Jessica is now 10 years old! Hard to believe, time sure goes by fast :-) It's been ages since I've updated her website so I'll try to get some new photos up soon. Jessica is full of energy, curiosity, loves to giggle and has a great sense of humor. She is still exhibiting a lot of undesirable behavior, however, recently with the help of an awesome support team (doctors, therapists, teachers and school staff), medications and behavior therapies we are starting to see some improvements! Below I've tried to summarize a bit about Jessica's history, milestones, school, and her favorite things

A Brief History
Jessica was born full-term, via emergency c-section, weighing 4 lbs. 3 oz. and was 17" long. She stayed in the NICU for one week but had no medical complications and was eating very well. Because of her small size and other characteristics, a syndrome was suspected and at 2 months old she was diagnosed with CdLS. Jessica has been very healthy. Her main medical issue is mild gastroesophageal reflux. At about 14 months old she had surgery to correct esotropia (lazy eye muscle).

School
Jessica just completed 5th grade at a local special education school. She is in a program for elementary-age kids with special needs whose main issues are behavior and communication. Jessica loves school and we continue to see progress. She is working on communication/social skills; following multi-step directions; counting and recognizing numbers; identifying colors and shapes; and pre-reading and writing skills.

Communication
As with most children with CdLS, Jessica's expressive language skills are the most delayed. At about age 1, we began using sign language with her and she used sign in conjuntion with gestures, pointing and, over the years, a few words. By age 6 or 7 she had quite a large vocabulary, but still spoke mostly in one-word phrases. In the past few years however her vocabulary has increased tremendously and she has been using two-five word phrases. She only occasionally uses sign language to communicate her needs. She is also initiating conversation more and telling people "hi" and "bye". She often mimics what others say or do. Her receptive language skills are very good; she understands much of what is said to her.

Favorite Things

Toys: Airplanes are her absolute favorite...she is an airplane fanatic! She also loves Goofy & Mickey Mouse, puzzles, small dolls/figurines (as long as they're not baby dolls -she hates those), picture books, Magna Doodle, and anything that makes music and has buttons to push.

Non-toys: Jessica loves to carry around small items such as keys, boxes, books, CDs, spoons, etc. She also likes to take all her "treasures" and pack them into any box or bag she can get her hands on. She loves to look at magazines, newspapers, sales flyers and "junk" mail and will grab them as soon as we bring them in the house. She enjoys finding and pointing out letters or numbers that she knows (number 5 and letter "R" are particular favorites). She gets very excited if she finds a picture of dollar bills or coins or even those sales flyers that have the large $$$$ signs on them. She gathers them up and says "look, lots and lots of money!" and wants to use them to buy an airplane at the store, LOL!

TV/videos: Jessica doesn't like to watch TV, but on a rare occasion she will watch Sponge Bob or a Disney movie (especially if it has Goofy in it)

Favorite Foods: Cookies, cheese, yogurt, fruit, cheeseburgers, dill pickles.

Activities: Jessica loves to "help" clean house. She enjoys taking rides in the car and walking with us around the neighborhood. She also loves to do puzzles; spin, dance, listen to music, jump, turn somersaults, swing, and play in her pool.

Developmental Milestones
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Rolling - 4 - 8 months
Crawling - 10 1/2 months
Sitting without support - 15 months
Cruising the furniture - 16 1/2 months
Climbing stairs - 21 months
WALKING - 23 months
Propelling on a ride-on toy - 2 1/2 yrs
Pedaling a tricycle - 4 yrs
Throwing/catching a ball - 7 yrs
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Jessica's Height & Weight Chart
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Birth: 4 lbs. 3 oz.; 17"
Age 1: 12 lbs.; 24"
Age 2: 18 lbs.; 28"
Age 3: 21 lbs.; 31"
Age 4: 25 lbs.; 34"
Age 5: 32 lbs.; 38"
Age 6: 37 lbs.; 41"
Age 7: 46 lbs.; 43" *
Age 8: 41 lbs.; 45"
Age 9: 45 lbs.; 46"
Age 10: 50 lbs.; 47"
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*large weight gain was due to medication she was taking at the time.