Pre party fun! Happy Birthday Laney!

Pre party fun! Laney got to play with Aunt Danielle and Grandma. She even went to the park with Grandma and Halle so mom could get the house and food together for the party tonight. Thanks to you both for helping out!

Movin' and Shakin'

This kid is all over the place. We often find her trying to tangle herself in the bumper in her crib. For some reason she thinks the blank outside is more entertaining than the inside with pictures. The other picture is of her standing. She can mostly stand on her own but we give her a little bracing and provide some pressure on her feet. She is not used to putting pressure on her feet and if you don't push down on her legs a bit she rolls her feet and stand on the side. Every day we are making a little progress.

Tonight Grandma is coming into town and Mom and Dad are going on a DATE! Not sure if we remember how but I am sure it will come back to us at dinner with friends and some live music!

Try to get back on track...

I am terrible and keeping up with this but my resolve is renewed. I am going to just have to write off the last month of updates and start new.

This month has been a crazy one. Laney has continued to receive physical therapy and is progressing by leaps and bounds. I will post video of her moving around as soon as I figure out how... She is crawling! Well, let me clarify she is scooting, most the time in reverse, but moving around all over the place none the less. Her balance is great and her flexibility is great, almost completely back to normal!

We recently put in the hardood floor in our living room. Tough on Laney till her balance kicked in but she is doing much better. She has smacked her head a few times but what kid hasn't. Her newest skill is standing. We are so proud of her. Just about 6 weeks ago she had zero muscle tone in her legs and could not handle any pressures to her feet, now she is standing with just a little help. Her therapist, Katie, is excited and impressed with her progress. We took her back to her orthopoedic surgeon for a couple of follow up appointments and her X rays look great. The bones in her hip are starting to take shape and you can see the progress in the density of her bones. Very exciting. We don't have to go back for 6 months.

We have been a little concerned because she isn't talking quite as much as we expected but everyone has told us the same thing, "kids do one thing at a time". With her preoccupation in dealing with her hip she is more worried about moving than talking and I think they are right. Just in the last week her vocalizations have increased a bit. In a twist of irony she has a follow up hearing test next week. Remember she had to go through the wringer with her hearing when we brought her home. She seems to hear just fine but it will be nice to see if that fluid in her ear has cleared up.

As you can see from the date of this post her first birthday is this week. It is a time of reflection for us. Alot of bittersweet memories and a great time to appreciate all we have been through and how grateful we are things worked out so well for us.

Physical Therapy

This photo has nothing to do with physical therapy but I LOVE IT! She has had all of these wonderful clothes that my sister handed down to me from my niece but of course she hasn't been able to wear any of it. So now we are. The problem is that she is 12-18 months in pants to get the length right and her shirts are 6-12 months. We don't always have a full outfit but we make due. We roll alot of sleeves!

She started physical therapy this week and she is doing great. She has been able to roll over again. Only to the right so far. Can't seem to get that left leg in far enough to roll left yet. She is sitting better and better every day. She has regained alot of her flexibility. So more of the same. Balance and range of motion.

I can SIT!

It has only been a few days and she is sitting up without much problem. Eventually she falls forward but we are shocked at how quick she has picked up learning to balace herself. She does pretty well if she is leaning forward but backward is a different story. She has had a rough week having to deal with the pain of moving her legs that have been in that cast for 3 1/2 months. Ibuprofen helps but you can tell it still hurts. She is not able to bring her legs together enough to ride in her car seat yet so we still use the one she had for her cast but every day we see improvements. Look at that smile. She looks happy to me.

Bathtime?

Why don't they have a warning on the box that says, " Giving your child one of these teething biscuits will not only require a bath for the child but a change of clothes for you!"

Comin' around the mountain

With the new year brings a new perspective. I have decided to change the way I keep the blog. I have been using it to keep family and friends, namely all of you, updated on what is going on in our lives. I think I am going to try something different this year. I am going to keep this blog for Laney. I want her to look back on it as a journal of her childhood. So the blog will still update you on what is going on in our life but the main focus will be to document Laney's life for her. (Actually it is so when Kevin and I are old and can't remember stuff we can cheat and look back!)

The major development for this week was the removal of Laney's cast. We went in on Monday morning and the Physicians Assistant (not the nurse this time!) Took off Laney's cast. She screamed and cried the whole time. Then to add insult to injury they wanted an X-ray of her pelvis. You have all seen the position that her legs have been in for 14 weeks. Well that is how they stayed when the cast came off. Well they wanted her legs down and straight. It was the most excruciating thing I have ever seen. I can only compare it to someone forcing you down into the splits right now! She screamed and I cried. I have just about had it with people inflicting pain on this kid. Necessary or not! The fact that I just worked three nights in a row and had not slept yet didn't help. Finally, that was over. I wrapped her in a blanket and we walked and looked out the window till I didn't feel like slugging someone.

Then to add insult to injury her doctor came in and told us we had to put her in another cast. "WHAT!?" I don't think I swore but it is highly possible. He misread the file and didn't realize we had already done the second cast. "take her home and let her stretch herself out" he says. So we will let her rest for a few days and start physical therapy! Another milestone achieved. The X-ray of her hip said everything was fine.