GroshLink

This week, the Occupational Therapist (OT) was enthusiastic about Eden's continued progress with using her 2 hands together, particularly during motion songs such as Itsy Bitsy Spider and Where is Thumbkin.  This is no doubt enhanced by the weekly Miracles in Motion class. She is also reaching with and hugging with her right and left hand together.  We're working on stretching her right forearm to enable her to turn her palm up, increasing her right wrist & forearm control.

The PT worked with Eden in order to help her push up to a standing position via a small stool and a therapy ball. Then she worked with Eden in help her learn how to maintain balance once standing and when cruising between parallel supports. We'll continue usuing the therapy ball to develop her standing skills. We're continuing to press on with the walker to introduce backward and movement side to side-to-side, Eden prefers to get around by what she knows best . . . crawling.

As mentioned in Dr. Seuss treatment plan and Eden's words, speech therapy has been moving along as her words are becoming more clear, e.g., Eden used to say mimi now she clearly says mommy and da-dee. She's recently added a number of words to her vocabularly, including: T.J. (Jen Brandt's younger one), ahyo (hello), goo (good), coot (cute), and uck (stuck).

Swing by for a Leapfrog Fridge Phonics concert, the other day she sat on the bench Shayna made for Hayley and Ellen in front of the fridge and repeated a number of letters again and again u, s, h, p, l, w, m, k, t, e, i, z, d, b

To develop her facial muscles, we're going beyond trying to blow out birthday candles (on the real cake and then in books) to blowing cotton balls.  We'll also try straws with thin liquids.  We'll continue to try to work in letter sounds through various ways, the speech therapist recommended letters on cookies and taking advantage of the spelling games the twins bring home from first grade.  Theresa's reading an article on Ways to Encourage Language to explore other possibilities.