Oh, did I forget to tell you? I know my colors.

I got a pleasant surprise at Natalie's Occupational Therapy session last week. Her therapist was working with her on stacking blocks and started asking Natalie to get certain colors to stack next and I was amazed to see her get it right nearly every time. It seems that she knows green, blue, red and yellow. I had no idea. I wasn't prepared with my camera at the time so this week I made sure that I had the camera ready to get a video or two. She was not really motivated to do the stacking this week as you'll notice but who cares -- SHE KNOWS HER COLORS!

New Skills

Recently, I was unloading the dishwasher while Natalie was eating.  She was eating cheerios and s'mores goldfish crackers (chocolate, graham, and marshmallow shaped fish).   A minute or two after putting them on her tray I looked over and saw this:

I was so excited that I ran to get the camera.  Why was I so excited you ask?  Well, because I have never seen Natalie do any type of  sorting activity.  I decided to see what she would do if I put a few more chocolate fish on her tray.  When I did she immediately looked at them, picked them up one by one, and added them to the area with the other chocolate fish.   Not only is this a great developmental step but it shows that she is using her vision well to distinguish colors.  I've since realized that she apparently does this because she does not like to eat the chocolate ones.   She also doesn't like the marshmallow ones but it's more fun to just throw those on the floor!

Natalie also continues to get stronger and more stable when standing and cruising.  She pulls herself up more steadily and confidently.  In fact, if she sees something on a table or counter now, she will try her hardest to get it.  Here she is in the bathroom trying to reach something on the counter.  Just a few months ago I would not have considered leaving her for even a second to get the camera because she was so unsteady she would have likely fallen quickly.  Now she can even get herself down from this position safely. 

I am so proud of my big girl!

My Valentine

Natalie had a wonderful Valentine's Day weekend visiting with some of her favorite Valentines.  On Saturday she got to visit with both her Mamaw Hall and Cook.  On Sunday she spent some time with her Great Grandma and Great Bop. 

Natalie and her Great Bop

She also got a special Valentine balloon from Grandpa Howard (it's tied to the back of the fire truck below):

Happy girl driving her truck

I also snuck in some standing practice with her balloon.  It was hard to get a good picture because she was so excited about her balloon that she kept losing her balance. 

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day weekend!

Neurology Update

On January 21 Natalie went to see her favorite Neurologist, Dr Franz.  Really, Natalie probably would not call any doctor a "favorite" but if I had to pick one it would probably be him!  I like that he always seems to be truthful yet definitely puts the focus on the positives!  He also takes the time to really listen to parents and seems to value and consider their input.  On this journey, I have learned that this is truly a rarity among pediatric specialists!  Del took Natalie to this appointment so I did not get this information firsthand but it seems that Dr Franz gave Natalie a GREAT report at this visit.  
To summarize:
-Natalie looks to him to be getting close to walking.  He took notice of her much improved balance since her previous visit. 
-She had an EEG after her previous visit and this was negative for seizures.  She still is at increased risk for seizures due to her previous brain bleed and resulting damage, but the older she gets without having any seizures the better the odds that she won't develop a seizure disorder. 
-He believes that she is definitely trying to communicate with us in words but is just not able to get them out correctly and consistently.  Natalie apparently became very talkative during her appointment and told him one of her long stories!  Dr Franz thinks that the communication device that Natalie will soon be evaluated for will be a great thing to improve her ability to communicate.  It is clear that her receptive language skills are much ahead of her expressive language skills.  (Not sure he said that last part exactly but this is pretty clear if you spend any time with her).  I will do a separate post about communication soon. 
-He supports getting another opinion on Natalie's vision and affirmed my gut feeling that vision therapy is probably not worth the time and money at this time.  Natalie has had a prescription for glasses since this fall from her Ophthalmologist but no glasses yet.  A second opinion from a developmental Optometrist was to hold off on the glasses for now and do vision therapy (which they do in their office for a rather hefty fee and not covered by insurance).  So in order to get a 3rd tie breaker opinion, we are going to be seeing an Ophthalmologist in Cincinnati. 

I feel like I am forgetting something so if I am, and I remember it, I will edit later!

Tough week so far..and it's only Wednesday!

On Sunday night Natalie fell on her chin on Cook's hardwood floor and split her chin open (again).  You may remember she did this back in May and had to have several stitches.  This time after a fun (not really) trip to the ER, she ended up with 10 stitches.  It did not seem to hurt much but she was really mad about being in the ER.  Even weighing her and taking her blood pressure really ticked her off.  I didn't take any pictures at the hospital but here she is happy to be back at Cook's house at 11:30 Sunday night.  Note the mismatched clothing and hospital bracelet.

The rest of her week was going along great until today, when approximately 45 minutes after dropping her off at school, I got a call to come pick Natalie up because she threw up in her classroom and had a 99.3 temp.  I got her home and she seemed happy to be home and crawled off to play.  She ate a great lunch and then posed for a few pictures:

Today, right after these pictures were taken, she was standing up by the coffee table, lost her balance and fell hitting her mouth on the coffee table on the way down.  Ugh.  She cried pretty hard but there was minimal blood in her mouth and all of her teeth seem intact.  Luckily, she must have just barely missed hitting her chin.  Hoping for no more injuries or sickness this week!

Being Real

I have been thinking a lot lately about my blog reading habits and about what I want this blog to be.  Mainly, I've realized that the blogs that I enjoy reading, for the most part, combine several common elements: 
-documentation of everyday accomplishments/special events
-reactions life events and/or challenges
-interesting or funny stories about everyday life

Up until now I don't feel that this blog has really met my own "good blog" requirements so I plan to change that.   No one expects to have a child with a disability but the reality is that it happens all the time and it involves major lifestyle adjustments and a lot of emotion, both good and bad.  Over the last 3 years I have benefitted immeasurably by reading other blogs about kids with challenges similar to Natalie's.  This includes the stories of other micropreemies and kids with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and other disabilities.  It has made me feel less alone and given me a lot of hope for Natalie's future.  I want to be honest about Natalie's disability and how it affects her.  Also, I'd like to educate family, friends and other blog readers a bit more about CP.   But don't worry - I still plan to celebrate her accomplishments and post tons of pictures of my sweet girl! 
So look forward to more posts about Natalie's therapies and therapy goals, equipment, and general development.   I'd love reader comments on topics that you would like me to cover in future posts or just questions that you have about Natalie and her development.  Don't be afraid to ask anything you want to know!

Looking Back

Carter and Natalie in January 2008.

Here they are in late December 2009, nearly 2 years later.

Look at how they have changed.  The sweet little babies are now sweet KIDS!