...Will Be Done With Her Braces Sooner Than We Could Have Guessed
... Is Starting to Finally Talk
.... Just Keeps Improving
.... Is A Normal Two Year Old
Man, that last one makes me pretty happy. A normal two year old. I'm not saying that all her two year
old behavior is awesome and I love every second, but she's being a two year old. She's getting into trouble. She is throwing temper tantrums. She is figuring things out. She is mimicking. She is playing with other kids. She is learning to run and jump and kick. She is learning more words and signs to communicate more. She is exactly on track.
Last I left this story, Addison was wearing braces and her feet were improving after just a month in the braces. She was getting used to wearing them all the time. She was walking, standing up in the middle of the room, running. Her motor skills were on track finally. We knew she would still be delayed a little when it came to jumping and walking up stairs by herself, but she was catching up finally.
Her last PT session we got good news regarding her feet however. For the last four months she has been wearing her ankle braces basically all the time other than when she is sleeping or napping. I was definitely starting to see the difference. Her ankles were night and day to what they were just four months ago. Our physical therapist told us that we could reduce the time she wears the braces. It's important for kids to be able to feel the surfaces under their feet and she was missing out on that. And because her ankles look so good, we can switch to her wearing the braces 50% of the time. So in the morning she wears the braces and after her nap she doesn't.
Another reason for the reduced brace time was that she walks and stands toed-in with the braces and shoes on but when she's barefoot she doesn't. An odd problem that the physical therapist said she had never seen. But it involves the way her hips are pulled in. There is no damage to be done from being a little toed-in, but if it's preventable then it's something we can work on.
Basically her days wearing those braces are numbered. We were told that after about a year we would have to get a new set and some kids wear these for years. It's a temporary thing but it takes time to adjust. But after the improvement Addie has shown, we definitely won't be going another year. We may not even make it to the year mark.
Addie has definitely been loving the brace-free time. It's hard to get her to put the braces on in the morning now. She likes not wearing shoes or slippers all the time (with the braces) around the house. Shes likes the simple and quick progress of putting her shoes on when we leave the house in the evening. She likes being able to move her ankles freely while sitting. I love not having to fuss with them too.
Her language was basically non-existent even two months ago. We were teaching her sign language and we were finally figuring out how to communicate. But the words weren't coming. We continued working with Infant Toddler Services and slowly the words started. Through all her babble, she would throw an actual word out there. Then over time she started identifying things. Cat. Puppy. Purple. And that's where we currently are. She's mostly just repeating. But she answers questions - just sometimes not in words we can understand. She identifies the few things she knows the words for. Meanwhile we've been teaching her more signs to help with our communication issues. But slowly things are getting better.
After her last Infant Toddler Services session, we were told that she is still a little delayed but what she is doing is completely normal. She has made great progress and has done nothing but move forward. So for now we continue with the braces, but only half of the time. We continue to teach her sign language and work to get her talking. We continue to encourage flexibility. We continue working with Infant Toddler Services who have helped so much. We continue to drop doctors - we go to her neurologist in January for hopefully the final follow-up. We continue to let her be a two year old.
Catch up on the whole story here:
The One with the Girl who Turns Two in a Day
The One with the 23 Month Old Who Wears Ankle Braces
The One with the 21 Month Old Who Did This
The One with the 21 Month Old Who is Trying to Walk and Talk and Going to Get Help
The One with the 20 Month Old Who Still Isn't Walking
The One with the 18 Month Old Who Can't Walk
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