Tessa in Pictures

When there's not much time to write....I post pictures! :)

...and lots of them!

my beauty in the evening after bathtime

playing 'dump it out' during vision and physical therapy

not our favorite accessory, but necessary at times

glad she can smile with her neck-support on :)

little miss still working hard!

a pro at putting things in her mouth anymore!

spitting...a new form of communication ;)

...oh yeah...and wild hair (mommy got bored and creative!)

just chillin on the couch

...and chillin in her highchair

sitting tall and proud during PT

...and then falling over ;)

daddy, please don't make me stand up!

She's growing and changing every day and I am doing my best to keep up!

~Whitney

Intentional Movement!

This is my little angel....

And this is the incredibly exciting thing I have to share about what she did two nights ago...

Tessa was laying on her back and one of her rattles was on the floor next to her up near her shoulder. She had been arching her back a bit to try and see her daddy in the kitchen making her bottle, then all of the sudden she 1. Rolled from her back to her left side 2. Picked up her rattle with her right hand & 3. Put her rattle in her mouth!

It was an amazingly intentional set of movements! The minute she put her rattle in her mouth and started chewing on it, it was so clear that was EXACTLY what she had intended to do. Such a beautiful moment...we celebrated!

These are the reasons we do therapy...these are the moments of independence and achievement that motivate us to continually build upon Tessa's experiences. As her mother, I sit here and marvel at how hard she had to work to put that rattle in her mouth...she saw it, she wanted it, she reached for it, she grabbed it, she got it to her mouth and she did it all on her own. Her effort is an experience in itself. I just love this little girl!

~Whitney

p.s. Kayla texted me this picture the other morning to show me Tessa's wild and crazy hair (which I quickly noted)...but then I just sat and stared at how beautiful my little angel is :)

Therapy and Such

I thought I'd write a bit about the latest in the realms of therapy for Tessa. She still has PT twice a week at home with Melody from SoonerStart and Kayla takes her to OT twice a week with Jenny at The Children's Center. It is so encouraging to see the progress she is making with PT and OT. We are still seeing Deb with SoonerStart for Vision therapy once a month. Tessa is doing very well with her vision, but it is still nice to get new ideas on how to challenge her and to hear (at least once a month) that she is continuing to make huge improvements and that her vision is coming along nicely. It's like we've been told from the beginning...'nothing is wrong with Tessa's eyes, it's how her brain processes what she sees, that we don't have all the answers to'. But the fact that Tessa is clearly using her vision, is enough to tell us that it's definitely working for her!

At this point in time, we are trying to really focus in on Tessa's expressive language. Expressive language is being able to express your wants and needs. Receptive language is being able to listen and understand what is being communicated. Tessa's receptive language has been steadily coming along very nicely since her activation in June. Since Tessa received her right CI, she is now hearing at about 20 dBs...the average person hears at about 10-15 dBs...so Tessa no longer has a profound hearing loss (which was 90+ dBs). This is amazing to me! I don't stop and think about it all the time, because just like most everything else, it has just become apart of life for us....but there are days where I really stop and consider the fact that my daughter can now do, what she wasn't able to do before...hear! Our ultimate goal is for Tessa to be able to listen and understand and communicate her wants and needs to us, but it's a process and there are lots of alternative communication styles that we would like to look into.

Tessa will be having a dysphagiagram done next Wednesday. It is basically a swallow study where they use a live xray to track food/formula to determine if she has any kind of swallowing disorder or if aspiration is occurring. She has made such great strides in eating that we haven't felt a huge push to get this done, but we feel like now would be a good time to at least determine a baseline for where she is at and get her some additional help if she needs it.

Next Friday the 2nd we will be taking Tessa to The Children's Center for an AAC Evaluation. AAC stands for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. We would really like to start getting some input on ways we can work with Tessa on her expressive language. We have been pursuing the Auditory/Verbal approach with Hearts for Hearing and will continue to do so, but we want to make sure we give Tessa new experiences to see what sparks her interest between now and when she learns to talk. There is so much more involved in learning to talk than just hearing....with Tessa's CP, she has an oral/motor delay that not only affects her swallowing, but it also affects feeding, and her ability to form sounds and words with her mouth. The CP also causes us to realize that other forms of communication will need to be modified for her fine motor and gross motor skills as well. Speech therapy for Tessa will have to be a collaborative effort. We are really hoping to start incorporating a once a week therapy session at The Children's Center that will include both Speech and Occupational Therpy. The OT can help address the physical modifications necessary for Tessa to achieve the best results in the realm of speech.

Anyway, that's a quick update on where we are at. It can be overwhelming and frustrating at times to only be able to hope and pray that you are giving your child every opportunity to achieve their greatest potential. We know the Lord is holding us close in our every decision and are looking forward to Tessa's new experiences in therapy and in life!

~Whitney

These Two Again

A few Saturdays ago Parker covered Tessa up with his favorite blue blanket and joined her for some morning cartoons

Confirmed: sweetest - big - brother - ever!

not easy trying to get a picture of these two when they are snuggled up in your lap...

but I did my best...

sweetest-finger-holding-kind-of-love

my two happy kiddos

...the way he snuggles up with her melts my heart

~Whitney

Healthy Please!

I feel like I've been slightly absent on the blog-front lately. In the last several weeks we've all been through strep and now we're on to the flu. Parker and I were both very sick last week and then Miss Tessa came down with it over the weekend. I took her to the doctor yesterday and she tested positive for Flu A. Yesterday was a really rough day for her, but things are already looking up. We got her some meds and she slept all night last night...so those are all good things :)

This has pretty much been Tessa for the last several days...

I hate how terrible she feels, but I must admit, I LOVE me some priceless snuggle time!

Umm, if looks could kill!

(this was at the doctor yesterday after they swabbed her throat and her nose...that look was on her face so long I figured I'd capture the moment...'mad' was an understatement ;)

my poor baby :(

This was last night...yes, she is getting way too long for her swing,

but she's still under the weight limit and looks so darn cute snuggled up in it!

I hate it when our Little Miss feels so bad...it is the worst, most helpless feeling in the world. I am so thankful that the Lord blesses her with very restful, peaceful moments through it all though! So for now we are praying for everyone to get and stay healthy!!

~Whitney

Equipment...Equipment!

Let's see....a power chair...a stander...a walker...and a medical stroller...things look a bit like a showroom at our house! But we love it and are so thankful for what each of these pieces of equipment mean for Miss Tessa: freedom, independence, growth, development and fun!

(we always wonder what people think when they come look at our house...we don't always have every piece of equipment lined up like this for a showing, but we figure whatever equipment is out, makes it pretty darn clear why we have our house on the market ;)

I haven't shown many pics of Tessa in her power chair lately...but we had some warm days a few weeks ago and she strutted her stuff just like she always does :) Amanda is still coming to the house once a week on Thursdays to work with Tessa in her chair. She has been showing huge progress in grasping driving different directions and it's just amazing to continue to watch her grow and blossom!!

The latest addition to our wall-of-equipment is a KidWalk Gait Trainer (aka: walker). A very sweet therapist friend was able to get her hands on a demo for Tessa to borrow for a bit.

Tessa really needs frame support at her pelvis and her chest, but this particular demo only has one support and it doesn't quite come up high enough to support her at her chest. This was the first night we put her in it...and it took us a bit to figure out what 'rigging' we needed to do to help her be comfortable in it!

Here's a look at our second attempt...much better! We just added a pillow under her arms and used a belt to help secure it to the frame...it's not perfect, but it was an improvement! She looks so good in it and it is so amazing to see her upright with the potential to move about on her own!

It's going to take her some time to figure out what she's supposed to do exactly...but short of pom-poms and cheerleading skirts, we do our best to have the motivation part covered ;)

Tessa has come so far with the movement of her arms. Every day she does more and more with her hands and arms...picking things up, exploring her toys, pulling her CI off her head ;)...all things that at one point in time made us wonder what kind of use she would have in her hands and arms.

Well, we're keeping hope that she will make the same discoveries with her legs and feet! Tessa hasn't used her legs for much in almost 2 years, but like anything else, when she starts realizing what her legs can do for her...I'm convinced she'll put in the work and effort it will take to move this little walker around on her own.

Here's to watching Tessa discover more freedom, independence, growth development and FUN!

~Whitney

Parker is 4 !!!

Parker turned 4 last Saturday and we had so much fun celebrating! He is the kindest, brightest, cutest, most sincere little boy we know! He changed our lives the day he got here...and continues to change them every day! He is a cherished blessing and a true delight!!

Parker helped me make his birthday cake!

We made this one for fun too!

Lots of cake!

Lots of celebration!

Lots of bowling!

Lots of friends!

LOTS and LOTS of FUN!

~Whitney