Hearts

Hearts
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Wednesday we had a great session with Sally. Holly always has a little bit of trouble transitioning when we start her therapy in the early evening right after I pick her up from daycare, she is so happy to see mommy, that she gets angry that I would even think to allow someone else like sally or Katie to play with her. Once she was fed, and I got down onto the floor with her and we let her sit on my lap she was fine. Today I was concerned with her back and neck. A few posts ago I posted a picture of myself in a crawling stance, and after seeing it over and over worried myself, because Holy can;t get herself into that position, or better put perhaps she just doesn't want to, so that is the thing. If she doesn't want to, then ok, I will work with her and we will come up with ways for her to move as she likes, but if she is not capable of bending her back, or extending it, or tilting her head all the way back, then I am concerned.

So today Sally and I looked at this and worked on it. First thing that Sally told me is that rotation is similar to back extension. When you do a "back bend" or arch your back all the way, you are extending the joints on both sides at once, when you rotate or twist and turn, you extend those same joints, just one side at a time. Well this immediately relieved some of my concern, as Holly is really good at the rotation. So then we tried to get her to tilt her head all the way back. She does this thing where she turns if she is trying to look at something or simply looses interest rather then tilting all the way. Both Sally and I tilted our hears to see what angle they were out, and said, its not really 90 degrees, more like 60, and we think Holy is tilting at around 45. Sally is confident she can tilt her head back more, but her being so tight simply makes it that she does not. She wants to be upright and so the goal is putting her in positions that give her the opportunity to stretch her back and next while allowing her to still be upright.

We also worked on her sitting, she uses her heals to bear down and keep her balance rather then her core, so we want to get her to tuck in her legs, forcing her to use her core, and relax her tendons in her legs. Overall it was a really good session, but I decided to be a mean mommy and really push her today, and if she cried, not immediately move her into a different position. I found that sometimes she would find something that interested her and stop crying, and I need to give her a second to adjust before jumping into action.

We also talked a little bit about Sensory Integration issues, Sally had just done a workshop on this, and although it was geared more towards 3-4 year olds, she is planning on getting the 1 test that exists for under 18 months and going through it with Holly to see where we stand. I had recently read an article about this where it indicated that you can have both sensory overload, but also an increased need for greater sensory input, and I had not realized that before, and that a child can have a mixture of both on different days, when in different moods, or for different areas. After reading the article I reflected on some situations where Holly seems to want or need additional stimulation, and others where she gets somewhat overwhelmed. But I think any indication of these is still very mild in her. I am interested in seeing what the test says and what it measures.

We leave tomorrow to fly to Virginia and see Holly's Great Grand Mother. I am really looking forward to the trip and being in Virgina and seeing the family, Holly will also get to meet her Uncle Alan for the first time. But I am a little anxious about her flying. I called United last night to find out more about what if anything I needed to do. Thank God I called. First they added her name to the itinerary, then told me I needed to bring her birth certificate, which I had not realized, so I am thankful, then when I asked about how many bags we could check, they told me as many a s i want, surprised I inquired further and they said, but it is 15$ for the First and 25$ each addition, BOTH WAYS!! Can you believe that. So in order to bring Holly;s Travel Pack and Play it will cost us 50$, for that price, we could buy a used one on Craigslist. So I called Joel's mom and told her to start looking, and she was able to borrow one form he church, sot hat saves us at least 50$

I was up all night last night packing, because tonight I have plans, and Friday evening we need to leave by 7:00. So now I have to re-think my packing strategy, and see if i can get everything to fit into 1 suitcase to save an extra 30$ or perhaps get a different one, as a carry on, which apparently is allowed. So if being on an airplane with a baby wasn;t stressful enough, they have to add in a pat per bag rule. Now I am just worried about bringing breast milk in her diaper bag, they said it was ok, but who knows if the security guards will follow that when it come time to walk through the gate.

Tomorrow is also my last day at work. Today was a farewell party, and it was very sad and exciting, I feel back for those I am leaving behind, but so excited about this new adventure, my life is about to utterly transform. I am still trying to figure out daycare. Joel is staying home with Holly tomorrow, to meet with Katie her OT, and to get ready for the trip, so she won;t be going, so today may be her last day, but they still have not decided if they will give me a particular refund for the month of October, and if they don;t I intend on bringing her back later in the month. The week I get back I have Doctor's and Dentist Appointments (squeezing it all in while I still have my insurance) so it will be easier to be able to drop her off, but not worth the full cost of the month if they will give me it back.. so we will see, I find out today.

I plan on updating the blog from Virgina, but with traveling, it may be a few days before I get around to it.