Final Baby Descriptions

Florin: Florin is doing well. He was teething a lot the first week so was whiney, but nothing some time in the jumperoo couldn't solve! Over the two weeks we were there Florin began to crawl and interact more. He was a growing boy, and usually ended up eating two or three bottles every morning, but had trouble with the yogurt/hot cereal snack because of his tongue thrust. A lot of the time we was in his own little world, but when he noticed someone talking to him he had the most beautiful smile, and he got engaged in toys more and more often. We worked with him on standing up and walking holding our hands, but he is still reluctant. There is rumor that his dad is coming back from Italy next month to visit him and possibly take him home.

Alexandru: Alexandru is very vocal and loves to babble. He is also working on standing up and walking while holding our fingers, but doesn't seem interested. He is very independent and loves playing with all the toys, but sometimes gets into moods where he doesn't want to be put down. He bangs his head against the bars of the crib if he wakes up early from his nap, so I would usually get him early or put a toy or two in his crib to entertain him.

Michaela: Michaela began to walk on her own! She is a very smiley little girl, despite having the flu last week. She loves to walk and to dance (especially to Elvis). She is the princess of the mobile room, and a favorite of many of the nurses. She usually refuses to eat the snack of the day, but does well with her bottles, and is a sturdy girl, so we didn't worry. She is the youngest in the mobile room, but the most developmentally advanced.

Stefan: Stefan is another who is developmentally on target. He is the second youngest, but is very vocal and is working on walking. He loves to mimic noises he hears, and we encouraged him to mimic our speaking. He doesn't seem too interested in walking, he is a fast crawler, but began walking alone with the push walker towards the end of last week. Stefan is another favorite of the clinic and is never told no, so sometimes his behavior is not the best, but we worked on setting limits for him.

Sammy: Sammy is a happy boy, especially at meal times. He loves to dance, and get swung around in the air, especially while listening to the Supremes. We worked with Sammy's leg muscles, and tried to get him to stand up against the wall or in our arms, but he would whine a lot. He plays very independently, but we also saw him playing with the other kids occasionally. He sometimes gets picked on by the others, toys stolen etc., because he usually doesn't fight back, but by the end he got better and fending for himself. He is a sweetheart!

Adrian: Adrian still has not had his second cleft palatte surgery, so eating is still fairly difficult, but he is a trooper. He is also working on walking and LOVES the push walker. He also plays a game where he put him a few feet away from us and then he walks a couple steps before diving in for a hug. He is very cuddly, but can also play independently at times. He has tantrums sometimes when he doesn't get his way, but after a few weeks he was having less of these.

Alexandra: Alexandra scoots around a lot and loves being swung in the air. We bought some new books for the room and she loved to look through them, we think she knew that reading was an activity to big kids, which she is despite the fact that she's stuck in the mobile room. She could be difficult at times: throwing her bottle, stripping her clothes when she was mad, and hurting the other kids, but much of it was understandable. What she really needs is an aid of her own, like what Ana Maria has, so that she can get one on one attention and have a better chance of developing further.

Maiastra: Maiastra still spends much of her time in the walkers in the hallway. We would bring her into the room whenever she would let us, but when she became over stimulated/inconsolable we would bring her back out to the hallway to calm down. Sometimes she would take bottles in the room, but usually they set her up in a toddler crib for meal times. She loved to play with the teething key rings that lit up, or with toys with mirrors, as well as us as human jungle gyms. She would let us hold her usually, but there were very specific places that she would want our hands, and she was able to communicate this by moving them to her back or stomach, etc., when we held her. She is another who would benefit greatly from a one on one aid or a therapist.