Physical Therapy

Alright...Amber's not going to like hearing this, but I've been hit with a horrid head cold. I know it seems like we've been awfully ill around here lately, and all together we have been. But this is really only the second time I've been sick personally. I guess when I got the virus last weekend the head cold snuck in to take advantage of my weakened defenses. Ugh. At least I have 4-5 days to kick it before heading to Memphis. Adelaide....I won't come if I'm still germy! Let's all keep our fingers crossed...I want to see your cute mug and I'm getting some serious winter doldrums here.
So...here are some recent pictures of the kids (Clara mostly) while I tell you about her physical therapy.

(I love how in this picture Clara is looking at Henry who is looking at Linus who is looking at Clara.)

I'm not sure what all to report, exactly. Our therapist came on Thursday morning for an hour. Her name is BethAnn and she's very nice. I would guess she's a little older than me, maybe 40. She brought with her a bag of toys and a medium-sized exercise ball.

(This is Clara at Anna's birthday party a few weeks ago. She liked Anna's new glitter ball.)

Mostly BethAnn spent the time chatting and trying to get Clara to feel comfortable with her. She showed her several of her toys, let her play with them and watched how she moved. She told me some things and let me ask questions.

(Clara is very fond of feeding herself lately...and quite good at it.)

Her determination is that Clara has "low muscle tone" which is a term I've heard before. Usually I associate the term with skinny little babies, which Clara decidedly is not. BethAnn said it has nothing to do with that. She said there's no nutritional factor or other cause. She said it's just a body difference. She said "it's kind of like how some people will become Olympic atheletes and others won't". So...I guess I feel good that there doesn't really seem to be anything we did wrong.

(Here's a nice picture of Clara's hair.)

So she wants us to be doing exercises with her that will strengthen her rotational muscles in her torso (sorry if these aren't technical terms...) and eventually her hip extendors. We played a little with a stacking toy...she placed the toy to Clara's left and then tried to get her to use her right hand to reach across her torso to stack the rings. She wants to see her place her left hand down and shift her weight then reach across herself. She also showed me how we can get her to do this weight shifting by putting her on our laps and tilting her to the side so she has to try to stay upright....if you can picture that.

(Clara was fond of applesauce on this particular day.)

We also did some playing where we held a toy up so Clara had to really extend her arm as far up as she could to reach it. I think overall BethAnn seemed pleased with the things she's doing already...so it sounds like we're not going to have to be teaching her anything brand new...just getting her to use the muscles that she's been avoiding using a bit.
I guess that's about it.

Brother and Sister

First off, I might have a few tendencies inherited from my dad... Last weekend (you'll remember that it was Valentine's day and we were all a little ill) Henry and I decided to build a big castle. I felt compelled to lay out all the blocks before we got started....
I worked on the castle while Henry made a "track" for the cars.
Clara was feeling pretty well. She put on this cute Valentine outfit and bounced in her chair a bit. I have pictures from our Valentine's "dinner" but they're mildly depressing, so I won't post them.
Here's Henry with a drawing he made a few mornings ago. That's Scott and Chloe on the left, and an octopus playing the electric guitar on the bottom.
And here is Henry sharing his colors.
Yesterday Clara got a VERY special package in the mail. It was a birthday present from Aunt Joyce. She loves her new blanket and wanted to cuddle up right away!! Take note of the cowgirl themed back side. This quilt is also special because it shares some pieces with Henry's similar chenille quilt.
Tonight Henry and Clara had their first bath together. They both thought it was hilarious.
And finally...I will post soon about our first visit with the physical therapist this week...but here's a picture of Clara showing off her cute new crawl!!
And then, of course, she pops up and goes right back to scooting. Oh well.
We're supposed to get lots of snow tonight! I already have the chocolate-chip pancakes planned for the morning.

Happy Valentine's Day!

How This Picture Illustrates That My Kids Are The Best Kids Ever

It's been a bit of a crummy week around here. It started on Monday when I came home from work with a horrible headache, which was causing me to feel nauseous as well. I went to bed at 5:30 and Pete took care of the kids. Tuesday I felt mostly okay, but that evening Clara threw up all of her dinner and continued to be sick through the night. Wednesday she stayed home with me and seemed okay. Thursday I had both kids home. We frosted Valentines cookies and delivered them to some friends. For convenience's sake we drove through McDonalds for lunch. That night I was very ill. I was up every 45 minutes through the night. This was a bit of a milestone in my relationship with Pete. In the time we have known each other (15 years, in case you haven't been keeping up) I have not thrown up one time- other than when I was pregnant (and one time due to drinking, but that's not really appropriate to talk about here, is it?). Pete is usually the one to fall to such illnesses, and he usually falls pretty easily.
And fall he did, Friday morning. We scrapped our plans to go to Iowa City for the weekend for a nice double-date with Rob and Carrie. Since we were both feeling pretty low we called Mary and Peter to come take the kids. They were more than willing....until Mary realized she wasn't feeling so hot herself.
And that brings us to the picture.
So, to summarize: I was sick. Pete was sick. We still had both kids home with us. They were healthy, but Henry was disappointed about not going to Iowa.
But did they whine and fuss and make life difficult for us? No. They did not. When Pete went back to bed early in the morning, I was left to clean up the breakfast mess (not so easy on an uneasy stomach). I got through it and we had some quiet playing time. Then Clara (bless her heart) took a nice long morning nap. While she did this Henry quietly watched a little PBS and let me nap on the couch. Then, while Clara still napped, we moved into the other room and I layed on the other couch while Henry quietly put together his alphabet train puzzle (see picture) and then worked in his coloring book (see foreground of picture). When Clara awoke she was in a great mood (if you zoom in on the picture you can probably see her cute post-nap hair). Henry helped show her how to color a little (see picture- they're coloring inside a shirt box). It was so lovely how sweet and quiet they were together, seeming to understand that Pete and I could not give them our full attention. I also love in this picture how Clara is looking up at Henry like "is this right, brother?" At the very bottom of the picture you can see my robe and Crocs. That was pretty much my costume yesterday.
So, the rest of the day went on sort of like that....until about 9PM when I heard Henry coughing in his room and I went in to see him throwing up all over his bed and the floor. He spent the night in the 3rd bedroom with Pete.
Which brings us to Valentine's day. Henry seems to be doing okay. He's had half a piece of toast and a little applesauce. Clara has been happily playing and is now napping in her crib. I'm feeling pretty okay. Ate half a bagel and drank most of the Valentine's mocha Pete went to get me. I'm picking up the house and cleaning everything I can get my hands on, with frequent breaks to just sit and breathe for a bit. Pete is back in bed. I keep telling him the coffee is not doing anything to make his stomach feel better, but he was also up frequently during the night with Henry, so he's probably pretty tired.
It's a very romantic 15th Anniversary Valentine's Day.

A little taste of our typical evening...

The Scene: Pete and Henry are lying in bed, Clara is already snoozing away in her crib. I lie down to listen in as Pete reads the classic Virginia Lee Burton story Choo Choo to Henry...

Pete (reading): "'Forget about your schedule!' said Archibald".
Me (using a voice): "Forget about your schedule!' said Archibald".
Pete (to Henry): "What is wrong with your mother?"
Me (whispering in Henry's ear): "Tell him 'my mother is practically perfect in every way'".
Henry: "My mother is...silly all the time!"

Much giggling ensues.
Life is practically perfect in every way.

PT Update

Today we had our visit with the physical therapist and the cognitive therapist. I'm really glad we had them come out. I learned some things!
Clara was a little tired, as she hadn't napped this morning. So she was a little wary and a little less playful than she otherwise might have been, but she did just fine.
Three ladies came out. One is our family coordinator- sort of a liason between the us and the organization and the therapists. She explained the organization, the insurance stuff, what to expect etc. Then the two therapists came, about 15 minutes later (so they were all here at the same time). They were all very pleasant and professional and clearly knowledgeable. The two therapists sat with Clara on the floor and tried to engage her in a variety of play activities, while asking me questions about specific things.
They also wanted her in just her onesie- I presume so they could really see how her body was moving, and maybe to make sure her clothes weren't getting in the way. Here's a picture of Clara signing "more". I forgot to tell them she could do that! Shoot! That's okay...they were very impressed with her cognitive development and her fine motor skills.
So, their determination is that she is eligible for physical therapy once a week. To be eligible a child needs to have at least a 30% delay. They determined that she's at about a 7 month level in her gross motor ability. They said it's basically that she is a little weak in her trunk- her stomach and hip area. This is why when she tries to support herself on her legs it looks like her feet are turning out a little. They noted that she's clearly developed some adaptations- scooting etc. but they would like the goal to be for her to crawl. I strongly agreed. I definitely want her not to skip crawling. I've always known that crawling is an important step for strength etc., and have heard that it can be important cognitively too, but they helped me understand that a little more. They said that without crawling she won't be exercising and strengthening her upper body and her hands and fingers, which apparently often leads to problems down the road with hand-eye coordination, handwriting, and all sorts of things like that.
Another interesting thing that they pointed out, which I hadn't noticed- because I didn't know to look for it, but I certainly see it now- is that when Clara wants something she scoots to it and turns her whole body so that she's facing it directly. What they would prefer to see, and what would indicate more trunk strength- is if she were to twist her body toward the toy or reach out to the side for it.
Finally, the thing that made me especially glad we did this, was that they said while she is very strong in her social and cognitive functions right now, often gross motor delays can cause delays in those other areas. It wouldn't necessarily happen, but because a child is more inhibited or delayed in "exploring their world" they can fall behind in social and cognitive development.
So what happens now is that we take care of a little paperwork stuff and then we start scheduling weekly 1-hour sessions with a physical therapist. The coordinator says there are two therapists available in our area right now, so we don't have to wait- which is excellent. They will develop a 6 month goal- even if they think it won't take that much time to reach the goal. For Clara the goal is to crawl and to walk. If we feel that we don't want to continue, or she reaches her goal sooner, she can quit at any time- it's entirely up to us. The therapist will come to our house and we are encouraged to partcipate, so we know how to work with her on the other days. We are not to treat the hour like babysitting time! So- I'm excited! I was kind of hoping that they would determine she was eligible, rather than being on the cusp and leaving all of the responsibility to us! I'll try to make another post as soon as we get started!

Thursday through Super Sunday

It's been a busy several days. Last Thursday was conferences for me. While I ironed my clothes in the morning Clara helped out by leaving me some treats on the ironing board.
Lego lion and Os. Thanks Sweetie!
Friday we had a busy day at the library and crafting, then visited Grandma and Bampa while Pete had a night out downtown with his friends.
Saturday Clara stayed home with Pete and Henry and I went to the Greenbriar carnival. Ellen was Pocket Lady. I've been known to wear the Pocket Lady skirt myself in the past...
Henry got lots of time in the bounce house.
Then we played Bingo and Henry won the "postage stamp" game. He got himself a big inflatable orca.
He got his face painted...
Such a sweet kitty face on such a tough guy.
Oh, and I let him have some cotton candy.
After a long nap we went to hang out with Max.
Max is going to be a year old in a few days and he's already working on his big boy moves...
Check out the slow move-in. Look at Clara's face.
She reaches out for him...
And goes for the friend hug.
Which Max was cool with.
But then he laid one on her.
There are more shots from the love session, but I think that pretty much captures it.
Yesterday we went to Jonah's house for the Super Bowl.
The boys were pretty much non-stop action.
Trains trains trains...
Clara learned to turn the t.v. off, but no one seemed to mind too much. It was more of a food, conversation and play-centric Super Bowl party than a football-centric Super Bowl party.
We've had a very nice evening tonight too! Henry pleased us very much by napping at Grandma and Bampa's today. We couldn't believe the difference in him. He was not cranky or bossy or having melt-downs at all tonight! We celebrated by making individual tortilla pizzas, which were much more delightful than I anticipated! Henry gave his a green pepper smiley face.
Hooray for happy healthy kids!!