PT Update on Talia

Many people have been asking me how Talia's physical therapy is going. The short answer is: it's going very well but she's not walking yet.

The details:
We are really enjoying our therapist, Aimee. Both kids love the attention they get as we learn our new activities each week. She has been extremely helpful in showing me how I can involve Benjamin in our therapeutic play. He loves to be involved and it helps me to know that I don't have to set up a formal "therapy" time with Talia.

Physically she is getting stronger and showing progress. She is moving more confidently and in ways that she was unable/unwilling to move before. For example, she doesn't always automatically drop down and crawl to a desired destination or object anymore; she considers other options such as "cruising" down the furniture or even transferring to another support surface (as long as it's not too far away!) She has also started standing, unsupported, more often. At first she would stand alone only if she was distracted and unaware of her accomplishment; the moment she would realize she was "on her own" she would collapse. More recently she has started delighting in the feat, even purposefully achieving this independence on occasion. She has also started expressing a desire to "walk," and holding one hand she can toddle quite a long distance. The other day she walked up and down our long sloped driveway twice in this fashion.

We should be receiving her orthotic "shoes" (they are really more like braces) soon, so hopefully she will make even more progress as her stance is corrected.

She may not be walking, but Talia has developed quite an affinity for climbing!