How old is she in I-Cell years?

I have been thinking about the irony of Niko’s condition.  It makes me think of that song by Alanis Morrisette.  Isn't it ironic?  But the irony to that song is that none of the situations mentioned in her song is ironic.

Traffic jam when you're already late.  Not ironic.  

A no smoking sign on your cigarette break.  Not ironic.

Ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.  Not ironic.

Meeting the man of your dreams and meeting his beautiful wife. Not ironic either.  

All of the above is simply bad luck.

I'll tell you what is ironic.  

The cruel irony with Niko’s life is that she is forever young but already old.

I-Cell kids are forever young because they don’t grow beyond the body of a 2 year old.  Their mental capacity seems to reach the ceiling of a 2 year old.  Their speech and motor movements are more like a 9 month old. 

But they are old.  With each month, their bones become more brittle.  Their joints become stiffer.  Their already limited mobility decreases.  Major organs start to fail.  As they age, a simple cold can put them in a hospital bed. 

They are like 80 year olds stuck in a 2 year old body. 

For dogs, the old rule-of-thumb is that one dog year equals seven years of a human life, more or less.  I am applying this theory to I-Cell to determine roughly how old Niko truly is. 

I-Cell children have a life expectancy of 5 – 7 years.  Of course some pass away at age one, while there are cases of I-Cell children living till ten.  With less than 20 living I-Cell children in the U.S. right now, the stats are somewhat unclear. 

I’m taking the generous number of 7 to the average American lifespan of 78.2 years.  (The U.S. ranked number 37 in the global chart of life expectancy.  Pathetic!)

So one I-Cell year equals roughly to 11.2 healthy human year.  Niko is now almost 7 months old, which means that she is actually 6.5 years old. 

Smiling at her favourite seat.

Reading with sister and papa, one of her favourite activities.