Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Pool's open

Well, the pool opened this weekend and E can't wait to get wet! In the past, the baby pool has been a real drag for us parents...we had to be there b/c she couldn't balance in the pool when sitting, and the pool was too slick for her when she was standing. Not to mention the fact that lots of spasticity and really cold water does not make it easy for E to move in the pool. It was very labor intensive, and it was very emotionally difficult, as the environment really showed how different Elena was from the other neighborhood kids.

Well, things are different now, thank goodness!

SDR has really decreased E's spasticity--granted, she still has tightness, but it's so much less now, she can actually put both heels close to the ground even in cold water. She needs to be reminded to "squish her feet" often. Since E doesn't dorsiflex well, she scrapes the tops of her feet pretty badly. I bought some 'water socks'--some breathable sock with a tread bottom--which protected her feet well (but they won't last long).

Elena moves differently than other kids, her tone is obvious--but she can move now, I don't have to be in the baby pool every waking moment. She can cruise along the edge, in either direction, and smush her heels down relatively well. She can operate a water pistol while sitting on the edge of the pool (she used to really straighten her legs when concentrating with her hands). She didn't get her whole body in the water (it was frigid) but in the bathtub, she can alternatively kick her legs from the knee down (but it's labored and slow).

We'll see what kind of pool/swimming progress we can make this year...I have the feeling we'll be spending lots of time there.

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