More notable quotables from Ms Isabelle; inchstones

1.) The other day I was doing some dinner prep. I told Isabelle and Hannah that as soon as I finished we could go out and play until B got home. The recipe was online so in between adding ingredients, I kept walking back and forth to the computer to see what the next step was. Isabelle asked what I was doing and I said I was checking the recipe.

I went back to the stove and Isabelle made her way over to the computer, peering at the screen. "Does the recipe say it's time to go outside yet?" she asked.

2.) Tonight I made minestrone. Isabelle loves soup. She practically jumped into her high chair in her excitement to eat it, which if you've ever tried to get a toddler to eat you know is totally astonishing, especially when the meal contains all manner of veggies and even beans-yegads!. As she shoveled it in, Isabelle turned to me and said, "This is a nice dinner. Thanks for making me soup, Mommy." What a love.

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Inchstones: I picked this phrase up from the blogosphere and think it's such an apt way to describe the developmental progress of children with special needs. Often the gains are so small, so slow, that they're easy to miss. They could almost be millimeter-stones instead of inch or milestones. But they happen; they're happening all the time. We just don't always see them as our eyes are often focused elsewhere: on treatment options, therapies, medications, etc.

I've been frustrated lately because Hannah has been in a bit of a developmental plateau. Understandable: the kid has all kinds of new gear to figure out and is also still working on her two year molars (I know this because she clenches her teeth all the time and just wants to suck on her sippy cup of milk all day long). But in the midst of this plateau there have been some peaks and valleys that over the past day or so I've been honored to witness.

Here are a few:

-Transition movements, as I've mentioned before, are hard for Hannah. She can sit well without support but can't get from lying on the floor to sitting. The other day when the PT was over, Hannah got almost all the way up from the floor on her own. It was so exciting, neither of us could believe she was doing it.
-Lateral cruising: Stepping from side to side, especially with the left foot, is also hard for her. Yesterday she was standing in her crib and side-stepped to the left so that she went from facing the wall to facing the door. Then she lowered herself down into a crouched position and pulled herself back up again.
-Turning the walker: We've tried the swivel wheels on Hannah's new walker but she hasn't been able to figure them out yet. She's still going around in circles. The PT thought she might have more success learning how to lift the front wheels, pick the walker up and then turn it. Sure enough, she's managed a few times now to pick the wheels up off the floor. She hasn't quite mastered the turn yet but I think she'll get there soon.
-Getting back to the floor from standing in the walker: This is key: being able to lower herself safely to the floor when she's in her walker gives Hannah confidence that she is in control and will not get hurt. Now we just need to get her to pull herself up and then she will be totally independent in it: AMAZING!

These are just a few of Ms Hannah's latest inchstones. I need to be sure I keep recording them because they are such good reminders to me when I'm feeling down and out. She is moving forward all the time even if the pace is slow and slightly unsteady.