An update on E after PT today

Well I didn't get a chance to take pictures on Mother's Day. We were out and about and of course i forgot my camera. It was a great day though, and my mom printed out every single blog post and compiled it in a book for me! It was a great present! :)

I wanted to give an update on Edwin. Since I updated last he has really taken to crawling on hands and knees, something he previously would not do consistently. This is an amazing accomplishment for him because it means that his hands are open and pressed against the floor. This is important for both fine and gross motor skills, the strengthening of his arms and to create the arch in his palm. So PT came today, and witnessed his correct crawling. She felt this stage of development is vital for him, and wants to encourage the on the floor all fours crawling. This means she wants to wait about a month and allow him to explore on the floor in crawling until we introduce a walker. (There isn't one available now anyway.) He is still getting the opportunity to be upright because he pulls to stand and can now walk with his push toy, and he actually isn't resting his chest when doing so. His crawling and push toy walking are not "fluid" movements, as they are new to him, and therefore she suggested that we give him a little more time to perfect these skills before we give him the walker. Because I am extremely pleased to see him crawling, and see a lot of improvement with sitting up (allbeit "w" sitting and sitting on his bum when we place him there), I am going to listen to PT and give him more time to do things on his own without the walker, and reevaluate in about 4 weeks. He sees the orthopedist in 2 weeks, so I will have a second opinion then, and see about braces and perhaps introduce the walker sooner based on her eveluation. As of now PT believes that his turned out feet are appropriate for this stage of development...prewalking/walking with push toy. He does favor standing up with his right leg, so we have to stand behind him and shift his weight to his right side so that he pushes to stand with his left. We will also encourage his crawling, (making him crawl to us, or to get toys across the room)which is working his arms and encouraging opened hands palm-to-floor. We will continue to put him in sitting to work his trunk, and he is more than welcome to sit up in "w" for now while he explores for short times, and if he appears to want to sit to play, we will put him to sit on his bottom. I feel ok with this plan of action, especially until we see the ortho on the 28th.
PT still feels very uncomfortable with a CP dx, and feels we should give Edwin until he is 2 to see if his "dystonia" resolves, and that's 2 adjusted age, which means we're looking at January 2009. I will ask what ortho thinks of this and perhaps request another appointment with neurology. But as many who have been there know, a dx really only helps with insurance and the school system. Thankfully my insurance is fine and covers everything we need without a dx and school is a ways off, so I don't feel as compelled to get a dx unless we do decide to go with a walker or other adaptive equipment and need it for insurance purposes. As of now, until we see ortho, E can walk with his push toy if he wants to be upright and mobile. He also likes to knee walk while pushing his bike or his grocery cart, which is also good trunk exercise.

I will try and take some pictures tonight of them playing with their kitchen and tool bench. They are getting so big and acting like toddlers more each day! I will also try and get some video of Edwin all four crawling and Serena walking all over the house!