Cheetos Puffs & The Pool!

Swimming with Lexi! This was her first time in a pool.

Alayna enjoyed it for awhile, but it really seemed to wear her out fast. It helped so much that she would keep her sunglasses on! And the toy to distract her and keep her focused helped too.

Patti and Lexi helping Alayna in her new float. It was nice, but she is now strong enough that she needed to sit deeper in the pool. I have a different float that I used with the other kids that we need to give a try!

Alexis, Douglas and Alayna! They enjoyed that the water was about 90 degrees!

Alayna's sitting independently has significantly improved! I will now put her down on the floor with toys and walk away! If she falls, she is pretty good about trying to slow her fall. And she sometimes likes to fall down and she giggles! I'm guessing, but I think she can sit anywhere between 5-10 minutes before crashing.

Her balance is improving and her butt isn't as "round!" She is becoming more aware of her arms and actually using them to keep her up. If she'd just keep one of them out of her mouth she'd have 2 free arms and not just one! This would help.

Whatcha' doing mom?

Alayna laughing! Sometimes she laughs and giggles at the craziest things. It's so innocent and I love it. She makes us all laugh too. Alayna can leave us all guessing at what was so funny!!

Yeah, Alayna has conquered the Cheetos Puff!!! I was getting very frustrated as to why she wouldn't eat anything "dry" like a cracker, fruit puff, or Cheetos. I tried giving her a bite one day and she shut her mouth tight. I finally decided that this obviously wasn't working, so I put 2 Cheetos in front of her on her tray. I figured that when she was ready she'd grab them. I didn't expect it would have been that same day, but she did! And here she is checking it out and eating it. I was in HEAVEN!

Alayna gets very messy between the cheese and the milk everywhere, but I don't care. She is still working on eating the entire cheeto. Right now she seems to eat the part that only sticks out of her hand and then drops the other part on the floor. So, getting that other part up into her hand higher is something we'll work on.

She does pretty good passing it from one hand to the other until it gets too small and it is hard for her to hold on to and bite off.

Yummy! I can't get the Cheetos bag out until after she has eaten her meal. She recognizes it now and she would obviously prefer to eat them over any vegetable!

A HUGE challenge we are having right now is keeping the bib on. Alayna has found the bib and loves to play with it and rip it off. These velcro in the back and I need to find one's that either snap or are like a towel that go over her head. That way they won't come off!

At PT, Alayna has been doing great. She is bearing more weight and standing at this table and playing. We are excited about seeing this. Last summer we just wanted Alayna to hold her head up!
Alayna has on knee immobilizers that don't allow her to bend her knee. It also helps the person working with her free up their hands!
She continues to love toys that make sounds and have lights! I noticed many of us parents at the 1p36 Conference had alot of the same toys. It's a common fascination of all of our kids!
Big girl! When Alayna stands up she looks so tall. We'll keep working and she'll get there! Coming up October 12th, we have her IFSP meeting to begin talks about pre-school placement. That isn't far away!

Alayna is doing good. I hope you enjoyed the photos and updates of what has been happening. We are now all back to school and Alayna starts her "babysitter" routine tomorrow. She will be going to Grandpa Denny on Monday, to Grandma Billie on Tuesday, and to Patti on Wednesday-Friday. Her PT and OT/ST at the CTC will continue as well as her developmental therapy in the home. Alayna is making gains and we love to see her progress. I am dreading the upcoming "flu season" and will work very diligently to keep the home clean and everyone's hands washed. Tis the season to be exposed to more germs. I say my prayers that Alayna and everyone else will stay healthy! I will update again sometime soon!