A year ago, my friend Rachel http://josiecomehome.blogspot.com/ emailed a photo of her beautiful son standing on his own... I've since dreamed of having a photo to post of Gracie doing the same thing. It was always one of those wild-don't-think-it'll-ever-happen kind of dreams, a romantic, fairy tale type of dream. But this week, Gracie made another leap in development and muscle tone. It started when I leaned her up against the wall and planted her feet a shoulder-width apart. For the first time, she didn't lunge for the safety of my arms or hands, but rather, she allowed herself to stand steadily on her own two feet and she kept her center of gravity centered over her feet instead of wildly in front of her or to one side or the other. She even quickly figured out that she couldn't lurch around in excitement while standing on her own two feet with no support but a wall behind her back, but rather had to express her excitement over this new development with a gentle wave of her left hand or clapping. WOW!
Our next trick was to get her to use her arms to hold herself and we did this by using a walker that friends found at a yardsale, but she has not been able to use yet. If I hold the wheels immobile, she holds herself up and will stand there for a minute or more, usually until her poor right hand pops off the bar and she finds herself fearfully unbalanced! She spends this time standing with her head down, focused focused focused, drooling a lake, and by the time she tires out, her little heart is pounding with the fear of falling that her hand popping off the bar causes her and the exertion of such focus to keep herself upright. But wow is she proud of herself!
(getting tired but still standing!)
Our next trick was to get her to use her arms to hold herself and we did this by using a walker that friends found at a yardsale, but she has not been able to use yet. If I hold the wheels immobile, she holds herself up and will stand there for a minute or more, usually until her poor right hand pops off the bar and she finds herself fearfully unbalanced! She spends this time standing with her head down, focused focused focused, drooling a lake, and by the time she tires out, her little heart is pounding with the fear of falling that her hand popping off the bar causes her and the exertion of such focus to keep herself upright. But wow is she proud of herself!
(getting tired but still standing!)
Comments
-Melodie
www.xanga.com/Africaz_Melodie
This is so sweet. So exciting. :) I love you guys. :)
i remember the first time aiden stood after healing from his heel cord surgery....nothing like it in the world...
WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU GRACIE!!!!!!!!