Rachel's evaluation

We had an appointment today for Rachel with Portland Public Schools' early intervention program. Our pediatrician, Dr. Rappaport, was concerned that she didn't have a lot of words when we went for her January checkup. Since then she has acquired about 15 of them -- good, basic words such as apple, car, mommy, ball, etc. -- and seems well on track to have 20 by 20 months.

The two women who evaluated Rachel said she seems completely normal. I asked if that means she'll get into Stanford and they laughed and said, "of course!" They said she seems quite bright, and indeed after some initial hesitation she warmed right up -- pushed a plastic play shopping cart and started chattering away while Drew held her. The only thing she wouldn't allow them to to do was test her hearing. Poor little thing screamed and screamed until they gave up. But she always responds when we call her name, so we think her hearing is fine! Now, LISTENING is another matter...

Tonight she was in quite a mischievous mood -- wouldn't put ducky into the bath and grabbed the washcloth and ran away into the bedroom before I could get it into the bath, too. She has learned a new word, "MINE" and she says it annoyingly frequently. This is why I think it would be great to give her a sibling since that will force her to share.