Therapy

Lily has come such a long way with her physical therapy. When we moved here in June, she wasn't doing too good of a job holding her head up when on the floor. She could roll, but she would only do it once or twice a day. She was not trying to stand. She was not holding her legs up at a ninety degree angle with her body. Now, she holds her head so high and gets her chest off of the floor, she is a roly poly, she loves standing, and she's always lifting her legs up. She has come a long way!

Three months ago, when Lily's PT did her evaluation, Lily was not able to bear weight on her legs while being held. She would just collapse. Some time along the way, she started to love standing while being held, so her PT decided about a month ago to put Lily against one of our chairs and see if she would lean against it and stand. Lily wouldn't do it.

Today, because Lily has improved so much with her standing time, the PT decided to try putting her against the chair again. This time, Lily did it! Then we got out the small ball that Lily stands against to practice her standing. Gabriel asked if he could hold her hand. The therapist let him. During this time, the therapist pulled Lily back a little so that she wouldn't rely on leaning on the ball. Gabriel continued to hold her hand. The therapist pulled her back a little more, so she was standing up straight.

So there they were, Lily and Gabriel, standing beside each other, holding hands. Lily was looking up at her brother, admiring him. I teared up.

Sometimes when we're in the grocery store and Gabriel is in a shopping cart that has room for two to sit in it, he'll say that one day Lily is going to sit beside him. I just keep on agreeing. It breaks my heart because I just don't know if she ever will or not. That doesn't keep us from trying to get her to that point--boy, do we try--but we're not guaranteed anything with this little one. So I was thinking about how Gabriel wants so badly for Lily to sit beside him in the shopping cart and how he's also said he and Lily are going to run beside each other some day. Seeing them standing beside each other like that today was as close as we've come (even though she was still being held up) to realizing that dream. I wish I had my camera close by. It was such a touching moment.

It's something we deal with every day when we're working with Lily to try and build her muscles. In our head, we know she may never have the muscle tone to walk on her own or even with a walker, but in our hearts. . .well, we just keep on believing that this little girl will one day move mountains. She's on her way! You just wait and see!

I have another prayer request. I got an email yesterday from Kristina. She is due on October 25, and her baby, Layne, has Trisomy 18. Layne has a VSD and her left kidney isn't emptying all the way. She is six weeks behind in her growth. Kristina is afraid that Layne will be here soon because both of her other children were early. If you will, please pray for Kristina and Layne and their family. Thank you.