Ruby Updates

Speech Therapy
Ruby is doing better in speech therapy. She is performing the 'tongue to the top of her mouth' task we ask her to more consistently. (Not to be confused with the 'tongue behind the teeth' task we are really after.) She still isn't able to keep it up there when she makes the 't' sound though, and we've been banging our heads against the wall working on that for over a month. Thankfully, her myofunctional specialist gave us a new assignment this week: L. So instead of the 't' sound, we are working on the 'l' sound. Much better because Ruby is able to make that sound with her tongue securely in her mouth. We are hoping to hit the 'l' hard and eventually transition it to the 't' through words that contain both (lot, light, etc.)

Ruby really does know her colors, but if you hit her when she's not in the mood, she will not demonstrate that skill for you. It has happened on more than one occasion when she and I have been in an evaluation, or with a teacher or therapist and they have asked her to point to or pick up the item of a certain color, and Ruby will not correctly comply. However, I bought a new therapy tool game for the two of us to work on this week and on her first try, she nailed it. Not just with two basic colors, but with six colors: red, blue, orange, purple, yellow, and green. And then she totally matched colors, and even shades of color within the game. Smart cookie.

I realized the other day just how many letters Ruby does recognize. While sitting on the potty for no real reason hanging out, I pulled out a handful of random foam letters and tested her. She's on it.


Occupational Therapy
I picked up small tongs this week for Ruby to work with in an effort to improve her fine motor skills. I would still like to see her use her pincer more often than not (she still 'rakes' to pick up cheerios or nuts on her high chair tray when she gets tired). I picked up a pack of cotton puffs for her to practice picking up; she's a pro. I need to find something harder for her to pick up, I guess.

Physical Therapy
We don't ask Ruby's PT to come by very often anymore. Ruby still has some delays in that area, but much less than any other, so it's not our first priority right now. Ruby is close to running (coming down the driveway or our street, gravity helps her and she gets some serious 'run stride' going). She isn't jumping yet, but we are working on a few strategies to try and encourage that.

She loves the stairs. Ruby will NOT let anyone help her with stairs unless she is certain she can't do it herself. This adds much time to my day, but it is worth it to see her trying to be so independent. Her other favorite thing to do is ride one of her bikes down the driveway. As soon as the garage door opens each day, Ruby hustles over to a bike and pulls it outside. She rolls/drags it to whatever height on the driveway she desires and then sits down. Most of the time she needs to use her legs to propel herself forward. This helps her strengthen her hamstrings, so I love it.

You know what else I love? How 'typical' she looks when she's motoring around so fearlessly on those bikes.