You have grown so much this month - every day you look more and more like a little girl and less and less like my little baby :(
Your hip joints are stretching out really nicely - nice enough for you to finally be able to get your toes into your mouth! You take every opportunity to try to bite your own toes, but have also figured out that it works better when you're laying down than sitting up. Gravity has taken over a couple of times now - including this morning in the Shriner lobby...their industrial carpet isn't quite as soft as our living room carpet is so you've got a nice red spot on your head now :(
You're also flexible enough to almost lay flat on the ground when you pitch your fits...
(In this one you weren't pitching a fit as much as trying to get away from Grandpa, but you do the same thing before a fit starts)
We got some letters, numbers and shapes for you to use with your flannel board and you love taking them on and off! I'm hoping to start working on learning colors and shapes pretty soon - you pick up on things so quickly I don't think it will take long!
You continue to love reading books and singing songs. Your favorites right now are "My God is So Big" "5 Little Monkeys" and "The Wheels on the Bus". We read a few books (or the same book a few times) each night and you usually end up taking a book with you to bed to keep looking at.
You love asking "what/where" with people and things - anytime someone walks out of the room (or you throw something off your table or from your chair) you hold your hands up like you're asking "where did they go?" Or "what happened?"
You have really started to enjoy brushing your hair and teeth each night. Your hair is long enough that we have to fix it every day (which you are NOT a fan of) or I have to cut it...and we're not going there yet!!! Your back molars have started coming in so we've had a couple of days of crankiness the last week or so. That is, a few days of crankiness on top of the extreme srubborn streak that has made its appearance this month :)
You continue to love the water and have really enjoyed the few times you've gotten to go "swimming" this summer. Bath time is your favorite and you will often ask for a bath any time we walk past the bathroom.
No new signs this month, but you're saying Mamamamamama all the time now and we've gotten a few rounds of bababababa also! Your facial expressions continue to impress everyone - we can tell exactly what you're thinking or what you want just from your expressions! You've started giving "real" kisses this month, as opposed to just blowing kisses at people, and using your arms to give hugs, instead of just leaning your head toward the person you're hugging. You've also gotten a lot more cuddly, which I absolutely love :)
Bible Class is one of your favorite times of the week now - you are usually really excited on Sunday mornings and chatter excitedly all the way to the church building. You've started interacting with the teacher, and sometimes the other kids, more and more over the last couple of weeks.
Your appointment at Shriner went MUCH more quickly than last time! They fitted you for some new AFOs (ankle and foot orthotics - aka: your boots) and are glad to see that the last ones have stretched your foot downward (plantar flexion) really quickly. They will be adding a plastic piece to the front of your new ones to give them an even deeper stretch when you've got them on to push the progress along. The doctor also ordered a pair of shoes that will allow you stand as flat footed as possible (the sole will be wedged since you're mostly standing on your toes) to help encourage you to put more weight on your heels and start pushing through your legs to your heels more. Other than that, the lower extremities are moving along and doing really well. They were glad to hear you're doing so well in the stander and that we're in the process of getting the gait trainer. Hopefully the shoes will help make rapid progress on that!
The other doctor said your upper extremities look beautiful! She was so impressed watching you improvise and "make do" as you were manipulating the blocks and toys they had. She was thrilled that you have already figured out how to work around your fingers not extending all the way. She said they are the opposite of the lower extemities - they're not as concerned with positioning, bracing, etc. because it's more important for you to discover, explore and learn for yourself to help develop your fine motor skills.
The next steps with Shriner will continuing the AFO work on your feet until we are ready to look into the surgery to correct your vertical talus. Unfortunately, they're wanting to wait until your "pulminary issues" are cleared up before they look at any surgeries. In other words, your sleep study in September needs to go REALLY well so we can make steps toward getting your trach out before they'll look at foot surgery =/
Overall, really good appointment - we'll go back in late November and continue making progress! You did really well in the car also, but were WORN OUT by the time we got home!
You're doing so well and continuing to impress us all! Love you Baby Girl!
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