Finger update

Megan saw the doctor yesterday to check on her finger.  I told him there hasn't been any change since her last visit.  Her finger still gets stuck and she cannot physically unstick it by herself - meaning she needs to use the floor, table etc to force it straight again.  We talked for a long time and after consulting with the hand surgeon to verify that our treatment plan was correct we decided to keep things the same.  She will continue to wear the brace when she is napping or sleeping.

He said it could take up to 18 months to fix this, though we are certainly praying for a much speedier recovery.  As long as nothing gets worse, meaning she isn't in pain and her finger isn't unable to be straightened, then we will keep this plan.  If something were to change for the worse then we would need to meet with the surgeon to discuss intervention.

Switch has flipped and corner has been turned

Megan has one more corner to turn before she is 100% independently walking but man is she close.  She did amazing at school today and since we have been home I have been following her all over the house; meaning I help her stand up and then she is just walking everywhere.  She is turning when she wants to change directions and walking to places and items.

My sweet little miss is seriously walking around like she owns the place and let me tell you for the small fee of a smile she can have the deed.

Great morning with speech and walking

Yesterday Megan had another wonderful speech session.  She mimicked new sounds (ya-ya) and did everything asked of her.  She sat, engaged with the therapist, the entire session; transitioning to new tasks when ready.  

When we arrived at the office I tried something new - something I have been waiting to do for a long time.  Instead of carrying Megan into the office while Sam walked holding my hand.....I had one kid holding each of my hands.  I walked into the building and down the hall to her therapy room and then back up the hall and to the car with Sam holding my left hand and Megan holding my right hand.  This was a huge moment for me - I was so proud of Megan for being strong and stable enough to do this while Sam was there and proud of Sam for being patient.  

On the way home Megan was using her sounds to get more cheerios - I would give her different sounds to make and when she made them I would refill her cheerios.  

Final 2-year molar trying to make an appearance

Megan has been struggling the past 3 nights with her final 2-year molar.  She is crying, a lot, all night long because she is in pain and can't sleep.  It is very sad because there is nothing more we can do for her.  Last night she didn't want to eat her chicken pot pie because it hurt to chew.  We ended up giving her a bunch of different soft items just so she could eat.

Today I made her banana "ice cream" to help numb the area.  I would put the spoon as close to the tooth as she would let me.

Concern about possible regression due to therapy walker

We have been concerned that Megan was regressing because of the therapy walker.  She started using it on Tuesday at school and then again on Wednesday evening at home.  Thursday afternoon was the first time I tried to get her to walk somewhere just holding one hand and she wouldn't do it, she grabbed my hand with both of her hands and I had to convince her to let go.  Then on Thursday night we tried to get her to walk to us from the walker - meaning she used it to get close to us and then we tried to get her to let go and walk to us but unless we forced her to let go she wouldn't.

Will and I talked about it A LOT.  I talked to all kinds of people about it trying to determine what we should do.  We continued to let her use it to walk around everywhere because we do believe in the premise of it teaching her that she can get from Point A to Point B by walking and that it is fun - and she lights up when she is doing it.

Today we even took her outside with it and let her walk around the driveway and yard with it.  We planned a trip to the library for the purpose of letting her use it somewhere other than just doing laps around the house.  Previously we were holding her hands to walk into and around the library.  She loved getting to walk to/from and around the library.  She loved having the ability to walk down a row and reach up to grab a book.

After dinner and Sam being put to bed it was time to work with her.  We usually use this time at night to work with Megan so that Sam isn't feeling left out and so he isn't in her way (he loves to run in front of her).

Tonight I sat in front of the couch and Will was in his chair and she walked back and forth between us without us having a toy to entice her.  She did it just for the sake of walking; and she did it VERY well.  She was incredibly stable and balanced.  She would start to fall over and was able to correct herself, get steady and then take off again.   She went back and forth between us 16 times.  Halfway through I started having her stand up from her knees when she went from me to Will.  I was holding her back pockets and she was standing up by herself - meaning I wasn't lifting her.  I was steadying her so she wouldn't fall on her head but she did all the heavy lifting by herself.

At one point Will left the room and Megan was walking from me to his chair.  Twice she got in position and started standing up from her knees and I would grab her pockets to help her at the last minute.

When Will came back we were playing kick the ball in the entryway.  I stood her up to kick it to him and instead she took off walking to him.  When she got close he started backing up and she walked almost the entire length of the entry all by herself taking 25ish (I started counting late) steps.  This is by far the most she has ever taken and she was perfectly steady.  Watching her was like watching Sam walk - she was just doing it.

We tried to repeat this a few times but she was very sneaky and would manage to get hold of one of Will's fingers and then she would squeal with laughter the rest of the way as Will kept backing up.

Tonight was amazing to watch and so much fun.

Vogue

Megan continues to love walking around with her walker.  She just beams and claps and has such a great time.  She started watching herself in our appliances a few weeks ago and posing while she is doing it.  She will do the sign for love and look at herself from all angles.  She claps or puts her hands on her head and face.

Yesterday while standing at the oven with her walker she started posing.  She was twisting and turning so much she knocked herself over - though she was able to recover without hitting the floor.

The last three days of amazing growth and maturing

At school today Megan stayed on her feet almost the entire 3.5 hours.  When I dropped her off she was standing at the water table, she stood and played there for 32 minutes.  I told them that if they will put the walker behind her she feels secure and will stand and play and boy did she prove me right.

They said immediately after being done with the water table she went to the craft table for more than 20 minutes.  Because she is confident in her standing her attention span with tasks skyrocketed.  Her teachers are thrilled about her walking/standing and incredibly increased time at tasks.  She walked all over the school today and she is so stinkin cute that everyone fawned over her, which she loves.  On the way home her entire class walked with her.  It took quite awhile because she kept stopping to clap for herself.  She is having so much fun.  

Yesterday was Megan's speech session.  I hadn't said anything to her therapist yet but we were seriously considering a change.  Well...after yesterday we will be staying put, at least for now.  Megan had an amazing session.  She made the sounds she was supposed to make, she imitated actions, she was even saying "mmmm" when she wanted music without being prompted to.  When the therapist would remove the toy she would say "mmm" immediately to get it back. 

After her day with the walker and then the amazing speech session I decided to see if she would feed herself lunch.  I tried within the past week to get her to hold her own sandwich and she wouldn't even touch it, but yesterday was a new day.  She fed herself the entire thing without throwing food once.  She even asked for more when she was finished.  She did great with her snack, ate it without throwing and then again at dinner.  So on day one of trying again she did all three meals perfectly.  

This morning she did knock her bowl of peaches off of her tray but I am not sure she would have had a problem if they hadn't been in a bowl.  She fed herself lunch again today.  She did throw one piece of food but didn't repeat that behavior.  

Walking to her classroom

I have so much more to catch up on but for now just a little update.  Megan used her walker to go down the hall and into her classroom this morning.  She wanted to get down and use it immediately but I made her wait until we were in her hallway which is still probably about 50' long.

She did awesome.  She kept stopping, not because she was wanting to sit down, but because she was observing everything.  A kindergarten class walked by and she was mesmerized   She watched them and then turned her head and kept looking until they were gone.

Therapy walker

Megan's PT at school (the only one she is seeing at the moment) asked me how I would feel about Megan using a walker.  I told her that any tool she thought would assist Megan was okay by me.   Yesterday at school the walker was introduced to Megan and after a few minutes of adjusting to it she was off and moving.

The walker looks just like one you would see an elderly person using, except that the crossbar goes behind Megan.  That little change is what makes this work so well for her.  When she tries to sit down she feels the bar behind her and decides to keep going.

At school she walked back and forth across the room a few times, twice after I got there.  Her PT told me I could bring the walker home as long as I brought it back the next day.  I didn't realize that Megan was the only one using it so I didn't bring it home yesterday because Megan doesn't go to school on Wednesdays.  Debi brought the walker to me on her way home this afternoon and we immediately got Megan in it to get moving.

Megan walked back and forth in our entryway to get to me or Debi.  I had her walking a few times after Debi left while I was making dinner and then she walked to daddy when he got home.  When it was time for dinner we had to use the walker to get to her chair and then from her chair to the living room again after dinner.

Megan then used the walker to walk the length of our house - from the coffee table to the oven and back a few times; then the real fun started.  She walked to me at the front door and then back to daddy who was as far away as he could get.  She repeated this so many times I stopped counting at 10 trips and she wasn't sitting down at all.  She would help turn the walker around to go the other way.  One time she left the walker to play at the window and then stepped back to it.  I estimate that she was walking and standing for at least 10 minutes.

We played chase with her like we do when she crawls and she chased me and Will and Sam across the room.  She went to Sam and gave him full embrace hugs and kisses for a long time.  She walked to her kitchen and then stood there and played for the longest time she has ever done.

She is so happy to be standing/upright and be able to look Sam in the face.  She was loving being able to walk where she wanted.  I have no idea how long it will be before she is comfortable leaving the walker for good but she knows she can - she let go and took a couple of steps tonight already.

So excited to be back at school again

Megan was out of school all last week and yesterday due to the cold a classmate shared with her the previous week.

This morning on the way to school she was so excited.  I used to have a blue film in her window to prevent the sun from being in her face, but I removed it recently and haven't replaced it with anything yet.  This morning she saw cars going by and started blowing kisses to them.  I am not sure if she never noticed before because of the film or if she is just becoming more aware.

When we got to school she was so happy and this time didn't snuggle on me at all as we approached her room.  She did a little dance when her teacher took her from me and gave her hugs and kisses.  She kissed me good-bye and was giggling when I left the room.

Sharing with Sam....or maybe not

This morning during our now daily (helps with Megan's congestion to be upright in the car) Cheerio ride Megan shared hers with Sam, or maybe she didn't.

Sam was fussing that he was out of Cheerios because he always eats his way, way faster than Megan and then he is upset that she is still eating.  So this morning he was fussing and Megan was just sitting there and then she reached into her cup holder and threw a Cheerio to him or maybe at him.

Cleaning, Feeding & Standing

Megan has been sick since Sunday night.  She is doing better this morning so I have a few minutes to catch up.

A few days ago while she was playing in the living room I saw her cleaning up her books.  She has gotten so much better about cleaning up her toys but that was the first time I saw her do it without being prompted. Since then she has done it several times.

Yesterday she fed her baby doll without me doing it first.  She has been doing it for some time now but this was only the second time (I think, I haven't been getting a ton of sleep either) that she has done it without someone doing it first.  She just grabbed the bottle and fed her and then gave her some food on a spoon.  Her pretend play is really expanding and that is a great sign of maturing from her.

Since she has been sick I have been putting her in bed each morning so she can get some extra rest.  I am putting her down when she is at the point of only wanting to lay in the floor.  Amazingly once she hits her bed she gets this crazy burst of energy and has been spending almost her entire rest time standing up in her bed.  She is going from end to end, sometimes standing in the same spot for 5 minutes.

New "word"

Last night Will and I were playing with Megan (making her stand to play) at the coffee table for several minutes.  This was after having her walk 12-14 steps across the room multiple times so she was getting tired.  It wasn't quite her bedtime yet but she went into crazy tired mode so I asked her if she was tired and wanted to go night-night.  And she looked at me and said "ni-ni" - it sounded perfect just missing the 't' on the end.  I looked at Will to make sure I hadn't imagined what just happened and he said "I heard it too, she copied it perfectly".

In true parent form, I tried again to see if she would say it and she said "ni" the second time.

Megan has had the 'n' sound for a while but this is the first time I have heard a distinct 'i' sound and definitely the first time she has said 'night'.

Back to school

Last night not too long before bedtime I told Megan that tomorrow (today) she was going back to school.  She smiled and started cleaning up the books she had been reading like she was ready to go.

Today when I dropped her off she was excited to be at school but started snuggling me once we got into the hallway leading to her room.  She did great with drop-off and gave me big kisses.  They said she had a wonderful day and that there weren't any issues with her having been out for so long.

Tomorrow will be her first Friday at school.  It won't mean anything to her since it will just be the second day of school for her and then she will be off again; but I will know it is a new day for her.  It has been easier on me sending her back today than I thought it would be.  I snuggled her extra long last night and then again this morning before school and before nap too.

Officially in size 3T

Megan wore a new outfit today that was a size 3T.  The pants fit her pretty well, except of course the waist was huge and the shirt was a little baggy but not bad.  She is sleeping in her big girl jammies tonight and boy does she look cute.