Physical Therapy: It's Amazing!!

Abby is now almost 19 months and she is very close to walking.  Abby's cCMV issues seem to be isolated to gross motor delays, and knowing all of the possible complications, we know how lucky we are to have her be such a healthy little girl.  About a year ago, I started looking into the Illinois Early Intervention program.  We knew Abby's development was slowing down and we wanted to make sure she had the extra support she needed to catch up to her peers.  I called and left a message with the office in my area and a few weeks later they called me back.  It took another few weeks to set up an evaluation, but in early January 2013, she was finally evaluated and diagnosed with a 38% gross motor delay.  This meant she qualified for services.  As a parent, this news comes with mixed emotions.  While I was happy that Abby would be getting the services, it confirmed for me the fact that she was pretty significantly delayed.

Ready to move!

Finding a physical therapist in our area that could work around two working parents proved difficult and it took 2 months for EI to find someone, but she ended up being worth the wait.  When Laura started working with Abby in March of 2013, Abby was 11 months old and non-mobile.  She was not rolling or crawling, she was unable to put herself into a sitting position (but could sit if you put her down like that).  She was not pulling to standing.  I started to dread filling out the developmental questionnaires for the pediatrician because the questions they were asking about gross motor development were so far ahead of her skills.  We set a goal of Abby becoming mobile within the next 6 months.

A few weeks into therapy and we were all learning how to help Abby and what bad habits to look for.  No more sitting with locked knees, no more "w sitting."  Laura would come every week and push Abby to new limits and we would try her new strategies throughout the week.

It only took a few weeks before Abby was able to get into sitting on her own.  By mid-may, she had started crawling (thus meeting her goal!)  By August she was pulling to standing, and now she is cruising on the furniture.

practicing with Shannon as extra resistance

When I think of where she was 7 months ago, I am so proud of Abigail and so appreciative of the work  Laura has done with her.  Abby is currently still cared for in the infant room at daycare, but we are very optimistic that she will be able to move to the toddler room in January and run around with the other toddlers all day.

taking a few steps all by herself during PT!!

Summer Fun

This has been a wondeful summer home with the girls.  We have gone to the zoo and splash parks in the area and had a great trip up to Lake Wisconsin and the Dells.  Watching Shannon and Abby interact and play together is an amazing thing.  They love each other so much.

Shannon is such a big girl now, 3 years old!  She is getting to be quite the negotiator and seems to be outgrowing her naps, which makes my days home with the girls quite long and exhausting!

Attempting to ride her new bike

Our beautiful 3 year old girl!

Abby is 15 months and is crawling all over the place.  In the past few weeks she has started being able to pull up to standing all by herself and we are in the process of ordering her SureStep SMO braces to help her position her ankles better so she can finally start running around with Shannon.  Sometimes it can be so frustrating to have her be behind.  I would love to take the girls to the splash park together and let them run around together, but since abby isn't walking yet, she can't really play in there (unless she crawls on the concrete, which she tries to do).  Abby has also had 5 ear infections in the past 6 months, so she is scheduled to have tubes put in on July 29th.  We are hoping this helps her speech improve because the audiologist said that with the constant fluid she has in her ears, it's like constantly listening with your fingers in your ears.

Crawling

Almost ready to walk

Despite ear infections and Therapy sessions, we have managed to have a wonderful summer.

floating at the cermak aquatic center

Evergreen Park 3rd of July festivities

Devil's Lake

Driving the boat with "Mac"

Our little otters at the zoo

Toddler Play area at Noah's Ark

Lunch at Blue Spoon in Prarie Du Sac

3 year old T-ball through the YMCA

First Picnic at Devil's Lake

Devil's Lake

First S'more

Abigail is 1!!

Our little Abigail turned on on Monday.  She is a sweet and amazing little girl.  This past year has been filled with lots of love for her, but also a little bit of worry because of the CMV.  I am happy to report that she is doing really well!  She is right on track with communication, problem solving and fine motor skills.  Her gross motor is behind, so she is seeing a wonderful physical therapist once a week, and a wonderful developmental therapist twice a month.  She is making great progress since she started seeing them.  It was wonderful to have family and friends get together to celebrate Abby's first year.

Anyway, here are some pictures from Abby's "One's a Hoot" Birthday Party.

Almost ready to crawl

delicious cake!

Thank you Pinterest for the idea!

Tissue paper was her favorite!

Shannon was a big helper

excited to read her new book

started off pretty dainty with the smash cake...

eventually she dove right in!

Outfit from Bella Claire Baby
Tutu from Hannah's Tutus
Decor from The Party Paper Fairy
Cake from La Petite Sweet