She's Simply Amazing! (Not that you didn't already know that)

Wow! Have we ever had an amazing last couple of weeks! Last Monday Kinsey had a follow-up appointment with the cardiologist. She hasn't been to see him since we did the Holter Monitor in Feb and he took her off all medication. Well, we had a wonderful appointment . . . He said the Wolfe-Parkinson White Syndrome (irregular heartbeat) is definitely gone! He also said it is unlikely to return (when she was first diagnosed with this the doctors told us it could go away, but could also return when she's a little older). This Dr feels like because of the way it went away that it is unlikely to return - I hope he's right. He also said the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (thickening of the heart wall) still hasn't gotten any worse since it was first found when she was 6 months old and it's still minor. A nurse friend of mine explained that the thickening might have been a result of her heart working extra hard with the WPW and the reason it never got any worse was because we got the WPW under control and now gone, so hopefully she's right and that won't ever get any worse. Anyway, since Kinsey's heart is doing so well we don't have to go back to the cardiologist for 2 whole years! WOO HOO!!

Kinsey had fun with Pop-Pop and daddy while I was away last weekend. That was hard on me - I missed her a lot - but it was also a lot of fun! And this week Kinsey has done some pretty incredible things! You know we've been working on sit to stand and climbing up steps to get into a standing position in PT and she's really got the concept behind it down pat, but hadn't been able to execute it yet without a lot of help. She can get onto all fours, but then has trouble getting up on one knee and one foot then pushing/pulling to stand. Well, Monday afternoon she was playing on the floor and all of a sudden she got up on all fours in front of the couch, then reached out and put both hands on the couch. I could tell she was trying to get one foot up, but she was struggling with it and instead just moved her knees forward a little until she was closer to the couch. Then she cruised along the front of the couch on her knees. That was a first! I didn't get the whole thing on video, but I did get the cruising part: http://youtu.be/yN5CbV3H4sw

But it gets ever better - Tuesday night she wasn't sleeping so we went in to check on her and she was up on all fours when Jamie went in her room. She was reaching for the top of the crib and pulled herself up to be on her knees and was again trying to get her foot up. She even got her foot up a couple of times, but still couldn't pull to stand. http://youtu.be/Yk4xyYdTx0Y Then she decided to scoot on her butt to the corner of the crib and she grabbed the top and popped right up! She did it like she'd done it a million times before and I was in utter shock! It wasn't the way we've been trying to teach her, but it's pretty typical for her to find her own way to do something! Fortunately, I'd been filming already so we got it on tape! http://youtu.be/3PFpWWCVnAw You can see how proud she was (and you can hear how shocked I was!). Unfortunately, for safety we had to lower the mattress down right away. Now that she knows how to do it she'd be doing it all the time and she's so tall she could easily fall out of the crib. And now that we've lowered the mattress, she can't reach the top to stand up anymore :( We're trying to recreate the environment with some of her tables or maybe we'll even put something in the crib for her to practice that we'd take out when it's time to sleep. But now that she's done it, I think she will keep doing it.

Then on Thursday she did something else new - she crawled! PT was here and we had gone in Kinsey's room to measure the height of the mattress and Kinsey was in the living room. When I looked out, she was up on all fours and started moving her legs, then her arms forward! She's done it a few other times too. Amazing! This is HUGE for her because it takes SO much arm strength, something she's always struggled with. Plus the PT said crawling strengthens a lot of muscles in the back which are important for walking too. The chiropractor even mentioned on Wed that he can feel the muscles developing in her back from all the walking and standing she's been doing.

She is continuing to stand well and take steps on her own. She prefers to go short distances between furniture - if it's too far to something she can hold onto she doesn't have the confidence to go. She's also getting up on her knees more often - today I found her up on her knees playing with the toys on her table and cruising along. It's so shocking to walk into a room and find her up on her knees!


 
 
In other news, we had Kinsey's preschool evaluation on Monday and that went well. It was basically about 15 people (teachers, therapists, nurse, etc) all sitting around a room watching Kinsey play and asking me questions about her abilities. I think she impressed them :) We have the IEP meeting in 2 weeks to develop her goals and strategies and then she will start school the Tuesday after her birthday, which just happens to be 11-12-13 . .. kind of cool I think!

As we get closer to starting school we've been easing her into getting up earlier. Right now we're at 8 am and I'm planning to take advantage of the time change in two weeks - we'll get her up at what feels like 8 that day, but it will really be 7 so that will make the transition easier. Then she'll have a week to get used to it before starting school. Since she's getting up earlier, she's started napping again in the afternoons :)

I think that's it for this week! We're in the countdown now - only 15 days until Kinsey turns 3!!!  Here's a fun picture of her putting her bear on the tractor to drive it. So cute!

Let the Countdown Begin!

As of Thursday, it's less than a month until Kinsey's 3rd birthday! I've been planning the party for a while now already (I'm sure no one is surprised by that). We're having a music party here at the house this year and looking forward to having lots of friends (ours and Kinsey's) to celebrate with us.

This isn't just another birthday (not that any of Kinsey's are), but turning 3 means Kinsey will start preschool! The early intervention program that provides Kinsey's therapy services only runs through age 3, at which point the kids have to enter the school system to continue receiving services (or we could do them on our own through insurance, but that's not a realistic option). So I've been preparing for this for quite some time too. Kinsey will go to preschool 4 days a week for 3 hours a day (Tues-Fri, 8:05 - 10:50 am). The school is in Windsor about 20 minutes from the house and we will be taking her to school.

This week I went to the school to meet with the principal and see Kinsey's classroom. The principal is really nice and it turns out she has a background in special ed preschool and kindergarten. I've heard wonderful things from other moms with kids with special needs and I think she'll be great to work with. One of the teachers in Kinsey's classroom is her current hearing therapist, so she's been telling me a lot about the class and helping us get ready. It's also just great to know that someone who already knows Kinsey and Kinsey already knows will be there with her (that makes me feel much better - after all, this will be the first time she will be away from me like this). I met the other teacher, the PT, OT, aids and the nurses that are there for some of the other kids. Everyone was wonderful. I got some basic information (like how to do drop off and pick up), which also make me less nervous. Next week the school psychologist is coming to do a home evaluation, then we have Kinsey's formal evaluation on the 21st at the school where everyone will be there to observe her and get info from me about her so we can begin to develop her plan. Then we have her IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting on Nov. 4th. That's where we outline her individual goals, strategies to meet those goals and make a plan for any accommodations she might need (like an individual aid to be with her on the playground or a special chair to sit in so she doesn't get hurt, etc). This part is quite overwhelming and I've been doing a lot of research to be sure we put together the best IEP for her. Overall, I think school will be great for her and I think she will learn a lot. Anyway, more on school to come.

This week Kinsey and I went to another pumpkin patch with our MOPS group and one of the ladies had everyone over to carve our pumpkins afterwards. She also has a pony that she let the kids ride, which Kinsey loved. She's getting so good at riding I could almost (but still would never) let go of her.

 

   

   

   

   

   

      


 
 
   

 

Kinsey and I also did something different this week - we got pink hair extensions! A local salon is doing it to support Breast Cancer Awareness month, so we went with a group of friends and (and some of their kids) and got a little pink hair (in memory of my mom - who would probably think it's crazy).

 

I made Kinsey a new Gator bib last weekend. I hate that I always cover up her Gator outfits with a bib so I found a lady to embroider some fabric with a Gator design then I made it into a bib. I think it turned out really cute.

 

And Jamie and I have been trying to teach Kinsey to raise her arms in the air to celebrate a touchdown. Fortunately between the Gators and the Broncos (mostly the Broncos) we've had plenty of opportunities to teach her. She's starting to get it:  http://youtu.be/Dg4QDpdqjW4

This week Jamie finished the bathroom remodel (the one that was damaged in the fire) and Kinsey has a bathtub again. We got a beautiful claw foot tub that's really deep and Kinsey loves it. She also loves that the water faucet is in the middle of the tub instead of at the end and that it has a handheld shower head too.


 

   

Finally, here are a couple of cute videos: Kinsey playing with her new baby doll swing: http://youtu.be/CAEZ5XNZfwc and Kinsey bouncing on the bed: http://youtu.be/6FNDLnANaVs

Oh, and next week I will be at the MOPS conference in Kansas City. I will be gone Thurs - Sunday (the longest I've ever been away from Kinsey!) so I probably won't get a blog posted next week. Kinsey will have lots of fun with Pop-Pop and Jamie and I'll catch everyone up on things the following week. 

A Development Spurt

We've all heard of growth spurts in kids, and Kinsey has those, but I've decided she also has "development spurts." We've always noticed that she will often go for several months without seeming to pick up any new skills, then all of a sudden she seems to start doing all the things we've been working on (and some other things too). I've now named it a "development spurt" and she's definitely had one recently!

You saw the video last week of her learning to stand from sitting on a stool and taking some steps on her own. Last week the back of the stool was propped up to give her a little lift, but this week we removed that and she is still standing up really well. We've also moved the stool further away from the couch so she has to take more steps and she's doing that well too. We've been practicing it every day and she's been pretty consistent about doing it.

But she's been doing lots of other new things lately too:

• She has recently learned what her speech therapist called "a good communication skill" - she has really learned to cry to get what she wants. And I mean in the manipulative way that most kids do it, instead of only crying when something's actually wrong. She cries when she gets bored, scoots over to me and cries for me to pick her up and cries when she's tired of being in her car seat (not such a wonderful roadtripper anymore!). I have to remind myself that this is a good thing because she's communicating, but it's not my preferred method of communication!
• We think she's also gotten a lot more talkative lately. She's been wearing her hearing aid very consistently and I think that's making a difference.
• She has started to play with her toys in a new way - actually pushing buttons on things to make them do things. I've never seen her understand that concept before. She is also doing a lot more with pretend play with her baby dolls - wiping their face with a piece of fabric (like we wipe her face after eating), giving the doll its bottle (or Kinsey's milk bear), sitting them on chairs, etc. And something she's been doing for a while, but I don't think I ever mentioned is her love of pushing cars around. She will scoot across the floor while pushing a car (or one of the tractors Jamie bought her).
• She is starting to get the hang of feeding herself with a spoon! On occasion she will take the spoon from you and put it in her mouth. Sometimes she drops it on the floor instead. She plays with an empty spoon while I'm feeding her and she will take that spoon and "dip" it into a container like she's getting food on it then put it in her mouth (or sometimes not). But she's getting the idea. We need to practice this more - it's something I don't do often because I don't like her to get messy.
• We are also practicing standing up from sitting on the floor. We're doing this with her starting out in a side-sit position and moving to getting one foot up and pushing up to stand. We're taking advantage of the times that she scoots over to us and cries because she wants to get up. We make sure her legs are in side-sit then hold her arms to help her up. She's getting pretty good at moving one leg so she can stand on that foot and then she will help push herself up to standing while you're holding her hands and offering some support. It's hard to describe. But it's only been about a week and she's already making good progress on it. 
• I don't remember if I mentioned this before or not, but she's doing a clapping motion. She doesn't do it in context, but she's got the motion down and now we're working on getting her to do it at appropriate times. 
• Lastly, Kinsey has recently discovered a love of TV. She is sort of mesmerized by it and will sit and watch it for long periods of time now. She used to watch for about 10 minutes and then get distracted, but now she really watches and squeals and talks to it (especially when she sees Mickey or babies). She watched nearly an hour of the Disney movie Tangled the other afternoon.

 Anyway, here's a video I forgot to share from our trip to FL of Kinsey playing the piano http://youtu.be/gdpR4NlEJ8E and some pictures from last weekend - we took Kinsey to a pumpkin patch and small festival. She had fun checking out the pumpkins and posed for lots of pictures:

 

   

   

   

   

   

   

 
We saw this old school desk and couldn't resist sitting her in it. (Preschool is only about a month away- where did the time go? More on that later!)