Ella’s motor skill development seems to be at a stand still. She has new words pretty steadily but her gross motor skills seem to taking forever to develop to the point where she can really walk by herself. Maybe I say that because my body often aches from having to bend over her and get her to move this way and that.
I have to bend over her when she walks and despite the fact that she looks great in the video-clip on the homepage where she is walking at the gym, she really can’t initiate or end such a series of steps by herself b/c she can get up or down from a standing position. She doesn’t want to walk by herself either. A couple of weeks ago at the doctors when we went in for her regular yearly checkup and shots for kindergarten, the doctor (and me) was really surprised that she hadn’t grown at all since she was measured last year. And, she had gone down a point & a half in weight. At first he thought it must be a mis-measurement but I was watching as the nurse weighed and measured her. I couldn’t believe it because we thought she had grown. Clothes seem small on her from time to time. But, the facts remain. The really suspicious thing, that I’ve been wondering about for some time, is that her feet haven’t grown at all in years. I can’t remember when I got her a new pair of shoes. It has been at least 3 years, I’m sure. The Dr. Shulkin, who saw her that day, ordered a bone x-ray to determine something like “bone age”. We did that. Results came back normal. I talked to Dr. Marcus about it who at first didn’t seem concerned but then looked at her growth chart and recommended her seeing an endocrinologist. We’ve made the appointment – which wasn’t easy b/c normally you have to wait about 4-5 months to get one at Children’s Hospital. Dr. Marcus helped and we have one for mid August. I’m hoping that will shed some light on the motor skill development (or rather, lack thereof). Dr. Marcus said, as I suspected, that feet are one of the first parts of the body to grow quickly.
Also, Dvorah (support group Mom whose daughter has growth issues) told me that when her daughter starting getting hormone shots, the first difference she noticed was in muscle tone. Really, no matter how much walking/standing we force Ella to do, there is no growth result. Her endurance has gotten better, that is true, but I’m not sure she has the strength to walk independently which is probably the reason she doesn’t want to try. Otherwise, Beth is leaving at the end of the summer.

We are back in nanny-search mode and it is hard. Beth has been so wonderful. It is going to be a big transition.