Mobility

Leah's mobility has been growing and growing lately.  She's getting more independent and wants to move around on her own much more than we've seen in a while.  The other night she finally got herself up into her little foam chair.  It sits about 4 inches off the floor and she's always struggled with being able to get up into it and turned around to sit forward.  When she finally did it, she was so proud!  She also figured out how to get herself into her zip-zac, which was pretty amazing as well.  It's just too bad that she's not been too interested in zippa lately.  I think the days of zippa are over, and it might be time for us to pass it along to another family.  Tonight she got onto her skateboard and wheeled around the kitchen while I did dishes.  We are so proud and excited to watch her get more comfortable with her body and figure out her way to move herself around.

We also had another wheelchair evaluation.  Last fall at this time we had her chair evaluated.  Because she'd only had it for less than 18 months, we didn't qualify with insurance to get her a new one.  They made a few modifications to it, like removing the chest strap, moving the back rest farther back, and lowering the foot rest.  The changes have been just fine for the last year, but now we really need to get her into something more appropriate.  Ty met with a wheelchair vendor today and we'll be submitting paperwork to insurance to get Leah a bigger, lighter, and faster chair.  She's tried out a version of this chair from some friends before, and it's a big difference in how she's able to move around.  We're optimistic that this time we will get approval from insurance to get her into something more her size. 

She is still doing quite well with walking.  She is getting about an hour a day at school, usually after nap/rest time.  We're going to ask them to get her doing some walking in the morning as well, so she can walk around the room with her friends.  Right now her walking is usually done in the hallway while the rest of the class naps.  While Ty was getting her wheelchair evaluation, he asked about walking sticks.  Hopefully we'll get her with those pretty soon too.  Lots of news on her mobility!  Our almost-4-year old continues to explore and find ways to move her little body as best as she can. 

Family Vacation

We were busy in September, both Ty and I had a lot of work trips, and then we went on vacation for a week.  This year we went out east, with our first weekend in Boston and then rented a condo in Newport, Rhode Island.  It was beautiful.  The weather was great, in the 70's and 80's, delicious food, relaxing days, and great scenery.  We had a blast!  While we were in Boston, we visited the Aquarium.  Leah loved seeing the fish and feeding Myrtle the Turtle, a 550-lb. 90-year old turtle, a lunch of lettuce and brussels sprouts.  Our week in Newport was spent walking around, eating a lot of seafood, and swimming, both at the beach and the pools. 

This week reminded me that vacations like this are probably coming to an end.  Leah is really agreeable for the most part, but gets bored in the stroller and wants to be out exploring on her own.  Newport and Boston were not very wheelchair-friendly places with their old cobblestone streets and uneven curbs, so it would have been hard for her to do much wheeling on her own.  We'll have to get creative in the future on how we travel to a place that is more accessible and still checks off all the items on our family travel list. 

While there, we also had family pictures taken again.  I love having someone capture our family in our most relaxed state and getting some new scenery.  Here are some of my favorites.