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...

Ohhhh!

Back in January I posted "Lips!" where Katie kept pursing her lips tightly for several days... Well, for the last two days she keeps doing an "O" with her lips!  What is this all about?  No idea, but I would guess maybe she is gaining muscle tone in her face?  I sure hope so, because the drool is back (off and on but ON a lot!) and four years of drool is... well, no carnival ride.   

Please!

I've been working on getting Katie to say "please" sign language style for a while, and she finally did it!  Last night with some prompting, she did this sign several times to get her milk!   Previously she had never been able to grasp "signing".  Here's to sentences in our future!  Cheers!

Standing Barefoot

Yesterday I was sitting on the carpet next to Katie, who was standing and leaning against the couch, when all of the sudden Katie no longer needed the couch and was standing there (barefoot) on the carpet - all by herself.  At the time I was on the phone with my sister, and we figured it was about 30 seconds that Katie had been standing.  Normally I have her stand in her leg braces because I can easily put her feet in the right position and it's much more stable for her than her bare feet.  So to have her standing there, balancing herself while barefoot and with no help at all from me, GOOD NEWS!

Buh-Bye SWASH!

Katie has worn this SWASH (Sitting Walking And Standing Hip Orthosis) everyday for 3 hours a day at school for the past school year. This SWASH gives her a sense of knowing where her legs and hips are.  It also cuts down on Katie scissoring her legs while walking and keeps her steps more balanced and not so high and all over the place. So, imagine my delight when we saw Brett the orthotist yesterday and he says, "I think she's walking as well without the SWASH as she is with it!" He was truly amazed at how well she has progressed over the year and even commented on her balance and focus also being so much better! I honestly think he was as excited as I was to see how far she has come.

Oh thank you SWASH for your much needed help - but I think you'll be off to be recycled for someone else to use soon!

"Where's your frog?" and flower, and monkey...

I think it would be wise for you all to buy stock in Carter's baby clothing because I am keeping them in business buying up all of their shirts with animals and flowers emblazoned on the front.

Katie now knows when I say, "Where is your frog?" what that means, and will grab her shirt and look at the frog (or whatever object is on it). 

She also knows where Mommy's nose, mouth, eyes, ears, and hair are, and will touch them (sometimes with a startling pinch!) but does not understand where her own nose, mouth, etc... are, yet.

These are milestones to us!  Maybe not in the guide book for toddlers, but for us - big cognitive happenings here at our house!

grah-ga!

Katie has a new word to add to her current two (dada and momma) - "grah-ga!"  According to dictionary.com, a grah-ga is: a thin, crisp biscuit - and when translated from baby to the english language it is a "cracker".

Katie's babysitter told us this past weekend that as soon as we left the house Katie said cracker three times consistently when she pulled out the box of Wheat Thins.  Of course, Katie never talks much to us parents, but today she said her version of cracker to me after some prompting (bribing actually), and just now she said it with the physical therapist.   Katie's diet may be cracker based today - I'll have to work on the words banana or meatloaf next to even out the food pyramid.

vision improving!

I took Katie in for her yearly eye appointment and her vision has actually improved!  Her new prescription is not as strong, and the doctor said that Katie has improved a lot as far as tracking objects and convergence.  Convergence insuffiiency is a disorder that interferes with a person's ability to see, read, learn, and work at near (close distances). 

We went to an eye doctor here in Phoenix a few years ago when Katie was about two because Katie's eyes would turn in occasionally (one or the other, not both at the same time).  He suggested waiting on glasses and when I told this to my aunt in Tucson, I think her blood pressure must have shot through the roof!  At the time she worked for "Vision Now" in Tucson.  Vision Now does vision therapy - which is much more than just a regular eye exam.  "Vision therapy is a type of physical therapy for the eyes and brain -- is a highly effective non-surgical treatment for many common visual problems such as lazy eye, crossed eyes, double vision, convergence insufficiency and some reading and learning disabilities. Many patients who have been told, "it's too late," or "you'll have to learn to live with it" have benefited from vision therapy."

 They deal a lot with kids and maybe adults too who have reading problems - and it is a little known secret really, this vision therapy -that needs to get out.  Vision therapy is important because it not only looks to see if a person can read the chart on the wall, it also looks at how a person sees and comprehends the information.  Does the person see the words jumping around on the page as he reads and think that is how everyone sees a page?  Vision therapy helped my 7th grade cousin go from a 3rd grade reading level to the 7th grade reading level in 7 months, and that is why my aunt got involved.  Here is a link  to the Vision Now website for more information:
 http://www.optometrists.org/visionnow/index.html

Okay, that is my promo about the importance of vision therapy.  Who knows, Katie may need it in the future when she is able to read - I'm just thankful I know about it!  And I hope I might help someone else to know about it!

And so thankful for my aunt and those doctors who got Katie and I to Tucson so that Katie could have a very thorough check-up and get some glasses that are not only extremely cute, but help her immensely!

Core Strength

 I have been using this ball with Katie since she was about a year old.  One exercise I did with her back then and for a few years was to set her on it on her stomach, and roll her a little bit to the left, then a little bit to the right, and she would automatically adjust herself - which helps to strengthen her core muscles.

We got this out the other day with the occupational therapist and she put Katie on it on her stomach, and Katie immediately rolled herself up to this sitting position. Barbara the therapist was thrilled to see her do this, and so easily.

Also noticing some changes in Katie were my dad and stepmom who came to visit us recently, it had been eight months since they had seen us.  They both could not get over the changes they saw in Katie, commenting on her focus being so much better and how much more stable and alert she is.  When they were leaving to go home, my dad said something like, "I feel really good leaving, knowing how much she has progressed in such a short time".