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.  ;)