Visit Day 8: Jump-Starting Development

We are constantly amazed at how these two change from day to day. This probably sounds cliche to most parents out there, because the first year of life is such a period of rapid growth and development, you've all seen it. But it an amazing thing to behold. And the progress Jessie and Evie are making in the days we've been with them... simply amazing.

Now, we know this can't go on forever, but in one week we've seen Jesse start to roll from back to front, then front to back, go from holding his arms tensed to reaching out to grab toys (and faces), and get himself up on hands and knees, revving up to try crawling.

Evie is going through the same rapid changes even though she started out ahead of Jesse in some ways. In the past week, she has started using her fingers individually to touch things and pinching things between thumb and forefinger often, rather than just grasping with the whole hand. She was already turning over readily, but now she can push herself up onto all fours and inch forward. Both are figuring out new ways to express themselves, too, especially Jesse. You saw the razzing the other day; he has also added screeching, laughing, and a sound kind of like Ernie from Sesame Street laughing. Evie is the quiet and shy one, so it has been a real advance to get consistent eye contact and some smiles from her. Just in the past few days she's been experimenting with a few noises; we're looking forward to more soon. All of this communication comes with lots of new facial expressions, and, we are convinced, with actual changes in their appearance. Its like their faces are taking on more definition from day to day. This is all very fun, and very encouraging, to see. 

In a bit of a slump.

When you hear about all this development in the course of a week, doesn't it make you feel tired? Same with Evie and Jess: both took extra long naps today, and Evie wasn't nearly as playful after the first half hour or so (she may have a little cold or something too).

When we left she was still not done napping. This is where the two hours a day visiting, and all the opportunity for developing perspective on parenting so we can go back and do a better job the next day, all rested and ready, really stops seeming so great. I would really rather have stayed around to check on Evie, take her temperature, and generally worry about whether she was feeling well, than to be whisked off in a car by our driver and interpreter to sit here and speculate with you all about why she seemed so tired. Here's me looking forward to having these babies under my own roof!