the little things

For us, the little things are huge. Just now Paul and I were trying to keep Katie entertained from a short distance (we were in the kitchen and Katie was in the adjoining family room) while I made her an egg and Paul was fixing her highchair.  So to keep her busy, Paul said, "Katie, where is your head?"  and we both put our hands on our heads and she put her hands on her stomach.  I said, "that's your tummy, where's your head?"  And she put both hands on her head.  We continued on with nose, and then tummy, and head again, and she did them all.  She has never been able to find her own body parts until today (only other people's).  It's not 100% consistent (I just asked her where her head was and she clapped!) but what a good start!

extensive therapy

We recently had a family reunion in Estes Park, Co at the YMCA which I highly recommend - if you like your family that is!  It was an awesome place with lots to do and we all stayed in an eight bedroom cabin which was very roomy.  My cousin Michelle is an internal medicine doctor (who should be sending me and my husband a bill for all the moles she checked and questions about his recent vertigo etc...) and I asked her about my arms which have been bothering me lately.  My upper left shoulder and right wrist have really been painful and I've never had anything kind of pain like this before.  I've been pretty worried about it and was sure for the last month or so that I must have some terrible neurological disease.  What a relief when she said, "It's because you hold Katie so much.  It's tendonitis and will go away when you stop having to carry her everywhere."  Ahhhhhhh.... I will be around to see her walk someday!

And speaking of walking, Katie is in a summer program where she gets three hours a day of "Conductive Education".  Most of the kids in the program are more severely affected and cannot sit up or communicate, and are either really rigid or floppy.  Katie is one of the three in class who can actually stand, with help.  The first day I actually felt guilty because she can stand up.  Isn't that silly?!

I am hoping this summer will get her on the road to walking.  For one, so my debilitating neurological disease will go away - and of  course I just plain want her walking!  The program consists of a lot of flexing and stretching and rotating wrists and ankles etc... I am there acting as her aide and have a hard time keeping her laying down during the stretching as she prefers to sit up.  I know this program has helped the other kids, many of who are in it year-round.  One (who had brain trauma) could not hold his head up last year and he is doing that and more now.  They take Katie and a few of the others who have more abilities and do other things with them (walking with walkers and through parallel bars etc...) so I am hoping to report back in a month that she is running relays!  Just thinking positive...