Dinner and an Assessment

Tonight we went to Gram G.'s for dinner. Gram's friend B., who is a physiotherapist who works with children, played with Andrea and evaluated her motor skills.

Here are B.'s main observations:

• Andrea has no physical problems or strength problems.
• Andrea just needs to gain a little confidence in her weight-bearing and balance.
• Andrea is a "stinker" who will walk when she wants to!
• Andrea doesn't need physiotherapy. In fact, she could "balk" it and become more stubborn about not walking.
• It's a "shame" that we have this pressure and time limit to make her walk.

I agree with everything B. said, but especially the last part, about the daycare being so stringent about the walking deadline. B. suggested we ask them for a grace period, if Andrea needs a little more time. She even offered to vouch for Andrea that she is fully capable of walking, and will probably start walking very soon.

Later, on the phone, Grama Marty pointed out that the daycare may have liability concerns (i.e., a little one who's still crawling in the Toddler Room might get hurt), so she suggested we offer to sign a waiver, saying the daycare is not liable for injuries incurred due to Andrea's crawling vs. walking. Then again, it could also be that they do start potty training in the Toddler Room, so they'll want her to stand independently.

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It basically comes down to this: Andrea's time line versus the Daycare's time line. I think what we really need to do is to sit down in early January (once all the Holiday stuff has settled down), and discuss the exact reasons why the Daycare is imposing this walking deadline, and what we can do to accommodate Andrea's natural time line, if it becomes necessary.

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Here's hoping our little bum will get off her bum and start walking within the next few weeks, so this whole issue will be moot. ;P