Ava's first graduation

Ava graduated from the Medically Vulnerable Infant Program (MVIP) the week before last. It was without pomp or circumstance, no cake or punch was served. It was a very warm, sunny day and our nurse Linda, who we've seen for the past year and a half, joined us outside to observe Ava playing with Sophia. The girls were at the sand table, as opposites as opposites can be--Ava shied away and did everything she could to hide under me, Sophia immediately showing off all her new skills and knowledge from Linda's last visit. Linda and I talked. We discussed Ava's rock star qualities. We discussed the session at the High Risk Infant Clinic (HRIC) a few weeks ago, and I felt like I needed to set the record straight a bit. I was sent the records from Ava's last visit. The records noted that I told them Ava wasn't talking or saying as many words as she should be. I think my high standards may have inadvertently did Ava a disservice. The thing is, I am not worried about how many words Ava uses. I am not concerned, because she talks constantly. But what I acknowledge as a word must be clearly understood as an association with the object. That is my standard. The standard I should be using for her is that she may be making up her own words, or her understanding of what an object is, or what I would call "babble" and that is considered a word. So in that case, Ava speaks complete sentences! Seriously though, I didn't give Ava enough credit and had I not clarified this with Linda, we may have been sent into another program for speech therapy, etc. So lesson learned there. And there still may be a time where Ava does illegitimately need some extra help, but I really don't want her placed into something because of my choice of words or standards. What I've also learned is that I have to toe the line between letting Ava come into her own, while also being slightly more keen on her developmental milestones in case we need early intervention. My parenting philosophy is more "wait and see" which isn't necessarily the best thing for a preemie who is being evaluated more often than a full term child. So that's my struggle, and something I will try to keep in check until her second birthday where we presume the case will be closed with the HRIC as well. When I walked Linda out, I told her I was sad we didn't get to celebrate the occasion. She told me she generally won't tell her clients in advanced if it's the last session, because she doesn't want to make a big deal out of it. I guess I can see her point. I really would have liked to take a picture of her and Ava together, if only Ava would have gotten within camera range of Linda. So another thing checked off our list of accomplishments for Ava, our little Rock Star.