Rattins living Coram Deo

In 4 months, the girls have become friends, still, of course, jealous of our attention! Ana's sitting up very well, rolling over, and strong enough to do the "Rattin trick" of standing on Daddy's hand! Gracie has transitioned from toddler into a little girl. AND, I finally gave in and cut her hair. The torture for both of us wasn't worth it. Her beautiful hair will grow out and maybe by then she'll be ready to NOT assume that I'm killing her when I venture to even TOUCH her hair! Gracie is silly as can be and turns everything into a game. She has demonstrated that she knows her colors and knows her right hand from her left hand. She now also puts her toys back into her bin as part of her play rather than just taking them out - I'm sure that means something developmentally! Ana is all eyes for Daddy and for big sister with big smiles for them! At least I'm still the food source, so I still rate in there somewhere! ;-) I have been dealing with ...

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 gentl...

Auntie Jessi and Ana Auntie Amy and Gracie Auntie Amy and Gracie, me (Abby) and Ana To make up for the skiing photo, here are some photos of how we finished up school vacation week! If there's one thing Gracie enjoys, it's swimming - she loves the water and even Ana got to get in on the action a little. A new sport that we tried though with great success was bowling! Gracie loved it - giggling, pushing the balls, the cheering!

Can you believe she skiied?! At Vermont Adaptive at Sugarbush, we tried out adaptive skiing on a bi-ski. Gracie loved the ski lift and the first part of skiing down the big hill BUT then fell apart and by the time she reached the bottom she was a basket case. She's just not a fan of winter sports!! We gave it a good try, at least! The rest of our time was spent chewing fingers... ;-)

Gracie LOVES her horse therapy sessions with her physical therapist Kim. She loves the ponies and giggles at all the snorting, stomping, and other strange noises and movements the horse does for her. We do think we see a difference in her, at least the day after PT - sitting up straighter and a little less tight. Fascinating work can be done on the back of a horse - great utility to any number of individuals with unique needs - sensory integration, muscle stregnthening, muscle relaxation, balance and control, trunk and core strength. I'm learning a lot! TIP: insurance covers these sessions for us as PT sessions since a physical therapist does her sessions - check it out for your kids if they need the PT, or OT, or speech!