All about the Girls

It has been a while since I've posted an update on the girls and their progress.  They continue to progress with the therapy (OT, PT & speech).  They are each making good progress one way or another.

Rachel:  Rachel is not walking yet, but she is cruising the furniture and standing up by pulling up on anything she gets her hands on.  Rachel recently got SMO's (supra malleolar orthosis).  They are like ankle braces which help Rachel have better stability with her standing and will help her with her walking as she progresses with that.  SMO's help children with low muscle tone.  Rachel has some low muscle tone which is slowing her down some with  her walking, but she will get there.  Rachel has been walking using a push toy.  She's doing good!  As for the progress with her eating, she is making small progress.  It has been a challenge getting her to eat.  She does ok with chewing food, but she doesn't want to swallow it.  Since the beginning of her feeding therapy back in December 2010, she has made progress.  She used to not want any food in her mouth.  She now accepts some foods in her mouth, but she 50% of the time spits it out after chewing it up.  Rachel is still fed completely through her g-tube.  We are making progress with getting her to wear her glasses and hearing aids.  Slowly, but surely she will be wearing them 100% of the time.  Rachel is definitely growing.  She now weighs 25 pounds and is 31 inches long.  Rachel is such a beautiful girl.

Haley:  Haley also got SMO's since she mildly toe walks and has a wide stance.  The SMO's will help define her walking.  Haley has made some progress with her speech.  She is saying "ma, ma" and other babbles.  Haley saw her retinal specialist last week.  He is pleased that he still sees some retina in her right eye and is pleased with the vision she has.  She is able to see some light, colors and objects.  We just don't know to what detail or how much.  She is able to get around for the most part, but she does sometimes bump into things as well.  Haley has no fear and rarely cries when she falls down or hits something.  Haley has a vision impairment teacher helping her.  Lately Haley has not been wanting to wear her glasses.  So we are working on that.  Haley wears her hearing aids ok, but she sometimes pulls them out too.  Haley has finally made it to 19 pounds!  She is actually about 19 1/2 pounds and 29 1/2 inches long.  She is a little girl, but is so cute.

Lots of recent pictures:

Rachel wearing her SMO's

Haley wearing her SMO's

A close up of the SMO's.  Haley's are pink and Rachel's are purple

Rachel standing well with her SMO's on

Rachel walking with her toy

Cute little Haley

Rachel about to eat this Cheeto

Haley

Our cute little Longhorn fans.  Go Texas Longhorns!