Sunday, April 30, 2006

New Pictures of Caitlyn



I just wanted to post these pictures that Eric took of Caitlyn today. You can see from the blurriness around her hands how much they are constantly moving. I think they even frustrate her at times. At night, she actually sleeps on her hands so that she can relax. It pains me some days to see how much they move. I wonder if it drives her crazy.

Friday, April 28, 2006

Hydro-Therapy and other Therapy news

Caitlyn got to start hydro-therapy back up this week! She has this amazing love of water! At home, she will go into the bathroom and hit the inside of the tub, telling us she wants to play in the water. So we got her back into hydro-therapy at her school. Thursday was her first day. Grandma got to take her, and she had a blast! She will alternate between hydro-therapy and regular physical therapy every other week. Her therapist is excited with her progress!

Caitlyn is also making great progress in speech therapy! Her therapist feels that she is making the choice of what she really wants about 60-70% of the time. She does this by pushing a button with a picture on a communication device. The device gives her two choices. She loves to push the button with the picture of the goldfish crack on it. Food is such an incentive for our little girl! I will try and get some pictures, if they'll let me.

Possible Seizures?

When Caitlyn was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome, we were given the news that she could develop seizures at some point. Our chances were 75-85% that she would develop them at some time. Well, she has been having these episodes of rolling her eyes into the back of her head. We decided it wasn't something we wanted to sit around waiting to see if it went away. So, on May 5th we'll head to the neurologist to see if it is anything. Please think of us as we make this journey to yet another appointment.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Mastering the Stairs!

Caitlyn's therapists have worked so hard with her on going up stairs. They started with simply layering mats for her to walk up. Well, she can do it! This week at daycare she discovered the four stairs up to their loft. There is a railing, and she went up all by herself! I am so proud of my baby girl!!! To go down, she had the choice of a ramp or the stairs again. She gripped the railing with both hands, and went down the stairs sideways!!! Each and every new thing that she does makes us celebrate. The littlest sign of furthering development gives us all hope that she will continue to do more things. Another thing that she has mastered is standing up in the middle of the room! When Caitlyn figured this one out, she would drop to her knees over and over again just so she could stand up in the middle of the room. We are so excited that we can share our joy with everyone!