Everyday Improvements

At least it wasn't 3 months since last post! With everything going on I am surprised I remembered this. We (all 3 of us) are doing great. Jennifer has been getting busy in the shop. I have been working at my shop. The Healey will keep me busy through the summer. Most importantly, there is Lily-an. She is doing great. She is doing more and getting her strength. After the cast was removed she had no interest in wanting to crawl. She would just sit or lie down. Now, it is the opposite. She isn't crawling, but her strength/endurance is improved greatly. With her therapy sessions we have been working on strength and fine motor skills. Both, very important to crawling. She is on all 4's a lot. When we support her, she will go side to side but not forward or backwards. We have noticed her strength in her hips is weak. She gets a little wobbly. That is getting better though. Her legs are getting stronger and she loves to stand up. She sits very well and is well balanced. She sits on our knees with her feet on the ground and she will play that way for awhile. She really enjoys that. Her speech is doing great. She talks a lot now. Mostly for us. She is shy around others and doesn't say a lot. I should say, her talking is all kinds of noises. We are hearing more consonants sounds from her. She laughs and giggle a lot. Her non verbal communication is very good. She "tells" us when she wants more, when she is done and keep going. Her interest level in things going on around her is very good. She is aware of people, she looks up when you say her name or when she hears something. So much has improved lately. The little things that we are seeing are milestones. We enrolled her in a beginning swimming lesson course at the local gym. The first 3 times were not so good. We noticed a lot of anxiety. Other kids screaming, laughing seemed to upset her. We weren't sure what to do. One thing that we did notice is she was cold. She would latch onto us and wouldn't let go. She was so tense we couldn't get her legs straight. We knew this wasn't a good thing since we didn't want her scared of the water. We figured we would end up dropping out but then we started to talk about it and thought about a wetsuit. Do they actually make them that small we thought. Well, they do make them that small and even smaller. We located a company out of California that made them and ordered her a bright lime green one. It is adjustable so she can grow into it. We also ordered a headband that covers her ears. When we were reading up on the information provided on the website it was evident that little ones get very cold and get cold easily. Makes sense with Lily-an. There is no body fat on her. It came a fast 2 days later and the next day we ventured to the gym to try it. Let me say that some kids have absolutely no respect for others around them. That 10-13 age of kids. Kept bumping into us and well..... enough of that. Frustrating. Lily-an did great. She wasn't cold anymore and wasn't tense. We were able to move her arms and legs in the water and she seemed like she wasn't as anxious as before. After about 30 minutes we decided it was time to go. Lily-an was tired and figured it was time for a nap. Went to lessons a few days later and she was relaxed and doing very well. Then came the surprise when the instructor said it was time to "dunk" the kids. I was watching from the chairs and Jen was in the water with her. I didn't hear the instructor say that. I was watching Jen and Lily-an and all of a sudden under she went and out she came. Somewhat startled look on her face, rubbed her eyes and she was fine. Momma was more apprehensive than anything, I would have been too. Lily-an was playing with a beach ball and it went well. Lily-an was actually kicking her feet at the end and started to laugh. It was a good day. And, she was warm! Can't wait to see what comes out of her during the next classes. As the class was ending she started to kick her feet and actually was laughing. What a good thing. There has been so much change in her lately. Tonight we went out for some fish fry. She likes fish. One thing she has been doing a lot and that is grabbing at her food dish and pulling it towards her. Another one of those non verbal communication things she does so well. Well, tonight at dinner, she put her hands in the mashed potatoes. So then Jennifer took her arm and guided her fingers to her mouth and what do you know, Lily-an put her fingers in her mouth with food and sucked off the potatoes. I about fell out of my chair. We have been working on that for quite some time. She has such an adversion to putting her hands to her face but she proved me wrong. She did this a number of times tonight. I think it is time for things to get messy. We are going to start putting food in front of her and letting her go at it. Maybe that is why she has been grabbing at her food dish. She has been trying to say she can do it herself. Who knows. Something so minor, something we take for granted and don't even think about is such a huge deal for us. That is so important to her development to do that. That shows right brain/left brain communication, spacial, depth and more. We were so happy to see. Then she starts to laugh and giggle about it like she was saying "I told you I could do it but you kept moving that dish away from me". It will be interesting. She is growing and weighs about 22 lbs now. She eats anything you give her. Loves fish, yogurt, refried beans, Her hair may need a trim now. Will wait until it gets warmer out. It is growing and getting thicker. Maybe if we cut it a little it will grow like a weed then. Well, another week is gone. Lily-an is sound asleep and it is past my bedtime. Keep us in your prayers and especially Lily-an. God is doing such great things with her. I do believe God is putting in on our hearts about adopting another. That is still a few years off, but it is there. Every now and then we go to our agencies website and look through some of the pictures/information of the special needs children and they just grab you by the strings and pull. If we could, we adopt them all. So adorable. I don't know how we have been doing as well as we have been. Somedays we are so tired and wore out. We want to put as much as we can into Lily-an and make sure all her needs are met. I think Jennifer and I kind of let our needs go for each other at times. This isn't healthy. I have been trying to relax more. I have cut way back on EMS as I felt my stress level getting out of hand. I feel better now. I sleep better at night and I try to take time to relax. It has helped. I know God is sustaining us and giving us the strength to do what we do. 5 or 6 therapy appts every week plus our "jobs". We always do our best so both of us are with Lily-an during her therapy and doctors appts. Rarely, do either one of us miss. All I know is that I (we) can't picture our lives any differently than they are now. Take care everyone, God Bless.