Climbing: A Good thing!

Today, Morgan had her therapy. It has been two weeks since her last appointment because of us being away on vacation. She is now only going once a week to Cedar Park outpatient therapy. She will continue at just once a week until school starts, then we will stop going to Cedar Park and she will just continue her therapy at the school. The therapists were impressed with her performance today. The Pt noted how more more motor control she has and more safety awareness and proprioception. She does not lock her knees anymore which means she is gaining strength in her quad muscles. I told the PT she was now climbing on everything, and she thought this was a sign of progress. The therapist in me definitely sees that, but the mom in me, thinks "scary!" She stands on the recliner, walks on the fireplace hearth, and stands on her little table. I am constantly on the look out. She knows "no" now and knows it is wrong, but tests me. Anyway, she had a good therapy session today. She also traveled well in the car. However, she was a different child in the lobby of the therapy office: went "nuts" to say the least. She just does not do well out in public yet, especially in a medical place. She knows now what it is all about. At home, she is much more calm and relaxed. So though still a strugle to go places, still very grateful for how far she has come in such a short time. Very soon, I will be posting about where she was and where she is now. A lot of you may not know just how bad it had gotten for our little girl and it makes seeing her now, so much more of a miracle. Yes, so very thankful for the miracle He had already performed, but still standing in faith for the miracle of total healing for our little girl!

Playing Chase and Hide and Seek

Better behavior and a new phase

Morgan's behavior has been better this week. She is more calm, less agitated, and more focused. She also is traveling better in the car. Yay! She did start a new phase just practically overnight, while we were on vacation: climbing!! She now tries to climb on everything, chairs, the fireplace, the table! She not only climbs on it, but stands and walks too. Scary, when she climbs on our fireplace hearth and walks, especially since we have concrete floors. Although this keeps us on our toes, ( even more so than before), we are happy she is gaining the strength to do it and is developing physical skills as her brain is healing. She can now climb up the steps on the playground at school, by herself. She grabs hold of the handrail and steps up! Good job Morgan! Also this week, love, love, love to sit and watch Will and Morgan play chase. They also play hide and seek. I got some really cute pictures of them chasing each other and her looking for him. I will post them later this week. Enjoying her so much. Thinking about how much God has blessed us so much. So thankful He gave us our little girl back!

Blessed Day

Today was a fun, blessed day. Morgan was calm and happy. She and Will played and played so good together today. It was great to watch them have fun together. Much has happened in the last week. Billy and I just got back from a vacation to Big Bend while my parents and Aunt Ruth kept Will and Morgan. We just got back home today. We were nervous about going and almost canceled the trip last week because of Morgan's behavior. However, after assurance from my parents and aunt, we decided to go ahead and go. Morgan had also calmed down some prior to us going. I think she did okay for them for the most part, according to them anyway, but it was a challenge. She was out of her element, out of routine, and stayed up late at night. Bedtime was the most challenge. Billy and I are so very thankful to my parents and Aunt Ruth. We had a great time, are refreshed, and were so ready to come home and see our precious children.

Smiling and Happy Today!

Trying to stay positive

Yes, trying to stay positive, when discouragement and disappointment are knocking at the door. Morgan had a rough weekend. We went to my parents house, and there were lots of people and kids running around. Morgan was very agitated, and over stimulated. When she is like that, she doesn't focus or interact much. Now today, she is happy and calm. I guess we really just can't take her out to places right now. Her brain just can't process all the information right now. Her system gets too overwhelmed. She is perfectly fine now that she is home. I was so discouraged over the weekend. For one, it was very stressful dealing with a screaming child. Two, I was looking forward to my family seeing how well she is doing. One comment that really helped and encouraged me was from Billy's friend who came down for the weekend. He had seen her in the hospital but then had not seen her since last year. He said she just looks so much better overall. She is more alert, bright eyed, and keeps her balance. He recalled how last year, she couldn't even walk a couple of steps without falling down. Comments like these really help and are appreciated.

Typical toddler behavior

Yesterday, we had family over to our house. Will and his cousins were jumping on the trampoline, and Morgan really wanted to jump with them. I helped her jump while the kids were taking a break(it would be too wild with all of them up there at one time). She did not want to stop. I took her off the trampoline and into the house. She was screaming all the way, but I was smiling. She was acting like a typical child who was upset when she had to stop playing. This just means so much because she used to not even want to play anything, and she used to never show appropriate emotion. She had a good week of therapy. The OT said that she has been the most calm she has seen her in two weeks. She participated and was cooperative, and not agitated. The therapists continue to say how impressed they are with her progress. She also traveled very well in the car this week. We continue to be thankful and count our blessings.