Audrey's December OT

Audrey's attention and participation in activities continues to be good. Her upper body is getting much stronger and she wheelbarrow walked 25 steps when supported at her knees. This month, she stacked 8 blocks and put a bead on a string, but couldn't advance it down the string. She is very good with basic puzzles and always gets near the correct piece...if she doesn't get it in all the way. She keeps working on drawing lines and circles---her vertical line drawing is emerging, but she still requires assist to form horizontal lines. She holds scissors and touches them to the paper...not yet snipping it, but she's getting the idea. OT isn't at school during mealtime, but after talking to her teachers, they are doing a good job having her work on getting into her chair and holding/using a spoon. Go Audrey!

Oct-Dec Speech

Audrey is imitating a variety of speech sounds when paired with an action/sign! She identifies 80%-90% of common pictures when shown two pictures! Audrey is saying and signing "Go" when I say "Ready, Set," during swinging or rocking boat activities. Audrey likes oral-motor activities with lollipops and passive stretches while looking in a mirror. She is signing "more, please" with some cues during play activities. She needs cues to sign "all done", "help", and "my turn". She likes songs and we are working on her choosing the correct song picture as well as making the silly sounds in them ("EIEIO", "Beep, Beep", etc.). We are also working on animal and vehicle sound imitation while playing with those toys, puzzles, or looking at books. Great Job Audrey!!! ----Sally Evans MA CCC-SLP

November OT

Still doing great...independently puts 6 of 7 picture-on-picture puzzle pieces in the correct place. Stacks 5-10 blocks. Is beginning to imitate drawing lines: vertically and horizontally. Puts beads on a pipe cleaner but cannot advance them down the pipecleaner, so they stay at the top and eventually fall off. Uses a pincer grasp (thumb and index finger) inconsistently. Is good with activities that require eye hand coordination, but has a harder time with activities requiring strength. Is beginning to wheel barrow walk 5-10 steps forward. Still has weak trunk muscles and we are working on her "righting" herself when she's moved side to side on a big ball. She giggles a lot, but has a hard time sitting herself back up when she falls over. No more crying before/during therapy. Starting to attempt to name objects when asked but often just refuses to vocalize, even though she has in the past. Stinker. Still hasn't decided on right or left hand preference...switches a lot. classroom is working on using spoon and fork. Can get out of her chair at the table, but needs help getting into her chair. She has a great attention span and listens well...doesn't always follow through with requests, but she's 2.

OcTober OT

Audrey had a great month and met one of her goals! She was crying a bit more at the start of each session earlier in the month, but by the end of the month the tears were gone. She is stacking one inch cubes now: up to 8 of them one day--that is a huge deal for us. She's been stacking big blocks but she always knocked the little ones over everytime she got to 3...AHHHHHH! So last week when she stacked 8, I was delighted. We are working on drawing horizontal lines using her right hand. She still switches hands a lot, but she tends to initiate activities using her right hand...so I'm using that as her "preferred" hand. Also working on Wheelbarrow walking to improve upper body strength (she doesn't care for it), stringing beads, completing basic shape puzzles and disconnecting/connecting large pop beads to increase strength. She has a great attention span when doing an activity she prefers. When doing an activity that isn't a favorite?...that's a different story :D. The girl's got spunk!

Get Up, Stand Up...

Lately the doll-faced diva has been channeling a little Bob Marley. She is standing up for her rights... and her toys, and whatever is on my night stand. No longer content to sit and take anything, she is pulling herself to a stand with ease and creatively maneuvering to get what she wants. This, of course, means I will no longer be able to keep anything below "see" level.

All this cruising around is building her muscles for walking, and in the last couple of weeks she has shifted from using my support for added power to holding my hand for balance. Big transition! We're all looking forward to the day where we can change her tune to "These Boots Were Made For Walkin'" But we also know that celebs tend to work on their schedules, not ours. I just cater the set and do wardrobe.

Percussion Discussion

Audrey is usually one for vocals, but today in the church nursery she showed great action on the drum. As I sat her down with the toys, she immediately went to a drum container full of musical instruments (no surprise). The top of the container (the drum lid) was several feet away, in a pile of other toys. She found the drum stick and banged away, but realized something was not right. She looked around for the lid and scooted over to it. Grabbing it, she placed it on top of the drum (which was not very easy and took several tries). Then banged away on her completed drum very, very proud of herself! It was an impressive feat, especially considering that she had never played with this before! She realized that the drum was not complete, found the missing part among other objects, and successfully put it together in a matter of just a minute! I was very impressed! and she banged away on the drum laughing and smiling extremely proud of herself. It was great to witness!... Next instrument, the guitar!

Pillow Talk

Audrey made clear this weekend that baby pillows are SO passe. She is now sleeping with a grown-up pillow, which she is less inclined to hurl from the crib when she gets bored. She likes keeping a book in bed, too, and points at the words and pictures. Recently, she's been a big fan of Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type. I'm not sure if she finds it more amusing that cows can use a typewriter or that the farmer is frustrated by their persistence. I'm leaning toward the latter, since I get that same look of amusement when I express frustration over yet another tossed sippy cup or bowl of ravioli. Life with a diva can be challenging at times.

This is also true as it relates to fashion. Missy Kissy has outgrown everything and demanded a new wardrobe so she can look her best on the preschool stage. She is particularly fond of her new striped legwarmers. Because of her therapy schedule, Audrey considers herself a working woman and has also demanded work-appropriate attire. Her most recent request was for Tina Fey glasses, but I have to put my foot down somewhere.

OT for September

Audrey has been doing great with OT at daycare! She cries when she has to walk (with hand held assist or when using a walking toy) to the motor room--but stops immediately when we start to play. She is doing well with fine motor activities: Stacking 4 block (and knocking them down as soon as they are stacked), imitating a vertical line!, putting shapes in shape sorter (usually 2-3 out of 5, but good effort). We continue to work on upper body strength (she hates wheelbarrow walking :> ) and hand skills. Her teachers are great to work with!

PT UPDATE Sept 29

Audrey has been less than excited about going to therapy since getting sick but like a trooper, she works hard anyway. She has been walking longer distances holding on with both hands. She prefers walking with two hands but can manage short distances with only one. She really likes the musical toys and will stand for a long time to play with them. We are still working on trusting herself enough to try letting go but haven't gotten there yet. You can do it, Audrey!
Chris

PT UPDATE

Audrey is doing very well in physical therapy. She is loving all the challenges her new preschool is offering her. The first day of PT there just happened to be water play day. She enjoyed walking from one water experience to the next. The slide was also loads of fun as it is slippery when wet! This past week we explored the motor room and found lots of great balance-challenging activities. Audrey is doing very well on her feet. The more she practices the better she gets! Keep it up Audrey!

Audrey's August OT

Audrey has had another great month. While she's great at avoiding therapy or just running the show, she's also continues to make a lot of progress with her play skills. She continues to work on stacking blocks, snipping with scissors, drawing lines, putting shapes in shape-sorters, completing basic puzzles and picking up small objects with her thumb and index finger. Our newest adventure is the ladder and slide at her new preschool. I saw her on her first day at her new school and she acted as if she'd been there forever.

August Speech

What an exciting month for Audrey! I had the privelage of seeing Audrey at her new school- St. Mary's and it is awesome! We have a great therapy space and Audrey seems very happy there. On to our progress... Audrey is imitating consonant-vowel sounds such as du for duck or bu for bye-bye with 30 % accuracy. Audrey continues to use the signs for more, open, and all done and added the sign for "eat" . Our next signs will be for drink, up and down, and help and of course we'll be working on the words for all of these as well. Audrey continues to blow her whistles inconsistently and is imitating oral movements with 30% accuracy. Lip closure continues to be another priority. She is also identifying pictures with 40% accuracy and following one step directions with 70% accuracy. I am really looking forward to seeing Audrey at St. Mary's in September!

July's OT note

Audrey has been doing great in OT! She is beginning to place shapes in shape-sorter (2-5 of 5 correct each session) She can stack 2-3 blocks then knocks over the tower or throws the blocks. Doing well with 2-handed activities that require some strength to complete. Completes a 3 piece basic shape puzzle independently. Still working on a more refined pincer grasp, but uses a functional grasp to pick up small objects. Lots of spilling/spitting out of liquid when drinking from an open cup. Her jaw is more stable, but she doesn't close her mouth to swallow once the fluid is in her mouth. Audrey can poke with a fork and scoop with a spoon, however still needs a lot of help with self feeding. As always, cute as a button!

July Speech

Unfortunately, due to an IFSP meeting, family vacation, and Ms. Liz's summer cold Audrey was only seen twice this month for speech therapy. She definitely packed it in for those two sessions! Exciting news.... Audrey blew a whistle for the first time on 7/30/08. She was very proud of herself. Audrey attempted to imitate me 7 times and requested objects with signs/words 5/10 times. She is identifying objects from a field of two with 60% accuracy and we have begun working on identifying pictures on flashcards as well. She is following 1 step commands with 75% accuracy. During our meeting we made a plan to work on the following concepts through talking and signs during August: up, down, eat, drink, and help. We will also be working on lip closure.
Andy & Kama- I left some oral motor exercises at Mary's for you. These will strengthen and increase awareness of Audrey's lips, cheeks, and jaw, which will in turn encourage lip closure at rest. I will leave chewy tubes in her bag next Wednesday and you can use a vibrating toothbrush for any of the vibrating exercises. I will continue to look for exercises specfic to lip closure as well! Please call me with questions!

Liz

Speech Therapy - June

Audrey did an awesome job in speech therapy this past month!  She has become quite the little communicator!  She is attempting to imitate more words each time we meet.  This month Audrey attempted to imitate more- "m", cheese-"ch", yes-"na" with a head nod, and cups-"tu".  She also did an excellent job of using her head nods and shakes to let me know yes and no.  She continues to sign more, open, and all done with verbal/physical cueing.  On the receptive side of things Audrey identified pictures with pointing with 50% accuracy.  She followed one step commands 15/20 times.  We are continuing to work on imitating some oral motor movements such as sticking out her tongue, puckering lips, blowing, etc.  Audrey was definitely moving around during therapy and getting the things she wanted.  She seemed to feel much better in June as well, and did a great job!

OT - Junes

Audrey is making huge gains this month! Today she was able to activate all five buttons on a pop-up toy! She completed a 3 piece form puzzle with verbal cues! She was able to place a square, triangle, and circle in a 5-piece shape sorter with cues! She is crawling to retrieve toys, and she is developing a true sense of self. She knows what she wants to do, and she lets us know with smiles and head nods and shakes. She is making huge gains, and we cannot wait to see what she accomplishes next!

Audrey Rocks the State of PA

Recently, Miss Baby traveled with her entourage to Pennsylvania to perform at a family reunion. She danced; she dazzled. And we learned that she has a healthy appetite for buckwheat pancakes. Audrey did a great deal of walking with assistance, and she demonstrated her developing OT skills by not only pulling legos apart for hours, but putting a few of them together! She is no longer content staying in one room and scoots and crawls wherever she would like to be.

Audrey is imitating more of what she sees, and now brushes my hair when I brush her hair. In case you're thinking, "Awww," you may recall from previous posts that she really HATES that. I think she is brushing my hair more for revenge than affection. She is beginning to experiment more with cause and effect, looking for a consistent reaction from me when she performs certain acts, like pinching me. She sometimes takes offense (the lip!) when I redirect her to more acceptable behavior, but mothers have a special immunity to that really cute, manipulative behavior.

"Hello, PA!!! Are you ready to ROCK?!?!?" she says, as she launches a sippy cup. And the crowd goes WILD....

The Show is on the Road!

Audrey is increasing her mobility everyday! She readily pulls herself up using any available support. She recently scooted herself into the bathroom, in order to stand up holding onto the tub wall.

Seems like Audrey is taking a more active role in the dressing room too these days. I have noticed her sometimes on the changing table, while we are getting dressed in the morning, grabbing her clothes and from me and attempting to put them on herself. She also mentioned something about more diamond studded leather and less Dora the Explorer.

We also met with Audrey's agent (PAT Lynn Austin) in April. Audrey did a great job of showing off her latest achievements, and even busted out some new moves. She did a great job of putting straws into a bottle, as well as, some other tricks that I unfortunately can't remember, since it was a while ago. Next on the appointment book is a pow-wow with manager, Nikki S. (Nikki Scheele not Nikki Six). We will try to get their entire band together for that one, but if you can't make it, no problem, we just ask that you find another way to provide input.

Unfortunately, Audrey had several bouts with congestion during May, which did not make for her best performances. We never had a confirmed ear infection, but she fussed with her ears a lot and Doctors said her ears did look irritated inside. She has been much better congestion-wise the last two weeks, so hopefully we have finished off the last round of antibiotics for awhile. Her two year medical checkup is scheduled for July, and her cardiologist appointment will be shortly thereafter.

Next week, the show moves to Pennsylvania to see family over Fathers Day weekend! Keep posted for more summer tour dates!

Speech Therapy - May

This month Audrey imitated 2 CV (consonant-vowel) utterances.  She is doing oral motor play in the mirror, but doesn't imitate oral motor movements on command.  Audrey is signing "open" and "more" with 70% accuracy.  She has significantly increased her pointing abilities with pictures and books.She is identifying objects with 60% accuracy.  Audrey is successfully following 1 step commands with 80% accuracy!  We also are continuing to work on blowing with horns and whistles.  She is putting the toys to her mouth on her own and is working toward airflow.

Liz

Audrey is 2!!

Every rock star gets older. But we have learned from legends like Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler that age is no obstacle when it comes to rocking out. Audrey seems to agree. In fact, she is pumping up the energy in her show. She is crawling around in her own unique way (all rock stars need a signature move, no?), is pulling herself up to stand constantly and is really grooving when inspired by the right tunes. Way to go, Potato!

I'm sure you've noticed the lack of posts recently. I credit her therapists for not wanting to stick her with bad publicity. Our resident rocker has been something of a diva in her recent sessions and needed some time to pull it together. She has been sick and sassy, but seems to be getting her game on. I'm sure we'll see some updates soon!!

OT 5/5/08

Audrey was very tearful during the OT session this week, which is unusual for Audrey who is usually so happy and smiley. When Audrey was placed on her belly with toys within near reach, she would bury her head in her hands, becoming teary eyed. She required tremendous prompts to commando crawl to retrieve toys. She enjoyed playing to pop-on toys, particularly enjoying the cow and chicken figures! She demonstrated good two hand use to place the figures on and pull the figures off the board. She was able to again independently place more than 10 foam shapes onto a small peg. Audrey used her 2-finger pincer grasp to pick up and place colored marbles into a water bottle. Audrey also needed hand over hand assistance to place shapes into a three piece shape sorter. Audrey appeared extremely tired and unmotivated to play during our session. We hope that Audrey begins to feel better next week, as we all miss her smiles and laughs!

Full of Giggles

Audrey was full of giggles during our last OT session! She seems to understand humor, laughing at Molly when she would do something silly. Audrey commando crawled to play with her favorite toys. She needed some help getting started, but one she started moving, she is crawling much faster than in the previous weeks. Audrey was able to rise into a four point position, rocking back and forth on her hands and knees all by herself! She is now able to hold this four point position for around 90 seconds at a time! Audrey was able to place foam shapes onto pegs independently. She still needs some assistance opening cause and effect toys, but she enjoys the Disney characters down once opened.

April Speech Therapy

Audrey has had a great few weeks in speech therapy! She continues to participate in about 10 minutes of oral motor therapy per session. She successfully puts all whistles to her mouth and is getting better lip closure each week! We are still trying to get some air into those whistles! Audrey is following one step commands with 50% accuracy. Audrey's biggest achievement this month has been her ability to point to objects and pictures in books. Audrey has begun to spontaneously point to various items and even accompanied her pointing with a vocalization today! She continues to "pick one" song card and seems to be transferring this skill to other toys (instead of reaching for both things held in front of her). We will continue working toward Audrey "finding" specific objects and pictures in books by pointing, but pointing on her own is a huge developmental milestone in the communication world! Audrey also continues to use sign language for "more" and is working on signs for "open" (which she used once this month) and "all done" (which we still do hand over hand). She also hands me things she needs help with and reaches for things she wants with great eye contact. Good Job Miss Audrey!
Liz- SLP

Audrey's Underwater Adventures

The YMCA welcomes Audrey to the main stage (pool), making it the place to be on Saturday mornings. That's right, my little perch is learning to swim. Six weeks at the Y will not prepare her for olympic greatness, but she seems to be enjoying her time in the water. She is particularly fond of the floating flowers you toss out to practice the "reach and pull," and she loves the swim class version of "wheels on the bus," which involves a good deal of splashing and baby tossing.

One of Audrey's favorite things to do while waiting for class to begin is to scoot across the floor on her bottom and try to covertly steal the equipment used by Adam's swim class. Do you remember the scene from Poltergeist where Carol Ann slides across the kitchen floor while sitting with her legs crossed? It looks something like that. In a moment, Audrey is five feet away grabbing a kickboard and giggling.

In addition to swimming, Audrey has added a few other big girl tricks to her bag. She is drinking much better from a sippy cup (now the prefered method of milk delivery unless she is really tired), pulling herself to a stand against objects for support, and doing some sort of crawl that appears to have originated in a battle trench. She is clearly getting stronger. She is also clearly getting a stronger will. Anyone who thinks that kids with disabilities don't assert their position convincingly should meet my daughter. I think I'm in trouble when she has words to go with those expressions of hers. I wonder if it will be cute or annoying when she is able to say, "Woman, if you even attempt to put that brush near my yogurt-encrusted hair, I will destroy it and you."

Rockstar on the Drums

Audrey, a.k.a. "The Rockstar" was adding to her repertoir today in PT. She thoroughly enjoyed playing the "drums" by banging her play spoons on the upside down pot in her play kitchen. She was really getting into the beat. We worked a lot on standing and getting in and out of standing. She even did it almost completely by herself once from her knees! She continues to enjoy standing and especially likes playing hand games and singing songs while standing leaning her back on the chair. Way to go Audrey!

Physical Therapy 4/9/08

Audrey was movin' and groovin' today in PT. She did really well despite having just finished an hour of speech therapy. We worked a LOT in standing today. She practiced pulling herself up to stand, standing to play at her kitchen and at other furniture, and even trying to move side to side to reach her toys. She really seems proud of herself when she is standing up. She wasn't as interested in being on her hands and knees but did really well pulling herself around the room on her tummy. Keep it up, Audrey!

OT 04/07/2008

Audrey was a little rockstar today! Audrey scooted on her belly to retrieve toys of her choice, with a little encouragement of course, but was extremely delighted when accomplishing the task! Audrey placed colored shapes on pegs, placing about 2 pieces by trial and error! She again played with her favorite beads, using her pincer grasp with both hands to place the beads in a water bottle and shaking the bottle each time after her accomplishment! Audrey prefers using her right hand over her left, but is working hard to improve her grasp with both hands. Audrey was able to maintain her balance while sitting on my leg and reaching for toys almost entirely by herself! We also worked on raising up to a 4 point position on her hands and knees while watching Dragon Tales. Audrey was able to hold this position for 25 seconds today; a new record! Audrey continues to make great progress in OT!
P.S. I have a new student, Laura...for the next 3 months (she wrote this : ) )

March PT

Physical therapy has been going very well for Audrey. She gets stronger every time I see her. She is moving around on her tummy and in sitting very well. She is really trying to pull up onto her knees now. She is so interested in all of her toys and is really working to get to them. We have been working on more and more standing lately as well. She stood for several minutes today leaning only her back against a chair and playing pat-a-cake and singing songs. She smiled proudly the whole time! Keep up the good work, Audrey!

Speech Therapy 3/19 and 3/26

Audrey continues to work very hard during speech therapy!  She is practicing her blowing and exercising her mouth with whistles, bubbles, putting on chapstick, allowing some brushing on her inner cheeks and tongue and trying to imitate oral movements such as sticking out her tongue. During the past two weeks Audrey has been working on increasing her vocabulary with farm animals and mealtime supplies (spoon, cup, fork, plate, pot/bowl).  She plays appropriately with all of her kitchen supplies.  She is working on matching puzzle pieces to the matching board picture.  In order to work on choosing objects Audrey has been choosing song cards.  She "picked one" 5/10 times.  We have also been using a "Audrey's Photo book" to work on pointing to pictures on a page.  Her favorite page is a picture of Adam!  Audrey is also working on following one step directions (i.e. clap hands, make a sound, wiggle fingers).  She was able to do this 3/10 times.   Expressively we are still working on imitating some consonant vowel sounds.  Audrey imitated duck with "du-du-du" and "more" with "mu". We are also using our signs to get Audrey's wants and needs met. She continues to sign "more" spontaneously in a variety of situations.  The next signs we would like to see her use are "all done" and "open"!  Thanks for checking in on Audrey's great progress!  Liz

OT March 17 and 21

Audrey loves to throw...and she is really good at it. Between throwing, she was able to stack 2 one inch cubes and put foam shapes on a peg (2 times purposefully). She is pointing and loves putting pegs in holes. We are working on colors while we do our activities. She is a pro at putting little marbles in a water bottle, but doesn't always use her pincer grasp (we are working on that). Also working on basic shape puzzles. Audrey will stay in a 4-point position for 5-20 seconds while watching TV. She will pop herself up onto extended arms to assume the position that is only made tolerable by Lilo and Stitch. She's done a great job in OT and loves making choices.

Speech Therapy 3/5 and 3/12

Audrey has done a great job during her last two speech therapy sessions! During our oral motor exercises she is putting the whistles and horns to her mouth and stabilizes them with her teeth.  We are working on strengthening those lips so that she can gain lip closure.   Audrey imitated "doggy" with a "du" and "baa".  She continues to use "la-la-la" to join in during song time-which is great.  In order to request Audrey handed me the item she wanted 4/6 times.  She selected the song card from a choice of 2 3/3 times!  She is doing a great job of signing "more" spontaneously.  Audrey identified objects of a dog, sheep, cow, pig and horse from a choice of two.  She is also starting to spontaneously point to pictures in books!  We worked on following the directions for put in, open, close, clap hands, and give me the.....  Overall, Audrey followed 17/32 commands. She is also responding to "no-no".   Finally, Audrey is becoming very consistent with her waves hello and goodbye simply by hearing the words.  Great job!  Liz

OT on Monday March 10

Audrey had another great day. Seemed a little more tired than usual. Didn't want to get on hands and knees. Good try with her attempts to stack and put shapes on a peg board. Used her finger and thumb to put small marbles into a soda bottle. She did better with her right hand so we really focused on her left. Worked naming and matching colors, but placing colored clothes pins in the corresponding hole. She has good attention and she lets you when she's finished with an activity. Doing great! Molly

Total Diva!

Like most rock stars, Audrey is beginning to accept her popularity. In fact, it has gone to her head a bit. She is beginning to express her desires with greater potency, and she gets increasingly frustrated when I don't get the point. That's good from where I sit, because it challenges her to communicate more effectively. I'm trying to help her verbalize her emotions or give her words or signs that capture the moment. It will take some time, but she will some day be able to tell her personal assistant (me) whether she wants the St. Petersburgandy or Have You Seen My Limo OPI shade painted on her toes.

Audrey is working very hard to increase her stage stamina, spending greater amounts of time standing with some assistance. We are doing lots of step-and-slide, which is both a dance move and a way to show her she can get from A to B on those legs of hers. For when her performances call for sitting, she is practicing her piano. No longer just banging the keys, she is pressing them with her fingertips much more diliberately.

Now, I know you are all aware that young female stars can develop drinking problems. We're trying to get on top of that. We need lots more practice with the sippy if we are ever going to get off the bottle.

Audrey is Awesome at Mary's

The past two OT sessions have been REALLY good. The first one, last Wed. was the third of three therapy sessions she had in one day. She was a trooper! No fussing at all. We did a lot of work on her kitchen set. We worked on nesting cups, shape sorting, stirring, using her pointer to activate her blender, standing, weight bearing, etc. I couldn't even tell she'd been working hard all day. I was really proud of her.

Today I brought in some extras. We worked on a pincer grasp (looking good on her right side, focusing on improving her left), stacking 1" cubes (hard, but she stacked two), placing foam shapes on a peg (none hit the peg today, but great attention and effort), and separating plastic oreos using two hands (needed help). She weight beared in 4-point for 25 seconds, twice! I'm working hard on keeping her hips and knees bent while she straddles my leg and leans/reaches for objects and then sits back up. This is hard and she wants to straighten her legs and as she reaches down. I did get some good (unintentional) standing from a seated position on that one. So far so good.
--Molly

PT at Mary's

Audrey did very well in PT at Mary's last Wed. She spent more time on her knees than I have ever seen. She enjoyed standing at the kitchen to play as well. We unloaded all the goodies and pretended to cook cupcakes and cheese in her shape - sorter pot. She did a lot of work on trying to crawl and get in and out of sitting. All in all a great session. Way to go Audrey!
Chris

Speech Therapy at Mary's House

Audrey had her first speech therapy session at Mary's yesterday and it went very well! Audrey consistently put all of the whistles and horns to her mouth and worked very hard on some lip closure. The theme for the session was body parts. We used a book and Mr. Potato Head to identify eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Our goal is for Audrey to be able to "point to your/the ____" on herself, dolls, other people and books. Audrey also did a great job of signing yesterday. She signed "more" 6 times all by herself to get more bubbles, music, and toys. She also signed "all done" and "my turn" with a little help. She did a great job of turn taking by rolling a car back and forth with me. For her talking Audrey imitated ba-ba and ma. Audrey made great eye contact and played for the entire hour! Way to go Audrey!

Liz- Speech Therapist

Daddy's First Blog

First off, thanks out there to everyone who has viewed/commented on Audrey's blog, especially her therapists! What kind of rockstar would she be without all of her adoring fans? Speaking of fans, I of course think that I am her biggest fan--especially now that she gives kisses! I have waited along time for my own babygirl kisses, and I am so glad they are finally here, definitely worth the wait, though!

Like all rockstars, Audrey had to learn how to deal with the paparazzi, which is how she got to be so good at playing peek-a-boo. In fact... "She's the peekaboo masta, she drinks milk not Shasta, and Audrey looks sharp 'cause she hasta!" ...Sorry, I just wanted to give Audrey's closest fans a little lyric sneak preview from one of her current works in progess. As a rockstar, she is continuously in "creative mode." Look for more of that one when her next hit album appears on shelves this summer!

Meet Audrey's PT, Chris!

From the comment section....

Just wanted to say hello from Audrey's PT. I must say I love the little kitchen we have been working with. Audrey loves to stand up and cook. Do we see an up and coming chef in the future?Chris

Taking a Stand Against Dirty Dishes

Unable to operate the dishwasher, Audrey has decided to clean her own dishes in her own sink. In fact, all toys are eligible for cleaning. She sits on the floor in front of her little kitchen set, tosses them in, and is able to pull herself to a stand when sitting on my leg. She looks adorable standing there "cleaning" the dishes, and lacking ample drying space, she tosses them back onto the floor. She is standing for longer periods and will now prop herself against the kitchen with only her belly so she has her hands free. What a cutie!

Also new is her effort to say the word "kiss" and give me a sloppy baby smooch so I know she means business. We go back and forth, and she either tries to say the word or signs "more." More kisses? Sure. More chocolate pudding? Not quite. She is also trying to say the word Adam. Not surprising, since she has probably heard me say that more than any other word. When I'm giving her a bottle at bedtime, I often wonder what Adam is doing (getting into without permission), and I will call out for him, "Adam? Adam?" I now have a little echo, "Adda! Adda!" It's far too adorable. She's far too adorable.

Introducing Liz, Audrey's Speech Therapist

I didn't want this to get buried in the comments...meet Liz!

Hello to Audrey's family and friends! My name is Liz and I am Audrey's speech therapist. I will be seeing Miss Audrey every Wednesday morning and will be posting all of her great progress through this blog. Audrey works so hard to talk, identify pictures and objects, follow directions and express her likes and dislikes. Just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself to you all. I feel so lucky to be working with Audrey!

Week of 2/04/08

Like most little sisters, Audrey is a tough girl. She is insisting on playing rougher than I would expect and loves nothing more than to be tossed around the bed like a pillow. She laughs so hard I wonder if she will just throw up. Today, for the first time, she managed to remove her own soiled diaper. She seemed quite proud to have found another spot for the spoils, even if that spot was her crib. She is much more consistent about responding to questions with her own version of "yes," which sounds like a soft staccato "jess." She continues to find ways to get around that don't involve traditional crawling, so at least she is as inventive as she is stubborn.

Week of 1/21/08

My poor kiddo! She has been sick on and off this week and sprouting some new teeth. A little fussy for my taste, but still cute. She plays with her mini kitchen and can stand against it for longer periods. We have been playing with spoons, forks, bowls and plates. She likes feeding me much more than herself. Audrey is becoming more fond of books and is getting the rhythm of reading first before turning the pages. She loves to sing "la la" songs when music is playing, which is typical for rock stars.