my true gave to me. . .
trim around the new attic door. Sorry, no picture this go around. I am being lazy today and didn't take a picture and upload it to the computer and then the blog . . . Wait, I am not being lazy, I just ran around the house like crazy but got nothing done. So, I am cutting corners on the blog today.
Jan to the Rescue! Jan is our Early Childhood Intervention Caseworker. She came by today to check out Ellie's progress. Ellie had just woken from a nap and was a little out of sorts. So during the visit I fed her. Bear Bear likes to "hold" her bottle with both hands. This is a BIG step. Bringing her hands to midline was our goal for the past 4 weeks. We had been doing all of these positions to get her to do just that. She can now grasp a rattle in the side lying position and she puts both thumbs towards her mouth while back lying or sitting.
Putting weight on her legs was also one of our goals. While I was burping Ellie, she pushed up on her legs and held her head up. Jan almost fell off the couch. Ellie is advanced in some areas, normal in others, and behind in others in comparison to children with the typical 46 chromosomes.
As seen in previous pictures in the blog, Bellie Bear is an excellent head lifter in the tummy time position. That being said, she still needs to gain a lot of head control. This is where she is behind. She hangs to the left or to the right while sitting and occasionally during tummy time--hence the accidental rolling over. Jan went over some new techniques to encourage Ellie to keep her head midline and to develop good neck and shoulder muscles.
Some of this is due to DS. It is not just hyptonia, but these children are known for performing "atypical" movements. Ellie's favorite is the back and neck arching. She looks like a baby gymnast. Watch out Shawn Johnson! This stretches the front of the neck and belly but it doesn't help overall trunk support and head control. Jan walked us through a series of exercises that counter-balance her crazy flexibility.
Nonetheless, Ellie Marie is doing great and is developing more on schedule (and ahead in some areas) than most children with DS--not that it is a competition.
On a side note, Andrew made lunch today and yesterday and he made dinner last night.
Yesterday's Lunch: Mac N Cheese with hot dogs
Yesterday's Dinner: Steak on the Big Green Egg
Today's Lunch: Hamburger
I think Andrew should permanently take over the cooking in this household :-)
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Cecostomy Tubes R Us
Here we are - two posts in 30 days! It's scandalous, I tell you! Seriously though, I bet you all thought that I abandoned ship and woul...
It's been 3 days since you've put up a picture of your bundle of cuteness. I'm having withdrawals.
ReplyDelete~Maria