Treadmill Therapy - REQUEST!!

Retta is officially 11 months!

 

     We took our commemorative picture in the white rocking chair (one day late) and took off to physical therapy this morning!

     Retta has been surprising us everyday over the past week with her new abilities.  She is growing stronger and stronger before our eyes!  Rolling under furniture and playing with toys while propped all the way up on her hands and tummy. She has also started to pivot from side to side while in this position.

 

     She officially waived "good-bye" on cue to her Down Syndrome Association friends at Kindermusic on Wednesday! We started singing the "good-bye" song and Retta lifted her right arm and waved back while sitting across the room from me! Everyone was SO PROUD!!!

 

 

(The best pic I could get of Retta at Kindermusic)

 

 

 

About two weeks ago Retta also started babbling "dada, Da Da, Da Di, Da, Di, dada."
The sweetest sound!

 

 

     We are doing all that we can to facilitate her crawling & I'm sure she will be up on all fours before we know it!

 

    We have been taking Retta to out patient physical therapy 1x a week while receiving weekly home visits of OT & Speech from ECI.  Starting next week we will be increasing PT to 2x a week!  Our physical therapist, Holly at THERAPY LINKS is REALLY MOTIVATED to get Retta walking and actually completed her PhD thesis specifically on Treadmill Therapy for children with Down Syndrome.  Retta is Holly's first patient with Down Syndrome that she has started working with who is in the perfect developmental stage for starting Treadmill therapy as she is sitting up independently!

 

I didn't think we would actually use the treadmill so soon but Retta took her first (assisted) steps today after a gruelling 50 minute workout! I was SO EXCITED for her!! "Grueling" for all three of us I should say, as we are all exhausted after an hour of trying to keep Retta in a good mood while she exercises. *There is a fine line between laughing and crying!* 

 

SOOOOoooooo, now we need a treadmill!  As the protocol will be for Retta to practice on the treadmill for 7 minutes a day!

 

SOOOOOooooo, We were wondering...does anyone out there happen to have an old, dusty treadmill laying around?  If so, WE'D REALLY LOVE TO BORROW IT!!
 



Retta says..."RAISE THE ROOF!"

We're getting really excited around here!!! There is lots of RAINBOW SPIRIT in the air as we prepare for RETTA'S FIRST BUDDY WALK and SUPER FABULOUS, FIESTA, RAINBOW BIRTHDAY PARTY!

(In true San Antonio style!)

 

We have the team's rainbow bandannas and our walk banner and party decorations are in the works.

 

...But there is one little change...



 

 

We exceeded our initial goal of raising $1,000 for the Down Syndrome Association last Friday & we still have a few more weeks to go!  So, we decided to "Raise the Roof!" (upon Retta's request) and increased our team goal to $2,000! 

 

Whooo Hoooo!!

 

This means we're catching up with the front runners! And might possibly have a chance at some really cool prizes and our very own TENT at the walk!

How COOL would that be!

 

Even Buzi is getting into the fun!

 

SO....

COME PLAY WITH US!!!