What's behind Drawer Number 1?

"You don't possibly believe that I opened up this drawer all by myself and took out all these clothes, do you Mom?"

Cayman has discovered drawers and doors and cupboards...oh my!!

Therapy

I was thinking, when was the last time I wrote a post about Cayman and her therapy sessions? It's been awhile.

Could it possibly be as far back as May when I posted to show off her improved abilities in walking with her walker.

The continual improvements in that area came in small leaps. She slowly built up her endurance and could walk farther with each month but still too weak to actually push the walker by her own strength.

A little over a month ago she surprised us one day when we let go of the walker and Cayman pushed it all by herself with champion steps taking her a whole two feet all by her own strength!

That's my girl!

By that next week she was up to five feet!

And I did not take a single video of it!! (I know, *gasp*, *gasp*!) I was too busy cheering to hold a camera steady.

Almost a month ago Cayman stopped, completely wants nothing to do with the walker now. The very site of it upsets her. She kicks her feet struggling to get out of our embrace if we carry her toward it. And if we push through her struggles (I know, what meanies huh) she ends up in tears. Poor little sweetheart. This reaction makes me think she is afraid of it. I have only seen this kind of behavior in her when we have approached animals too close for her comfort level. But I have no idea why she would feel afraid. She has not ever fallen while using the walker. Far as I know from my objective point of view there was no negative encounter with it. If anything it was quite the opposite of an experience. The more she progressed in walking independently with the walker the more excited Mike and I got, with cheers and so many hugs and kisses. She loved the attention - giggling the whole five feet she could push the walker before she tuckered out. Oh how I wish I had it on video. The very memory of it makes me smile, the way she was so happy and silly while walking all by herself (with the walker of course. It felt like she was walking all by herself because we were not pushing the walker along while she took her steps). Happy things.

And now the walker makes her so sad. I wish I could understand why.

She kind of followed this same pattern of regression with independent sitting as well before she fully conquered it.

Someday she will get there, in walking. In her own time. And in her own way.

The walker is still around, visible if she wants to see it. But we don't push the issue. Once in awhile I get it out and put it in the center of the room and leave it be. Most of the time Cayman crawls around it, ignoring it. A few times she has approached it to push it forward and backwards while sitting down or standing on her knees. But if I dare sneak in and try to help her stand up to it the struggles begin.

This is the part of parenting when I wish my child came with a manual. Is it a stubbornness that we should push through and keep forcing the issue of the walker? I know she is strong enough to do it. Yet that doesn't feel right to me. I know my little Cayman and I am going to stick with my gut feeling and not push it. I feel confident that she will get there someday, in walking. In her own time. And in her own way. Pushing it will only make her more resistant and create a negative experience out of something as beautiful as the gift of walking.

But there is one more Mommy-trick I have been doing, this subject is not completely a closed matter. An approach to this from a different angle so's to speak. Since Cayman loves watching videos on my laptop, we sit together and watch the videos I took of her at therapy back when she did walk with her walker. We point together. I narrate the happenings out loud to her, "Look Cayman, there is you and Miss Jodi. And you're walking. Look at Cayman walking! You go, go, go!! So big!" I'll say with an enthusiastic smile. Cayman usually smiles back and watches intently.

Like I said, in her own time. In her own way. She'll let us know when she's ready. And I'll be sure to get a video of it this time. :)

The update doesn't stop there.

There is progress in other areas and one big one happens to do with walking. Yes I did type that correctly and no you did not misread it. Sounds contradictory I know. While Cayman has regressed in walking with a walker she has progressed in walking along (side stepping) a bench at therapy and at home it's the couch. I have a video of that posted below. Also in the video you'll see Cayman giggling and babbling into a toy microphone. That's another huge improvement for her. She's been mimicking [some] sounds and taking turns to produce purposeful noises into the microphone is new as of just this week. And the last segment in the video you'll see Cayman swinging. That's her favorite part of therapy. In fact, it's so much fun to her that the swing is taken down and hidden out of site before the therapy session begins. We have learned this little trick keeps her more cooperative and focused if all that swinging fun is not hanging there distracting her. Then it's brought out at the end as her perfect reward system for working so hard.

Happy viewing...

Cayman Gets Down...I don't mean in 'dancing'

Cayman can go from here...

To here...

All by herself. On purpose. And I do mean without tumbling or falling.

Watch the skillful coordination...

Getting turned around.

Lay down on tummy.

Swing the feet around.

Slide down.

Until your feet hit the floor.

Bend the knees and lower yourself all the way to the floor.

Hooray!

Want to see it again? Well of course because she's just so cute about it...

Do You Put on Your Shorts This Way?

Un-burrowing myself through a stack of mail (an effect of being gone on vacation), I sit on the living room floor watching TV to help entertain my mind through this daunting task I do not enjoy.

Cayman sits next to me. She's dressed in only her diaper and one sock. (Why? Well, that's another story.)
I tear open the outer envelopes, then hand them to her. She gets a kick out of being able to get in a few ripping actions herself.

But then she loses interest. She has picked up a pair of her shorts and manages to slip one foot into them all by herself. She is laughing so hard over this accomplishment that she nearly topples over.

I'm laughing so hard I can barely steady the camera.

It's the simple joys of life ya know. Now go and enjoy them today.

A Climbing Demonstration

Cayman will now demonstrate to you how to properly and "safely" climb because she's an expert at it now.

Step 1:
Pull yourself up to a standing position.

Step 2:
Lean in deeply, pulling with all your might til you feel your toes lift off the floor!

Step 3:
Pull your legs in, contracting your abs, while breathing out. Grunting through this step might help also.

Step 4:
Take your place as queen of the hill.

crawling

Here's a clip-it of our little crawler on the first day when she started doing this...

Cayman Prefers to Feed Herself

Feeding time has become a frustrating time for this mama.

When Cayman does want to eat, she prefers to feed herself. That's the positive side of things. She's been aspiring independence in this area. It's a beautiful thing. A blessing really. Another one of our everyday miracles. But there's some challenges that have come along with it that has left this little mama feeling strained.

Cayman eats so slow. I think she gets bored before she even fills up and then begins to get ornery about meal time. She flings food, throws her fork, or dumps her bowl over the side. Sometimes she even uses her messy utensils to comb her hair.

All part of being a toddler that is two I understand.

So much of meal time is me trying to keep her focused to continue eating and not play with her food. And Heaven forbid if the Mommy tries to feed Cayman. She'll spit out every one of those bites. So I've learned to put my hand over top of hers that is holding the spoon and guide each bite into her mouth so she still feels like she's in control. This works for a little while until that devious spark in her eye returns, a grin stretches across her face, and that little tongue sticks out from her mouth spitting...no, it's more like spraying the food all over me. Then she laughs. And not just any laugh. It's a laugh that comes straight from the depth of her belly and it drips with pure orneriness.

To be honest, it takes every part of me to not crack up too. Who would have ever thought, this little girl, born with only a tiny ribbon of brain matter, could have so much personality and silliness?

But no matter how cute she is about it, she must learn that that is not proper meal time manners. We are not a family of baboons - well most of us anyways. :)

But like I said, that's more of the positive side of the meal time frustrations. I have the patience to deal with that kind of stuff.

Where I begin to grow inpatient is when I fear setbacks for Cayman. I feel anxious about the amount of food she is actually ingesting. Dropping in L.B's is not a good thing for the already tiny Cayman. She's a little peanut. At her two year wellness check up, she weighed in at 19 lbs. 8 oz. I heard the notorious [friendly] lecture from her pediatrician about that. We talked about ways on increasing her caloric intake and gaining weight.

That's superb but only works when your child actually eats!

I've been trying to break the meal times down and feed her small amounts but more often throughout the day. This actually works the best but is the very part that is straining on me.

It seems right when I get started on a cleaning project, some other day task, errand, or staying on track with our appointment schedule, I get interrupted by this new feeding agenda. It's been difficult trying to get anything accomplished when stopping to feed my little toddler every 2-3 hours that eats at the speed of a snail.

Truthfully, Cayman hasn't been on the weight charts since she was only a couple months old. But I've never felt anxious about it because I had the confidence that her intake was a healthy amount. She's typically a good little eater.

But lately I'm losing that confidence. With her new found ability in crawling and mobile independence, she is very active. High activity requires more calories and she's been taking in less than her normal. Plus she needs her strength and weight gain as I foresee another surgery in the near future. (More on that another time).

See why I feel concerned?

I'm really hoping it's just a teething thing. She's popping in three of her pearly whites right now. Her crabbiness reveals to me that they are bothering her. So hopefully this phase will pass and she'll be back to eating like a champion again soon.

This mama's nerves would really appreciate it!

Oh, sweet independence you are so yummy...

and Messy too!

Hands and Knees Crawling

She's doing it!!

Cayman's crawling!

I have a little girl that crawls!

It's so adorable. It's so wondrous. It's so normal. It's so miraculous.

I feel exhilaration!

Another milestone!

Another miracle!

Standing on her Knees

Cayman has become a pro at standing on her knees.

She stands on her knees at the couch...

the ottoman...

the Lego Block...

the Glider...

and wherever she can find some place to pull herself up...

Which includes her crib.

When Cayman started doing this, Mommy got excited and grabbed the camera.

But then Mommy got thinking, "What if she learns to stand on her feet? I think it's time to lower the mattress height."

Scooting All Around

A little over a month ago, I wrote about Cayman's reluctancy to move beyond the edge of the carpet of our family room.

Well, it's not a problem anymore.

With her own version of crawling that has become more like a slither, she scoots all over our house independently.

It just suddenly happened one day when I was sitting on the couch reading. Cayman must have gotten bored with the toy she was playing with on the floor. So she ditched it and away she went scooting out of the family room, into the dining room, and rounding the corner to the rest of the house.

It was hilarious. I giggled as I watched her independent mind at work. She wanted to go someplace, so she did!

And she does!

What a funny, adorable little girl she is!




Here's some photos of her playing with a car in the hallway, just outside of her bedroom. She went in her room and got that toy herself...



Cayman is so much happier now.

Before she moved around our house by her own free will, she would sit in our family room and fuss, crab, and cry frequently. We continuously had to bring her new toys or things to do.

In a child development article, I had read that toddlers get into things because their little minds are demanding to be stimulated, learn, and figure things out.

I think just like a typical toddler, Cayman's mind was craving new stimulation and learning all the time but her body just would not allow her to go places. So she relied only on us to bring stimulation to her.

It was exhausting keeping up with her cognitive needs and short attention spans. It was nearly constant one-on-one contact to keep her happy.

But now that Cayman has learned how to move around and has expanded her trust boundaries of our house, she is so much happier. And it's made my household agenda feel easier too.

When I'm cleaning while Cayman's playing, if she gets bored she just moves onto the next thing or the next room, independently. She no longer sits there and cries waiting for me to find something new for her to do (well, most of the times anyways).

She still might not toddle, but she is definitely a toddler on the move now.

She has slithered over to the door stops to check those out...

She has pulled the magnets off the refrigerator and tries to figure out how to get them to re-stick...

She has endlessly pushed and pulled the dining chairs out and back in...

She has scooted over to the entry way to check out the front door (I think she's watching for Daddy to get home)...

She has slipped her fingers under a closed door to understand what that's all about...

She's even stuck her hand in the dirt of my plant that sits at the foot of the fireplace hearth (she wasn't too happy when she discovered it was dirty)...

And Mike and I, we can be found peering around the corner, careful to not be seen by her for fear of interrupting her "busy" exploring agenda, as we proudly watch her independent mind discover the world...or just our house anyways.

Lego Block Climbing

Yesterday, she told you all about her borrowed Lego Block.

Today, she's in animation form, to show you how truly amazing her climbing abilities are.

Did you hear all the noise in the background toward the end of the video? That's my hunk of a husband banging around in the kitchen fixing dinner for Cayman and I. He spoils us with his culinary skills!

Big Lego Block

If Cayman could write, this post would probably go something like this...

Daddy calls this a Lego Block... Miss Jodi let me bring it home from therapy. I like her. Sometimes I pull her hair. Mommy tells me no. Mommy tells me no a lot about that. Grandma lets me. I don't see what's the big deal. It doesn't hurt me.

Oh yeah, I was telling you about my Lego block.

I use it as a table sometimes.

See...

Mommy tries to get me to stack the cups but I only like to throw them. I don't see what's the big deal. Grandma lets me throw them.

And sometimes Mommy sits me on the edge of the Lego Block. I don't like my feet to hang over the side. So...

I scoot myself back.

Ah, that's more comfy.

I can stand on my knees real good too.

See...

Mommy gave me a book to look at. I bet Grandma would have given me candy to eat.

And here's one that Mom just showed me how to do...

She gave me a boost up onto the Lego Block... and then tried to show me how to crawl up onto the couch. But I told her "I can do this myself."

Watch me go...

I can get myself turned around..

See how big I am!I love sitting on the couch. Sitting on the floor, no way, that's for babies.

But this has to be the best use for the Lego block... Mommy turns it upside down and it becomes a comfy bed for me to watch, what's that show called that always starts out with the colorful caterpillar crawling across the screen? That's what I like to watch. And my mom gives me chocolate milk to drink.

Ah, I've got the best mommy!

Eating with a Fork

Cayman has been learning to eat with a fork. She completely entertains us at our dinners as we watch, mesmerized by her cuteness.

She sure is looking and acting older.

She'll push the fork at the pieces of food, rarely accomplishing a successful stabbing without some help but she never minds that. As long as she can drag the fork through the ketchup or barbecue sauce, she is completely satisfied.

Condiments are her favorite part anyways.

We interrupt this week's blog theme: "Silver Linings" to Bring You this Special Report...

Cayman took her first steps today!!!



Oh what an exciting day it has been!!

posted at 4:19 p.m.

Crying

It's a milestone I still cherish.
~even when my mommy nerves are shot~

~In case you missed it, you can read about when Cayman achieved this milestone here.

~And for the record: Cayman has slept in her own room since late fall of '09. She now cries most mornings declaring loud and confidently, "I'm awake!!" My baby girl finally learned how to express herself and it's beautiful! The shrieking shrills of her crying still sing to my heart, even on the days when my ears are begging for silence.

A Booster Seat

This was from about a month ago, but it is so absolutely adorable, it has to be included in Cayman's very detailed baby book blog I've got going on here.

It's pictures of Cayman's first time sitting in a booster seat at the restaurant Applebee's.

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