Stepping Out

We had a great day at therapy today! Wednesdays are one of our "light" days, where we only have one therapy session, which happens to be Physical Therapy. Now I ***love*** all of Ava's therapists. They are just the sweetest four ladies I could have asked for, and they love Ava so much! And the feeling is mutual too! Her OT gets more hugs and kisses than I do! HA! But of all of the types of therapy, I think Physical Therapy, or PT, might be my favorite. I think because PT deals with the gross motor movements and coordination (basically walking, standing, etc). which are big and obvious things. So as Ava has improved in her gross motor skills, the changes have been obvious and noticeable not just to me, but to everyone who knows her.

Today, we hit another big milestone! I am not willing to say that she walked for the first time, because she didn't. But she did take an independent step today!!!! It was in pursuit of a goldfish cracker- sometimes it just takes the right motivation! It made my heart leap! So exciting! Now this event might not repeat itself again for many weeks or months, but it is a HUGE leap in the right direction and we are so very proud of our sweet girl!!!!



Here is my sweet Angel after therapy today. She was worn out! Ms. Angela worked her hard!!!

She is really good at standing and pulling up, and even does so using the wall. Which tells us that she really just needs something for balance and emotional support. She even stood in the ballpit at therapy two weeks ago all by herself. And yes, it was to get a goldfish cracker then too! HA!

Ava in her tripp trapp chair! She loves it, and she can push away from the table in it. So far, no worries on it tipping backwards, which was my fear. She just slides on back! It has extenders that I installed on the back legs to keep it from tipping, and they do a great job!

Sweet girl, who can now climb on the couch all by herself. It is her new favorite place to be, and I love playing with her and *not* sitting on the floor!

Helping mommy do the laundry! She is such a big "helper" and enjoys sitting in the basket of clothes and unfolding them about as fast as I can fold them!

 

Sweet mess! She loves to sit on the side table and play with the books!

Not long after Ava was diagnosed, I was talking to a sweet friend who has a special needs child, and I was asking her how she deals with strangers in public who stare or ask questions about your child. I know that right now Ava still looks enough like a baby that many people just assume she is tall for her age (which she is anyway!) but I also know that it won't be long before people start having those questions and wondering about her. And for me, personally, I would rather someone know the truth and not wonder and speculate. Plus, seeing Ava out in public, with people, and seeing how people are just drawn to her and how she engages people, it occurs to me that she, as an Angel, is the best awareness that Angelman Syndrome can have! To see her is to love her, and to love her is to love an Angel. And I want people to know that. So on the suggestion of my friend, I had these cards made. The top is the front, and the bottom is the back of the card. I ordered from this etsy shop, and they are very high quality, with all of the design and printing work included in the price! Since I got to have something on the back, I wanted it to express how amazing we believe our daughter is, and how rare an opportunity it is to meet a real, live Angel. :) So that is why I asked her to put the wings and the "Today, you crossed paths with an Angel."



My Angel Mommy Cards