A few months ago, Emma started showing an interest in spelling. This prompted us to put note cards all over the house labeling items so she could see the words we had been saying to describe them. We knew that she could distinguish the letters from playing with her foam letters and being able to find the one we asked for correctly. Having the note cards up quickly led to her wanting to follow along by touching the letters on the cards as we spelled the words to her. While it made it much more time consuming walking around the house (because she wanted to stop at each note card and ask us to spell each word every time we passed them), it has had a huge impact on her.
In about a month, she has not only started to spell words herself, but she is spelling over 50 of them! I was thrilled when she started spelling some of the words that we spelled everyday (like light, door, and hug), but then she left me speechless by spelling the plural form of words when she wanted more than one (like kisses and hugs). We had spelled them for her, but she knew to spell the plural form when she wanted more than one of something.
As of today, here is her current list of the words she can spell (yes it is categorized and I am tracking the list on my phone- I can't help myself):
PEOPLE:
Emma
- Bug (I call her "Little Bug")
- Squirt (Daddy Ryan calls her "Squirt")
Mommy
Daddy Ryan
Jill
Mimi
Elmo
PLACES:
Home
House
- Chair
- Table
- Door
- Light
- Bed
- Bath
- Potty
- Mirror
- Big girl bed
School
ACTIONS:
Hug(s)
Cuddle(s)
Kiss(es)
Wiggle(s)
FOOD:
Milk
Food
Bite
COLORS:
Gray
White
Blue
Pink
Red
DAYS OF THE WEEK/MONTHS:
Sunday
Monday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
April
May
CLOTHES:
Pants
Shirt
OTHER:
Car
Fish
Piano
Love
Hi
Wind
You
Spell
Hair
Night night
On
Dog
Leg
Star(s)
Up
Most of the time, when we are spelling, we have to initiate the activity and give her something to spell currently. But she has already started initiating it herself and randomly spelling words without prompting! Seeing her not just learning but thriving gives us such a strong sense of pride and hope that we can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. She is certainly one of the most amazing little girls either of us has ever known and we are so lucky to be able to call her our daughter.
Friday, May 22, 2015
Sunday, April 26, 2015
BIG Girl Time!
Emma has had several BIG changes this week as we make some significant transitions in her life to becoming more independent. At four years old, she is still used to being carried primarily from one place to another- bed to changing table, changing table to bath, etc. And at over thirty pounds, it is really starting to wear on those that carry her, like me.
When she came home from her weekend visitation with my ex, she came home to a new BIG girl room- we removed her crib and replaced it with a full size bed with rails and pillows galore because Mommy is a little bit of a nervous wreck when she can't be around to keep an eye on her. A new baby monitor has given me some piece of mind though. We opted for the low profile box spring and set up the bed frame to be on the lowest setting as well to keep it closer to the floor in the event that she was able to circumvent all the barriers that we made to keep her safe. Emma loves it and calls it her "big girl bed." It is even big enough that Mommy and Daddy Ryan can lay down with her and snuggle- which she asks for most nights when we put her down in it. I've noticed that she really doesn't move around much now either- another big change from her crib, where she was all over the place all night long. I'm sure the new mattress is much more comfortable and makes a big difference. Her other furniture still lines the hallway outsider her room, and probably will until a time where I'm sure we aren't moving back to it.
Then, on Tuesday, she got her custom wheelchair which is meant to address her scoliosis. While it will also give her a chance to be more mobile once she learns how to move herself around with her new wheels, the main purpose is to brace her back when she is in the sitting position to keep the curve in her back from getting worse. At my future brother-in-law's rehearsal dinner Friday night, she started rolling herself forward enough so that she could move several feet across a room over to me to get a hug. It won't be long before she is moving around the house and choosing where she goes. While that does make me nervous, and reminds me we need to finish baby proofing the cabinets in the house, I'm ecstatic about the idea that she can start making up her mind on what she wants to do and then do it herself! Of course, you wouldn't be able to tell how well she is doing getting around in it from this picture of when she was getting it fitted before we took it home. To her credit, this was during nap time and she was still very cooperative while she slept.
When she came home from her weekend visitation with my ex, she came home to a new BIG girl room- we removed her crib and replaced it with a full size bed with rails and pillows galore because Mommy is a little bit of a nervous wreck when she can't be around to keep an eye on her. A new baby monitor has given me some piece of mind though. We opted for the low profile box spring and set up the bed frame to be on the lowest setting as well to keep it closer to the floor in the event that she was able to circumvent all the barriers that we made to keep her safe. Emma loves it and calls it her "big girl bed." It is even big enough that Mommy and Daddy Ryan can lay down with her and snuggle- which she asks for most nights when we put her down in it. I've noticed that she really doesn't move around much now either- another big change from her crib, where she was all over the place all night long. I'm sure the new mattress is much more comfortable and makes a big difference. Her other furniture still lines the hallway outsider her room, and probably will until a time where I'm sure we aren't moving back to it.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Just Another Day with Hydrocephalus
This morning, Emma and I got an early start to her day. We were both up, dressed, and ready to leave the house by 6:15 AM so that we could get to Children's in Dallas by 7:00 AM. Her schedule for the day was as follows:
We didn't have to be there until 7:30 AM, but I always prefer to be early. Plus, Emma gets her morning dose of Keppra at 7:00 AM so I like not having to worry about doing that during our drive in.
After she had her medicine and was all set in her stroller, we headed to check in for her MRI. The plan was for her to get to eat her breakfast while we waited for her MRI at 8:00 AM. But since we were there early and they were ready for us, we did her MRI first and were done by 8:00 AM. She was wonderful as always and the staff was so impressed they gave her a gift basket! Then it was time for breakfast since we had a couple hours before her EEG. We still wanted to get there early just in case they could get her started sooner because the EEG was an hour long test this time and we had an appointment that was scheduled directly after that was in a different part of the hospital. Thankfully, they were able to get her started early so she was finished with just over 10 minutes before her next appointment. Again, the lady administering the test was so taken by how good Emma did that she gave her a little backpack full of toys! I think she felt bad for giving her such an impressive hair style...
When we saw her neurosurgeon, it was more good news- her ventricles looked great! They were slightly smaller, if anything, than they were from her last check. He was astounded by all of the development she has had in the last year since he saw her last and beyond thrilled at how much music had impacted her life. He said if she continues to do as well as she has been, we will start to go to check ups every other year after our next annual check when she is five years old. This was music to my ears!
- 7:30 AM - check in for MRI
- 8:00 AM - MRI (annual check of her ventricles and shunt to make sure everything looks good)
- 10:00 AM - EEG (test to see if she is still at an increased risk for seizures)
- 11:00 AM - appointment with her Pediatric Neurosurgeon to review her MRI
After she had her medicine and was all set in her stroller, we headed to check in for her MRI. The plan was for her to get to eat her breakfast while we waited for her MRI at 8:00 AM. But since we were there early and they were ready for us, we did her MRI first and were done by 8:00 AM. She was wonderful as always and the staff was so impressed they gave her a gift basket! Then it was time for breakfast since we had a couple hours before her EEG. We still wanted to get there early just in case they could get her started sooner because the EEG was an hour long test this time and we had an appointment that was scheduled directly after that was in a different part of the hospital. Thankfully, they were able to get her started early so she was finished with just over 10 minutes before her next appointment. Again, the lady administering the test was so taken by how good Emma did that she gave her a little backpack full of toys! I think she felt bad for giving her such an impressive hair style...
When we saw her neurosurgeon, it was more good news- her ventricles looked great! They were slightly smaller, if anything, than they were from her last check. He was astounded by all of the development she has had in the last year since he saw her last and beyond thrilled at how much music had impacted her life. He said if she continues to do as well as she has been, we will start to go to check ups every other year after our next annual check when she is five years old. This was music to my ears!
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