I also worry that we are pushing her too hard and she will start equating all of this therapy as work instead of play. It's definitely paying off, but she is just a little girl who needs time to just play.
The biggest milestone that occurred during the past few months has been Tori turning two. Yes, I said milestone. Reaching the age of two without having developed Infantile Spasms (a very hard to control type of seizure that aggressively steals skills) means that her chances of developing them are significantly lowered. Definitely worth celebrating!
We have also just celebrated 1 year with no seizures!!!
In the meantime, Tori had a blast at her 2nd birthday party.
-Tori's Birthday-
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As I just mentioned, the past few months have been inundated with doctor's appointments. Here is a quick summary of the information we were given by each doctor:
Opthamologist: Because Tori is so good about wearing her glasses and the crossing is corrected when she does, the Dr. is hopeful that she can outgrow the problem and not always need glasses.
GI: Finally happy with Tori's weight gain and we can discontinue all extra calorie supplements.
Neuro: Confident that Tori is in the clear for developing microcephaly, which often goes along with having Liss. This had been one of my biggest concerns.
Orthopedist: Did not think Tori was very severe and gave us a lot of hope that she will walk some day!
We also added 2 new specialists this month:
Hershey Feeding Clinic: Developed a plan to increase the variety of foods that Tori will eat, and also to start using a regular cup to drink milk.
Developmental Pediatrician: Assessed Tori's communication skills.
Where Is She Now?
Developmentally, Tori continues to make improvements, and although they may seem small to others, we will continue to celebrate every advancement we see!
Gross Motor Skills (PT)
We've been having a lot of difficulty getting her AFO's to fit properly so she is still primarily in small ankle braces. She has mastered her walker and can now turn and go around corners on her own.
-Tori's friend at school helping her with her walker-
Her core strength remains weak which is why therapists think she is not walking independently. She can however, gap between furniture that is 3 feet apart and has taken up to 4 independent steps. She's also mastered climbing up on tables, book shelves, etc. Just recently she showed us that she can sit in a chair and stand up on her own!
PT is one of the areas that we are going to start treating even more aggressively and Tori will now have 3-4 sessions a week.
-Cruising on the playground-
Fine Motor Skills (OT)
We feel that Tori has made lots of improvements here! She is using her hands much better than before. She will roll a ball back and forth with her friends, has shown that she can hold an ice cream cone on her own, and is holding her crayons the proper way when she colors. Tori can use a spoon on her own now but is still working on "stabbing" her food with a fork. Oh, and how can I forget - she points at everything!!
-Tori with her ice cream-
Speech
Speech and communication is still our biggest hurdle and Tori is becoming more and more frustrated.
She has mastered a few signs but we opted not to continue with sign language as her primary source of communication, as not everyone will be able to understand her.
A few months ago we started the PECS (picture exchange) system. Tori is learning and showing improvements but is still far from using it as a primary source to communicate. She can distinguish between pictures and make a choice when given options, but the idea is for her to select and hand off a picture when she wants something. Tori likes to select her picture and not hand it over.
Her babbling has definitely increased more than ever and she is making a ton of word aprroximations but still not always consistent.
Speech therapy has been increased and we try to incorporate her communication book in all of her daily activities.
Special Instruction/Play Skills
Tori continues to do amazing! This is where her cogntition comes into play and she shows us that she "gets" everything.
She can feed her baby dolls, push them in a stroller, identify body parts, play musical instruments, and help dress (and unfortunately) undress herself!
-Giving Elmo a turn on the Slide-
Tori will move into an older toddler room this fall at daycare. We have decided to continue to place her with children her age instead of holding her back in hopes that she will continue to learn from them. The kids are starting to realize that Tori is a bit "different" and are absolutely amazing in the ways they try to help her!!! I've seen them cheer her on as she uses her walker in the hallways, bring her sippee cup over to her on the playground, and hold her chair out as she made her way over to the lunch table just a little slower than the rest of the class.
Its already starting to cross my mind how the other kids will treat her as she goes through school, but seeing this gives me a lot of hope!
-Hanging out at the Park-
