FFF: Karis' Recent Therapy

Here are some things we've been working on in therapy lately:

 

Learning to stack blocks into a tower

Chewing on "hard munchables" like raw carrot sticks
(this strengthens Karis' jaw muscles and gives her practice biting)

Working on standing, and especially transitioning to standing
(as mentioned here)

Wearing kinesio tape on belly & back

(this reminds her muscles to work and helps support them similar to a girdle... our PT applies it on Thurs and we remove it around Mon or Tues so her skin has time to breathe before it is re-applied on Thurs.  It can be tricky to remove, but we think it is worth it!)

Karis has also been working hard at learning how to use her spoon.  This is a special spoon that our OT ordered for her, and she just loves using it!  It has a slightly curved handle and is on the smaller side of spoons since her hands and mouth are still petite. We typically support her elbow and lightly hold her hand to help guide it; however, just last week she began showing some increased coordination, which our OT and I were both so excited about:

We've also been working a ton on talking/verbalizing, and Karis is now quite the little chatterbox!  Her main sounds are "ba" "da" "aaah" and lots of yells.  ;)  Our ST (the one who comes to our home to work on the talking side of speech therapy) told us a few weeks ago that she wanted us to begin making Karis verbalize something before receiving a bite of food for mealtime (this was to capitalize on her fondness of eating).  Prior to this, Karis had been using sign language very well before bites (bringing her hand to her mouth for "eat" or "drink"), so our ST knew she understood how to communicate the idea of wanting a bite or drink.  I worked on verbalizing with Karis for a few weeks but had a difficult time getting her to make any sounds except yells.  Then, what do you know, but I was out of the house for a day helping some friends as they delivered their first baby, and Daddy took care of both kids... sure enough, after just a few meals with him, Karis was verbalizing before bites!  Our ST was so pleased the next time she stopped by!  These days when I say "Karis, do you want a bite?" there is a quick "ba, ba, ba" response and an open mouth (she doesn't even mess with signing anymore).  So now we are working on verbalizing before other things as well like when she wants a toy or wants to be picked up, etc. and we are also working on increasing the types of sounds she is saying.  The only challenge with this new development has been our level of noise during our church service.  We used to sit at the back and slowly eat through a bowl of cheerios.  Each time Karis was ready for a bite, she would sign "eat" quietly, and I'd give her another bite.  Now, instead of signing, she says "ba, ba, ba" in a not so quiet tone.... let's just say Mama's getting quick and we are working on learning the word "wait" as well.  ;) 

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Enoch's 1st Football Game

Daddy and Enoch got to enjoy a Mississippi State football game a few weeks back thanks to some thoughtful friends of ours.  It was Enoch's first football game ever and Hugh's first MS State game, so they were both pretty excited! 

The game began around 6:30, but we weren't real sure how long Enoch would last since he has an early bedtime and isn't usually a big fan of loud noises, so the boys went early to watch the team warm up and then stayed for the entire first quarter.  They enjoyed a funnel cake and some lemonade along with some beautiful weather.  I think the picture below summarizes their feelings quite well... they both had fun but it was a little on the loud side.  ;) 

When they returned home, Enoch was talking non-stop about the game.  I got a little bit of it on video just because I thought it was funny what all things he remembered.  Hopefully you'll be able to understand his excited talking! {You'll hear him talk about the crowd saying "woo," going home, white things on their hats, little flags on the grass, playing football again and again, ringing his bell, not wanting to ring his bell, white funnel cake with crumbs, the stadium, the crowd saying woo (which he didn't like), and matching Daddy a little bit.}

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FFF: Karis Learning to Stand/Pull Up

Our big girl has been working on her standing skills for the past few months now.  Our PT (Physical Therapist) was so sweet to offer for us to bring home one of her standing frames (below) back in September for Karis to practice standing in.  The frame provides support around her torso, hips, and shins/ankles so that she can maintain the correct position for standing longer than if we were just holding her up.  She began at 12 minutes twice per day, and now she can easily do 30 minutes twice per day (which was the goal).  The standing frame really helped strengthen her muscles and prepare her body for standing, so that now she can stand without the frame for 20-30 minutes at a time! 

As you can see in this animated image, Karis really liked knocking over Enoch's block towers he would build for her.  It was a great source of entertainment during that stage of standing workouts.

Now that Karis has some stamina and strength, she is able to stand against our coffee table.  She doesn't yet have fear of falling over, so she doesn't always hold on, but she will put her little hands up on the edge of the table to stabilize herself when she wants to pull up or sit back down.  Since she has ultra flexible joints, she needs to wear her little high-top shoes when she stands (to protect her ankles and feet), and since we put those on every single time that we stand, those shoes have become her cue for standing.  She will stand without them, but she doesn't yet realize that she can pull up without them on, so she typically only pulls up on the table when her shoes are on and I'm helping her.

Below is a video of her standing by the table.  Usually I put some toys on the table and have Enoch play on the other side, both of which provide enough incentive for her to stand for 30 minutes or so at a time.  As you can see in the video (hopefully), she is very good at pulling up from a bench seat (my leg is serving as a bench in the video) and also at sitting back down onto the bench.  We are working right now on the transition up from the floor, and that is much harder, especially with those shoes on because they get all caught up on the floor and her clothes, not to mention that it's straight up just more work.  So she doesn't like that practice as much, but she's a trouper and tolerates it for at least a little while.  Our PT is also very helpful in learning how to correctly teach her those transitions, so I'm (yet again) thankful to have her assistance!

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Baby #3 is Coming!

For some reason, I guess chasing around and caring for two kiddos has been keeping us busy, because this is the first picture of our pregnancy with baby #3... and I'm already 32 weeks pregnant!  :/  oops!!!  Better late than never though, right?  (And how amazing that both kids were actually looking at the camera at the same time!!) 

So far this pregnancy has been similar to my others with no major complications (praise God!!).   At the beginning I had some slight nausea (what I'd call food aversions) and my belly pooched out much sooner than with Enoch (which is expected).   I'm also carrying this baby very low, and I feel like my body is much looser than normal which has called for more soaks in the tub before bed to ease my achy muscles.  Enoch understands that there is a baby in my belly much better this time around, and he even likes to talk to her and give her kisses.  We've been praying for a safe birth during our family prayer time, and that is often his prayer request now, that God would give baby a safe birth.  (Isn't that too sweet???)  Karis has no idea what's going on, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't like the fact that my growing belly is limiting her space in mama's lap.  ;) 

As for gender, this little one is supposed to be another girl!  We are very excited about that, and have named her already, though we are still deciding on how to spell her name (sorry if I told you we knew the spelling... we keep going back and forth!!).  The pronunciation is like this though:  "Ah-lay-thee-uh" with the emphasis on "lay."  It means "truth" in Greek, which is the language that the New Testament is written in.  (Hugh chose it before we were even pregnant, which I think is sweet.)  I'm including the verse her name comes from below our picture... it also includes "grace," which is where we got Karis from, so both sisters are actually in this verse.   Her middle name will be Ruth, which means "friend." 

"And the Word [Jesus] became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."
(John 1:14)

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Running with the Chickens

Our three chickens are the most curious creatures... they just always love to know what we are doing and typically follow us up and down their fence when we are outside playing.  Enoch really likes the extra attention, especially when they run with him.  Here's a video:

Some photos of the running action

Feeding them some corn as a reward

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