Feb 7th: Marco and the Grapes

Marco Loves (with Capital L) grapes. To such a point that he was able to hunt down the container I had sitting on the counter (had not put it back in the fridge yet), and somehow get it to the floor (the counter is still higher than Marco, so for him to get it on the ground without dropping it was surprising). I was feeding Annelies, and usually can hear what Marco is up to (yeah, another one of those skills that seems to be born when the second child is: the skill to hear what child #1 is up to.) I was listening to him but did not hear familiar sounds, so I had to take a peek. Then I had to get my camera, because he was just so involved trying to get the grapes off the bunch. So cute. I guess if he is going to sneak tasty foods, it is good that they are somewheat healthy as well, right?

Jan 30th, Feb 6th: Intake Meeting with Placer County- First PT Experience

Jan 30th:

The purpose for Annelies's intake meeting was for the coordinator to assess our needs, answer any questions/concerns we might have, and let us know what the county offers for Early Intervention. EI is needed to give Annelies the 'tools' she needs to develop to her best potential. These services are provided and paid for by the county. We had no idea of course as to what is available. Since I still have the 'deer in the headlight' feeling at times (I am not going to lie about it, I keep myself very composed when I meet with people, but there are times I still have difficulties) I hadn't completely figured out what needed to be done in the long run for Annelies. What was so nice about the meeting was that they came to us and explained everything, and gave us a binder with information about resources available to us.

We met Esther, a very nice lady who will be part of our lives for the next 3 years (at age 3, the school district takes over for special needs). Esther is a Child Development Specialist, she will be working with Annelies and us on PT, OT and ST type things (Physical, Occupational and Speech). What strikes me, by the way, is that every single person we have met on this journey who works in this type of field absolutely LOVES what they do. Having someone like that come into your home and work with your kid is such a positive experience. Esther will also come to the daycare as well as my Mom's house, both places where Annelies will be spending some of her time when I go back to work.

Feb 6th:

Our first PT with Esther. Esther spent some time holding Annelies, and getting an idea as to where she is with her body. She observed her on her tummy on a small Boppy pillow, lifting her head, and was impressed that she had decent comtrol, and did it for such a long time. She worked with Annelies to get her to come up into a sitting position with her arms and hands towards her 'midline', and her head steady. Annelies did really well, but when she was done, she was DONE. Annelies tries very hard, but when she is done, she will absolutely let us (and preferably the neighbors) know. I am happy about that, she works hard but is most certainly her own person. As a fun break, she got to be in a swing (see picture) made of lycra. The lycra is nice and stretchy and gathers her body together (does not allow her limbs to fall to the side so much - even though she has decent limb control-). See, now this is a good use for lycra. Wearing it around our thighs when excercising is NOT. It was so cute to see her in the swing, looking up at us as if to say: Whaddareya doing? She looked really comfy in there though.