PT & OT sessions plus some creative child proofing skills.

So, it has been a little busy around these parts. Eh hem. Someone (Ian) is deciding that teething is going to interfere w/ their only nap of the day making it hard for me to accomplish anything. We also had 2 therapy sessions yesterday. Both went well considering we had to deal w/ all the kids. Normally Bill & Donna come over to take care of the girls so that Ian has our undivided attention but b/c Bill is recovering from shingles (please keep him in your prayers for recovery), we had to have the girls along w/ us.

The morning session was OT w/ our coordinator, Stacy. Ian really likes her. I'm going to have to get a picture of them together the next time. She is a cutie & full of energy. Anyway, he is doing impressively well. She is very happy w/ his overall improvements & is glad to be able to work more on the fine motor skills w/ him. She did say that we need to get him to try & learn some words & gave us some ideas to do so. He says mama, dada, all done (a-du), cat (da or ga), knob (do or no), & a couple of other things but you can probably see the pattern...da. Da everything although there is a definite difference when he says each one. If we don't see improvement by 18 mths, we are going to call in a speech therapist to evaluate him. Personally, I think that w/ 2 sisters who talk A LOT, he is sometimes left out. I know he will catch up & am not worried at all.

Then we had our PT session, again w/ the girls in attendance. It was a bit easier this time as they played by themselves for a bit of the time. Sonia was very happy about his fluidity in transitioning from laying to sitting & pulling up. He even stood by himself for a good 10 seconds a few times. She also worked w/ getting him to walk behind a walker. The problem is that there is no resistance. We solved that problem! We put a 20 lb weight in the walker & WAA-LAA! There is now plenty of resistance. Just since yesterday, Ian has improved quite a bit. I'm working on getting video.

We are still on the line about the braces for his ankles. She sees a marked improvement & said that b/c his issue isn't severe, we aren't crunched for time. We have the opportunity to try & strengthen his ankles. IF he does end up needing them, it will only be for a short period of time & only during waking/playing hours. YAY!

Todd got these pictures today of Ian & Sofi sitting together. You can see that I cut some bangs for Ian to see since I can't pull his hair up in a ponytail. I like the long, shaggy look. Must be b/c my dad has long hair.


I had to post this picture b/c Ian' expression is priceless. Anyone want to leave a comment w/ a good caption?!?



I also had to get creative w/ child proofing since the kids have learned how to turn the tv on & off. I put part of our superyard gate infront of the tv & the stand. Then I took one of Todd's gadgets (strap w/ 2 hooks & a thing to make it tighten) & weaved it in to the gate & hooked it to the back of the tv stand. Don't worry, the tv is tethered to the wall, just in case. Another rigging Todd came up w/ that works very well!



Oh, 1 last thing. Gabi cut her eyelid last night. She slipped in the bathtub. I swear, it is a huge ordeal to give them all baths at the same time. They all want to stand up & walk. This is the consequence. Sorry the picture is blurry. Luckily, I followed Todd's 1st aid skills & immediately put ice on it. No bleeding & not very deep.


Tomorrow is a big day. We go for our 15 month well baby. I can't wait to see how much Gabi weighs! I'll be updating tomorrow.