, and everything looks completely normal.  To all those that suggested celiac disease, she definitely does not have that, but thanks for your concern.  We have one (hopefully) last kidney ultrasound and visit to a nephrologist at the end of September to ensure her kidneys are still growing and functioning appropriately.  This past week we visited a pediatric endocrinologist, which was new for us.  Meghan had more blood taken to test for thyroid dysfunction (for the 3rd time) and growth factor.  Once those test results are back, we get to "wait and see" for four months. If she grows or she doesn't grow, more growth hormone testing will likely be in her future.

We keep trying to tell ourselves that Meghan is just a very petite child like a few of our ancestors, but then reality hits us when she plays with other children her age or younger and they all look like giants!  Normal children follow a growth curve.  Even Meghan's petite sister weighed 19 pounds at one year of age.

Please continue to pray for Meghan's growth.  I know these prayers are working.Everytime I ask for prayers, she gains a few more ounces and inches!

Meghan reads the Ireland magazine.