February 25th 2009 - New and exciting things durings Grandma´s visit!!

It was definitely therapeutic when Grandma Leila was here. Linda and I were able to sit and talk with her a lot. It was great to get different ideas, input and opinions on how we could help Alicia out from Grandma. We also enjoyed playing lots of cards. The best part of the whole visit was that Grandma and Alicia really got to know each other better. It was also great that we were all able to reinforce the family bond.

Alicia decided to show off and do some new and exciting things for Grandma when she was visiting. The first thing she started doing was right before Grandma came to Sweden. Alicia has a toy inchworm, about a foot long, that plays music when she hits the buttons. Alicia had never really been able to hit the buttons on her own, so we would push the buttons for her and Alicia would just laugh and listen to the music. Out of nowhere Alicia started hitting the buttons on her own. After the music starts playing Alicia listens to the music, and when it is over she hits one of the buttons again to start the music back up. This is a huge step because not only is Alicia using her arms she is recognizing that her actions are causing the music to play. The best part about this is her enormous smile of self satisfaction.

Another thing Alicia is working on is her ability to crawl. She is not there yet, but she has started bending her knees up under body and putting her little bum in the air, trying to push forward. It is another positive step forward. Along these same lines, Alicia has done much better at keeping her legs straight when she is in her jolly jumper. Right now as I am writing this blog Alicia is doing yet another exciting thing, she is currently sitting up on her own. Of course Mommy put her in the sitting position, but she is balancing herself! Her whole core is getting much stronger.

Finally the cutest thing that Alicia has started doing is the "waa wahs." She did this for the first time when Grandma was watching her. We say lets do the waa wahs. Then we start hitting two fingers over her mouth and she makes the waa wah sound. It is not by accident, she knows what is coming because she will continue to make the aaah sound and push our hand with her hand towards her mouth in order to make the waa wah sound.

So over all it is great that she is doing so many new and exciting things. She is doing things and recognizing that her actions are causing new sounds. She is also gaining a lot of balance and new movement. She has a ways to go, but every step forward gives us new hope, more determination, and lots of positivity.