Knee Brace

On February 21st of last year, Emma got her bilateral AFOs. She has made tremendous progress with them, but is now needing a little more support in a different area. When standing, Emma will lock and hyperextend her right knee and put most of her weight on that leg. So by the recommendation of her PT, Emma's pediatrician wrote her a new prescription and sent us back to Hanger to get measured and have a new brace made.

Emma had her appointment on January 7th to get her knee evaluated with the same gentleman that she saw almost a year ago for her AFOs. After some car based conversation sparked by my Skip Barber Racing School jacket, we talked about the concerns of how Emma was standing with regards to her right knee. He agreed that she needed some support, but felt (provided I agreed) that the knee should be treated as a separate issue from her ankles. I liked this as I told him I did not want her to have so much support that it could become a crutch. I also wanted her to be able to graduate out of each brace as she was able. If we did a brace for her ankle and knee together on her right leg, she would have to have two joints ready to graduate in order to stop use of it. Then we would also have the potential issue of having to have more braces made as she continued to grow taller and the brace was no longer the correct length.

So he took her measurements and told us that we would be called to come in once insurance had approved it and the brace was ready to be fitted. They called me on January 16th and collected the first half of payment so they could begin fabrication. When it was complete, they called me again on February 11th to have us come in for a fitting so she could start using it. The appointment was set for 2:30P on February 12th and I was excited to see what it would look like. When we got there, there was a quick lesson on the best practices of placing the brace on her knee. Then it was time to see how she handled standing with her new brace. Reluctant at first, she eventually stood and sang us a few songs. Soon we were on our way home!

Not too sure about it yet, but we'll get there! (please disregard the crazy socks...  I don't like plain ones)

Over the next couple days, we followed the prescribed schedule of wear to allow Emma to get used to it and to make sure there weren't any fitting issues. On the second day, there was a scratch on the back of her upper thigh where the velcro was rubbing her. I called Hanger and asked for an appointment to have an adjustment made. We went back on February 18th at 2:30P and got a new wider strap added to it that was to be under the velcro that was scratching her. After a bit more car talk, we were off again.

The new strap is the dark blue part.

So far, the brace is working well! Emma has adjusted well to it and doesn't pull on it or fight it. She is even getting more used to standing while wearing it, which is wonderful! Her teacher at school even tells me that she's doing well using it with her Physical Therapist (PT). I'm really getting curious how she will during hippotherapy when that starts back up next month!!!

First Day of SCHOOL!!!

Hard for me to believe that my little munchkin is old enough to start school, but given she just had her third birthday, it must be true. We had to say goodbye to all her Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) therapists last week as it was the last time she would see them for therapy. It was bittersweet, as are most times of change, but it was nice that she got to see most of them that day to say goodbye. I can't thank her therapists (the ones she said goodbye to last week and all the others that she has worked with in these last few years) enough for all the support and guidance they have provided while helping Emma and I be the best team we can be.

The process for starting school is definitely one to mention, as the team of people we worked with did a wonderful job with helping make it a smooth transition! Emma met with and completed assessments with a diagnostician, occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech therapist, orientation and mobility specialists, and her current Vision Impairment (VI) Teacher. I was able to tour two different campuses (one of which I attended personally) and see two different classroom options to decide which option would be the best placement for Emma. After much deliberation and several discussions with the diagnostician about the options, we decided the Functional Life Skills (FLS) classroom was the best choice for Emma. The student to teacher ratio was much better,  as well as the equipment they had readily available for daily use while at school.

After the decision was made, Emma and I made a visit to her future classroom so she could meet the teachers and they could meet her. Her primary teacher asked if it would be possible to come by our house and get to know her even better in her own environment to start learning her likes and dislikes as well as what motivates her. Thrilled with the enthusiasm of her teacher, we gladly had her over. It was so nice to start to develop that bond you have with your child's teacher and have that sense of trust and respect before Emma even started attending school. It really made the idea of my little munchkin not being so little anymore much easier to swallow, even if I did choke back some tears when I dropped her off this morning for her first day of class.

Playing with Elmo and her new teacher!

And, as no surprise to me, Emma had a wonderful first day! Her teacher sent me pictures of her interacting with so many new toys and textures - some more enthusiastically than others of course. Elmo was there with her, but she also found something new that she was interested in - a slinky! She was assigned locker number seven, which I told the teachers was quite fitting, since that was both her birthday and mine. On Thursday, she'll have her new backpack to carry her notebook back and forth to school. She would have had one today, but I didn't think she'd be having homework so soon! (No homework, it's just a way for her teacher and I to communicate about how things are going. But I had to make the joke!)

She is growing "UP" so fast...

For Emma's third birthday, I had another one of my crazy ideas of how I could go a little overboard on her party to make it fun and special. I am aware that my sanity could easily be measured with a yard stick at times, but this birthday was a big one for Emma Lee and me.

Before I had my daughter, doctors had very few comforting things to say about the chances she would have. I was told of the high likelihood that she would struggle, if she survived the pregnancy at all, and that there was little chance for her to even live to see her third birthday. Almost all of the things the doctors told me that she would be unlikely be able to achieve, she has done. This birthday marked the last of those predictions she had left to prove the doctors wrong on - and she did just that with the grace of someone far more poignant than any toddler should be at such a young age. I look at her and see her smile light up that beautiful face, and can't help but be filled with pride and love.

So when it came to deciding what to do for her big birthday, I had the idea of doing an "Up" themed party based on the Pixar movie that I loved and she enjoyed as well. I started thinking about how I could line the ceiling with balloons and put clouds on the walls to make it look like the movie. I started searching for more ideas and found myself on Pinterest where there were hundreds of pins. A bit overwhelmed, I began to search Etsy - a place I love to shop for wonderful gifts and special items. I found a couple of items there, and then my creative juices began to flow with other ideas of what I could do. I started to make a list so that I wouldn't forget any of them. Then it was time to see about putting all the ideas together and getting to work to make them a reality.

Lucky for me, I have a few people willing to help make my ideas a reality. We cleaned up the house and decorated a little all week, but we pulled it off. That morning, we blew up 300 balloons and set everything up and got Emma dressed in her birthday outfit just in time (with less than a couple minutes before guests started to arrive). Everyone enjoyed snacks and punch while taking turns putting their colorful thumb print on Emma's birthday canvas. Once that was done and everyone had their own personal "Ellie" badge, it was time to open the presents. 

Entry

BALLOONS!

Ellie Badges

Birthday Girl

Emma got lots of great presents and even wanted to see them when I unwrapped them for her. This is new for her as she has not always been so comfortable with new things. So we played with some tissue paper and some of the presents a little before it was time for dessert. In keeping with her "cupcake" theme from previous years, I opted to make different color frostings and make them into balloons. A few cotton balls for clouds, a blue table cloth, a print out of the house from the movie cut out, and a couple little characters, and the scene was set!

After the party, it was nap time... for both of us! Once everyone was rested up, or at least she was, it was off to Fair Park to see the Chinese Lantern Festival! She loved seeing the bright, beautiful lanterns - especially the ones that she recognized like the flower, the fish, and the bug.

Once we got home, half the balloons from her party that morning were on the floor and she wanted to play with them. So we started tossing the balloons on her and she would reach for them, grab one, and tell us what color it was. Then she would go after another and tell us what color it was. But after about fifteen minutes of balloon fun, it was time to go to bed. So we read one of her new books she got for her birthday, and one of her favorites as well. Then it was time to sleep.

I've just about got everything cleaned up now (although there are still clouds on the wall in the living room and banners lining the hallway), but I'm so happy it went so well. Even if my fingers still have blisters that are healing from tying balloons... I love making wonderful memories with my munchkin!