Tomorrow will be our last day at CLC for awhile and we couldn't be any happier with her progress over this session. I use this blog as my notes and reminders for myself as well as trying to keep everyone informed so forgive my randomness.
Favorite quote from the program director today in the conference "Laila has grown up three years in the past six months."
The thing they think was the most improved was her hand control. Something I haven't talked about too much because I've been so focused and amazed on the potty and walking progress. She is so much better at grasp and release and hand manipulation than she was before coming to CLC in the fall. They just keep telling me that her hands are the key to success for her and she has so much potential with them. At many times you can look at her hands and they look completely "normal." It's a great sign for things to come :)
We talked about options and goals for obtaining a walker. We've been offered pony walkers and gait trainers from Riley and therapists back home but I've just never been comfortable with them. Laila is a cheater and will find a way any way she can so if she has a pummel for safety, instead she'll sit on it instead of being weight bearing on her legs. They were really great and opened minded when asking me my opinion about it. If those were the kind I wanted because Laila needs that independent mobility with minimum help right now then we should go with one of those but if we really want her to reach her full potential and not gain possible bad habits then the Kaye walker that she has been using is the way to go. It's a lot more work because it will be a long time before hopefully eventually she will be able to to do it independently but it will keep her using the great straight legs and flat feet she has now opposed to getting in the habit of walking tip toed or just sitting and pushing herself along with both feet like she does when she cheats in the gait trainer. I chose the Kaye walker (basically the old lady style metal frame walker). At this point, I don't need something that I can put her in and walk away and she doesn't necessarily need or want all that independence yet and she does just fine scooting and rolling where she wants to go on the floor. There may be a day when those things are what we need but I'm just not ready for that yet and I want to give every opportunity for the potential or something better for her.
Arm strength has improved but we still have a long way to go. She's definitely a lot better about controlling her movements for self feeding and for helping dress which is great. We have some exercises and some more equipment to get to try to get those arms stronger which will also get that lazy trunk going.
Standing = beautiful. She is SO strong on her feet and has beautiful straight legs. If we can just get that trunk to cooperate we're really going to be in business! I hear so many of the other parents talking about several surgeries for muscle lengthening and things and thankfully so far it doesn't look like that in the near future for us. She's got great range of motion and strong muscles.
Mommy - So I got my own little review which was so cute. At the end Andrea (program director) gave me a little confidence boost. She's Hungarian and we laugh a lot because some of her words don't always come out quite right. She just kept saying she didn't want to offend me by using the wrong words but wanted to tell me the change she has seen in me as well. I was so nervous and unsure of not only the program but also my parenting skills with Laila the last session we were here and she sees me working so much better with her and building not only Laila's confidence but my own with her as well. I told her that that was not offensive and that I very much appreciate that. It has been TOTALLY different this time around and I'm so thankful God has brought Laila and I so close in our relationship that we feed off of each other so much. While there is so much time with her that I am exhausted and frustrated and dare I say sometimes disappointed (Always trying to be real here), the benefits out weigh all that ten fold. I get to be privileged to be witness to this miraculous child every day. Be jealous ;)
So there ya go. Another wonderful, wonderful couple of weeks here at CLC. I'm going to turn in for the night because tomorrow starts a long couple of days of helping out and running and tonight is the last sleep without my whole family. Tomorrow is our last day and then our run on Saturday morning. What an amazing program!
Probably won't get around to blogging again until Monday. Until then have a great weekend and we'd love any last minute donations to the CLC scholarship fund in honor of us being Legs for Laila. active.com/donate/teamclc/legsforlaila
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