General musings
The weather today is gorgeous! A rare Fall day that doesn't feel like winter and will go up to about 60 degrees. Everything seems a bit easier when the sun is shining and the weather is fine. I guess when it comes right down to it my main beef with winter is the hassle from coats getting situated in wheelchairs and car seats. Thankfully, we don't have to deal with any of that today!
Emma woke up bright and early for herself and was in a ridiculously happy mood - even for a little girl who typically oozes happiness. We spent a bit of time doing some hand stretches and hand playing - where I would open my hand and stretch it out and have Emma copy me and then I'd put her hand in mine and we'd wiggle them around. I'm noticing that Emma's hands are getting tighter and tighter and that makes me nervous so I've been trying to stretch them more and finding ways to make opening them fun. If anyone reading this has any ideas on how to stop her hands from getting so tight, please share (Annette - if you're reading this maybe we can plan a visit so you can give us some tips??? plus, we miss you a whole lot!!!!!!)
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| I smiled when I noticed Emma and Finney seem to be looking in the same general direction! |
Last night after Emma had her hair blown dry Julia took one look at her and said she looks different. She looks older. I agree. My girls are growing up so, so quickly. So today I brought my camera on our walk and decided to take a photo from behind to capture what I usually see from my vantage point on our walk. Emma is usually looking all over the place with Finnegan leading the way while I try and manage to keep them from getting tangled up! Emma loves to toss her head about and look back to see what I'm doing. She usually looks up and over the headrest but today since she didn't have her chest harness on she decided to lean forward and give me a backwards glance. She always gives me a sly smile as if saying "Just checking that you are still there - that you still have my back."
I've taken photos like this before and think about how much has changed. In the beginning it was in her Kids Up FAST chair and my view of Emma was always with her little hat on which was the only way we could keep her CIs on her head in the early days. It always seemed like she had such a tiny little head and eyes and smile a million miles wide when she looked back at me. Always taking everything in while we walked. When she was about 3.5 we were finally able to keep her CIs on fairly regularly without her hat at I just loved the look of the back of her head with the little ponytail on top swaying side to side each time she snapped her head around. And now my view is of a lovely little girl with her hair held back by a fancy clip and her CIs mostly hidden under her hair. She is in a big girl chair and now more often than not she has her talker attached so she can "chat" if she wants. Mostly she doesn't want, but I expect that will change over time.
One thing I hope doesn't change is Emma's love for school. She is so excited each and every day when her school bus arrives. Lucky for me she is equally excited each day as her bus drops her home. Her drivers said they've never seen a child so happy to both go and come home from school. They just love having her on the bus and especially enjoy when she treats them to her "singing" on some of her rides home.
Life is good, even if it does seem to go by at warp speed sometimes!
3 Comments from readers:
Emma is really looking grown up and so pretty too. Do you have hand splints for her? Cody had benik pan splints that he wore at night for a long time that really helped keep his hands open and loose. He outgrew them and his therapist suggested replacing them with a benik that had a removable pan so that he could use them during the day but they do not work as well. The pan is nearly impossible to position right and he wiggles out of it. Having a daytime splint is nice because it keeps his wrist in a position that enables him to maintain grasp easier but his hands are getting tighter without the pan. Glad she had an extra happy day. That makes all the difference in the world!
Hi, Laura! Thanks for the comment.
We just got some hand splints for Emma at night. They are a white material that the OT molded to her hands and then they are velcroed over her hands. Emma seems to enjoy them and smiles when it's time to put them one. We do one hand every other night, so M, W, F it would be left, Tu, Th, Sat, it would be right, etc. That way both hands aren't splinted all night. The problem is she wiggles her hands out of them by morning. The OT adjusted them a bit but still she manages to get out of them. I'm not sure about the Benik splints. I'll have to ask about them. Thanks for the tip!
We started out using the same type of splint and Cody did the exact same thing. He even wiggles out of the benik sometimes but they work well overall. Hated making him wear them at night but open hands are so important.
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