Complete Blog Neglection…

I have been QUEEN of it these past two weeks and it’s come to an end! Lots of stuff coming your way, so stay tuned! We’ve been good and have been busy enjoying this (mostly) beautiful Texas weather! More than ever I’m wishing I could stop the hands of time, just for a bit. Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin turn THREE next week, I can hardly believe it! I’m praying we’ve got nice warm weather so we can spend the day just the 6 of us doing some of their favorite things.

Miss Kylee Mae finished up her constraint induced therapy last week. She wore her “bracelet” for 7 weeks during almost all waking hours. I’ll start by saying I am SO SO happy we did it and encourage any other parents looking into it to go for it. I was so anxious at the beginning about how she would handle it and adjust but she did great. It even got to the point where she would ask for it each morning after she woke up “got to wear my bracelet, Mommy!” It also helped that so many of YOU who know her in person talked about how BEAUTIFUL it was on her each time you saw her, so thank you for the encouragement!

Since having the brace off, she of course went right back to using her “good” hand for just about everything but has involved her left hand MUCH more than before. You can definitely tell she is more aware that it is there and is starting to use it to help her function.  Before the brace/splint she would very rarely use her left hand (without being prompted) to assist in helping with ANYTHING. Now she is using it, sometimes without being prompted, to help stabilize objects. Before the constraint therapy she hard a very hard time pointing and now she's able to point to things pretty easily. One of her biggest struggles is being able to using her thumb and index finger together. Picture putting a coin into a piggy bank by pinching the coin and releasing it into the bank or even picking up a cheerio off a flat surface. Such tasks are very very hard for her left hand or “Miss Lefty” as we call it. Slowly but surely she is making progress. When she was little bitty she would get frustrated and simply give up on what we were trying to get her to do. She’s become much more patient now and really tries and concentrates on fine motor activities. Makes me so so proud!

Below you can see how well she’s holding the puzzle with her left hand. Her little index finger doesn’t always cooperate but hopefully that will improve with time. Looking at this picture makes me think of our NICU days. While seeing them in such bad condition after birth, I couldn’t help but stare at their helpless bodies and wonder about her (their) future and how  prematurity would affect her growth and development. We’ve had our fair share of trials but in the grand scheme of things, it’s been nothing. Seeing her in this picture kicking prematurity's butt WITH a smile on her face makes my heart swell. We are so SOO soo truly blessed!

Here’s a few of “Miss Lefty” working beautifully at helping hold Kylee’s cereal bowl ;)

Oh my sweet Kylee Flower, once again, if there’s anything you should ever know it’s just how proud your daddy and I are of you. Love you so much baby girl!