Therapy

Speech Therapy:

Melissa was here this morning and we had a good long talk about the cups. After my post the other day, I began to wonder about all the different cups we were using and all the different things we were trying and was worried that in all our trials, we were just confusing her. Melissa agreed that that might be happening. So we started over. What is our goal? To wean her to a cup or to continue breastfeeding? Breastfeeding! So with that in mind, we made our first decision. Since I will provide her with all her fluids, we will only try a straw cup since that is the goal that we have now set. We will only try water, since that is what she seems to like. One cup, one liquid...stick with it and see where it goes.

We are also working on signing some simple words. "All done" "Eat" "More" and a few others if I think of it, but mostly at the table is when we use them. She hasn't shown interest in them at all, but this week she did her first sign. "Prayer". We sat down to dinner and I usually hold her hands as everyone prays, but the girls started saying the prayer before I folded her hands and she just slapped them together all by herself! She does it all by herself now as soon as she hears them start to say it! We are so proud.

Occupational and Developmental Therapy:

Both were here last week, but will alternate weeks from now on. They work on many of the same things with Aubrey right now, except OT works more on the gross motor items and DT works more on the fine motor things. We are continuing work on her crawl...it is a slow process, but she is making progress. When I hold her, I am trying to keep her knees tucked up in a cuddle/crawl possition so that she is used to it when she is on the floor. When on the floor in all fours, we rock her back and fourth and sing songs, she likes that. We are also putting a mirror on the floor for her to look at herself. She loves her mirror image and so we are hoping that moving towards her "friend" will help motivate her. She really needs to strengthen her arms so that she is able to lift one arm to move and support her weight with the other. We are also still working on getting in and out of sits...

She is doing really well at standing for longer periods of time. To give you reference, she never...I mean, ever...put her legs down to put weight on them. In July, we started working on this. It was almost a two person job to hold her knees while she stood by something. Three months later, she can stand at her music table for 10 minutes, without any help, before she needs a little break and then right back at it. She is also learning to pull herself up on things. Imagine, the first time she ever pulled herself up to standing without help, was by the bath tub! She only does it by the bathtub! (I just happened to have the camera in the bathroom that first day.)

Swimming:

This kid is a fish...as long as she isn't cold! She takes regular swim lessons once a week, just like her sisters do, only at this point I get in the pool too. She is in a very small class with a little girl who is just her size, so that has been a blessing. They are both at just the same skill level and size, and they love doing things together. They sing songs and rhymes. She is learning to kick her legs and pull with her arms. The kicking is coming along, but the only thing she uses her arms for is to splash! She can swim under water for 7 seconds and loves the high five she gets from Mr. Mike at the end of each swim. She can hold onto the wall for a short amount of time and loves to stand on the steps and play with the swim rings. It may just be coincidence, but we really think that it has helped her physically get stronger and more confident on dry land!