Wednesday, December 15, 2010

November to December 15 update

Katie is growing and developing nicely! She was 15 lbs 7 oz on Nov 15 and her head grew 1/2 cm. She is doing very well and her therapists remind me that with "over-achievers" such as Katie we need to focus on how far they've come not where we want them to be. She is not crawling and is not making big strides toward crawling, but she has made huge strides, leaps and bounds in so many other ways!! She is talking! She says 'all done', 'hi', and 'bye'. She can wave and clap. Now a clap seems so simple, but with her left sided weakness her therapists are very impressed. She can turn her left hand and it was very stiff, but now she is starting to move her left arm slightly to meet her flailing right hand and arm. Simple games that annoy most parents, such as the dropping game, is a blessed skill that we celebrate with Katie. She still has trouble with her left and purposefully dropping. This makes things such as eating with her left difficult!! She scoots on her bottom and is a pro at spinning in circles on her tummy. Just yesterday she was trying to figure out how to move forward to get something out of reach. SO thinking about crawling is a step towards crawling!! She struggles with many things physically, but it is so encouraging to see her flourishing cognitively. She is stubborn!!! But her therapist say as it is rough for the parents; stubborn and opinionated is great for the child! It shows a higher cognative level! Today she started playing peek-a-boo!!! so exciting! Katie is doing great!
Katie is still doing one hour of physical therapy and occupational therapy twice a week and one hour of vision/ infant stimulation therapy once a week. In the last month Katie experienced craniosacral therapy. This kind of therapy is based on light touch therapy to help the body regulate itself properly. It is pretty cool. Katie and I experienced it together at a seminar, so we got 3 sessions for no cost. Also last week Katie started getting massages, through a chiropractor. I asked the therapist to start focusing on her left shoulder as this is her primary area of weakness, and a critical point for crawling. She has had only two sessions, but I have noticed a difference in her shoulder. She is starting to use it more and it is more relaxed and therefore easier to use and strengthen!
Please pray that she will crawl soon! She is on a two week break from all therapies around Christmas, so we will work at home. Just please pray! We are willing to accept that she may skip crawling, but it has many benefits for cognitive development that we would rather not skip it. But again focusing on the wonderful amazing progress she has made and the beautiful, healthy, joyful girl she is!!! Katie is a blessing! This journey has been difficult, painful and exhausting, yet rewarding, healing and a blessing!! I struggle daily with expectations for her, and for myself!! I pray daily for God to work in me and give me the strength, patience and joy to live life for Him!! It has been the longest 10 1/2 months of my life, but an amazing adventure and it is just the beginning!! Thank you for your prayers!!!