Ellie continues to gain strength at a good rate, yay! Richard and I think that she is very close to being at her pre-surgery walking levels already. Today she zipped around in the stores at the outlet mall (God Bless America :-)), and actually protested when we offered her a ride in the stroller. Obviously, she's feeling more comfortable in her walker too!
We had a really good end to our therapy week. On Thursday, we spent 1.5 hours with our new physical therapist, Jessie. She was awesome! Ellie loved her, as she used lots of cool toys to "mask" the fact that Ellie was actually doing therapy. She gave me lots of good tips, exercises and stretches to do with Ellie at home. On Friday, Ellie had another 3-hour session at the conductive education center. They worked her HARD! She protested a bit, but powered through. Ellie was able to do things that I've never seen her do! She was able to squat down, with feet flat, and touch the floor with her hands while doing it! I wish I had a picture (hopefully on Tuesday, when she's alone in the class). From the squating position, she was able to stand up, using a ladder that was attached at the wall. That movement requires a LOT of strength, especially in the thigh muscles, so I was really impressed at Ellie's ability to do it.
We have also noticed a considerable difference in our ability to dress Ellie and help her with toileting. Because her legs are so easy to move around now, she is able to help us with putting her pants on. She is also able to use the potty much easier (imagine sitting on the toilet without being able to separate your legs...it's not fun, for the child OR the caregiver). We are thrilled by this! So is Ellie, as she's able to expand her realm of independence.
So, we enter this weekend with happy hearts! I know that all three of us welcome a couple days off. We have lots of exploring to do, of course!
We miss you LOTS. I was a little homesick yesterday when I was forced to watch the Olympics via the American feed. It's almost surreal to think that we were in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago, under very different circumstances. BUT, we know that you are loving, praying and encouraging from afar and that buoys us forward! THANK YOU again.
Have a great weekend!
Of course, I'll leave you with some new pictures! Ellie and I ventured out to Downtown Disney (the free Disney "park", filled with shops and restaurants and BEAUTIFUL walkways) after therapy one day, and here are some photos of our mini-adventure:
These are a few pictures I took especially to showcase Ellie's new ability to sit on a restaurant booster seat. WHOO HOO! For 3 years now, we have carried with us our Fisher Price booster seat (with a belt strap and a hard back, adding more security for Ellie) everywhere we've gone. Since the surgery, Ellie has been able to bend her knees perfectly and sit balanced on a "regular" booster seat. I can't even express how awesome this!
So happy to be sitting balanced on a restaurant booster seat!
At this point, she was getting annoyed that I was taking pictures of her sitting tall, so she started with the funny faces as she said, "cheese!". Stinker.
The "free Disney" places only have the princess statues, not the real-life versions, but Ellie was excited nonetheless.
Some nice tourist offered to take our picture together!
Ahhh, I'm loving all this wonderfully exciting and great news! Keep it coming! I'm so happy for all of you!
ReplyDelete