"Good Day" all around and swim class #2

Rachel's sister Alicia has been lightly tapping Rachel on the cheek and saying "Good Day" in a silly accented voice. Rumor has it she saw this on a episode of Wizards of Waverly Place. I have found this to actually be slightly annoying and last night after swimming at the Y I asked Alicia not to do it anymore. Who says sisters do not have pacts? I am positive Rachel was listening intently while I was talking to Alicia about it because all day today Rachel kept saying "Good Day!" Needless to say when Alicia returned home from school today she was delighted that Rachel decided to copy her. The girls were right though- today was a "Good Day" for Rachel. (She turned 19 months yesterday)

Rachel was re-evaluated for cognitive delays today. She passed with flying colors! No cognitive delays here! She is right on target for her age group not taking into account her prematurity. For us spina bifida parents this is great because there are medical professionals out there that tell newly diagnosed parents that children with spina bifida have mental delays. In all of the spina bifida families we have come to known this is so far from the truth! We were fortunate to have never been told that spina bifida myth by any of the medical professionals that cared for us- not everyone is and that is sad.

Today I was talking with Rachel about animals and asked her about ducks. She then went over to her toy area and handed me her box of baby flashcards that contain a duck picture. Then before her swim lesson was to begin- Rachel and I walked in the Lazy River at the Y. When we got to the one area she pointed and said "Breanne slide" indicating where the end of the water slide was. She loves to find her sisters in the inner tubes floating along after they go down the slide.

Rachel has climbed the first half of our stairs two times this week! This is 7 steps in a row followed by a landing then 7 more steps to the loft and bedrooms. I think she was most motivated by her sisters' items that needed to be put away. The stairs are now clutter-free and awaiting more action from Rachel. Lots of climbing on things this week- work those knees Rachel!She has happily figured out how to climb inside her pink little tykes car. This is alittle more challenging due to the height of the car.

Ignore the plumber butt imitation- Rachel stood up all by herself today. She first pulled up with the sides and tops of her feet tucked underneath then she lifted one knee up at a time and put her feet into correct position. This is huge for Rachel. At the end of last week's physical therapy session she was only standing up for a few seconds at a time- today she stood up for a few minutes without needing her knee immobilizers to stabilize her. On the bright side she is going to receive physical therapy once a week now.She had been only receiving physical therapy once every two weeks from October (when she started therapy) up until her last surgery in January.

Rachel is a good little tooth brusher! We have 4 teeth on top in the front and 2 on the bottom in front plus she has 2 molars that have come in the back.

Tonight we had our second swim lesson. The class began with the babies reaching for toys in the water and "digging" with their hands in the water. Next we tried to blow bubbles in the water.Rachel did it about 4 times then went back to trying to catch the water toys. After blowing bubbles we sang Happy and You Know It doing motions in the water with the babies. We then placed the babies with their backs on our chest and they had to kick the toys in the water before placing them back into the toy bin. Breanne and Alicia had joined in the swim lesson and helped round up toys for the babies. Rachel actually put the toys away this time. We then placed the babies on the side of the pool like last week and did "1,2,3 Go" before lifting them back into the water. Rachel now says "go". The lesson ended with the babies pretending to be motorboats. To be a motorboat you would place the baby facing you and gently ease them onto their backs with part of the back of their heads in the water and move them in a swaying fashion in a circle. All of the babies seemed to like this. I can see the progress she has made in only 2 swim lessons. She "digs" and kicks without being told to and I truly believe the water resistance is helping to strengthen her body.

Rachel's AFO's are ready. We have an appointment tomorrow to get them. Pictures to follow.