I have started back to teaching and that and my princess have been keeping me busy! This morning she is playing with daddy on the floor so I have a moment to type.
Its amazing how much Evangeline has grown and developed these last few months. Spoons are no longer weapons of mass destruction. She is so cute when she spoons her oatmeal into her mouth and chomps it with her four little teeth! She is using a dynamic stander each day to help her bear weight and gain strength. We were very lucky to have a pre-loved stander that has helped several other little kids on their journey. It was loaned to us by a mom in our local spina bifida group so we didn't have to wait forever for insurance to pay.
While in her stander Evangeline uses AFOs, (ankle braces) though when she starts walking she may not need them. The jury is still out on that one. Orthopedically she is doing great. Her most recent urodynamics is still showing best case scenario as far as kidney health. No reflux, low filling pressure. She retains urine and has had a few infections but the uro doc still does not want us to cath.
Evangeline army crawls very well now and her "motor planning" continues to improve. This is a skill that involves moving the upper and lower body in unison and how the child coordinates these movements. With a little support around the middle she can four point at lightening speed. We suspect that by the next month she may be able to four point on her own. Her strength in both her upper and lower body is improving slowly but steadily.
Her speech has been a little delayed (possibly because she has been making so many motor gains) but we have been working with her and she has added a few new sounds to her repertoire. Once she mastered the B sound. It wasn't long before she began saying "Bu-Bu" the name of her grammy's puppy (and her very special friend) Bubba. Bubba is SO gentile and good with her. Evangeline loves to share everything with him. She offers him a toy and he generally refuses, but if she holds out a wooden block, he cant help himself, he'll have a good chew. She reaches down and offers him food from her highchair, and he is so gentle, if there isn't enough of the food sticking out of her chubby baby hand, he will just put his nose on her hand, not wanting to take it. Even at restaurants, Evangeline holds down food, just in case Bubba is hiding somewhere and wants to sample what she's got. These two are inseparable. She pats him and he comes when she calls. They certainly are a pair!
As the speech therapist recommended, we are continuing to do exercises to help her become aware of all her facial/mouth muscles. These exercises involve peanut butter and Evangeline thinks they are totally awesome fun. Even though Evangeline can't say many words, she knows TONS! We are already having to spell certain things. (Bye Bye fore example!) She adores going bye bye and you better not say the word unless its happening NOW!
She is still her amazing happy self. She still loves going to see her doctor friends and will be making a special delivery to many of them next week with thank you cards and Christmas brownies. She still loves to giggle until everybody else is laughing. She still adores music and dancing/bopping to tunes of all kinds. She still grunts/growls in cute ways just like her daddy taught her to.
I guess that is a pretty solid update. We hope everybody has a happy Christmas!!!
