Each Time She's Sick

Each time Ilse is sick she makes huge development gains immediately afterwards.  She got admitted to the hospital on July 13 with pneumonia, which it turned out was really adenovirus.  It was a doozy.  I've never seen my baby need oxygen before, and even though so many parents see it on a regular basis, it was scary to me and I hope Ilse never has to have that much trouble breathing ever again.

When she was released five days later, we noticed improvements in: speech (saying Dada and Momma more often, saying 'more' and using other sounds), she's been demonstrating a higher level of cognitive function shown by the games she's playing, she's fallen in love with music whereas previously she could take it or leave it, she's responding to 'no', she's much more aware of her surroundings, she's commando crawling more than one time in a row, she's mimicking more often, she's waving, she's demonstrating clear likes and dislikes with more things, she understands object permanence now, she's started to stand with her feet more flat, and she's more coordinated.  I wish I had written things down when I saw them happen, but of course I didn't.

I'm just so proud of her and we are so thankful to the Lord for his mercy to her in bringing her safely home with no lasting health effects.  When we walked in the door of her room after getting home from the hospital, I laid her down on her changing table and her smile lit up the room.  She was so, so happy to be home!  She knew it was her room and she knew that things were going to get back to normal.

The Lord has been very gracious to bring about these changes in her, but I have to say, I wish I could see some huge developmental strides without a big sickness first.  :)  Maybe next time!