Saturday, January 22, 2011
Dancer!
A couple of weeks ago I was approached by a mom at Easter Seals who saw Oksana and wanted to invite us to the special needs dance class that she teaches! The best part is that it is free! Oksana has no idea what it means to go to a dance class but I figured it didn't hurt to try it out. She loves it! They don't do structured dance like you may be thinking of, it's really more of a movement class. They roll on the floor, pretend to be dinosaurs, play with scarves and balls, reach high and low, etc. all to music. She has 3 girls in her class. The classes last for 6 weeks and then they take a break...I think it's a 6 week break....and then they will start another 6 week session. Last week we got her a sweet little outfit for her dance class....you should understand that the outfit made no difference to her at all but I loved it ;)!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Potty Training and AFOs
We have 2 weeks of potty training Oksana behind us and I must say that I am pleased at her progress. When we started I don't even think she really knew how to use the muscles she needed to use. Once she figured that out she has been able to consistently stay dry during the day and even over night most nights. She is not yet at a place where she tells us when she needs to go. We just make sure we put her on there throughout the day and she will hold it until we put her on. She doesn't poop in the potty yet but one thing at a time! For 2 weeks that is great progress.
After what felt like an eternity we finall got her AFOs! We were so thrilled to get them since she uses walking now for about 90% of her mobility. Here are her old borrowed ones:
See how they are falling apart? Since they weren't made for her feet they also weren't providing the support she needed. This was not ideal but they were better than nothing while we waited. Now we have these pretty new ones made just for her and cute shoes to go with them!
Look out world....there's nothing stopping her now!
After what felt like an eternity we finall got her AFOs! We were so thrilled to get them since she uses walking now for about 90% of her mobility. Here are her old borrowed ones:
See how they are falling apart? Since they weren't made for her feet they also weren't providing the support she needed. This was not ideal but they were better than nothing while we waited. Now we have these pretty new ones made just for her and cute shoes to go with them!
Look out world....there's nothing stopping her now!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Potty Training
Oh I really don't like the words potty and training when they come together and are used in my house! Despite my feelings we are indeed full swing into potty training. First I'll give you some background and then I'll tell you the story of how we ended up here.
When we were in Ukraine we were told that Oksana was almost potty trained before her surgery. Apparently after the surgery she regressed in many areas and this was one. If you've followed this blog you probably know that she had a lot of fears when she came home and one of them was sitting on the potty. About 2 months ago we finally got her to sit on it with no problem and I was so excited that I decided to start potty training. It was not going well and I decided she just wasn't ready. She seemed to have no idea what I even wanted her to do and I even questioned if there might be muscle control issues that could be playing into this.
I had no plans to start up again anytime soon. Then on Thursday morning she was caught! She woke up in the morning and I needed to give her a bath so started running a bath and then took off her diaper and noticed it was dry. I told her we were going to sit on the potty and she FREAKED OUT. She was clawing at me and screaming. I put her down on the potty and she peed! It was the first time ever. I was so excited! I kept saying "You're doing it! That's it!" She was very angry and looked at me and said "Pee Pee in bath!" I looked at my husband and I said "The game is up. This girl knows EXACTLY what she is doing!"....and so our adventure begins.
Day one left me wanting to leave for Hawaii and not come back until she was potty trained. Goodness, I have no idea how much time she spent on that potty but it was a good part of her day and with no results! That evening on the way home Larry picked up one of those inserts to make the potty smaller. Since we got that we have had much better success. I think that she is too tense and unable to relax when she his holding herself up on the potty. Today she had 2 accidents and 3 successes. I still think Hawaii sounds good but I guess I'll stick it out for now!
When we were in Ukraine we were told that Oksana was almost potty trained before her surgery. Apparently after the surgery she regressed in many areas and this was one. If you've followed this blog you probably know that she had a lot of fears when she came home and one of them was sitting on the potty. About 2 months ago we finally got her to sit on it with no problem and I was so excited that I decided to start potty training. It was not going well and I decided she just wasn't ready. She seemed to have no idea what I even wanted her to do and I even questioned if there might be muscle control issues that could be playing into this.
I had no plans to start up again anytime soon. Then on Thursday morning she was caught! She woke up in the morning and I needed to give her a bath so started running a bath and then took off her diaper and noticed it was dry. I told her we were going to sit on the potty and she FREAKED OUT. She was clawing at me and screaming. I put her down on the potty and she peed! It was the first time ever. I was so excited! I kept saying "You're doing it! That's it!" She was very angry and looked at me and said "Pee Pee in bath!" I looked at my husband and I said "The game is up. This girl knows EXACTLY what she is doing!"....and so our adventure begins.
Day one left me wanting to leave for Hawaii and not come back until she was potty trained. Goodness, I have no idea how much time she spent on that potty but it was a good part of her day and with no results! That evening on the way home Larry picked up one of those inserts to make the potty smaller. Since we got that we have had much better success. I think that she is too tense and unable to relax when she his holding herself up on the potty. Today she had 2 accidents and 3 successes. I still think Hawaii sounds good but I guess I'll stick it out for now!
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