12/19/07 and All is Well!

As you can see from the picture, Katie looked absolutely beautiful, and so grown up, at her Christmas Party this weekend. She and her friend (and next door neighbor Tyler) went to the party together, along with her Dad, Miss Megan, and Miss LyAn. Katie is quite excited about Mommy, Amanda, and Nana returning this weekend. We should be back in Wilmington by Saturday afternoon. It will be a great Christmas present to all be back under one roof as a family. If all goes perfectly, Katie's horse may be in Wilmington before Christmas as well. It all depends upon how fast her Coggins test comes back. We have a shipper lined up, so hopefully all works out ok. If not, she will get to Wilmington around 1/2/2008 instead. Katie is very excited about "Lady" and I am equally excited that she will have an attractive, well-trained, well-rounded horse to ride that she won't outgrow any time soon.

Amanda is having a great week of therapy. She accomplished all of this week's goals on day one and has been building on her progress ever since. She now likes to "give five" with her right hand and use it a lot to smack at things, push things, etc. She has also done a lot better with weight bearing this week and she follows commands really well. Her favorite is when I ask her to give me her right hand and then when she does, we bounce around and dance and sing (thankfully she is not picky on who is singing to her). Yesterday, she had her cast changed again so she has a nice new bandage. We also finally solved the tape chewing dilemma and have her entire left arm and cast covered with a sock. Below is a video of Amanda knocking a toy off of a tray. As you can see, she is getting pretty coordinated with that arm. As I write this entry, I am hearing lots of "good jobs" from the therapist as she works with Amanda. It really has been a great experience. The therapists are sending us home at the end of the week with videos and a home program so that we can continue the progress at home. They indicated that this is a critically important time for her, given her age, and that we need to be sure to continue to build on everything they have accomplished. It is an exciting time. Amanda is really fun to play with now and much more interactive than she has ever been so continuing on the progress should be fun.