Transient dystonia, pulling to stand while Mommy's on the potty, eating junk food with Mommy, and other thoughts...***EDITED with pictures****

Cute girl!

Reading together

Reading

Clapping!

Adorable

Teeth!

Sittting

All done sitting

AS many of you know, EJ was diagnosed with transient dystonia, in his case, low tone in the trunk. Transient dystonia refers to abnormal tone that eventually goes away. It is suppose to go away within a year, although EJ's low tone in his trunk is still present. What I have seen recently though is his increased gross motor ability...the getting on all fours to look at objects at or above eye level, belly crawling, but getting up on knees and moving very quickly as opposed to the inch worm crawl he used to do, and OF COURSE pulling to stand. And today...TAKING STEPS sideways while holding onto the couch to get to me or to a toy on the other side of the couch!
In other words, he is beginning to "cruise!"
Now, he still has a ways to go before he begins to stand unassisted or walk...his tone is still quite floopy in his trunk...he still sits with at least one of his hands propping him up for support. He is wobbily when you hold onto his hands while he is standing. But that determination is painted all over his face and he can concentrate and keep his balance for periods of time. You can physically see him focusing on his balance. It is remarkable how determined he is.
PT is very impressed and believes he truly has transient dystonia and not CP, although I am curious as to why his dystonia is still present as he is now 1 year adjusted age. But I do see his tone improving and she said you wouldn't see these kinds of results within such a short time with a child with CP.
Regardless of what his dx is, I am thrilled at how hard he works and how determined he is.
Determined!



Too much info here, but tonight I HAD to use the bathroom while I was alone with awake S&E...bad combo. I knew Edwin would have a fit if I left the room, even if only for a second to use the bathroom, so I brought him out to the kitchen...of course Beanie followed. He began to scream when I put him down, and over he came crawling across the kitchen floor, into to the bathroom, and pulled to stand on my legs while I sat there! lol...of course Beanie came over to, so I am sitting there with both kids standing, holding onto my legs! I officially have NO privacy! But I'm really not complaining...the fact that they are both pulling to stand is an amazing milestone that we couldn't be sure they'd be able to meet. I am so thankful for everything they do.





It was especially cool to be able to feed them some of my subway sandwich tonight for dinner. They also had some of grammy's french fries with melted cheese from my grandpa's bday dinner, which they LOVED of course. They even had some of my cookie for desert. They just sat out in the living room with me and we all indulged together. There is little these kiddos don't eat, especially table food that mommy is eating. I recognize just how blessed we are in this area.







Beanie PURPOSELY let go while standing today, which was very cool. She is THINKING about taking steps, which you can see in her face every time she stands there and sees something she wants. But instead, she squats down and crawls over. It'll come soon though...then we're all in BIG trouble...haha, especially poor EJ who tries so hard to keep up with his busy sister.
Standing

So I know this is kind of repetitive of last night's post, but there is so much I am thankful for and so much I never want to forget, because this blog is also their baby book.

Oh yeah, Serena said "bye bye" A LOT today (when prompted). VERY EXCITING!

Can you tell I'm super proud of every little thing my kiddos are doing? I can't believe they are growing upo right before our eyes!!! Pictures to come tomorrow...Mommy doesn't work on Fridays!!! :)