a little brag!

Ok. Just too excited not to share! Joan stood all by herself TWICE yesterday! A new milestone reached! Yay for Joan! The first time, i don't even think she knew she was doing it. She tends to brace herself against walls with her hip, and she just pushed off with her hip, and was floating free for a few seconds. The second time was deliberate. She was in the drained tub, waiting to be pulled out. She had let go with her right hand, and was looking like she really wanted to let go with her left. But she was bent forward, so it looked awkward for her. So i offered her my hand, so she could pull upright - so she took it, stood up...and then she let go! She stood there all wobbly and looking a little freaked out for a good four seconds, before putting her hand down again! She hasn't done it again today, but now she knows she can, so I think it will turn up more and more often.


She had a physio appointment today! It went great. Because she's mastered a lot of the things we've started with, they're upping her goals quit a bit. Due to everyone's holiday time, we won't be back until early August. In the meantime, they want me to teach her how to cruise along a flat surface, like a wall, and climb stairs. They said a good way of doing the flat wall thing is to start at the fridge, with lots of fridge magnets that she can push around. If it's a fun place to be, she'll be more likely to get up on her own to play there. Right now, she's only pulling up against tables. Cruising down hallways is also good - it's to build trunk support. I'm supposed to brace her against a wall and let her go. She'll need a ton of tummy time to help her get it done. That and stairs - they said it's good exercise to build those pulling-up muscles. We can start with any low platform. She's always trying to climb up on John's bed, so they suggested we start there, and move up to real stairs as soon as she's able. We're supposed to do tummy time with a little pillow under her belly to start, to get her right up on all fours. She plays on her tummy now a lot, but she plays propped up on her elbows. It's good for loadbearing work for her upper body, but not as good for mobility. They tried to do it there, but she was having none of it. But we usually have better success with their assignments at home, which they said is the norm, so hopefully it will go well. So be prepared! These are big, big goals they've set for her, and these are the things we'll need to work on while we're in Dryden and Geraldton. Looks like we'll be spending a lot of our visit in everyone's stairwells and hallways. :-P We're also supposed to provide a lot of sensory stuff, too. The stroke can cause a change in sensation to the affected side. Some kids can feel more - others can feel less than normal. Part of what her hand brace does is provide pressure and sensory stimulation, so for kids who have very little sensation, it can get some neurons firing. Joan seems to be in the low-sensory category. Now that she's got the brace, she seems to have a heightened awareness of her right side. She's finding object with different sensations and stroking her right arm with them, which is something she's never done before. So fabric, or cotton balls, or crumpled paper - anything she finds. It's pretty neat to see, and the therapists said that's exactly the type of thing they wanted to see from the brace, so to keep the sensory input coming, and to lay it on thick.

We signed John up for preschool yesterday. Not the one we were thinking of before. We found an academic one that filled up months ago, but they opened up a new class, due to the high demand, and we managed to snag a spot! yay! it sounds a lot like his school in Hamilton, and a LOT like real JK. They take trips in the community, like to the library, and to Safeway, where they'll learn about nutrition, and to the firehouse, where they'll learn about fire safety. They do an annual trip to the zoo, too, which sounds cool. It's located in a school, though not our school. It's right next door to a library and a public pool, and near several major shopping centres, so I can do things with Joan and run errands while he's there, though it isn't far from home either. I thought at first, when I saw the pool, that I should take Joan swimming while he's there - it's one of the things they recommend for her in therapy - splashing is a great way to build muscle. But I realized, hey, I'm going to have a newborn in September. So that might nix that. We'll see. Maybe I can get a waterproof carrier of sorts for the new baby, so we can still go now and then. But anyway, this school solves a lot of the problems I had with the other place - one, it's taught by properly trained and board certified teachers and ECEs - the other was taught by ECE students and recreation grads. To me, that's a big, big deal. It's the teachers who made the real difference in the Best Start program. They were amazing, and really helped him blossom. Two, there's a common snack. The other place, we had to provide snacks ourselves, which I think would lead to snack envy, and a hoarding mentality. Snack seems like such a trivial thing, but I think it's an important thing in preschool, because it peer pressures them into trying new foods, and it shows them how to share, like at a normal family dinner table.

Anyway, better go. Lots of niggly jobs to do before the flight this weekend. Bloodwork to get done (the dreaded glucose test), W inc paperwork to do. Lots of mailing, lots of faxing, lots of forms. Lots of fun, fun, fun!