Truckin' along

Addy has only been to treadmill therapy twice so far, but she's already doing better with things like pulling up, standing, and pushing her Dino truck along!

Chicken: it's what's for dinner

Addy has officially declared herself a toddler and not a baby. As such, she fancies herself too big to eat baby food any more, which is apparently just the motivation she needed to eat big girl bites of chicken for dinner tonight (about half a chicken tender's worth of bites). The first bite took a little convincing, but with a goldfish cracker and some applesauce for reassurance it was all smooth sailing. The two cutest things she said at dinner tonight were "Chicken. Yummy." and "Chicken, eight, nine, ten."

Earlier today she had another big accomplishment and pulled herself up to standing from sitting on the floor. All by herself! (Because, after all, she's a toddler now and doesn't need help like a baby any more.) She also got SO mad about standing because what she really wanted to be doing was climbing and the couch is just a little too tall for her to climb up on yet.

Big Girl Steps

Addy had her second session of treadmill therapy this afternoon. She did great, just like last time! Most of the time the therapist needed to help guide her feet through the stepping motion, but for a few steps she was able to get her foot in front of her and almost kept up with the treadmill. Yay for Addy!

Climbin' Higher

Just to add a new challenge to the Olympic sport of "Sofa Scaling," Addy's PT suggested that we have her climb from the floor straight up to the sofa frame. It's supposed to encourage her to pull herself up to standing as well as build up her arm and leg muscles. The tricky part is convincing her to climb down again (she likes the climbing up, but really just wants to sit and play once she's at the top!)

Almost like a fish to water

Addy had her first treadmill therapy session this morning. She worked with her usual PT that she works with for EI, but this time it was at the outpatient facility instead of in home. (So glad we could get on the schedule with her PT that she's used to working with; Addy really likes her!) She spent about 17 minutes on the treadmill, suspended in a harness to help support her weight and balance her so she could concentrate on moving her feet. She did great!



This afternoon we had casts made for Addy's new ankle braces (AFOs). The current ones are a little short and starting to get a little small in the feet, too. The new ones will be a little bit different style and sound like they'll all-around work better, which is a great bonus.

Medical madness

Addy went to Spina Bifida clinic last week and saw PT, OT, and the Orthopedic Surgeon. Came home with good reports from the therapists and a new prescription for AFOs from ortho. Yes, we actually came home with the prescription so we can fill it here! It was a bit of a fight getting the Rx (excuse me, but both of the PTs who have seen her recently agree that the current AFOs are getting too small so don't try to tell me that it's okay and her shoes will catch the overhang where her toes are starting to come up past the edge of the brace). But we got the magic paper. Besides waltzing in to the office an hour late, ortho also kind of offended me by saying that we need to think about asking PT for a little cart or something for Addy to get around in. I replied to she was already a speed demon in her mobile stander and we're looking forward to a gait trainer in the next couple of months, thank you very much.

She also had a follow-up hearing screening, which she passed even though she's getting old enough (and ornery enough!) to ignore the test and look like she didn't pass. Today we were off to the pediatrician's office for her 18-month check-up. Thumbs up and a couple of stickers from that appointment. Next week we have an appointment to get the casts made for the new AFOs and, since the Orthopedic Surgeon at clinic left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, we also have an appointment with a local ortho.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all those who mother us!

Addy was very sweet and wished me a "Happy Mamma Day" (with some coaching from Daddy). We had a good day of not doing a whole heck of a lot out of the ordinary.

I was trying to get her to settle down for a nap this afternoon, which she was beyond desperately in need of. She was mad about being sleepy and mad about wanting to play and mad about being too sleepy to play and just mad about being mad. So I asked her if she wanted me to sing to her to help her sleep and she nodded "yes." "Is there a special song you want me to sing to you or just sing something?" "Someting." I thought that all 10 verses of "Sweet Adelaide is Very Sleepy" would do us, but she was still barely awake enough at the end of the song to tell me "Play." "How about if I sing another song to you, Sweetie?" Two more verses pushed her all the way into sleepy land.