Tessa These Days

Tessa is working so hard these days. She is using her arms and hands more and more. She loves to pull her hands up in front of her face and wiggle her fingers and just smiles from ear to ear. She's holding on to her bottle with at least one hand more and more. She is mastering the art of reaching for her toys and grabbing hold of them. I walked in her room the other night and she was playing in her crib watching her mobile...I asked her what she was doing and she immediately grabbed hold of her slinky and pulled it straight to her mouth and then grinned so big. She knows she makes me so proud and couldn't wait to show it off...it was great! It has been so neat to watch the change in how much effort it used to take for her to even reach for her toys, to now grabbing hold of them so quickly and then moving right into playing with them and bringing them to her mouth. It is an incredible thing to watch her new experiences and discoveries.

We are having so much fun using her HuggaBebe. Tessa's PT told us to position something under her feet while she's in the jumper so that she can start learning how to stand flat footed. It is important to get her weight-bearing on her feet ~ so that's next in order.

Tessa is also working really hard on her head control. Daddy was home with the kids this last Friday and got a really good video of Tessa's hard work! These are such joyous moments to see how far she has come and how motivated she is to get better and better. Tessa's head control is the hardest thing for her to work on right now. I just can't explain what it does to my heart to see her work so hard to achieve something so difficult. She is amazing!

We've been talking with Tessa's PT about the use of equipment coming up pretty quick. The first pieces of equipment that will be appropriate for Tessa will be a stander and a small gait trainer.

Obviously medical professionals will be the ones picking out the best pieces of equipment, but I like this stander...probably for the color options ;) The hardest thing will be finding equipment that adjusts small enough for Tessa. She's only about 26-27 inches right now, so it could be a challenge finding the appropriate sizes. The stander would be something that could offer Tessa some head support, but really any equipment beyond that will require her to have good head control on her own. We need to get her up on her little legs and we have lots more to start helping her develop....so prayers, prayers, prayers for head control would be wonderful!

This will just be something we utilize at home to give Tessa more opportunities to grow and get stronger. Here's a picture, just to give you an idea of what a stander looks like and the kind of support and opportunities it will provide:

http://www.rehabmart.com/product/leckey-squiggles-stander-25807.html
More Information on the Leckey Squiggles Stander:
Includes: hip and chest support with sternum prompt, chest and hip lateral supports, kneecups, footplate and tray attachment. (Requires covers and pivot base or easel base. Squiggles is available in the following colors: Green, Orange, Blue and Pink.

The Squiggles Stander by Leckey, helps children from 6 months to 5 years old engage in a wide range of activities by allowing them to convert from one standing posture to another. Modular in construction with two main parts'the standing support base and the chassis base. The standing support base can be easily clipped on and out of the chassis bases in seconds for easy storage or transportation.

Specific Benefits include:
* A cushioned pelvic positioning support and chest support which can adjust in height, depth, width and angle.
* An adjustable cushioned sternum pad.
* A large angle adjustable foot plate.
* Cushioned knee supports individually adjustable in height, angle, rotation and depth and cushioned knee pads.
* A large angle adjustable footplate that supports foot sandals.
* A variety of base options ranging from a compact easily storable easel base with angle adjustment from vertical to 60 degrees to a pivot base offering a wide range of tilt incline options adjusting from the vertical to near horizontal.

~Whitney