Another Dismal Day at Therapy

I don't know what's going on with her, and I don't understand why all of a sudden she's so against doing any therapy. Right when she saw her water therapist today she gave her a sad face and started whining, and within 3 minutes was full out crying. And not just her, "I'm gonna be kinda grouchy" but her full out, crying so loud I forget to breath, drool and huge tears, cannot control self" crying. The crying that she's done maybe 3 times in her life. What the HELL is going on? We could barely get her to stand. Out of an hour, she did maybe 5 minutes of standing and cruising, and the rest of the time, she was doing her crying business. And on top of it all, as if that's not bad enough, she's showing a really strong right side dominancy that's starting to freak me out. It's come on so fast in the past 2 weeks that it's kinda startling. She'll hang her left hand off her tray when she's eating and just use her right, and when she walks, she tends to work the right let much better than the left...kinda drags the left. And she'll reach to the right when standing fine and cruise to the right, but rarely cruises to the left anymore, and won't reach with her left arm. It's like the people that have the stroke, you know? But she crawls fine. And she's been standing tons less. She barely even stands in her bed anymore. So I have no idea whats going on, no idea what to do, and no one to ask for help. Oh, and I think she's got pink eye on top of whatever cold thing she's got. I just don't even know what's going on and how to handle it. I was so frustrated during her therapy session because we were in the room with 3 other children and their parent(s) and their therapists. I was so embarrassed that she was acting that way, and that we couldn't even console her. She cried SO hard she made herself throw up, and then whatever she threw up she swallowed, and so then she choked and threw up more. The therapist was obviously worried and on high alert. All I could do while I was there was stare, because if I even let myself process what was going on I would have started crying. I was so MAD. I kept saying, "what are you doing Grace???" And her therapist kept trying to tell me it's ok, but I was just so out of my element. My child isn't one of those kids that cry like that. She doesn't throw fits. She just goes with the flow of whatever we are doing. She tries her hardest. Grr.

At this point, I'm feeling really defeated. I took her to music group this morning, and I just had no feeling of happiness for being there. The other times I went I was able to get into it, I enjoyed it, and tried to be silly and help Grace see that it's fun. But today I was just SO not into it. The whole time I was thinking that it was pointless, and I wanted to just get up and walk out but forced myself to stay.

There's just so many things. If there were just one thing, or the other, than it wouldn't feel like it was so overwhelming. And some people just think I'm whining and take everything too seriously, literally, or whatever. I don't care what those people think. I'm feeling beat, I'm feeling frustrated, and I don't want anything to do with her the rest of the night. And I know it's not her fault, but whatever. I put her down for a nap, and when she woke up at 6:30 pm (I laid down too) I just wanted to stay in bed and not get up again. But I knew that no one else would get her, so I went to get her. But I had no desire whatsoever to take her out. So I just laid on her floor for about an hour, not really thinking, but feeling so sad and horrible. And now I have to go get her pink eye medication before they close in 10 minutes.


Amanda

Walking...Walking...Don't blink, you'll miss it

Today was Gym day, so we were finally able to go and practice walking some more. I love these parallel bars! Of course, as you will see in the first video, Grace was already done with the length of the video before brain dead mommy realized she had the camera with her! So I had her do the walk again.



As I'm in a bit of a pessimistic mood tonight, I will say that it doesn't really look like she moved much at all. But I know that she did, and the fact that this was her first time EVER walking these bars, she did GREAT! She TOTALLY amazed me with her hand switch to the same bar, and even beyond amazing was the kneeling to sit!!! I never taught her that!!! WOW! We will definitely be walking this every other week when we go.



And this next video is Grace on the trampoline with her friend Nina! I had no idea she would have so much fun on the trampoline! I just loved watching her play! And it obviously worked her out, because right when the truck started moving after the gymday her eyes were rollin' pretty quick, and she was out before I even got on the freeway.



And these super cute pictures with Daddy! Aren't they adorable! She loves hanging out on his shoulders while he's on the computer, and sometimes if he's lucky, she will massage his head *with the occasional hair pull!*

Aw, loving on Daddy.


She was super excited in the one above and was saying OOOOOOOOOOOOOO.


Amanda

She's Done IT!!!...and an Update of the day

So for the longest time, we've (myself, Daddy and the PT) been working on Grace getting up and then back down from standing at the couch. She's always either fallen to the side (purposely) or plopped on her butt while being scared at the last second. But today...she did it...right!!! She got up to stand quickly (like an old pro!!) played with the phone for a bit, and then squatted with one hand on the couch (instead of two, and she squatted!) and then went to her butt! WOO WHOOO!!!! I was SO excited!! Of course, she did it so fast I couldn't get a picture, but that's ok. I still saw it, and not once, but twice. So I'm so excited. She's making such beautiful strides.

I must say, this was very encouraging to see after her not so good day during PT. Usually, she's willing to do anything her PT wants. But recently, she's not been so happy when therapy is going on, and I thought last Thursday was just a fluke, but it continued today. She was so stubborn on standing at the couch, bending...pretty much everything we did. She was just NOT into it. So we've decided to back off a bit on how long we have her work on her PT exercises, but still continue to, since kids sometimes take a step back before taking more steps forward. We don't need the "control fights" already! She's only 1! But all in all, a very good day after seeing her bend and sit instead of plop! She's also been bear walking...well, bear standing anyways. If you don't know what that is, it's where she get on her hands and knees and pushes up to her feet while still on her hands too :) So cute!

Food wise...she's still eating constant adult food and is feeding herself, but we did slip on the bottles and give her one a couple days ago when she woke at 3 am. I figured it wouldn't hurt her, and it hasn't. She doesn't whine for it or anything, so that's good. And she hasn't choked on her meals for 3 days so that's GREAT!!! Today for breakfast was french toast with bacon, and she ate the rest for lunch because *Mommy didn't want to make something else!* For dinner we will probably have the rest of the elk stroganoff that we had last night. (I keep trying to get Daddy to take us out...but not gonna happen. Darn!)

Talking...this past week, i had decided to work on one work with her, and so I chose ball. We've got some spiky balls that she likes to play with, so every day I make sure to spend some time teaching her the word, the sign, and how to throw/roll the ball. I like to play "roll pass back" with her, but she's only handing it back to me, she hasn't learned to roll it yet. But that too will come. So anyways, I went to get her from her nap this afternoon and got the ball and said, "what's this Grace?" and after a few attempts she said "ba..... ba!!" Yes! *Fist pumping air!* And while we were up there playing, Daddy came home from work, and I got all excited, grabbed her and ran down the stairs happily saying, "Daddy home, Daddy home" and ran out to the garage, turned her around and said to her, "DADDY!! HI DADDY!" And she said, "Dadd---dy!" OH MY GOSH!!!! SHE SAID IT!!! And then she said it again!! "Dadd---ddy" YES OH YES OH YES!!! Daddy was so happy he grabbed her and gave her a big hug and kiss :) Aw, how sweet!

So as you can tell, wonderful things happened today. And now, we are off to go buy her some pants, as she's grown out of so many so fast that she has only 1 pair of jeans! Holy smokes kid! Hopefully, we will get some socks for her too, as the others are getting kinda small. She's already wearing 2T in some of the clothes, while still in as young as 6-9 months in others :) I love that we are able to use some of the clothes for so long.


Amanda

Playtime for Grace!

There are a lot of times with Grace that I am wondering if she understands what's going on, or if she comprehends what we are trying to teach her. For instance, she's never played chase with us forever. But just these past few weeks, it's been so obvious that she's learning that when she crawls away, mommy is going to chase her! It's SO fun to play with her this way!!! We will be up in her room, and I'll be putting clothes away or cleaning up something, and she will crawl out the door, glance back at me, and then keep going. Well, OF COURSE I'm going to chase her! So off I go on hands and knees, thudding along while saying, "I'm gonna get you!!!" and she just squeals and screams and laughs! She tries to crawl away and gets going pretty fast, but if she gets too excited, she will drop to her belly and just scream and laugh! And when I grab her I say, " I GOT YOU!!!" and whip her up in my arms for a big hug, tickle and kiss! SO FUN!!!

Amanda

She Loves Me!!!

I've always wondered when I would see a sign that Grace really does love me. I mean, I'm her Mommy, so of course, by nature, she loves me. But I mean, I was wondering when I would see that she understands that if she loves me, there's ways to show it. You know? She does a lot of giving kisses, but it's usually when I say "give kisses" so it's not her instigating it on her own. And sometimes, she's just just so wonderful in showing me what she's learned!

Last night I was playing with her on the floor, and she was sitting in front of me. Well, she would rotate and sit, rotate and sit, and I was kinda confused at what she was doing! At this point she was facing away from me about 6 inches away. Then she got up on her left knee and had her left hand down for support, looked behind her at me, and plopped herself right in my lap! I LOVED IT!!! And I was like, "Hm, was this where she really wanted to be?" And it obviously was, because she laid into me, and kicked her legs happily. It's like her body was showing what she was thinking, "I'm safe and I made it to sit with mommy!!!" Ahhhh, how sweet. I felt SO loved!! Another time I feel loved by her is when she nuzzles her face into my arm, or chest, of even my face sometimes, and then she will lay on me. It's so precious.

That happened today during therapy. There were quite a few times where she just needed to come to me and put her arms around me, feel my arms around her, and rub her face into my neck. And I loved it and welcomed it every time. She's such a smart girl! And now I know for sure that she loves her mommy!


Amanda

Baby, Baby, I've seen you

I've seen you in my dreams, I've felt your kick inside my belly. I've held you in my hands, felt your warmth radiating from your small body. I've seen your face, so beautiful, so perfect. I've seen the hair delicately laying on your head. that dark brown hair so soft and long. I've seen your legs, your feet, your 10 little toes. Your hands that we laid so perfect on your chest, your 10 little fingers. I have felt the glow that radiates from me, from your proud mommy. I loved feeling that again. I loved feeling the happiness of knowing you were inside me. I loved feeling that you would be Grace's little sister. I was so happy. I smiled, all the time. Your heartbeat, I swear I could feel it inside me, matching perfectly with mine. It was like music, perfect harmony. Oh, baby, I've seen you. And I loved you with all my heart. Your body looked so perfect...and you were mine.


Amanda

Gods of Sleep, Please Hear Me...

I need sleep...I need sleep like I need air. When I don't get sleep, I get grouchy, sharp, and short with everyone. It's just something that happens, and they only way I can control it is to not talk to a soul, but then the response to that is, "Why are you mad? What have we done now?" So please, God of Sleep, can you please just let me get a solid, deep sleep of at least 8 hours, just one time soon? Last night, for instance, wasn't good enough. Making it to sleep at 1 am finally because I just COULD NOT fall asleep...and then woken up at 3 when hubby finally came to bed (loudly...I mean, who slams doors at 3 am?!) and then up again at 4:30 with Grace because she needed a bottle (yeah, there went the "no more bottle" plan...I get desperate with lack of sleep) and then up at 5:30 to move to the floor in the sewing room because really, who can sleep with a snoring bear? Then up at 9. Sheesh. I really can't do these nights... So God of Sleep, please rain your blessings down on me, as I'm struggling today. Grace is still sick, still fevered, and for whatever reason, it doesn't go down with the Tylenol. Her cheeks show me how bad she's feeling...bright red means the temp is about 100 or higher. If I were blessed with a mother that cared to be part of my life, I'd call her and say, "please...please take her for the day?" But life decisions on her part have made that impossible...for the rest of my life. Oh, I guess I did get another hour in on Grace's floor. When I'm really desperate, I take her out of her crib, put tons of toys on the floor, and I sleep next to the heater vent. Granted, those are like 10 minute increments, as she LOVES climbing on me, pulling my hair...etc. Ho hm...Just a hard day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. There is more that I wish I could vent, but for reasons of "under the bus throwing" I won't do it. I'll just hold those thoughts, feelings and gripes inside me. And I will continue on... The kitchen calls my name as the dishes are stacking up...and then the laundry, living room, bedroom and sewing room...I need an organizer to come help :) One of those professional ones! Not that I don't know how to organize...because I do...I'm just too tired to do it!


Amanda

Sick, Sick, Sick.....and More

Well darn it. We've been doing so good after her last week of fevers that I was hoping she wouldn't get sick again, but nonetheless, she has gotten sick. I don't know what it is, and am kinda freaking out as she spiked a fever during 2nd hour of church. First it was the rosy cheeks in first hour, then came the nasally breathing at the end of 1st hour to the rosy cheeks and the fever by the beginning of third hour. Gosh it sets on SO fast with her. She was super fussy in third hour, and nothing could console her. So we're home now, medicated, and she's tucked in bed to hopefully sleep off the fever without any seizures. I couldn't find any Tylenol which usually keeps the seizures away, so I'm hoping what I gave her will work...ug...Her eyelids are really deep purple too, which usually means she's really tired, so I'm hoping all is well. I'm just going to tell myself to relax, hope it's just a bug, and it's nothing we can't handle. Does pink eye come with fever? I don't know but we went to visit great grandparents even though he had pink eye...he was medicated though so we should have been safe right? Relaxing...or at least trying...she'll be fine. But I will say, it would be easier if she'd not had the seizures before...but I said I wouldn't worry anymore, so I'll stick with that.

We wore our matching skirts to church today and got a lot of comments on them!!! Of course Grace doesn't see the significance of matching skirts with mommy, but she will someday!!! I loved it though...especially since I was the one to make the skirts, it wasn't just something we bought :) So I really enjoyed that! I also met another sister that was talking about doing some sewing, so we might get together and do some sewing together!

I also announced in both Primary classes and Relief Society again about my Dinner in a Jar class that I've started up this year, and in total, I got 27 signups JUST TODAY!!! I'm so thrilled there's so many people that want to learn! So I'm happy to have that, and some of the money for it, so I can start preparing for that fun day! I have about 32 women/men signed up now! It's a monthly class, so it's easy enough for me to prepare, then relax while sign-ups are coming in, and then do the class, and have time to relax before preparing again. That works for me since I've got so much therapy and stuff with Grace. Thanks to my friend Pam for getting me called to this calling, and for helping me get the class off the ground! You're such a sweetie!

So last night, I finally learned how to make a button hole!!! I'm SO excited!! I finished a shirt for Grace last night, but am having issues with the shorts that go with it, so those are on hold until I can find a master sewer that can help me break down the directions! And JoAnns is having a 99 cent sale soon on patterns, so I'm oober excited about that! I have started making her grab ball...remember in a few posts ago I showed a picture of it? I've got everything cut, pinned together, and awaiting sewing when I'm done posting! (I cut and pinned everything while watching Twilight...I love that series!!!)

This is what my sewing table looks like...I was so tired I didn't even clean up. What's in the machine is a shirt for Grace.
This is the grab ball things I need to sew, stuff and sew together and then it will be done!
Here's the buttonhole!!! WOW!
Here's her shirt. If you look closely, the buttons aren't sewed on yet, but today they will be.
These two fabrics will be turned into jammies for Grace!
This is a toy we got for free from Huggies for buying so many diapers!
A skirt for me! It's polyester and feels so smooth!
More finger puppets I'm going to make.
Here's all my felt...you can't really tell but there's like 30 pieces here. And those are my patterns for the animals. I'm going to make more for Grace and also my friend Pam is buying a set for $10! YES! More money for Grace's convention.


All in all, lots to do, lots to blog about, and lots to keep me busy! Right now hubby and I are going to watch Clash of the Titans, even though I'd much rather sew! Wasted time is NOT good! Especially with all the projects I have that I want to do.


Amanda

Valentines Day Bag!

So I made this in 2 hours, without a pattern, and with just a thought in my mind. I really had to talk it out with myself, draw tons of pictures, and make perfectly certain that I wasn't going to mess up. I even used trash fabric to try it out before making the real deal as I didn't want to have to start over after I messed up.

So CUTE! This bag is for Grace, and I will make another one for Kailyn. It will hang on their doors, and from February 1st to the 14th, I will put a little something in them that I've made. (Ex: mini jewelry box I painted, pillowcase I've made, dress/skirt I've made, sweets I made)

The outside of the bag. The pink is pockets, three of them.
The inside of the bag :) Kailyn's outside of her bag will be this fabric with red pockets and the same handles.

Showing off the pockets! Oh yeah, I'm good!

And yuck, I look disgusting, like I've never slept, but I wanted to show how big the bag was to a person. This was fun to make, and Grace was nice and slept the whole time! But now Grace is up and so I better skedaddle!


Amanda

Valentine's Day

I know there's so much time until Valentine's Day, but I'm just so excited! Now that Grace is 16 months old are beginning to understand when things change (decorations around the house, celebrations) I am going to go all out for holidays and special occasions. Some of the things I'm doing:

Valentine's Message Bags--I'm sewing two fabric bags, one for Grace, and one for Kailyn. These will be hung on their door the first day of February for a 14 day countdown to V-day. Every day, I will put a little something in there, like a treat, or a small jewelry box for K, or a necklace, or V-day counting hearts for G, or even just an I love you card! Then on the big day, they will get a big treat in their bags!

14 Day Countdown with Hubby-- I am making 14 cards with different things on them, like "go on a date night" or "cuddle and watch a movie", etc. And every day, we pull one of the cards and do what it says.

14 Messages for hubby--Rather than a bag for hubby, I'm going to just slip little love letters everywhere, so he can find them where I know he will be...his car, by the computer, his pocket, in his phone, in the shower, etc.

V-Day meal-- On that special day, we are going to have such an interesting meal! Since it's a Monday, we will do a dinner. So lasagna, Fruit punch, red grapes, pink cookies for dessert! And I will send an egg salad sandwich to work with hubby that's died Red and cut into a heart shape!! Fun Fun!!!

This is going to be so exciting!!

I will also be doing a 14 days of Valentine's day countdown on here too...I will write something special each day, write down the fun V-day activity Grace and I did that day, and just anything else I can think of...and then what come's next but...drum roll...St. Patty's DAY!!! (And hubby's birthday!!!)

Amanda

Grace sits Facing FORWARD!!

I've been waiting forever to switch her carseat to facing forward! Every month I measure/weigh her to see if she's finally surpassed 20 pounds so she can see where we are going and not where we've been, and it's taken forever but finally!!! On her 16 month yeah day... (A "Yeah day" is when we do a mini celebration that she's made it another month :) I know, sounds dumb. But she's my first, and I love her, and she's surpassed what all the doctors said she'd be able to do, so I celebrate her life)

Anyways, we switched her carseat around, and the first time she rode in it she was SO HAPPY!!! She just couldn't sit still, and was looking around everywhere. I have a video of her sitting like a big girl, but it's not of the first time she's sat facing forward. I just love being able to have the rear view mirror pointed at her so I can see her all the time while I'm driving.




Of course, she's gone down below 20 pounds now for some reason, but to no avail! She's still sitting forward!! No more baby girl sitting, she's a big girl now!

Amanda

Miralax, the Monkey on our Backs

I forgot to write about the Miralax on the post that I talked to the doctor from the Spina Bifida clinic on. Anywho, so Grace has neurogenic bowel. For some reason, the nerves for her bowel aren't working properly, so the void takes longer to move through her large intestine, which is where the water is pulled out of the void. Well, with the neurogenic bowel, since it takes longer for the bowel to push the void through the large intestine, too much water is pulled out, which causes the void to become stuck. Then she gets "bound up" which is where multiple voids are impacted in the large intestine. This is where the Miralax comes in. A daily dose of Miralax allows water to always remain in the large intestine for the void to go through, as that is the Miralax's job (to hold water) and so when she's got that running through her system, the void can come out easier because the large intestine doesn't pull out all the water. Anyways...enough of that lesson.

So we've stopped her on the Miralax because the Pediasure with Fiber seemed to be helping. But after talking to the SB doctor I have realized that Grace will be on the Miralax for the rest of her life. If we stop and start the lax, than her body won't be able to constantly hold water, which will still cause her to get bound up. So we are having to figure out a dose that is good for her on a daily basis, and will do that for her in the morning until further notice. I'm kinda bummed because I don't want her to need things like that, but seeing how simple of a medication it is, I'm thankful it's not worse. It's just a powder I pour into her drink in the morning. No taste, no side effects, and my little one can void better than she has been. So all in all, the monkey on our back isn't a bad one, but it would be nice to see him off our back sometime in the future!

Amanda

Meeting with Spina Bifida Clinic

We've been waiting for this day for a long time...forever really. For 6 months anyways. And that seems like forever to me. And if you all don't remember, Grace does not have spina bifida. But because she's got so many issues that are similar to spina bifida, we are able to go to this clinic. So I got a call from the doctor at the clinic to do a follow up on Grace before we came to see them on Friday, asked some questions, and he described what and who we will be doing/seeing there. It's a three hour appointment...yikes...Grace is going to be one fussy girl! (She'll probably do fine) So we are going to be in a room down a long corridor, and the doctors just come to see us one at a time, examine Grace, ask or answer any of our questions, and write up a report about what they think Grace needs, doesn't need, outlook for future, etc. Then the doctor I talked to on the phone will write up the FINAL report (from everything else the other doc's say) and will mail it to me. Some of the doctors Grace will be seeing:

Neurosurgeon
Neurologist
Orthopedic Surgeon
Physical Therapist
Occupational Therapist
Urologist
Physical Medicine Doctor
Nutritionist
Speech Therapist
Spina Bifida Doctor

So that's who we know for sure will be there, but other times there are others that could "pop in" that want to see Grace too. I'm pretty excited/nervous about this appointment. There's going to be a lot of information given to us, and I don't know if I'm going to remember it all. I'm thinking about taking a recorder so I can have something to play back when I'm writing all my information down, or a video camera to record. Oh, and then the last part is that once all the people have examined her and met with us, we all get together in a room and discuss the next steps for Grace.

The only other news about Grace is that she's going to get another MRI to check the condition of her spine, and they were hoping to have that done before the Friday appointment but I guess Roseville is backed up because they haven't called. So that might not happen for two weeks, but I'm going to try to push it for sometime this coming week.

That's pretty much it. I guess I'll just twiddle my thumbs till Friday!

Amanda

Grace's Eating

I am so excited to share that Grace is doing MUCH better at her eating adult foods. I guess the reason she wasn't do well was because we weren't giving her the chance to understand that eating adult food is different than baby food! I would get scared from the one time she would choke, and go back to bottles and baby food. Well, it's been 4 days since her last bottle!! WOO HOO!! And baby food? WOW. I don't remember...maybe a week? I mean, she has oatmeal with yogurt mixed in for breakfast, but that doesn't really count as baby food because I eat oatmeal too. This is such a huge relief!! So, for brunch today (as I was a sleepy head and slept till 11 ish) she had chicken noodle soup (without the broth) pork n beans and wienies, and banana sliced. I know, doesn't sound very appetizing. But that's ok, because she liked it :)


So here's her mess. I love these bowls because they stick to the tray, and are my life saver!! Of course though, none of the food can stay in the bowls!
What a happy girl eating her brunch!!! She even tried with her spoon a couple times, but that's too hard still.
This is her giving me her silly face. She leans her head down and looks at me through her bangs...if she had any!
And here's the face again. Kinda like "and???" So cute!

Last night for dinner she had a scrambled egg, toast with cream cheese, and some banana and did great with that as well. I'm done with the whole "feeding her" thing unless its liquid like oatmeal...but I know she's going to need to learn to feed herself...that will come for the liquid stuff. I'm going to make a floor mat for under her chair as she likes to drop things off her tray. That's simple enough, just some vinyl with a fabric backing.

Amanda

Grace at Water Therapy
01/06/11

I know that some people might wonder what we do during water therapy so I thought I'd put up a video or two about what we do! Now, this time, at least at the wall, Grace wasn't very cooperative. I'm wondering if it's because she hasn't been feeling well, so she doesn't want to work as hard!




Here's Grace working out on the kickboard. She's supposed to be able to balance on her knees on the kickboard, and obviously, we are still working on it! She's loving the splashing aspect though!




The next video is Grace working on her belly. She is learning how to kick her feet when they are in the water. She seems to forget they are there since they just float! So we gotta help her remember!




And the last video is Grace pushing off the wall. This helps her learn how to have pressure with her legs and PUSH! Like jumping but sideways. She does this pretty well, but is still learning to kick when she's done pushing off.




Well, that's all for now :) Hope you enjoyed them!

Amanda

Water Therapy
01/06/11

We had therapy indoors today because it was so cold and foggy out, and didn't want Grace in that kind of weather. I don't know what was wrong with today, but she was just not cooperative at all! Ok, maybe 5% of the time...This is Grace strapped into the treadmill. This is the second time she's used it, but was NOT happy today. We even had a movie going, and she still didn't like it! But we still did the workout, as it's really good for her to get the feel of walking correctly.
Here's what the treadmill looks like. That is Elaina, her therapist, moving her legs like they are supposed to move when she walks. There were a few times she didn't cry, but all in all, she didn't like it!

Now she's working on walking. We had the ball sitting there to tempt her to move more...well, it took a while! Before this, we tried to have her stand against the wall, but she didn't want to at ALL. And we tried to do the standing at the foam blocks, but she didn't like that either.
Well, she finally made it!! She's bending over, which is great!! And she actually pulled herself back up, and didn't need help doing it except to keep her upright.
And she got it, and she's down! She just wanted to sit sit sit for her therapy session.




This video is her walking :) Didn't she do well?!


Amanda

Grace Being Goofy
01/02/11

I just had to add this quick note to show some goofy times with Grace! I think she loves making us laugh! This particular time, she squeezed herself together and leaned forward..........

....and then she popped up and giggled while waving at herself with both hands!!! Silly girl!


Amanda

Grace's Keyboard
January 2, 2011

Grace can definitely tell a story with her pictures. She's so photogenic. Let's see if you guys can see the story like I did...








So, what's the story? Here's what I think. She's staring to teach herself to type so she can write on her own blog, and was working so hard that she needed to take a rest, so she laid her head down on her keyboard. Then she was inspired by the rest and had to type some more! After that, she sat up, told me what she had typed that entire time, and then, while telling me, something else popped into her head about her bottle she had the night before, so she typed some more!!! Then she was so tired of typing, and her fingers hurt so much, she flipped the keyboard over! The end! What a cutie!!


Amanda

PALS Play day

Today was our first Play-day since it was stopped because of holidays. I'm so glad it's back in the schedule, as well as Glad about her therapy starting back up. I was getting stir crazy because of the long vacation time! So today was pretty fun! There weren't very many people there; just two other moms and their kids. There was a fire drill about 10 minutes upon arriving, but Grace did great! She didn't even cry when the alarm went off! We had to go stand out in the freezing cold, but it was quickly over. I think the only thing that was discouraging, and something we will definitely be working on, was that Grace was scared stiff crawling up the stairs. We had an incident a few days ago where Grace fell down the flight of stairs because she wasn't being watched, and ever since then she has stayed at least two feet away, and gets really scared when she's around stairs. That's good that she stays away, but now teaching her up/down the stairs has become extremely difficult! But, we are working on it! And it's just the whole, "get back on the horse" deal that we are doing :)

Everything else was fun, and while playing at the rice table of course Grace got a sneak snack from there! Yuck! We made shaker today with beads, rice and a take out container from ... they look like the ones from Macaroni Grill but with a see through lid! Pretty fun for Grace! We decided...I decided...not to have Grace paint today, and so I pretty much just let her hang out and go wherever (except the rice table). Here are some pictures...she looks like such a hard picture I tear up every time I see them!

No matter what Grace finds, it's still going into her mouth! After trying to stuff this ball in her mouth, she got a bead in there that was dropped by another child. Luckily, I saw her sneak it in there out of the corner of my eye!
Grace likes these balls because they have rattles inside, and they are soft!
Look at my girly go! I took about 5 pictures of her just crawling because I'm SO proud!!
Grace's bead shaker in front of her. She is happy don't worry. She's just watching a boy throw a tantrum.
Grace chewing on her lid! Look at the awesome chair she's in!!

Checking out the books because I was SO done trying to keep her from eating the rice at the sensory table!
Checking out the books some more. At one point she had fallen over onto her back just from being unbalanced, and just laid there holding a book above her, relaxed and comfortable!

Playing with the farm. There were little animals in there for her to grab!
Acting like a pig! This, sadly, DID NOT last as she doesn't like having things on her head!
Playing in the kitchen area :) At this point she's eating a banana I think...I can't tell!

Grace busy eating her corn :) I love how she has such nutritious stuff on her plate!
Eating pizza...this is what we ended up having for lunch. Yummy!

Time for snack!! See her cute little placemat! The picture of her on that mat makes her look so grown up now! See her trying with a spoon!! Good job Grace!


The first video is of me trying to get her to go onto the stairs by herself, but she's just not having it since she fell down them at home....



This is the second video of us going up the stairs together. We tried...but in the end I had to stop trying because I wasn't going to force her :)





Amanda