Avery Brag!!

Been thinking lately that I don't brag about lil'bub enough. She's not doing what most three year olds are, but she is making good progress and that still counts! First and foremost, she continues to work very hard on her walking. It is basically a giant trust issue, because Avery still doesn't completely trust her right side. Even though it's come leaps and bounds since her surgeries-- she can move both right leg and right arm independently/on command now-- she can't fully depend on them yet. She takes steps like a champ though, and her physical therapist (the awesome Miss Eda!) is working right now on Avery using her arms to weight bear and push her doggie while stepping, with a little balance assistance. Here's a video from right after Christmas--as you can see, we had not cleaned up yet from the festivities--

Until Avery learns to walk, Bub the hub and I have to be her legs. She's definitely a leggy string bean, but it sure is getting harder and harder to cart her around. I'm wishing and praying her body adjusts to walking sometime soon before we have to order some major equipment...if you have time for a quick prayer too, we'd be much appreciative.

I'm not finished bragging though! When I said she can move her right arm on command now, that is a new and amazing feat!! The movement in her right leg came fairly easy, but the arm control has taken it's sweet time. Her right shoulder movement improved a lot in the begining of 2011, but it's only been in the last 6 months that she's started purposely moving the entire right arm when we ask her to. Such a seemingly small task that helps us all enormously.

Avery's sign language has improved as well. She gives us more signs independently instead of being prompted. She has about 15 "words" that she has learned through school (and the best teachers we could ever ask for), and she has recently learned how to start putting two words together...TREMENDOUS!!

When it comes to feeding, she has been pretty independent for a long time, but still needs help with utensils. In the last month, her spoon scooping skills have developed amazingly, and she thinks it's really fun too, which helps :). Her jaw strength has also improved significantly, which has led to new sounds! I could be saying the same thing too about her little sister, actually. They have some very interesting conversations in the back of my car that totally crack me up. I would give anything to know what they are saying!

We also bought Avery an iPAD for Christmas (she already uses one at school) and it's been really cool to see her interact with it. There are some great apps for kids with special needs, and we hope to be using it as more of a communicative device in the future.

I feel like this brag got a little long, but you've probably already noticed I like to talk about my lil'loves. If you see Avery around, you might want to give her a high five or something. She deserves it.