Speed Demon

Decorating with water colors.

Pondering her marshmallow ring.

Keeping up with the Barber Boys!

Having fun in the sun.

A couple of weeks ago, Amelia went to a pool party over at the Barbers' house to celebrate Mr. Joe's Birthday. They turned on the hot tub because the pool was way too cold with the unseasonable cool temperatures we have been having. We put her in this OP bathing suit with the flotation device sewn in. I thought was going to be the perfect thing for her but it was terrible getting her into it. I had to stretch the neck hole open while Todd slid her in. I don't think we are going to use it again. It also seemed to make her tip forward when she lost her footing and dumped her face in the water.

The hot tub was good for her because there is a built in bench along 3/4 of the perimeter that allowed her to stand with her head above water. I stayed in a lawn chair nearby to make sure she was OK. The Barber boys were fabulous with her and made sure to stand in the area where the seat ended, watched over her and played with her. She had a fantastic time with them.

The first two pictures are of her working with her vision therapist. She brought some water colors and helped decorate a book we put together. The book has pictures of her family in it. Every page is a family member holding Amelia. Unfortunately, the therapist brought it to us already bound with only ten pages on it and Amelia has way more aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents than that! She will definitely need a Volume Two in her "We Love Amelia" series. (We'll get to to putting a Library of Congress number on it eventually. Her collection of books is ever expanding.) I got some clear contact paper so I can laminate the pages to protect the pictures from her grubby hands!

Her OT helped me sort her toys into categories because I feel like she doesn't play with her toys. She just kind of dumps everything on the floor and either tries to eat it, throw it or eventually trample it with her walker. The idea was to come up with a bin system to put things in order and put pictures on the front so she knows what is in each one. This is supposed to help with her vision and her decision making skills. We take one bin out at a time and play with the toys in there and then put it away before getting more toys out.

Also I am trying to make a schedule of things to do during the day because I find myself floundering in the afternoon. We have plenty of errands, therapies, eating, and naptime, but the times that are not scheduled with activities I find myself letting her watch TV and I don't want to be that kind of mom. I think that is when we should get out the toys and do some focused playing activities. Of course this is all perfect world stuff, and certainly don't want to be the type of mom that sticks so rigidly to a schedule she cannot be flexible. I just want to have ideas of things we could do if we find ourselves bored, i.e. playing in the toilet, poking our head through dog doors, ripping up magazines and pulling up on the TV stand.

Last week we spent the entire week in Alabama driving Grammy and Papa Bear crazy and playing with Addie, Thomas and Gregory. While she was there we worked on walking and she took a couple step two days in a row! Her main problem right now as I see it is a lack of confidence. She can walk a pretty far way while only holding on to one of my fingers. As soon as she senses that I am trying to let go of her she plops to the floor because she is too scared to try. And she knows she can get wherever she wants very quickly by crawling. She is lightening quick on her hands and knees.

Her eating is ramping up a lot. Often I can skip a couple tube feeds a day because she is drinking and snacking enough to not bother. It is very exciting and I feel like we are finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Today I was typing on the computer and left her unattended (I know, I know) in another room, but suddenly it got very quiet, which I know is a bad sign. I looked for her in the family room, the laundry, the bathrooms, the bedrooms, the closets and the pantry to no avail. I was calling her name everywhere. I even checked to see if she had crawled through the dog door and out to the back porch. Then I heard noise coming from upstairs. I went up there and she was crawling toward a room where she knows we keep toys. When she saw me she clapped and laughed. Getting gates for the top and bottom of the stairs is high priority right now.

Amelia is also probably going to start being introduced to the concept of time out. She is testing our limits and though she does not have verbal language skills, she understands a great deal. Like the word no. Right now she thinks it is funny when we tell her no and she repeats the same behavior over and over. And I am getting worn out, because the redirecting her to a toy to distract her method does not work on a child with a one track mind. I'll let you know if it works.