The BIG Little Stuff

I write a lot on this blog about Ellie's walking.  Of course, that's "the biggie" and something that she's working very, very hard on.  But, there are also a bunch of "little things" that we've noticed since the surgery and those are important too!  I know that there are many parents of kids who have CP reading this blog, and they will understand how important these (not so) little things are.  I am still often amazed.

Here are two more examples of how life has changed since having the SDR surgery:

As previously posted, Ellie has been able to use the regular restaurant booster seats since the surgery and it's been great!  We've been leaving our Fisher Price booster in the car, instead of lugging it around with us everywhere.  Well...At Disney we ate supper at a restaurant that didn't have ANY booster seats.  So, we thought we'd see how Ellie did on JUST.A.CHAIR.  Oh my goodness!  She did it!  She sat on the chair all by herself and was able to balance well enough to use her hands and eat! 

Ellie's legs were so tight and stiff (spastic) before the surgery that she wasn't able to bend them enough to sit "criss-cross, applesauce".  I think it's been 2 years since she's been able to cross her legs while sitting.  It's unfortunate, because this is a very good position for posture and play.  Well, here's Ellie yesterday, reading her book:

This position will help her hip tremendously (we're desperately hoping that her right hip will improve so that she won't be subjected to hip surgery next year).  Yay!

We are lovin' all these BIG "little" improvements, that's for sure!