Ella is receiving some help, not only from a PT, but also from an OT (occupational therapist). This is because of her tendency, at the time of her evaluation, to vomit when offered foods of varying texture that needed to be chewed.
She no longer seems to have this problem. In fact, she has become quite the adventurous eater.
This past Thursday, the OT came for a visit. She proclaimed that Ella seemed to be doing much better. She was elated at her use of a cup to drink from, and marvelled at her chewing style. She suggested to me that Ella could try eating small cuts of meat, fish, etc. (ie. not pureed).
On Friday, Ella ate small cut up pieces of chicken. Multiple pieces, picked up off the table by her own fingers! And, to top that off, when we went out to dinner with her tonight she ate one piece of broccoli, multiple small scoops of mashed potatoes (normally she doesn't like them), some cheese and spinach mixed together, and a few pieces of chicken off Matt's plate.
I am truely amazed.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
misc. news
Lisa gave birth to baby Ben Fersch yesterday morning. Horray and Congratulations!
Why is it that when some of their teeth come in, it hardly affects their mood? Then, other times, they are a holy terror for over a week and are unbearable without a little Tylenol in their systems! I think that you can guess which phase we are experiencing right now.
Why is it that when some of their teeth come in, it hardly affects their mood? Then, other times, they are a holy terror for over a week and are unbearable without a little Tylenol in their systems! I think that you can guess which phase we are experiencing right now.
what a name is in...sounds like
Elephant...ellaphant
Elevator...ellavator
Elemental...ellamental
Element...ellament
Elementary...ellamentary
Elegant...ellagant
Elevate...ellavate
Elevation...ellavation
Candela...candella
Umbrella....uh...this one is fine the way it is
Mortadella (type of sausage)...also ok
Elevator...ellavator
Elemental...ellamental
Element...ellament
Elementary...ellamentary
Elegant...ellagant
Elevate...ellavate
Elevation...ellavation
Candela...candella
Umbrella....uh...this one is fine the way it is
Mortadella (type of sausage)...also ok
Monday, August 6, 2007
not something you see often...if ever
I wish I had my camera with me this morning.
Ella and I went for a walk around the lake and saw a most unusual sight.
A man was walking....um, wrong verb...his dog. At any rate, the dog was walking. The dog's owner was riding a unicycle.
Ella and I went for a walk around the lake and saw a most unusual sight.
A man was walking....um, wrong verb...his dog. At any rate, the dog was walking. The dog's owner was riding a unicycle.
How we love the swings!
This was taken in June.
Ella loves the swings and when we follow one of our usual walking trails, we always pass the swings and she gets excited and coos loudly to get my attention to let me know that she wants to get on.
It is ashame that it is so terribly hot and humid these days. I don't like walking with her in this weather so she has missed out on quite a few chances at the swings.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
HOOOORAAAAY!!!
She rolled over from her tummy to her back 2xs this morning!
I knew that the time was coming. She has practically been doing it by herself for almost a week, but she has always needed me to move her arm to get her started.
This morning she did it without me even touching her!
She has also been balancing herself on her knees without having to touch anything to hold her steady. This seems like a small victory too, but she can't actually get herself onto her knees by herself. I have to get her there, but then I can leave her without having to worry that she will fall over. It is so cute to watch her on her knees, playing with a toy and totally oblivious of anything else.
I knew that the time was coming. She has practically been doing it by herself for almost a week, but she has always needed me to move her arm to get her started.
This morning she did it without me even touching her!
She has also been balancing herself on her knees without having to touch anything to hold her steady. This seems like a small victory too, but she can't actually get herself onto her knees by herself. I have to get her there, but then I can leave her without having to worry that she will fall over. It is so cute to watch her on her knees, playing with a toy and totally oblivious of anything else.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
status of delays
We had the big meeting with Ella's "team" from the infants and toddlers early intervention program. It turns out that she is about 50% delayed in gross motor, and about 25% delayed in many other areas including communication, social development, etc. The only place she seems to be right on is in small motor skills.
Interesting issue: The "team" uses a standard testing model to rate her level of performance on all these levels. One big issue that Matt, I, and the team have is that this test, like most tests, has problems. Ella's three big areas of concern (other than the gross motor) at this time are the fact that she doesn't imitate (at least not that much), she does not follow commands (at least not common ones like "give mommy the toy"....she will turn the pages of a book when you ask her, and she will "find" your nose if you ask her to), and she doesn't understand the meaning of "No". Each of these "issues" takes points off in multiple catagories. Meaning that, because she doesn't follow commands she gets points off in communication, cognitive, and social catagories. Somehow this just doesn't seem fair. At the very least, I can be happy that everyone involved in her care is aware of this and realizes that her labels of % delays don't mean much when you understand the finer points.
Also, one type of delay leads to others. Meaning: She does not understand the meaning of "No" because I never have to use it with her. Most parents begin to use "No" when their child can crawl around and get into things that they shouldn't (like pulling the cat's tail, climbing up on somthing you know is unstable, etc.). Since Ella has a big gross motor delay, it stands to reason that I haven't had much opportunity to use "No" and so she hasn't had much opportunity to learn what it means.
The plan: We will meet with the PT every week for about 6 weeks, and then less frequently after that. We will meet with the OT about 4 times over the next 6 months (for help with eating and drinking skills). Finally, we will meet with the special educator once a month for 6 months to work on communication skills. After 6 months the whole plan gets reviewed at another sit down meeting and we figure out what to do from there.
I am feeling very good about this whole thing and I am very glad to have some support and help dealing with her out of the ordinary needs. I am much less stressed out and mental than I was just a few weeks ago.
Interesting issue: The "team" uses a standard testing model to rate her level of performance on all these levels. One big issue that Matt, I, and the team have is that this test, like most tests, has problems. Ella's three big areas of concern (other than the gross motor) at this time are the fact that she doesn't imitate (at least not that much), she does not follow commands (at least not common ones like "give mommy the toy"....she will turn the pages of a book when you ask her, and she will "find" your nose if you ask her to), and she doesn't understand the meaning of "No". Each of these "issues" takes points off in multiple catagories. Meaning that, because she doesn't follow commands she gets points off in communication, cognitive, and social catagories. Somehow this just doesn't seem fair. At the very least, I can be happy that everyone involved in her care is aware of this and realizes that her labels of % delays don't mean much when you understand the finer points.
Also, one type of delay leads to others. Meaning: She does not understand the meaning of "No" because I never have to use it with her. Most parents begin to use "No" when their child can crawl around and get into things that they shouldn't (like pulling the cat's tail, climbing up on somthing you know is unstable, etc.). Since Ella has a big gross motor delay, it stands to reason that I haven't had much opportunity to use "No" and so she hasn't had much opportunity to learn what it means.
The plan: We will meet with the PT every week for about 6 weeks, and then less frequently after that. We will meet with the OT about 4 times over the next 6 months (for help with eating and drinking skills). Finally, we will meet with the special educator once a month for 6 months to work on communication skills. After 6 months the whole plan gets reviewed at another sit down meeting and we figure out what to do from there.
I am feeling very good about this whole thing and I am very glad to have some support and help dealing with her out of the ordinary needs. I am much less stressed out and mental than I was just a few weeks ago.
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