20 Months


Little Miss Princess is 20 months already. A great age to play with; unfortunately, not a great age to photograph.


I got her to sit still in this chair with her Blue Puppy for about 2 minutes. I jumped around, sang songs, made Blue's Clue's noises... anything to get her to look and smile at the camera. 


I don't think Jocelyn sees me as funny at all.

I even attempted a hair bow.

 The look says it all. "Really, mom? You expect me to wear this? Don't you know that only *I* am allowed to put hair bows in my hair so I can promptly take them out again?"

Then she tried to put it on Blue Puppy.
 I guess she wanted her stuffed animal to suffer instead.

Since sitting in the rocking chair (handmade by my grandfather when I was a kid, btw) wasn't going well, I tried to encourage her to stand independently for a picture. Maybe even take a step or two, which she has started doing in the past month.


 You can see how well that idea worked out.

How about bubbles on the front porch?



That girl does love her bubbles. By the way, do you realize how hard it is to blow bubbles AND take pictures at the same time? That's why I usually make the mother of my photography clients blow them for me. It results in a lot less spilled bubbles.

At any rate, this photo session was a true reflection of Jocelyn's personality. And really, isn't that the goal of any shoot? To capture the moment. Every moment. Even if its not what the photographer or mom envisioned.


Jocelyn has progressed from taking one step 4 weeks ago to standing independently, getting to a standing position without pulling up on a table, and walking up to 7 steps at a time. Go Jocelyn!

But she still starts physical therapy next week. She is very unstable with her walking and is turning her feet in an awkward direction sometimes. Plus, she's about 5 months behind on gross motor skills overall. Its not just walking that she's late with now.

Yes, obviously Jocelyn did walk on her own at her own pace. But she is still developmentally delayed in this area and it does no service to her to ignore it. I'm a big believer in Early Intervention for developmental milestones.

This has nothing to do about what age your kid is when he learns to read or how many shapes your 3 year old preschooler knows. All kids do eventually catch up and even out with academics by 2nd grade, no matter what they knew before Kindergarten.

Why is early intervention so important?
Research has shown that the time between birth and
age 36 months is a critical developmental period in a
child’s life. These months offer a window of opportunity
that will not be available later. Early intervention programs
minimize and in some cases prevent delays in development
of infants and toddlers with disabilities. They can decrease
the need for special education and related services when a
child enters school, and increase independence. Children
whose special needs are identified and addressed during
these crucial early years have a greater chance of reaching
their full potential.

I have seen first hand how true this statement is. We are choosing to work with Jocelyn now in order to prevent future problems later.

Too many doctors and parents take a "wait and see approach" not realizing that this can have a serious impact later on in the child's life. I can't tell you how many times in the special needs community that I've heard a parent utter the words, "If only we had gotten help with his speech (or insert developmental skill here) sooner!"

We are very fortunate that Jocelyn's only delay is in gross motor. Every other area of her development looks great. Of course, you can never truly rule out an autism diagnosis later on. Some kids don't show regression in development until 3. You can bet that we will continue to monitor her development along side enjoying her sweet personality :)

She loves to color right now. Its her favorite thing. She can draw a circle and calls it a "Clue" because she thinks its a paw print.

Her favorite place to go is a park. It just kills her to see swings and a slide at Jayce's baseball and Jaina's football games, but not be able to play on it. She is quite good at climbing and sliding down on her own. I guess we don't really have to worry about her trying to stand and walk down the slides like so many toddlers do :P

Dora's cool... but so are Bubble Guppies and Elmo. She'll watch Max and Ruby, too, if its on. But Blue's Clues is where its at. She barely shows her monkey any love any more. "Blue? Blue?" she calls for her stuffed dog. She has to go everywhere with us. And "Pel" the pillow has to be in her crib at nap time and night time.

Jocelyn has some new words. "No!" "Go away!" and "Stop!" She just needs to learn the word, "MINE!" and she'll be ready for the Two's. She also asks, "Daddy work?" when he's not home. "Let's go!" and a toddler version of "There she is!" is also said.

For the majority of the time, she sleeps 11 hours straight through the night with a 3 hour nap during the day. That's when we aren't keeping her up late because of a baseball game or interrupting her nap with a lunch out at a restaurant. She is pretty flexible, though, for the most part.

Her newest favorite foods are strawberries and corn. But not at the same time :P

I know Jocelyn doesn't care, but I'm looking forward to beautiful crisp cool Fall weather so I can dress her in all those adorable outfits I bought during a consignment sale :)

Happy 20 months, Jocelyn :)



Comments

  1. adorable! Great words from a great mommy!!!

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  2. I love this post so much, Jessie. She is darling--and the photos definitely show her personality! I can't believe how grown up she's getting! Slow down, don't grow up so quickly!!!!

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  3. She is so cute! I haven't been on your blog forever... My 15month old is IMPOSSIBLE to photograph.. what you got of your daughter is better then any of the pictures I tried with mine today!

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  4. What a cutie! I love the bubble pics!!!

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  5. CUTE! My daughter had that outfit when she was younger!

    Oh and thank you for your photography advice on the Disney On Ice post. I will keep that in mind.

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  6. Good job Jocelyn! She's precious. I second that about 20 months being a hard age to photograph. ;) Proud of you for being such a proactive mommy in meeting her needs. All kiddos are different, and you are doing an awesome job getting to know just what she needs. :)

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