Mom Solo

Jason is gone for close to three weeks, out of the country for work. We all miss him terribly. When he's here, he's gone a lot of the time, as he's in night school until 2012--so, basically, it's The Mommy Show a lot of the time.

With him gone, it's been tougher than usual. Don't get me wrong--I have help. Friends, occasionally my parents, and of course our Fantastic Nanny Annette. But I am more tired than usual--E's appointment schedule, my appointment schedule, my work, and other stuff is *ahem* a challenge right now.

But look...it's all worth it. We made this video last night to send to Daddy.



Yup. Those are my girls. Both in bunny slippers, and bare feet. YUP. BOTH OF THEM!!

Barefoot and Standing--Standing UP, that is!

We do "frog poses" every night as our last stretch before bedtime; the intention is that E feel her weight shift to her feet, and try to get her feet flat on the ground. She can probably get her feet as flat as mine in a Frog Pose.

Then we try to stand up. Ideally without her knees coming together. We've never been successful.

Until today.



Disclaimer: we tried this 17 times. But that was E's choice! This clip is #11--she was pretty determined. I plan on mashing up those videos and putting it on The Doodle.

In a perfect world, she'll keep her knees apart, and stay standing once she's up (instead of immediately moving). But tonight? THIS IS AWESOME SAUCE.

Great job, E!

Beach Recap, picture style

Some highlights from our Beach Trip! There were 18 of us (my immediate family, and extended family on my father's side). Thanks so much to the Hawk for organizing this, and to my Dad and sister Kate for taking most of these pictures.
































I feel bad for not including pictures of the rest of the family that were there...but there were so many pictures that I loved of my own kiddos that I decided to just put up these. No hard feelings, fam.

And I'd put captions on them, but I am SO TIRED.

Beach Walker: Day 2

We made some adjustments==cut off about 3 1/2" from the pipe stems, and then put the golf cart wheels back on. The result was...well, MAGICAL!

Unfortunately I pressed the picture button instead of the video button on my camera when she first started to use it--still--what a day! I'm so proud of my girl!





Today was a GREAT day on the beach...Elena got to move about freely in packed sand, wet sand, little tidepools--even up to our shade tent in deep sand (she made it most of the way). Another bonus is I got a break--carrying E is hard work. It was wonderful to walk with Elena down to the surf--and not have to carry her. Just a super great day.

Rockering Live

In case you're not sure what rockering means, here's a pretty good example.

We've been working on strengthening E's ankle muscles with the hope she can dorsiflex better, with the hope she'll be able to walk without her AFOs on someday. Here's what it looks like now--note that she still drags her toes (it used to be her entire top of her foot last year), and that as long as she walks slowly, she can get her entire foot flat on the ground sometime during her stride. This flat portion of the stride is very new (hadn't happened before her SDR operation). You can also see how badly broken down her arch is--"rockering"--in the rear view video (do I even call this an arch? I don't know).

Keep in mind one of her hands is along the wall, and I am holding the other.

New Year's Goals

I have to write "Goals" instead of "Resolutions", b/c that's really what they are. Here is what I've come up with for E this year--some of this has been discussed with her therapists, some of it is my own design. In no particular order:

--E will be completely potty trained. We are really making some great progress on this. E can use a standard potty without extra equipment entirely by herself, as long as she is wearing knit pants and her shoes with AFOs. She can undress, get on the toilet, wipe herself (I only trust her to do this with urine, though), dress herself, flush, and then walk to the sink to wash hands. Right now, I say outside an open door while she goes potty (just in case she runs into trouble, or she needs a voice cue). She needs more instruction on how to wipe herself after a bowel movement, and how to undress/dress herself when wearing something other than pants.

--E will make some progress to get her clothes on herself--including socks and pants. Right now, E can undress herself completely if she is wearing anything but tights. We have not worked on dressing herself at all, with the exception of putting on her jacket.

--E will be able to ambulate barefoot at the pool without scraping the tops of her feet into a bloody mess. I don't care if she uses her crutches, or walks with a hand held--just the difference of not injuring herself is a huge win. Our dorsiflexion drills and using her sneakers at home and during CME exercises (without braces) are helping this effort.

--E will be able to move backwards in some way. I tried this a while ago, asked E to take a few steps backwards. She did pretty well--she did three steps in place. Backwards is a whole different game.

--Elena will jump, and get some air under her feet, without holding on to something. Even if it's a millimeter. She can almost do this, her confidence and desire is there. I didn't say she would stay upright afterwards, though.

--E will be able to go up and downstairs herself, with supervision. E can do this with one hand on a standard railing and the other hand held. I'd love to be able to just be next to her without her hand holding mine in a death grip.

--Elena will be able to hold hands with a friend and walk a little. Normally if another little person tries to hold E's hand while they move around, they both end up on the floor. E's balance is getting better, so she might be better equipped to deal with being tethered to someone her own size.

And Resolutions for me:

--Keep up with this blog. Especially reach out to those who have supported me by reading it. Thank you.

--Commit to doing CME exercises with E at home. Once a week, for a good 20+minute session with block equipment; certain exercises a minimum of 4 days a week (ideally every day, but I'm being realistic).

--Spend some one-on-one time with Vivian. I spend A LOT of time and effort on Elena, and I think that is important...but I want Viv to know she is equally loved and cherished.

--Try to find some time for myself. I know all you parents out there are like, OF COURSE, if only that were so easy. HA!