Little Gym Action

Tonight we went to our Little Gym Class. Elena has reached a plateau of sorts with this place--she has been in the "Beasts" or "SuperBeasts" category class for several years. Most kids are in it a year. Our problem is that the next class up is without parental intervention, so unless she is independently mobile, she can't move up. The social interaction in our current class isn't terribly enriching for Elena (most of the children are half her age, and don't interact much with each other) but the gross motor challenges are still good for her.

I pieced together a video from tonight. The first segment (flip on the bar) is the very first thing she did. She took more independent steps in this class than we've ever seen her take since the operation. Her leg extension is pretty good, but her heel IS up a little in her right shoe. The last walking segment you can see her do a sort of "hip rotation" when she steps with her right foot. I'm not sure why she does this, but it's pretty consistent. She did it before the surgery too--it was probably worse, but now the rest of her body looks better so it might seem more exaggerated to me. I hope that if/when her right heel can get flat (tendon stretching/lengthening) maybe that will look better. Her hands are up near her shoulders, which she did before the surgery also, but again--not as stiff, and she's able to move them independently even when walking. She also falls better (not shown)--she can bend her knees and fall to one side or fall forward on her knees rather than falling "like a tree".