Truman had his physical therapy today through tiny-k Early Intervention and he had an amazing day! It was so incredible to watch.
He pulled up from a sitting position by using me to crawl up. It was awesome. He turned toward me, grabbed my pant leg and then worked his feet underneath him and was able to push/pull himself up to standing. He did it TWICE! So now we know he can do it and mommy needs to be more tough and not let him whine his way into me standing him up.
He also stood for over 10 minutes holding onto something. He started to practice "cruising" by moving his hands and feet. He also spent a good 15 minutes standing/walking with the help of his therapist. She taught me how to hold him by the hips/knees/waist instead of his arms/armpits when he is standing. When people are helped to stand they actually work the muscles ABOVE where you are holding on. So if I am holding his arms he is not working any of his major muscle groups. When I hold him by the hips he has to use all of the muscles in his torso, shoulders, arms, and neck to stay standing. It was way too adorable to see him standing that way. He is so tiny and he was doing such a "big kid" type of thing. He was so proud of himself and "talked" the entire visit. I wish I would have taken a picture. I'll have to try to capture a moment this week somehow.
We also are practicing sign language and language skills. He has started to get "up" and he is working on the signs for "more" and "sit". We are also going to work on "eat" which will be very helpful.
tiny-k Early Intervention is amazing. We are so blessed to have them in our lives. We wouldn't be anywhere close to where we are today if they had not been working with us. And I truly say "us" because they are there for the entire family. They even get Scout involved. We have been working with our therapists since Tru was about 3 months old. They have taught us so many things. Things that most people take for granted. What muscles are used to sit up or hold your head up. How the body reacts when you turn or where your feet should go when you go from sitting to lying down. How to gain muscle tone in your tongue (yup!) to help with the suck, swallow, breathe process of eating a bottle. Every time we meet I learn something new and Truman gets that much stronger. Plus Tru really loves his therapists. He lights up when they come in the door. He hugs and kisses and will work harder for them than anyone else. He just "knows" that they are there for his workouts and he will push himself beyond anything he would do for just me.
Thank God for tiny-k. Thank God for small steps forward.
This is awesome! We're huge fans of early sign language. Jimmy used it a lot, and though he can now say pretty much anything he wants to, a few of his signs have held on. We found it very, very helpful during that phase when he knew what he wanted to say but could't quite say it. The signs helped him circumvent a lot of frustration for all of us.
ReplyDeleteIt's so great to read all about Truman's fantastic progress and what a sweet little light he is. I'd love to meet him someday!
Way to go Truman!! I am also a huge fan of Tiny K. J-man has speech therapy and in about 6 weeks time has made HUGE strides. From Ma & Da to now about 30 words at least (which includes many signs), and he said his first 2 word sentence a week before he turned 2 meeting a Critical language marker!! Of course the 2 word phrase is "No Ma!" Between signs and pointing to laminated magnets I made for the fridge, communication is getting SOO much easier in the Richardson household. Jeffrey adores his therapist with hugs and is mad when she leaves. And they are also including KL & Aly in the therapy to help Jeffrey! Love Tiny K!!
ReplyDeleteGreat Job Truman - keep it up!