Therapy Update

I seriously keep waiting for some type of plateau, but so far, Ruby hasn't found one.

A few weeks back we started working with a tension rod in Ruby's closet. Before that we  used a wooden stick to help her work between sitting on a bench to standing. She LOVES this activity and will do it as long as someone will sit with her.

Lehr built this cute little bench for her and we use it for sitting and for kneeling in front of (as a 'table' to play on and support herself). It is the perfect height for her right now because it allows her hips to be just higher than her knees. He knows he will be building new benches very often because this girl is a growing machine. She can also sit on that bench and reach for something flat on the ground successfully. (This requires a LOT of stability and balance.)

Ruby is still not crawling, but she tolerates us or the therapist 'helping' her to crawl. In fact, she doesn't seem to mind. (When we first started trying this months ago, she would cry and cry and cry.) Ruby can now push herself back into sitting from a belly-on-the-ground position. She is very proud of this trick and does it all day long. From sitting, she will rotate herself around and get onto all fours, but she usually doesn't stay there too long.

Regarding eating and speech, Ruby is eating all kinds of new foods. She still doesn't have any teeth (though one is about to pop!), so we are still a little limited in hardness of foods. She will eat most fruits that are soft in large chunks. She just 'chews' them with her back gums: mangoes, pears (her fave), peach, nectarines, berries... And she recently started eating Gardenburgers too. So far she LOVES them. Beans, rice, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, yogurt, wheat germ...as long as it doesn't require teeth, she'll eat it.

Ruby is drinking water from a straw much more successfully too. In fact, she can even hold the cup most of the time (though she prefers to throw drop it, as most kids do).

Ruby is signing 'more' for food, but not for play or anything else. She sometimes signs 'all done' at the end of a meal also. During a round of "Row Row Row Your Boat" the other day, I really think she was communicating back and forth with me at the end, but no video yet.

Both therapists are happy with her progress. In fact, the last time the PT came, she couldn't believe what Ruby could do. And after 'testing' her with a few things, witnessed her pull herself to standing from the floor, all on her own. At that point she said she expected Ruby to answer the door the next time she came to visit.