Look at the size of that noggin!

Her cranial remolding guy said she doesnt need a helmet, and it's hopefully just a big giant head. He said it was still a good idea that we're meeting a neurologist in May. I will be GLAD when that appt is over, and hopefully we'll get good news. We found out her head is the size of a 3 year old boy's head! It's so huge and keeps jumping percentiles. Hope hope hope everything is ok in there, and that she just needs that space for all her brains and sass. :)

To give you an idea of the giant heeeeeed:

It's always something!

Thanks to everyone who shared their comments regarding our earlier autism scare. Sam had her 12 month appt yesterday, and her pedi feels confident that she is not autistic. I hope she's right! She did agree Sam should respond to her name by now, but isn't too worried. (Our pedi never worries about anything, which kinda bugs a paranoid mommy like me) :)

Our latest scare is now the size of Sam's head. She has always had a large head, but over the past 6 months it's jumping percentiles.
- At 6 months she was at 75th
- At 9 months she was at 90th
- At 12 months she was way off the charts!

Her pedi didnt even bring it up. I mentioned how we've noticed her head growing oddly in the back of her head. (Like the back half is bubbling out at the sides). Her pedi wasn't worried since it was all symmetrical. She gave me a referral to a helmet specialist, if I want peace of mind.

I got home, and I plotted Sam's 19" head circumference on her growth chart. It was way off the charts. Maybe her pedi didn't even notice this. Of course, being left to my own devices, I started g00gling, and found all sorts of sad stories on hydrocephalus.

It seems a number of moms (but not all!) whose toddlers had off the charts head growth ended up with bad diagnoses. Ugh. One more thing to worry about. I was fine with her big head, but now that I see it's growing disproportionately fast "hockey stick" - that has me concerned.

I left a message with our pedi demanding a referral to a neurologist. Let's just hope Sam has a big head and it will level off soon!

Big milestone!

Samantha turned 1 year old today! I don't know what's more remarkable; that she survived her first year of life, or that WE did! LOL. We had a great day - went to storytime, played in the kid section at B@rnes & Noble, she ate her first cupcake (and loved it), and had lots of sweet playtime before bed. Becky took the day off work, and it was so nice!

Thank you for all the feedback on my previous post. I will definitely talk to her pedi on Monday. It could all just be a phase that she'll outgrow.

On the PLUS side, here are more behaviors she has (that would hopefully contradict a possible autism dx):
1. She is VERY verbal. Just babbles still, but talks all day long.
2. Makes eye contact fairly often.
3. Always points to things, and waves bye bye to people. I know these two are very important. She points at things all the time, and tries to communicate that way.
4. She can play by herself for a while but also likes being around me. She will get very upset if I leave the room sometimes, as she wants me to be close by.
5. She is very engaged with people. She always smiles when smiled at, she will giggle and laugh when tickled, and is a complete flirt with strangers.
6. She doesn't get fixated on things for long periods of time. Yes, she points to the ceiling fan and likes it when i make it move, but after 10 seconds she looks away and loses interest.
7. About 80% of her tantrums are getting dressed, diaper changes, and getting into car seats/stroller. I imagine that is normal for toddlers. She does still get very tantrum-y at other times, but if I pay attention, they are largely during those aforementioned times.
8. She still does NOT respond when we call her name over and over. that part is annoying. However, I don't think she's entirely in "her own bubble." If I say "clap clap!" she immediately looks over and starts clapping. if I say "elm0" she looks over and crawls to the living room TV. Maybe she just has selective hearing, maybe she still doesnt know her name because we only started using it a few months ago. (We always call her bubba, bubs, baby, etc)
9. Overall she is just a very social baby. I know that with autism, babies can be in their world all of the time, not point or wave, not smile when smiled at, etc. I mean, she can/will play independently for periods of time, which is great. She can read books for 15 minutes by herself and be happy.

I am praying that the weird behaviors are just that- weird, but not anything permanent or that we need to be overly concerned with. Then again, maybe she is on the mild end of the autism (or some disorder) spectrum. She definitely has a strong personality and will scream in any public place if she doesnt get her way. I am trying really hard to be patient, and try to see what she is pointing at, or what she may want. I hope she starts speaking soon, and in the meantime I am signing her up for a sign language class.

Keep the comments coming, I always appreciate hearing from you all! xx

Weighing on my mind

I don't want to sound like a paranoid mom, but sometimes I think something's "not right" with Samantha. I'll ask her pedi about it on Monday, at her 12 month appt. In general she's a happy baby, but here are some behaviors that I've noticed:

At 1 year old:

1. She still does not respond to her name. She can be sitting 3 feet away and I'll call her name over and over and over, and 9 out of 10 times she won't respond. It's like she gets in her little world and doesn't hear me. I don't think she has a hearing problem. She can be halfway across the condo and go running for the TV if she hears "Elmo's World." She will also jump if she hears a loud noise in another room. I keep reading that not respond to one's name by 1 can be autism. ugh.

2. She HATES being held. She's always been this way. She constantly moves, she can't sit still for a nano second. Always moving, and has never liked to be held, kissed, or cuddled by us. Only on rare occasions will she let us hold and kiss her for 5 seconds. This also came up as a sign of autism. (according to Dr G00gle, that is) :)

3. Is not affectionate 90% of the time. Similar to #2, she refuses to give me a kiss. She shakes her head and will rarely give me a hug or kiss. When reading her books, she will freely kiss each picture of animals, though. I feel like she hates me.

4. She throws violent tantrums almost every 10 minutes. It's put me on edge, to where I don't know if I can be a stay at home mom. It just doesn't seem normal, the degree to which she throws tantrums. She will shake her head, throw herself backwards, flail her arms, put her hands in her mouth, scream SO LOUDLY that people have actually gathered around me in public places. I swear they thought I was beating her. She throws massive tantrums so often, and seems so moody. Again, these came up as possible signs of autism or aspergers. Of course, she could just be a normal tantrum prone 1 year old.

Have any of you experienced these things with your 1 year olds? I'm afraid to ask her pedi, because I'm afraid to hear "yes, she may be autistic." I would be so devastated. I want Sam to be a happy, functioning toddler. The things above just make me think SOMETHING is going on that isn't right. I don't know..... :(