The Fair and Other Fun Things!

The county fair is always held at the beginning of July and Emily was excited to go this year. She spent at 2 days at the fair this year. One day we watched her 3-year old cousin, Abby, participate in a sheep lead class. The following night we walked around the fair and listened to our friends Keith and Jessica perform in one of the entertainment tents.

One of the highlights for Emily were the junior fair animals. She got a kick out of finding some eggs in with the chickens, got to pet a couple of sheep and though a bit intimidated at first, she did muster up enough courage to pet a calf.

Here's Emily after our cousin, Brenda, took her for a walk with a young calf. (I think it's name was Mr. T and I'm pretty sure Emily was trying to climb over Brenda's shoulder to get away.)


That is until sweet, lovable, child charmer, Grant came along....


With his help, she was willing to pet the calf on the nose and be near it... well, until it started mooing and moving around and then she started squirming again and got to heavy and squirrely for Grant to keep holding her....

She had so much fun at the fair and I was feeling like having a little fun so she got to eat chocolate ice cream for and early supper and then we ate real stuff when we got home.

Have I mentioned this girl loves chocolate ice cream!?!?

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Fast forward a week or so and you'll find us saying our farewells to our sweet friend and helper, Nickie. Nickie has been with us since shortly after Emily came home. She works with Help Me Grow and has come out for visits several times a year and helped us with Emily's assessments and placements for therapies and such. She's been a great friend and has reminded me that we are really blessed in so many areas of our lives. Now that Emily is 3, she has outgrown the Help Me Grow program (and a ton of her clothes!) and will be moving up to receive some early intervention services this year. We love you Nickie and truly hope you stay in touch!

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Later in July, we took a quick trip to the zoo with Nanny and Papa. It's a tradition that we nearly always stop and visit the petting zoo if it's open... not so much a tradition that we jump on the goats.


Seriously folks!?!? Did you really think I would let my daughter jump on a goat? It's an optical illusion. Breathe in, breathe out and hang up on your phone call to PETA!


Peace out!

Toilet Trauma

Yea! for the clever folks that invented the automatic flushing toilet. BOO! for the folks that decide to buy them for major public restrooms at places like Wal-Mart. Despite trying to cover up the sensor, they really suck when you're trying to potty train and your kid is terrified of loud noises! It almost scared the crap outta her... would have been a good thing if it had succeeded prior to her jumping off!

Emily's also crossed the bathrooms at BW3's off her "tolerable toilets" list a long time ago! It's a "no-go-zone" for sure. Those toilets will suck you in and if they miss, the hand dryers will blow you across the room!

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(The following day...)

Toilet Trauma Day 2: Despite the fact that they flush manually, Emily dramatically added the toilets at Red Lobster to her intolerable toilet list. Seriously folks, the chef in the kitchen had to have heard her screaming from all the way in the bathroom.

More Info on Splints

Emily had physical therapy on Friday afternoon and our therapist was kind enough to invite Mr. Blue, the orthopedist, along to meet Emily. Em was still very leary about taking her shoes off for him and she never did go along with the idea, but he saw what he needed to be able to see and we had a very good discussion.

I was able to learn more about the bracing that was prescribed for Emily and feel more informed now about the process of getting Emily sized for these and how and when she will wear them.

Emily's prescription is for Bilateral DAFO 2, Left DAFO 9 and a Knee Immobilizer.

Pictured below is a sample of what the DAFO 2 might look like. Bilateral means that they will put one on her left AND right legs. These are hinged and will allow Emily to kneel into a crouching position and lean forward in them, but they are essentially locked so she won't be able to walk to tiptoes or sit with her feet flipped back under her. I believe we will likely start out wearing them a little at a time and then eventually she'll be wearing them all day.




The next picture is a sample of what the DAFO 9 will look like. (These pictures are both from the Cascade Dafo, Inc.'s website.) The DAFO 9 and knee immobilizer are supposed to be worn at night for light stretching of her heel cord and muscles. I haven't been able to find a good picture of what the knee immobilizer will look like but it's very similar to what athletes wear after a knee injury. It's a brace that goes from ankle to thigh and are sometimes hinged. Mr. Blue thought it might be easier to see if they can combine the knee immobilizer with the DAFO 9 so it's all one piece. I believe it would be made of the same lightweight, white plastic that you see below.


When Emily goes in to get fitted for her braces we will hopefully take a video along that she enjoys watching. They won't have to put her in a cast, but will wrap her feet/leg with a lightweight material that will harden in about 5 minutes. Mr. Blue will simply cut it off with scissors when it's done.

I'm not sure when all of this will be happening. We have to get a few formalities worked out with BCMH so that she qualifies for braces. Right now I think her approval letter says something about orthopedic shoes or something like that, but doesn't cover bracing. Dr. B. is supposed to be taking care of getting that added in.

That's all I know for now. I'll keep you posted!

Conversations with Mommy

Today at lunch, after telling her she was over 3 feet tall Emily assured me that she in fact only has 2 feet... not 3. It went a little something like this:

Emily: I eat, and tall, tall, tall.

Mommy: Yes, if you keep eating your lunch you will be tall, tall, tall. You're already getting really, really tall. You're already over 3 feet tall!

Emily: Nooooo, not 3 feet, 2 feet!

Mommy: No, you are over 3 feet tall.

Emily: Not mine feet.

Mommy: No, about 3 of my feet.

Emily: Not 3 feet. My 2 feet. Mommy 2 feet.

Mommy: Ohhhhhh (Mommy slowly catches on....). Yes, you do have 2 feet and Mommy only has 2 feet.

Emily: Doggies, Kitties 3 feet!


We still have a little work to do... and we'll be putting our growth chart up soon!!!!