Will Work For Stickers

I realize it has been a while since I last updated. We have all been sick, in one form or another, for nearly three weeks. It will be so nice to have everyone well at the same time. I can hardly wait until that happens.

We took Emily back to Shriner's last week for the beginning of her weekly appointments. There are currently three little ones, all around the age of two, that are learning how to walk with RGOs-Reciprocating Gait Orthosis- the name for Emily's braces) right now. We met the second little one last week. He is adorable. He'll be two next month. This week all three children are scheduled to walk the hallways together for the first time. It should be fun. Three two year olds under typical circumstances can be interesting. I am anxious to see what they all do together. Hopefully, they will challenge each other and the work won't seem as difficult with others there. That has proven to be the case with two working together.

Last week Emily started bringing her foot all the way through and taking a full step. She isn't consistent with it every time and one foot is stronger than the other but she is able to do it occasionally. She has to shift her weight onto the leg planted on the ground and lean to that side in order for the opposite leg to move forward. Combined with learning to advance the walker and balancing, it is quite a process.

Stickers are a motivating factor in the walking process at the hospital so therefore we have incorporated "sticker stations" around the house. When Emmy "walks" to one of the stations she gets to choose a sticker from a cup. She then collects them in her Micky Mouse bag attached to the front of the walker. At the hospital they go to different offices, which have stickers on rolls, and they can choose one to put in their bags. Emmy didn't even know what a sticker was prior to this process. She now enjoys going to WalMart's sticker section and picking out her favorites so that we can put them in her sticker stations.