PT Assessment, Walking, etc.

It's another hectic day in the Gagnon household!

Andrea had her physiotherapy assessment with the lady from CF today. Andrea liked F. a lot, because she brought over plenty of new toys for Andrea to play with! F. evaluated Andrea in many areas, not just PT, because the agency wanted to see if Andrea had any other needs that we hadn't previously mentioned.

Basically, F. said that Andrea is age appropriate in all areas: speech, play, fine motor skills, and even gross motor skills.

But, F. noticed that Andrea doesn't place her feet right when she stands up and walks. (Hmm . . . didn't Mommy make a video and comment about that a few months ago?) Anyhow, it appears that the area between Andrea's ankle and instep is a little bit weak. She walks on the arches (instep) of her feet with her ankles turned in a teeny bit. Therefore, it makes it much more of a challenge for Andrea to walk. In fact, F. says she is impressed by how well Andrea is walking, and says she must be a very determined little girl to have overcome this challenge on her own!

Anyhow, here are F.'s recommendations:

• Andrea needs to get extra supports put into her shoes, to help strengthen her instep, and get her muscles into a stronger position.
• In the meantime, Andrea should wear her shoes as much as possible. While most children should be barefoot as they learn to walk, Andrea needs the extra support her shoes give to her feet and ankles.

It may be a few months before we can get Andrea the inserts for her shoes, because of the agency's waiting list, but F. is going to try her best to get something for Andrea sooner. She is concerned that the heavier Andrea gets, as she grows, the tougher it will be for Andrea to correct the muscles on her own.

***

But really, I am not overly concerned. Andrea has made incredible progress this week! Last night she started taking solo walks all the way across the room; and this morning, after F. left, Andrea took her longest solo walk to date. She went from the living room, past the dining room, into the kitchen, and then across the kitchen. She has been doing it all day now. I am so proud of her, especially now that I realize she is doing this while being faced with extra challenges. And guess what? I got it all on video! http://media.putfile.com/Andreas-Longest-Solo-walk

***

Life is good. Andrea went for her 18-month-old checkup today, and the doctor said she looks great. She had to get two immunizations (ouch!), but she only cried for a minute or two. Andrea weighs 29 pounds now! She's not a little baby any more. Sigh. :))

***

But she can be a little stinker! Today, she got into a kitchen cupboard (okay, Mommy forgot to lock it), and she dumped vegetable oil all over herself and the floor. What a greasy and smelly mess! I threw her into the bathtub, clothes and all! I swear, you can't let them out of your sight for a minute . . . :))

They're Giving Her a Chance :))

When I picked up Andrea from daycare today, they told me that they are going to try moving her to the Toddler Room in February. They are giving her a chance!

They are hoping that moving her into a room where everyone is walking will encourage
her to do the same. (I had something of the same thought before, but didn't feel it was my place to voice my opinion.)

Still, their biggest concern is for her safety, and of course I agree. So, if it appears to be too dangerous for her, she will have to leave until she's more steady on her feet. But at least they're giving her a chance--that's all I can ask for right now. :))

By the way, Andrea's assessment with the physiotherapist from CF is tomorrow morning. I'll post about that as soon as I can.

The Plot Thickens . . .

Life is so insane.

Today, I was filling in for a teacher at the adult/continuing education high school, St. M.'s.

[Long story short, I had worked there during my first year of teaching (2002-2003), loved it, but decided to leave to get experience in the regular school system--where it's never felt quite right. A few months ago, I got called to do a one-day job there (similar to today); I realized how much I missed it there, and I sent one of my past colleagues a message about how I felt, and asked her to think of me should a position become available in my subject area (English). Of course, I didn't imagine anything would come of this. That school doesn't have a lot of staff turn-over.]

At the end of the day, when I went to hand my attendance and notes for the teacher I'd replaced for today, the secretary told me the principal wanted to speak with me. What happened next was unbelievable: he offered me a FULL TIME JOB! I was in shock, to say the least. Apparently, one of their English teachers had put in for a transfer for a school closer to her home. The call came in this morning that she had gotten her desired position, and they wanted her to start on February 1st. So, St. M.'s was in need of an English teacher, ASAP. They went to the Prospective Hires List for our school board, and lo and behold, whose name did they spot? MINE! The principal consulted with the colleague I had sent the message to, and they decided: she's here, we know she loves this place, she has the job experience, she knows how this place works, and we like her, so let's offer her the job! So, they called the school board to check that my status was good (it is), and the rest is history.

Needless to say, I said YES: without even thinking about all the implications. This is the job I've always wanted back. I've always felt I belonged there. How many people get a second chance like this?

***

Now, you might be saying: um, isn't this blog about ANDREA? Well, yes, so now we come to how it all ties in: The Plot Thickens . . . because now I really need Andrea to stay in daycare. I have a full-time job on the line! I will beg and grovel and burst into tears in front of the daycare staff if I have to!

Still, we will find a way, no matter what happens. I won't give up this opportunity. No way!

***

In case you were wondering . . . yes, they know about my pregnancy; I told them right away. But, like the principal said, they can't/won't use that as an influence in their decision to hire me. I'll just work full time until I have to go off . . . and then an occasional teacher can replace ME for once! :))

For Your Viewing Pleasure . . .

Grama Marty, who only gets to see Andrea for about a week each year because she lives in Montana, was telling me about how much she loves the videos I post, because it's her chance to see Andrea in action.

So, for Grama Marty, and all of Andrea's other devoted fans, this post is for you!

XOXOXOX

I got Andrea to show off for the camera today, and she was very cooperative!

1. http://media.putfile.com/Pushing-Shopping-Cart: Andrea loves to push around her little shopping cart, all by herself! She motors all through the kitchen, living room, and down the hallway. She's even pretty good at steering! Also notice the fun she has with her camera, at the end.


2. http://media.putfile.com/How-Old-Are-You: This is one of my favourites. I think it's so cute to see a one-year-old showing and telling you how old she is.


3. http://media.putfile.com/Touchdown-88: We are preparing for a Super Bowl party, but Andrea has been doing this one for months now.


4. http://media.putfile.com/Whos-on-the-Plate: Elmo is one of the characters that Andrea usually recognizes, and she says his name.


5. http://media.putfile.com/Wheres-Your---: Andrea's doing really well with pointing to, and naming, her body parts.


6. http://media.putfile.com/Recognizing-Object-Pictures: Daddy was testing Andrea to see which objects she could point to in her picture book. She also added in some of the noises that the objects make.


7. http://media.putfile.com/Kisses-and-Hugs-for-Dolly: In keeping with our practice of being-nice-to-the-baby, we encourage Andrea's gentle interaction with her dolly. Of course, Daddy has some fun with that . . . but Andrea's too smart for him!


8. http://media.putfile.com/Mommys-Toes: Andrea loves anything to do with feet--socks (especially smelly ones!), shoes, toes . . .


9. http://media.putfile.com/Cowgirl-Outfit: I bought this outfit for Andrea when we were visiting Grama Marty and Grampa Rick in Montana, in August. They sent her the cowgirl hat for Christmas. Today, she suddenly decided she wanted to wear the hat and boots; so, I dressed her up in the whole outfit, even though it's still a bit big on her. Surprisingly, she seemed to really enjoy walking in her cowgirl boots!

YEE-HAW!

She's So Cute!

More and more, I find myself saying to Andrea, "You're so funny!" and "You're so cute!" It seems like every day, her quirky little personality comes out more and more. She is constantly amazing me, and making me laugh, with all the new things she says and does each day. Like I've said before, she says and does so many new things each day, that I can't keep up with writing about them all!

Every once in a while, I manage to capture Andrea's new tricks on camera, but it's so much better when it's spontaneous, and she's just being herself. I wish you all could see her every day, and all the funny little things she does. For example, last night Daddy was hunting flies (for some reason we have had a nasty batch of flies in our house--gross!--which we've never had before). Daddy has a tennis racket that you use to zap the flies. As he was stalking prey in the kitchen, Andrea came crawling in with two plastic chicken legs--one in each hand--and started waving them around in the air. It took us a second, then we realized--she was trying to swat the flies like Daddy! Too funny! I guess the chicken legs are the same shape as the tennis racket, but a lot smaller . . . LOL

Anyhow, I did manage to get two videos of her showing off some of her other tricks, earlier this week.

The first is what we are calling her Genie Blink--it's flirty, and we have no idea where it came from, but it reminds us of I Dream of Jeannie: http://media.putfile.com/Genie-Blink

The other, I think I mentioned in a recent post, is Andrea's version of the ABCs. Her letters aren't as clear as usual in this video, because she was in the middle of eating dinner; and, at the end, she was distracted by Daddy arriving home from work (always a joyous occasion!). But, still, here's an idea of how it goes: http://media.putfile.com/Distracted-ABCs

So, although she is definitely a frustrated, stubborn, typical almost-toddler, her cute moments redeem her. :))

Will Andrea Meet the Deadline?

Aw, who knows. Poor Andrea. I hope she hasn't been feeling the pressure!

Anyway, the childhood development organization (CF) that the daycare works with finally got my referral for Andrea through. They called, and we set up an appointment for a physiotherapist to come out to our house next Thursday and assess Andrea's needs. CF is well aware of the time crunch with the daycare; they have heard both sides of the situation (mine and the daycare's), and are doing their best to make Andrea's case a top priority.

CF has given me a glimmer of hope. On the day we set up the assessment visit, the lady said something to the effect of, "We may be able to make a recommendation to the daycare that Andrea is able to advance in the program," even if she's not totally walking. I am trying not to pin my hopes upon that too much.

But after having a bit of a chat with the office staff at the daycare today, I got the same feeling from them--that they are kind of waiting to hear what CF has to say about Andrea's abilities. The lady in charge of the daycare placements told me today that she has the paperwork done up for next month, with Andrea listed as moved to the Toddler Room . . . on the assumption that she'll be ready to go. Argh. We're so close I can taste it!

Anyway, I put Placement Lady on the spot and said, "So what's Andrea's official last day, if she isn't walking well enough? Is it January 23rd (her 18-months)? or February 1st?"

Placement Lady hedged once again: "We could probably finish out that week of February 1st . . ."

How generous of her. One extra day! ;p

Slowly, but Surely :))

Andrea has continued to make slow, but steady progress in all areas this week. :))

Walking

• pulls herself up quickly and easily now
• constantly cruising the furniture
• takes her shopping cart out of her room and walks all over with it, and even steers around obstacles by herself
• has taken as many as 6 steps on her own
• most importantly: doing all of the above things without prompting

Even at daycare, they have been very impressed by her progress. They say she is now grabbing and walking with push toys on her own, and she also took several steps from one teacher to another on Wednesday.

I'm not sure she'll be ready for the Toddler Room by the end of the month, but I am sure that it will not take long before she gets there. We are very encouraged by (and proud of!) her recent progress.

Here's a video of Andrea taking a few steps tonight: http://media.putfile.com/Andrea-Walking-Progress

***

Talking/Singing:

Talking has never been an area of concern for us. Andrea has been making noises right from the start! But I felt it's worth noting what a parrot she's become lately, and all the new words and short phrases she's learned (too many to list). For example, during her bath tonight, I told her, "Here's your boat!" And she replied, " 'ere's ma boat!"

Another fun thing she does is sing her "ABCs." Well, I put "ABCs" in quotation marks, because the only letters that come out clearly are usually A,C,H,I,QRS,TUV, and W. She also sings, "Now I know ma," and the rest is gibberish. Mommy/Daddy sings each line first, to coach her, and she repeats. But the best part is she has the tune almost perfect. It is too funny. She will sing the whole song in tune, right to the end, but substitute the letters/words she doesn't know with her own version! (She also does "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.")

Preparing for Baby

Andrea's only 17 months old, so I don't think she really understands that she'll be a big sister this summer, and what that's going to mean. We remind her every once in a while, especially when we see a baby on TV, or in person. I tell her that the baby is in Mommy's tummy. We play with her dolls, and show her how she should handle a baby.

I think that some of it is starting to register. Andrea will hug her dollies, and she really likes to feed them. Her newest thing, however, is to lift up my shirt and poke me in the belly! I don't know where she came up with that, because I definitely didn't teach it to her. I can't wait till the baby gives her a kick in return! Now it's a game though, because every time she does it, I do the Pillsbury Doughboy giggle.

I also have two big sister books for her: What to Expect When Mommy's Having a Baby and What to Expect When the New Baby Comes Home. Andrea's not much of the sit-still-and-listen-to-a-story type; she never has been. However, she does love flipping through books at her own pace, and studying the pictures. I got a great picture of her tonight, perusing one of her books, with a "thinking cap" (plastic bowl) on her head.

One Step at A Time :))

I am pleased to say Andrea has made a some progress with her walking over the past two days.

Yesterday, Gram and Grandpa G. took Andrea to visit with them for the morning. While she was there, they tried lots of games to encourage her to walk; and I find fresh faces always help, too. They got Andrea to take three or four steps on her own, walking between them, in their kitchen. They also pushed some of their downstairs couches close together, and got her to take a step or two from one to the other, in order to reach something she wanted (like Grandpa's watch).

Last night, I set up something similar for her, with our ottoman near our couch. Here's a video to kind of show what we were doing (although she barely took one step in this one):

http://media.putfile.com/Andrea-Takes-a-Step.

One time, I was stretched out on the couch resting, and I called to Andrea, "Come and see Momma!" She took three big steps, all by herself, from the ottoman to me. Of course, that was the only time I got her to take more than one step by herself, although we played for about two hours before her bedtime. But at least it's a little bit of progress. She took a couple steps from Mommy to Daddy this morning, too.

She also started walking holding onto one of my fingers this weekend, which is a big improvement from her clinging for dear life to both of my hands! But she is still very unsteady, and often falls when holding onto one finger/hand. But I think that's more about her lacking confidence than her lacking skill. On the positive side, when she fell, she would reach up and give me her hand right away, because she was willing to get right back up (another improvement).

BUT she still has to be in the mood to do all this. If she doesn't want to, there's no way I can make her move. She will stretch out on the floor, go dead-weight, and throw a tantrum. And that's no fun for either of us. So, when she seems to be getting tired, we stop the game.

Speaking of getting tired, here's Andrea last night, right before bed. Like I said, we had been playing at standing/walking for about 2 hours, and then we went to her room for a change of scenery. I put her baby down on the floor, and she curled up right next to it! Too cute!

***

"Too cute": That reminds me, this evening as Daddy was changing Andrea's diaper, she was talking a lot, so I peeked my head in the door and said, "You're too cute!"

She replied, as clear as a bell, "I know!"

Daddy and I burst out laughing. Andrea has a great sense of timing with some of her comments. :))

Wall Art ;P

Andrea's First (and LAST) Masterpiece

Black Ink on Beige Flat Interior Paint

(later washed-out beige interior paint, which came off the wall as Mom scrubbed it)

Now That I've Cooled Off a Bit . . .

Yes, I am still very upset about the daycare's response to our situation. But, I think I said a few things in the heat of the moment that I didn't really mean. I feel bad for saying, "I am mad at Andrea," because, it's not her fault, either! This is just her personality, and she is developing at her own pace. Pushing her just makes it more difficult for everyone. So, I guess what I really feel is FRUSTRATION AT THE SITUATION, and not at specific people. I mean, I can see why the daycare has these policies, but they are maddening because these policies, in my opinion, DO NOT BENEFIT MY CHILD.

This is so hard, for so many reasons. Only the parents of a late walker can truly empathize with what we're going through. My sister sent me an excellent web page, with comments from parents and relatives of late walkers, and I found it very comforting and refreshing. It's from the Berkeley Parents Network, and it's called "Not Walking Yet." For the first time, reading this, I didn't feel so alone in my concerns about Andrea. It was also a relief to hear how many perfectly normal babies didn't walk until 18, 19, and even 22 months. Their stories are just like ours: doctors and physiotherapists say she is fine; physiotherapy will have no advantage for her; having to deal with other people's assumptions, comments and suggestions regarding our late walker, etc.

It all comes down to this: if I didn't have this DEADLINE from the daycare, I'd still be concerned about Andrea, but I wouldn't be freaking out over the situation like I am now. I might be confused and impatient as to why Andrea doesn't want to walk, but I'd accept it, and I wouldn't be so angry!

So, you know what? I'm putting this on the daycare! It's their fault I'm feeling so stressed, and it's their fault I have to force my daughter to walk when she's not ready.

***

But, we'll find a way to deal with this. So, fine. We have to set up babysitters again, just in case (and my mom-intuition says we will need them). So, Andrea might have to leave daycare for a few months. Right now, it's very stressful, but in the long run, this is just a bump in the road.

As one person said on the Berkeley site, '''Gee, I haven't noticed any kids crawling into Kindergarten -- I'm sure [s]he'll be fine!'' Remember, you can't MAKE them do anything!

[Sh]e'll walk when [s]he wants to, and that'll be that."

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!

Okay, I need to vent. I just got off the phone with the daycare. I called them, and finally had the "What's going to happen if Andrea's not walking by the end of this month?" conversation. As you can imagine, I didn't like what I heard.

Here's the deal: Andrea is out of the Infant Room at 18 months old (end of January). That's their cut-off age for everyone. She can't stay any longer. And they already have her space promised to someone. She will have to leave the daycare until she is walking steadily on her own. They'll keep in contact with us to monitor her progress. Then, when she is walking, she will likely get the next available space in the Toddler Room.

Here's their reasons why they can't let her in the Toddler Room if she is not walking well: there are 15 children in this room. All of them are walking well. It is a much larger room than the infant room, so they tend to run around a lot with the new freedom. Andrea would be "a sitting duck." A few little ones they've let in who were unsteady on their feet were knocked over and frequently injured. They have NEVER admitted a non-walker to the Toddler Room in their 20-year history.

I made all the pleas and offers I could, but still got the same response: they have NEVER admitted a non-walker to the Toddler Room. It is too dangerous.

Okay, so where does that leave us? Well, we have approximately 3 weeks to get Andrea walking well--not that we haven't been trying for 6 months now.

What have we tried? Put the toys out of reach. Tempt with favourite objects. Stand her in a corner and coax her. Walk with a push toy (which she does). Walk holding onto our hands (which she does). Had her checked by a physiotherapist (she's fine). Today, I even got firm with her--I DEMANDED she walk, and wouldn't let her have favourite objects until she walked (this was unsuccessful, and ended in a huge tantrum).

THIS CHILD DOES NOT WANT TO WALK.

She just climbed all the way up the stairs on her own while I sat here typing! The girl has strength. The girl has courage. But she refuses to walk on her own.

This is a serious situation. I AM MAD! I am mad at daycare, I am mad at myself (What did I do wrong?), and yes, right now I am mad at Andrea. As awful as that sounds, it's the truth. I love her, but she is driving me nuts. Why won't she just get off her butt and WALK?!