Last weekend E did lots of fun things, one of which was going to our favorite playground. E brought her friend J this time.
There is a little playground (for toddlers), and a larger playground for older kids. Elena typically stays at the toddler playground--she still needs assistance for some parts of it--BUT NOT MANY!! She is supervised on steps (but rarely helped, as there are handrails) and while navigating the structure, as there are openings that she may fall through (we have not had a fall scare so far). Her biggest issues on this playground are 1) a hump she needs to go over, typically she almost falls here and has to hold on to the side wall with both hands, 2) a depression section, where almost the same things happen as the hump, and 3) when she is trying to sit down to slide--there is a handlebar above the slide, which she hangs on to, but the gap between her rear and the slide is so large she isn't able to sit down without help (she'd probably let go, and as her butt would hit the surface, her head would too). Still, she is navigating up and down the steps pretty well (some difficulty/frustration with her right leg), and climbing very well, and walking around and under the play structure without assistance!
Whew! Goin' for distance!
She also did the swings (can pump herself, but not start from a stop), and she also went on the big kid playstructure. I was helping another child--and she managed to climb up a chain ladder and into the playstructure all by herself! I'll take a picture of the ladder and post it
HERE.
Sweet!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
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3 comments:
Wow this is so awesome, she is really navigating that well! My daughter had a great PT session yesterday, but it's so discouraging when she refuses to practice walking at home. My daughter Peyton turned 3 in October and still shows almost no interest in pulling up, walking, transitioning in/out of walker etc at home. She is sometimes motivated to sit up herself. Is E significantly motivated by being around other kids and seeing them being mobile?
Hi Meadow,
E is very motivated by other kids. It probably started when we enrolled her in classes at The Little Gym. It was hard on us as parents, as she was the only one with motor issues (for a long time, anyway), but the motivation was there and the kids/parents were nice. E didn't like her walker either...we would start small, like "from the couch to the dinner table", or "the car to the mailbox" type of distances. For pulling up, she was interested--but using wind-up toys (on the floor, then on the couch), or some other tactile/light/noise toy just out of view helped us a lot.
School was our other HUGE motivator, at age 3, she entered the public pre-K program. She is essentially repeating it this year--academically she doesn't need to do it again, but it's all about gross motor and independence at this point!
Wishing you patience and success,
A
Thank you for creating this blog. I'm amazed at how similar our daughters look and that they are the same size! Lizzie is 4, born 10/04, weighs 26 lbs and is 35". She was born at 26 wks and weighed 2 lbs 4 oz. She has started to take independent steps. She also uses a walker. Right now it seems that her confidence is her main roadblock.
However, your videos encouraged me and I wanted to thank you. E is beautiful. Many blessings!
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