25.5 months

Gwenny is getting ready for Halloween! 

 I thought Supergirl was appropriate with all the progress she's made this year.

We had our Shriner's visit this past week.  They took x-rays of Gwenny's spine and hips (they both look good.)  We also saw a special care doctor there and an orthopedic specialist (there were actually 4 other people in the room, I'm not sure who they all were.)

  Everyone was so excited for Gwenny's new progress of crawling and they kept calling her "amazing."  We have an appointment with a physical therapist at Shriner's to be fitted for a stander in a couple weeks.  The plan is to use the stander for 30-60 minutes each day to help develop Gwenny's feet and hips with weight bearing.  I'm hoping I'll be able to use the stander during lunch time instead of the highchair.  This will give us an opportunity to get 30-60 minutes of standing per day without cutting into other exercises and activities.

Shriner's doctor said they can also help us with new feet braces after Gwenny has had an opportunity to get proficient at crawling.  Then we can focus on walking.  This could be as early as January 2013 if her progress continues the way it has been going this past month.

Dancing queen!

This photo is significant because it shows that G can get into a half-kneel by herself when she wants something bad enough (in this case, to touch the bath water.)  This is the next step to pull to stand!   

Gwenny still loves to clear shelves and empty drawers, but now that she is more confident in her tall kneel, she is interested in the higher drawers.  (Soon none of my clothes with be safe!)

I bought G a toy microphone a few weeks ago to make it more fun to practice vocalizing.  She was not interested the first several days (like most things we do) but we kept playing with it and I've found her on the ground "singing" into it a few times when she thinks no one is listening.

Gwenny is learning something new every few days.  I was surprised at her focus on the movie The Lorax the other night. 

Today she figured out how to move herself down the stairs (Click here.)  I've been helping her "crawl" up and down the stairs a few times every day and it's just another thing that is happily paying off!

Gorgeous Gwenny noticed the piano from across the room, crawled over to it and pulled herself to a tall kneel to plunk the keys.  She loves the piano!  I am excited to teach her how to play it in a few years.

25 months and CRAWLING!

So...Mama read the book What to do about your Brain-Injured Child by Glenn Doman, and we began scooting ALL THE TIME to follow in the developmental footsteps of well-children.  Gwenny is not a very fast scooter (army crawl, pulling herself with only her arms.) Therefore, getting in a certain amount of distance during the day became time consuming.  I moved toys from one end of the kitchen to the other, sat on the ground and played cheerleader all day (between meals and nap.)   

 A few days after we began hard-core scooting, Gwenny would start from her W-sit, put her hands on the floor, move her left knee forward then her right before flopping to her belly to scoot the distance. 

On the 12th day of hard-core scooting right after breakfast, G started from her W-sit, put her hands on the floor,  moved her left knee forward, then her right, then her left, then her right again!  And kept crawling on hands and knees half way across the kitchen!  Then she flopped to her belly, scooted a few paces, stopped to play with a chair, got back on her hands and knees and CRAWLED THE REST OF THE WAY TO ME. (Youtube link in blue.)

I was teary-eyed and over-joyed!  It was almost a shock that she started crawling on hands and knees so fast after switching tactics.  Again, I find myself frustrated with the medical world on not pointing me in this direction sooner.  But it has taught me something very important- NEVER give up, and if I feel there is something more I can do for my child, but I just don't know what it is, I have to keep looking until I find it.  I need to trust myself enough to be the expert on my child.  I'm already devouring more "alternative" literature to help Gwenny.

Its interesting to note that Mr Doman claims that a child cannot progress physically without progressing in other aspects of development (and visa-versa.)  Since seeing the crawling on hands and knees (Doman calls this "creeping") Gwenny has also used a pincher grasp a few times (development for hands to work towards pointing and holding a writing utensil) and last night surprised us by attempting to pull herself to standing at the couch.  I'm excited to see what the next few months holds for Gwenny Claire.

Here, Gwenny is working on pointing to the picture that is named (Mama or dog.)  Our speech therapist suggested we pick a person she sees all the time and a non-person.  Its hard to tell if she understands, but she seems to be right more than half the time.

As Gwenny starts to show more of her little personality, it has been fun to watch her interact with her Cousin Chloie.

Gwenny's hair is now long enough for piggy-tails! 

Gwenny crawl-scooted (she's alternating) over to help me with the dishes the other day.  This was an exciting moment for me as I've seen other babies be interested in helping with the dishwasher, and now its Gwenny's turn.

Another exciting (and very unexpected) development was Gwenny's first throw at OT a few days ago.   She was happily playing in the ball pit when she picked up a yellow ball with her left hand (barely able to grasp it) and threw it overhand!  We were able to get her to throw again with both hands about 5 times.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get her to do it again at home.

The emerging pincher grasp.

Feeding herself yogurt with a spoon.  She has trouble with the scooping, but can get the spoon to her mouth.

Gwen's PT was "amazed" at her trunk strength and sitting these past 2 visits since we started focusing on scooting all day.

Gwenny's been braver about exploring and trying to escape!



Pa-pop found a grasshopper and introduced Gwenny.

 

We found a used trike with a parent-push handle online for $20.  Gwenny really enjoyed her first ride.  We rubber banded her feet to the pedals and her sitting is now good enough that she can hold her own.  The only downfall is the used trike seems to have a gear issue and doesn't turn very well.  Luckily, there's no need to go fast anytime soon.