Rises to the task....

Strides have been made in the United States with programs for children with special needs.   Hailey has been receiving therapy through Help Me Grow (Ohio's early intervention agency) since she was 6 weeks old.  For the most part, we have therapy once a week, occasionally we will go two week between appointments.  I remember when we initially started, I wondered what type of therapy can a 6 week old possibly do?  Let me say, we are now 6 months down the road and WOW.  If I knew half of what I know now with the two boys, I would have had them much more advanced!  Well...maybe!  At the least, I now know things that could have avoided some frustrations when the boys were little.

In the beginning, therapy was focused on tummy time and head control.  Later we progressed to trunk strength, reaching, playing with toys, etc.  With the exception of her heart surgery and recovery, she has consistently stepped up to the challenges and made significant progress with each appointment.  I thought today was going to be one of those stagnant, plateau bumps in the road.  I told L when she came...nothing new.  We are still working on what we were last week and everything looks about the same.  So L started with her, I had to get Ian's lunch set up because he was "starving" after school.  I came back in the family room and L says, "I thought she wasn't any better and hadn't progressed."  What???  Well apparently, we have a little show-off in the house.  She sat longer, held her head higher, offered a ton of resistance in her core when on the exercise ball and on her knee, she rocked back and forth when on all fours.  Whose baby is this?  She's such a stinker!  The session was almost over and I remembered I wanted to show L how Hailey was in the exersaucer because she seemed to struggle with it the other day.  I lowered her down in it....she stood straight up and started playing with the attached toys.  Huh???  L looked at me puzzled, "What is the issue?  I'm not seeing it."  Well, nope, there wasn't.

I've been getting a lot of the credit for Hailey's progress.  Yes, I do help it...but by no means do I deserve the praise.  It's all her.  She is strong, she is determined, she is persistent (wow...she is so much like her brothers!)....She's my little rockstar!

Trying to encourage pivoting but big brother moved everything closer!

Working my core.

Yay...I caught myself!  No carpet face plant!

Look how good my kneeling is now, Mom!