Going down stairs & check 2 off

Megan has learned to get down the stairs.  She can now scoot on her bottom all the way down.  She practiced on the bottom three stairs for a few days and then yesterday started from the top and she was so proud of herself (me too).

I get progress sheets on Megan each day that outline what IEP goals she worked on that day and how she did with it.  They have been working on her OT goals each day, specifically threading beads onto a pipe cleaner and stacking foam blocks.  Both of these are things I told them Megan could already do, but she needed to do them for the teachers for them to "count".  Well, today's note said they had moved to working with using scissors because Megan "does good" with the other two items.  She completed two of her 5 goals and gets to move to something new.  Yay Megan!  There are things about her new school that I am still adjusting to, but I am definitely pleased with it.

Recovering from ear infection and puzzles

Megan wasn't feel great this past weekend and then on Monday she coughed off/on all night.  On Tuesday I got her in to see the doctor and they said she had an ear infection.  That cleared up some things, on Monday we were in the car and she would just start screaming in pain for no apparent reason - her ear was obviously hurting.

She is doing better today, she started doing better yesterday afternoon.  She feels good, but she is still really struggling to sleep at night because she is coughing so she is a little tired.

Megan is more interested in puzzles right now than she has ever been.  She would play with one for a minute or two but then move on to something else when she couldn't get the pieces to fit.  We have been playing with puzzles a lot the past 2 days and she is doing really well with them.  I see her using a technique that I know they have been using with her at school.  It is good to see progress and that things are sinking in.

Possibly congenital trigger finger

The weekend before Megan's ortho appointment I noticed the ring finger on her right hand had started getting stuck.  It was extremely easy to release it though Megan's finger can't do it under its own power it has to be helped.  I talked to the orthopedist about it and this one said that no amount of buddy-taping would fix it; that is can come and go, etc.  It is still very minor but something we have to keep an eye on.

He mentioned that this can be congenital, though I haven't researched it yet.  It makes me sad to think that she could possibly have another surgery in her future.

Catching up from our new home in Texas

Megan loves our new home; she loves all of the open space she has to walk and push her shopping cart, baby stroller and wagon.  She will walk back and forth non-stop until we distract her with something else.  She was also thrilled to see stairs again.  The first time she saw them she climbed up and down them until we made her stop.  Because we have spindles she can even walk up them when she wants to.

She can now climb on and off of her bouncy horse by herself.  She can also climb her slide by herself, though she still needs supervision with it since she sometimes tries to skip a step.

She has also learned how to climb onto and off of all of our furniture.  She had started trying to get on our furniture before we moved but she was only successful about half of the time.

Megan has been feeding herself for a couple of months now.  She is even using the spoon with breakfast with Will holding onto it to keep her from throwing it - but she is doing all of the work herself.  She is getting good with using signs or the pictures to ask for "more" food.  We are adding more pictures into her day to help her communicate.  Two nights ago she used her green sheep book to tell us that she wanted to go to bed.  She found the page with the bed sheep on it and kept touching it until we figured out what she wanted.

A couple of weeks ago Megan was yelling to get my attention and I told her to use her words.  She stopped, got a look on her face like she was really thinking about it and then she tried to say something - she opened her mouth and tried to say something but nothing happened; then she got upset and grunted and yelled at me.  It was a great thing that she tried but sad that she couldn't do it and got so frustrated.  She has started using more and more signs again.

Yesterday at Megan's ortho appointment she was identifying animals on the pages of a new book.  I told her what they were and then would change the pages and go back and ask her to touch the animal and she would do it.  She did great.

Megan has been walking a lot in public now.  She was in the grocery cart the other day and was unhappy, so I took her out.  She wanted to get down and then she proceeded to follow Will as he walked through the store.  She then walked all over the sidewalk outside while Will was checking out.

Since being in Texas Megan has gotten new glasses (twice, because she broke the first pair) and new orthotics.  Her new glasses a little stronger and she likes them.  She still messes with them and will take them off but it is so much less than with her old ones.  She looks so cute in them too.  Her new orthotics just slip into her shoes to give her a little support, but she does great without them too.  Her new orthopedist said he would never have guessed she had low muscle tone when he saw her.  Her alignment is the same when she is barefoot.  We did see a difference when she got them so we will keep using them, she seems more confident and she doesn't fatigue like she was without them.

Doing really well

Megan had another great day today at school and then she did so awesome tonight.  She is walking really well and chatting up a storm.  We were playing tonight and I was getting her.  At one point Will told her to walk to me and she sat down, shook her head no and said "no no".

First day of Pre-K 4

Megan started school today and she did great.  She was so excited when we walked down the hall, granted she didn't want to walk much because there were people everywhere.  She was clapping and smiling and giving me kisses all the way to her door.  Her substitute teacher was standing in the hallway and Megan went right to her.  I took her back to say good-bye and after my sweet hug and kisses she got down, walked up to the table, pulled out a chair and climbed into it.  She was ready for her classmates to arrive so they could have some fun.

She was hungry and tired when I picked her up (she had a rough night) and still as happy as could be.

Speech and communication progress, growth spurt/new shoes, cousins

Megan started making great progress 2 weeks before we left NC.  She verbalized her first two-word phrase.  She was playing bubbles with the therapist and had been saying "mor" and then said "mor buh-buh".  It was a VERY exciting day.  She continued to verbalize "mor" and even said "o-en" for open during her last therapy session.  She has always "pointed" at things with her entire hand but has also started pointing with just one finger, which isn't a big difference to me, but it is on the checklist; so yay Megan!

She started climbing/walking like crazy at the playground by our house just before we left too.  She was walking over the hump bridge without holding onto anything, and Sam still doesn't do that.  She was so proud of herself.  She learned how to climb onto the coffee table and can get up on our couch if she tries really hard, it is a little too high for her to reach easily.  

About 2 weeks before we left NC Megan had an appointment with her orthopedist and he said he thought she would outgrow her orthotics in 3-6 months so we should just keep an eye on them.  Within 3 days of being in TX she started having issues with them and by 3 days later they were too small.  Yesterday I spoke to her NC doctor and he agreed to fax a prescription for her to an orthotist so they can fit her since we can't get in to see a new doctor here until November.  In the mean time they told us to just put her in tennis shoes since she is able to walk barefoot and she should be fine.  Fine was an understatement.  We went yesterday afternoon and got her fitted (she is now a size 5!) and she loved them.  She walked everywhere.  We let her walk some in the mall and she kept going into a store and turning around and coming out, she did that at least 10 times before I directed her to keep walking down the hall.  

The last time she was downgraded as far as support goes she started doing better and yesterday was no different.  

We are staying with my mom until our house closes and my nephew Chris lives with her.  Megan adores him and can't get enough of her extra-large (6'8") cousin.  She also loves my mom's furniture because it is low enough she can climb off/on by herself.