This a has been a really busy month for Hannah with Dr appts, her birthday, and making huge progress at school and in dance / therapy. Hannah had her two year checkup with her neurosurgeon. It is hard to believe it has been two years since he removed the shunt! He said everything looks stable and he was releasing her from his care unless something ever came up. While it is great news to be released it is a little sad too, because he is by far my favorite of her specialists.
On Sept 4th, Hannah turned 4. We had a nice swim party for her with a Little Mermaid Cake. Just two summers ago, Hannah hated the water and would cry even in the bath. Now she loves it. She enjoyed going down the slide and playing with her friend, her cousin, and her brother.
At school Hannah is doing wonderful. She has the same great teacher she had last year and she truly loves to be at school. Everyday when the bus comes, she giggles and kicks her feet in excitement. At school, they are starting to potty train Hannah which is really exciting. Yesterday she went on a field trip to the petting zoo at the Gwinnett County fair. She loved seeing the animals and was very vocal about "telling" Grammy what she saw there. Her teacher said that she is doing really well answering questions, and using her walker at school. She said that one day this week she helped Hannah hold a baby doll and Hannah was "singing" a lullaby to the baby! She did tell me that Hannah has figured out a little bit of an attitude and when she doesn't want to work she will roll her eyes or look away. While this isn't always a good thing, even her teacher acknowledged that this shows she is "very very smart."
I put Hannah back in her special needs dance class this year. Hannah is getting SSI money now and I'm using that money to pay for her dance class, because it is so wonderful for her. This week in dance, Hannah walked the length of the studio in her gait trainer. The teacher had her 3 yr old niece and 3 yr old son in class with her that day, so Hannah really used these typically developing kids as models. When the kids would hop, Hannah would lift both her legs up in the gait trainer. At the end of class, the teacher was holding Hannah under her arms and getting her to bend her knees. Bending her knees was easy for Hannah, but what was impressive is that she was pushing herself back up. The dance teacher said that was the best she had ever done.
I put Hannah back in her special needs dance class this year. Hannah is getting SSI money now and I'm using that money to pay for her dance class, because it is so wonderful for her. This week in dance, Hannah walked the length of the studio in her gait trainer. The teacher had her 3 yr old niece and 3 yr old son in class with her that day, so Hannah really used these typically developing kids as models. When the kids would hop, Hannah would lift both her legs up in the gait trainer. At the end of class, the teacher was holding Hannah under her arms and getting her to bend her knees. Bending her knees was easy for Hannah, but what was impressive is that she was pushing herself back up. The dance teacher said that was the best she had ever done.
Today in PT Hannah was walking in the gait trainer. She kept walking the length of the kitchen toward that sliding glass door. We kept pulling her back and she would immediately pull towards the door again. After several determined efforts, I asked Hannah if she wanted to go outside. She NODDED HER HEAD (which she has never purposefully done) emphatically. So we lifted her gait trainer down onto the patio. She immediately started walking toward Joseph's play castle. I asked her if she wanted to go down the slide and she nodded again. Both the therapist and I were so impressed at not only how much she moved in the gait trainer, but how determined she was to get where/what she wanted.
Thank you for your continued prayers for Hannah. These few examples are proof to me that they are working!
