Language is such a funny thing

In her attempts to communicate using language, Nora has taken to adding syllables to words to emphasize their importance.  "Awowa" is "more."  "Awowowa" is "more now."  "Awowowowowowa" is "IF I EVER GET OUT OF THIS BLASTED HIGHCHAIR I WILL EAT THAT CRACKER AND THEN CAUSE YOU MUCH BODILY HARM FOR DELAYING GETTING ME MY CRACKER!"  Message received.

Wrooby-wroo!

Nora is starting to talk, though it's often difficult to decipher the jibber jabber from the meaningful language.  Her biggest word so far is "another," which she pronounces in more of a Scooby Doo kind of way: "awowa."  For some reason "more" just doesn't appeal to her.

MRI results

We finally got the MRI results from the neurosurgeon last week on Wednesday afternoon.  Everyone in the imaging area had said we should have them by Monday, the SB clinic coordinator said definitely Tuesday, but there we were on Wednesday, finally with the phone call from the doctor.  Not real happy about that.  The results themselves were mostly as I expected.  Spinal cord is tethered--that's the nature of a repaired myelomeningocele lesion.  The real unknown was whether surgery is needed.  At this time, for this patient, with this surgeon, the answer is "no, not recommending surgery at this time."  His opinion is that detethering surgery should be a last-resort option, considered only when symptoms are not able to be managed by other (less risky) methods.  My non-medical opinion is to agree with the surgeon, though I can't help feeling like we're being reactive instead of proactive in this situation, since we're addressing symptoms instead of causes.  The problem lies in the fact that treating the "cause" tends to make things worse. But at least we aren't facing major spine surgery right now.  That's definitely a huge relief!

Working on being patient

Patience is something I'm not always very good at, but I find myself needing to be patient (or at least distracted) for a few days while we wait for MRI results.  We found out in December that Addy's bladder function has changed quite a bit, which can indicate that her spinal cord has become tethered.  To start answering that question, she had an MRI of her whole spine on Thursday.  And now we wait to see what the radiologist and neurosurgeon think is going on and, more importantly, what to do about it.

Ring ring

Nora has officially reached the "anything can be a pretend phone" stage.  Toy wrench, paper doll outfit, ANYthing can be a phone!

Practing for perfection

Practicing "Ready Steady" with her left leg unlocked on her braces--woot!

After that, it was time to lock her left knee to keep her more stable so she could practice with her crutches!

Getting bigger

Addy got casts made for a new pair of AFOs.  She picked out a star print.  Should be awesome!  She also had an adjustment on her tall braces; 1/2 inch taller now.