Ruth is now 17 months old. How did that happen??
Walking:
Ruth is doing AWESOME with her walker! She got her walker right before Thanksgiving, and just loves it. She is getting faster with it, can turn herself around to face the right directions, and is confident in it that she will not fall. She still needs to work on steering it.. but that will come with more practice.
Her balance isn't quite where it needs to be to walk independently (no walker). She sees her ortho in a little more than a month, and I think he plans on putting her in higher braces called AFO's. These will go up to right below her knee, and should give her a little more stability. We do not think she will need such high braces forever, but she may need them now unless she proves us otherwise in the next month. You never know with that girl!
Talking:
She has also started talking a lot more. Her favorite sayings right now are "See it?" when she points at something, and "uh, oh - what happened?" when she drops something, or plays with the TV remotes ;) She also calls just about every animal "Meow". We are working on that one. But she really likes cats!
Neuro:
She had a rapid MRI yesterday just to check on things. That is a quick MRI with no sedation. It was at the end of the day, and I did not let her nap, so she was good and tired beforehand. She screamed at being strapped down for the first part of the scan, but by the end she dosed off and on enough for them to get the pictures they needed. We don't see her neurosurgeon until next week, but prayers are always appreciated. Her skull from her surgery last May still has not healed closed from where he drilled, because of fluid present in that area. That could mean she will end up needing a VP Shunt, or it could mean we will just continue to watch it and it will eventually heal. We will find out at her appointment how her scan looks compared to her one last September.
Urology
Ruth has continued to struggle with UTI's. Despite our best efforts, she continues to get them with very high fever every couple of months. Her kidneys are still healthy, so we are grateful for that. Prayers always appreciated to keep those darn UTI's away!
So, now for some vacation photos! Over the break, we traveled to see family in Arizona, and got to do lots of fun things! Here are some photos of Ruth in action.
To see all our family photos, not just of Ruth, check out my facebook or flickr accounts ;)
Opening presents with her sisters' help!
Carlsbad Caverns
Air & Space Museum
Air & Space Museum - She is looking at me in this photo, like "Really, another photo Mom?" lol
Zoo!
I am SOOOO proud of her here. She walked about half the zoo and kept up with the group! She was so tired after that, she slept in her Daddy's arms for the rest of the time. But she was so determined to walk, she would have NOTHING to do with us picking her up. She amazes me!
White Sands. It took us a couple weeks to get all the sand off her walker, lol.
Sledding with Daddy!
No comments:
Post a Comment