A Bucket of Cherries

I have a very exciting video to share with you....Ainsley doing something new.

What has prompted this spurt in activity?  I really don't know. Perhaps it is just "time".  She has been doing a bit more "cruising" lately but nothing like this. 

We've been trying to "step it up a notch". We're trying AFO's (orthotic braces), but she wasn't wearing them here. In fact she was doing all this wearing socks. (She was with her nurse and I was taking a short break from yard work.) I've been doing leg stretches (to try to get her legs to fully straighten, a side effect from being in casts and braces for too much of her life) but I don't know that anything changed dramatically though she does look nice and straight here. We had her thick deep (keloid) leg scars injected and one is reduced but I doubt it's that. She's been wearing her cap, but that should make it harder, not easier. We did go back to blenderized food. I'd given myself a break during soccer and switched back to formula and was having a hard time switching back to a BD. I don't want to believe that "real food" could play this much a role, but it's been about a week, and we have seen an increase in her activity level since then. We did start some new therapies, but that is a slow process and so far we've just had evaluations nothing regular. Her school PT has been working on getting her to ride a tricycle for the past year, and has seen an increase in her abilities over the past week or two. So perhaps after all the analysis, it's just "time".  Or maybe each of these things played a small part. Whatever the reason(s) I'll take it! I just hope it continues.

Even though I helped her transfer the bucket across in the video she was able to do it herself many times. In fact after the video she asked to do it again, and did! Normally she is not stable enough to hold herself up in between two surfaces and reach across like she does here, let alone to transfer an object too. The great thing about this activity is that she has to practice both. Having the confidence to trust herself that she can take a risk and not fall is what she needs to be able to take more risks and hopefully eventually lead to independent walking.  Wouldn't that be something?!