Natalie had swallowing therapy at CHOC today and did well. She wasn't as dry in her voice and breathing after drinking as she was on Monday, but she wasn't super wet, and she consumed probably the most she's ever consumed during therapy. She even held her sippy cup and fed herself several times.
This afternoon Irene came over to stay with Lukas while I took Natalie to a speech evaluation at her therapy clinic (a speech evaluation is definitely an event where Lukas CANNOT be present...he'll do all the talking). This is her second evaluation by a speech therapist, and she did much better than the last time. This time she was her normal happy, smiling, engaging self...last time she cried a lot and seemed scared of the situation, which is not normal for her (I think she was teething).
She babbled some while we were there, but I told the therapist about the consonant sounds she's been using lately. The therapist is testing cognitive skills as well. I was so proud of Natalie when she used a toy after only being shown once where to raise her hand and put the ball...usually she has to be shown how to do something many times before she does it herself. The therapist will re-write some speech goals for Natalie and send us a list of more things to do at home with her. We hope to have a monthly evaluation with the speech therapist until Natalie is speaking enough to warrant regular speech therapy. It means lots of homework for Natalie and her family!
I was also proud of Natalie for holding her cup in the car and feeding herself. This is a major breakthrough. Well, she held it and fed herself...until she dropped the cup to the floor.
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