My little rock star!

Sophia had her second physical therapy session this afternoon. At first I was impressed with the fact that she wasn't afraid of Erin (the therapist) this time. She smiled at her instead of crying like last time. I was relieved and hopeful that I could learn more about the exercises I should be doing with my sweetie.

So I sat Sophia down on her bottom to show Erin how much better she is doing at sitting up. Erin placed a shape sorter toy in front of Sophia to keep her interested and watch her play. After a couple of minutes, Sophia was still sitting up on her own. She was having such a fun time taking the shapes our of the bin and then putting them back in.....over and over. Then Erin would move the little bin to her right side and then her left to see what she would do. She stayed sitting up and kept putting the shapes in and out. She did this for 8 minutes before falling backward. I was absolutely amazed and so was Erin. Her evaluation last week just didn't go well at all. This was total progress! 8 minutes!!!!!

Erin was also able to better evaluate her standing position. We think that she was just uncomfortable last week and that is why she was standing on her tippy toes so much. I had never noticed that before so I have been paying close attention this past week. Standing on her tippy toes isn't something she does often enough to worry. She didn't do it one time during today's session. So for now, no need to go out and spend $42 on Stride Rite shoes that she would wear for one month!

We went over all the stretches that I was uncertain about, and I learned some new exercises to do to help Sophia strengthen her muscles. I left the appointment in tears again, but this time they were tears of joy. Because she made such wonderful progress in just one week, we don't have to go back again for a week and a half. If she continues this progress, she will just go in once every 2 weeks to a month depending on how she is doing.

Erin mentioned that she wants to follow Sophia until she is walking to make sure she does that normally. Also, she did suggest buying chairs for the girls to sit in for practice. Right now, I'm just using their booster seats, but will shop for chairs soon. Might be a good reason to go play at Ikea one of these days!

I couldn't feel better about her progress. It hasn't been easy making the time to work with her, but I've been doing the best I can. I've only done about half the hours that were suggested, but she is doing so well that it's fine. I have three toddlers and meals to cook and clean up and all.... But I've been managing!

One thing I realized today was that I need to give the girls more time to play without being interrupted by each other. I truly believe that is why Sophia was able to just sit and play for so long. Usually, one of her sisters will come up and steal a toy or just interrupt her. She does the same thing to them. I need to figure out a way to separate them for some play time alone. Not sure how I'm going to do that yet, but I'll work it out somehow. I really think it will be good for them.

So.... Whew... I feel like I can breathe a big sigh of relief!