PP did so many wonderful things today! She signed "open" for the first time at Speech Therapy at Children's! It was monumental! A little while after that, when the therapist asked PP to point to her mouth while showing her what to do, PP pointed to her own mouth and made a "mmm" sound. This is also very big! She is imitating the action while making a deliberate, consonant sound. Consonants are a harder sound to make so I can see that she is gaining strength in her face. She will be able to move her muscles the way she wants them to, eventually. It all takes lots of practice. I have been using sign language with PP since she was a tiny baby, and she is just recently able to sign back to me. We have always practiced daily (slightly obsessively) to keep things progressing and to keep challenging PP.
We have even started to do back to back therapies. Days like today, when we have two therapies in one day, our schedule runs very tight. It is hard for PP to get on track some days, but she seems to do very well when we have a busy day. I can tell she gets tired, but I know how much I can push her until she becomes Crazy Child. Days like today can make her CC. The ones where we have three therapies are even worse, though they are few and far between.
Today, we got out the door late, but made it to ST at Children's on time! Don't ask me how that happened! Therapy went very well today, and when we got home it was about ten after eleven. Oh man! Laura, the Speech Therapist from the school, was coming at noon! I needed to get some chores done and start some lunch! I did it, even though I had a certain someone clinging to my leg the entire time. With lots of coffee, I am so awesome at time management. The two of us were sitting calmly at the table eating our PB-n-J's when Laura arrived. During lunch, Laura and I talked about the different things that PP has been doing the past month, periodically stopping our conversation to admire something about PP. Even if she can't talk, PP is a very social girl. She likes to feel included in the conversation.
Anyways, during Laura's visit PP signed "help" and "go" for the first time! I was astounded. Seriously, little girl, four milestones in one day?! Heck yes! I am so proud of her! Now that she has mastered walking, she will master communication. This process will take a long time, or so I've been told. We will see what PP wants to do!
She is snoozing now, what a little sugar dumpling!
Cocoa and Cookies
XoX
Momma Lace thinks her little bug is SO cool, she wants to tell the world about it! Penelope has a rare genetic disorder, Weaver Syndrome, which makes life a bit different for her family...here's our story!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Hello, Goodbye.
What an eventful spring!
First of all, I completed spring semester at MCTC with a 3.6 GPA! Wahoo! I am so proud of myself, just had to brag a bit :)
My lil PP is even MORE to brag about! She is becoming an expert walker! She can manage moderately uneven surfaces, which is huge! She can walk all over the yard, step over small bumps (uneven sidewalks, area rugs, etc.) and she can step sideways to avoid walking on something that will make her trip. She doesn't always watch where she is going, or control the speed of her walking, but I am always hovering! Hah! She expects people to catch her when she falls and will sometimes do it on purpose, we call it checking in. It's like consistently needing the intense sensation of a Trust Fall. Physical contact is very important to becoming a friend of PP. The more physical you get with her, the more she will like you. So, I should be flattered when she head-butts my throat, right? Ouch! Teaching a two year old to be gentle through sign language and positive reinforcement is hard.
There are funny sides to this physical contact infatuation! Going upstairs is a gas; she will rest her head in my lap as we are walking up the stairs, then kick her legs out "Liu Kang Bicycle Kick" style. She loves to hold my hand. If her mood is right, she gives me hugs and kisses. She likes to jump on the bed with me. Being PP's momma is really, really fun!
People LOVE PP! She is so shy, and it just makes people want to say hello and complement her glasses. She will still flirt with strangers if she's feeling particularly sassy that day. We have been making a point to get her out into public places to help her become more at ease with new surroundings and strangers, but she get's overwhelmed quickly. She used to fuss and cry and throw her head around if we went into a store, now she sits calmly in the cart for a little bit. She is shy for the most part. She's so cute when she is shy! She will put her head down, but still look out from under her hair with a smile on her face. PP is a shy-flirt.
A new and exciting area of development we are getting into is pretend play. It is so FUN! We have tea parties, we feed the dinosaurs, we kiss and hug sock monkeys, we rock out when a good song is on and we lay on the lawn to point at the sky. I always talk about the differently shaped clouds even if there aren't any. PP is a girly little girl, with her jingly bracelets, pink princess purse, and dress up sessions!
Our first Urology appointment is next week, the 30th. I am nervous and curious about what they will say. PP could just change to a different medication, or she could need surgery. EEEK! Keep those fingers crossed for us.
We are heading into the end of the semester at school, and today was our last day at ECFE for the summer. I am sad, I will miss the teachers, but the families are planning on keeping a regular play date to keep in touch and keep supporting one another. I am so grateful for the parents of Special Friends. They are such an amazing group of people. The teachers who visit PP will also be changing because some of PP's teachers don't work through the summer.
Next fall, we will prepare for PP to enter pre-school. I am excited and anxious for this new phase! The teachers and I talk about next steps when we come within a few months of achieving preset goals from the beginning of the year, pre-school is on the horizon. PP will be able to enter school when she turns 3 in November. She will leave the house on a bus, without me, go for a few hours for however many days a week the teachers and I think is appropriate. By that time we will have a PCA to help out as well, so our lives will change dramatically in the next few months. These are very positive changes for our family! We are growing and changing just like we are supposed to.
An unforeseen change for next year is the deletion of the Service Coordinator position, which means we lose Stephanie. Yeah, I am losing my inside link to HC, and it sucks. I am really pissed off actually. It's back to the drawing board to find a new person to help me on a regular basis within the county. It is possible, but it takes a lot more work than dealing with Stephanie alone. At least I finally have the fiasco with HC straightened out for the time being! It turns out that PP wasn't actually Certified Disabled yet, the approval for the TEFRA program would provide us with that disability status. Thankfully it is all squared away! Now I can move on to the next (more fun) stage of getting different services for PP as she grows up.
There will always be ups and downs. I do have my bad days when I hit a road block, but I have way more good days that make me jump over those obstacles. I set goals and make a point to get them done and it is very rewarding. I am so happy with the way things are going! I finally feel like I've reached light at the end of the tunnel, and by this time next year life will be even better! Wahoo!
Strawberry Fields Forever
XoX
First of all, I completed spring semester at MCTC with a 3.6 GPA! Wahoo! I am so proud of myself, just had to brag a bit :)
My lil PP is even MORE to brag about! She is becoming an expert walker! She can manage moderately uneven surfaces, which is huge! She can walk all over the yard, step over small bumps (uneven sidewalks, area rugs, etc.) and she can step sideways to avoid walking on something that will make her trip. She doesn't always watch where she is going, or control the speed of her walking, but I am always hovering! Hah! She expects people to catch her when she falls and will sometimes do it on purpose, we call it checking in. It's like consistently needing the intense sensation of a Trust Fall. Physical contact is very important to becoming a friend of PP. The more physical you get with her, the more she will like you. So, I should be flattered when she head-butts my throat, right? Ouch! Teaching a two year old to be gentle through sign language and positive reinforcement is hard.
There are funny sides to this physical contact infatuation! Going upstairs is a gas; she will rest her head in my lap as we are walking up the stairs, then kick her legs out "Liu Kang Bicycle Kick" style. She loves to hold my hand. If her mood is right, she gives me hugs and kisses. She likes to jump on the bed with me. Being PP's momma is really, really fun!
People LOVE PP! She is so shy, and it just makes people want to say hello and complement her glasses. She will still flirt with strangers if she's feeling particularly sassy that day. We have been making a point to get her out into public places to help her become more at ease with new surroundings and strangers, but she get's overwhelmed quickly. She used to fuss and cry and throw her head around if we went into a store, now she sits calmly in the cart for a little bit. She is shy for the most part. She's so cute when she is shy! She will put her head down, but still look out from under her hair with a smile on her face. PP is a shy-flirt.
A new and exciting area of development we are getting into is pretend play. It is so FUN! We have tea parties, we feed the dinosaurs, we kiss and hug sock monkeys, we rock out when a good song is on and we lay on the lawn to point at the sky. I always talk about the differently shaped clouds even if there aren't any. PP is a girly little girl, with her jingly bracelets, pink princess purse, and dress up sessions!
Our first Urology appointment is next week, the 30th. I am nervous and curious about what they will say. PP could just change to a different medication, or she could need surgery. EEEK! Keep those fingers crossed for us.
We are heading into the end of the semester at school, and today was our last day at ECFE for the summer. I am sad, I will miss the teachers, but the families are planning on keeping a regular play date to keep in touch and keep supporting one another. I am so grateful for the parents of Special Friends. They are such an amazing group of people. The teachers who visit PP will also be changing because some of PP's teachers don't work through the summer.
Next fall, we will prepare for PP to enter pre-school. I am excited and anxious for this new phase! The teachers and I talk about next steps when we come within a few months of achieving preset goals from the beginning of the year, pre-school is on the horizon. PP will be able to enter school when she turns 3 in November. She will leave the house on a bus, without me, go for a few hours for however many days a week the teachers and I think is appropriate. By that time we will have a PCA to help out as well, so our lives will change dramatically in the next few months. These are very positive changes for our family! We are growing and changing just like we are supposed to.
An unforeseen change for next year is the deletion of the Service Coordinator position, which means we lose Stephanie. Yeah, I am losing my inside link to HC, and it sucks. I am really pissed off actually. It's back to the drawing board to find a new person to help me on a regular basis within the county. It is possible, but it takes a lot more work than dealing with Stephanie alone. At least I finally have the fiasco with HC straightened out for the time being! It turns out that PP wasn't actually Certified Disabled yet, the approval for the TEFRA program would provide us with that disability status. Thankfully it is all squared away! Now I can move on to the next (more fun) stage of getting different services for PP as she grows up.
There will always be ups and downs. I do have my bad days when I hit a road block, but I have way more good days that make me jump over those obstacles. I set goals and make a point to get them done and it is very rewarding. I am so happy with the way things are going! I finally feel like I've reached light at the end of the tunnel, and by this time next year life will be even better! Wahoo!
Strawberry Fields Forever
XoX
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Pictures.
In college world, it's finals week. I am terribly busy and overwhelmingly stressed. One week left!
The very least that I can do is show some pictures. They make me smile, and I hope they make someone else smile too! Here are some photogs from the past few months.
Here's...NELLY
\
February 2, 2012
February 10, 2012
March 9, 2012
April 16, 2012
Happy Hump Day!
XoX
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)