The Princess and The Tornado

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Pre-birthday trip to the zoo

Originally, we planned to go to the zoo tomorrow on Max's birthday - Steve even had time off work to come with us. But the forecast is for cold and rain/snow. So we did an afternoon excursion yesterday, the best weather day of the week, even though Daddy couldn't come.
{Prepare for picture overload...}

We gave Max his birthday present early too - a shiny red wagon!!

First things first - Piper had to look on the map to see where we should go first. Max wanted to help.

Usually, Piper loves the carousel - not this trip. She screamed every time I let go of her.

This was Max's first time on an animal - he chose the hippo, and quite liked it.

This tiger was eyeing all the little kiddos walking by.... hmmm... lunch.

We ended with the 2 minute train ride. Why do kids love this so much?!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Another playdate is in order

Hangin' with Jaxson at the park. I love the 'get that sunshine out of my face' look Jax is sportin'.

And 'Mom, why do you keep letting this kid poke at me?'

It was pretty chilly, and most everyone had a prior commitment, or were sick, so we need to schedule another playdate soon. Are Saturdays generally good? Mornings or afternoons? I thought it would be nice to have the siblings and even daddies join in for a playdate... when it warms up just a little more. We hadn't seen Lacey and Jax and 'the turtle boys' (that's how Piper refers to Jaxson's brothers - they have/had turtles at their house) in a while, so it was good to catch up.

I forgot to post this picture with the PT ones yesterday. Piper loves cuddling with her Grandma.

More on PT

So to post a couple of the 'tricks' we learned in PT...

First, to get Max in the '4 point' (ready to crawl) stance... grab his thighs, bending the knees, and place them under him, then hold the outer sides so they don't splay outward.

I didn't get a picture of this, but then you can turn his bum so it's on the ground and help his hand placement so he learns to sit up by himself.

Next - standing - the magic is thumbs in the bum :)

At least for Max, he hasn't been putting any weight on his legs, so they are weak. This works better if you have a short bench, facing a coffee table with a favorite toy on it for motivation, or one of those big exercise balls (we just snapped a few pics at Grandma's today, so we just used a chair). From sitting, we help him up and get him to put his hands up on the table or chair. Using my hands, I grab his thighs with my fingers, locking the knee, and put my thumbs in his bum. I did this backwards, or upside down the first time. It doesn't work. The pressure on the bum muscles and locking the knee, extend that thigh muscle that is so weak and needs strengthening.

With an exercise ball, you put him on his tummy on top of the ball and roll him down to the floor (with the ball in a corner so it doesn't get away from you), and then hold him in position.

Another way, not as great because part of his weight is being held up by resting on my chest, but still practices the positioning...

You just hold his chest with one hand and lock his thighs and knees with the other.

This is good though if you're just sitting watching TV or something. For the other method you really have to be on the ground with him.

Some other handouts we got... to help strengthen his muscles. Hopefully if you click on them, they'll go larger.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

PT

We gave up on DDI (early intervention) and started physical therapy through Sandy PCMC. Max had his first session Tuesday. He cried a couple of times, he was working his little legs so hard. Up to this point, he would rarely put weight on his legs. Even in his exersaucer, he would curl them up and bounce from the waist. His new therapist, Beth, said his legs were really weak. So we're working on strengthening them. She showed me some great things to do at home. Look - he's standing!!! Like magic.