All Taped Up

So by "next week" apparently I meant "tomorrow" cause we got visits from the OT and the PT yesterday (should have checked my calender before writing stuff I guess). This time Elle had Betsy (her PT) really scratching her head. Apparently when babies like Elinor sit like this:

(curved lower spine and she leans back most of the time balancing with her legs spread out with the help of some very well developed abs)

This represents to Betsy that the child has tight hamstrings. Nope. Elle's are not, but the muscles in front of her hips are tight. I don't understand all of this but it really perplexed Betsy. In fact she said, "you think you've seen it all in 8 years, then you meet Elinor". So she decided to tape Elles. Apparently this tape when used over a period of time can help train their muscles to work a different way. So she taped her up and then we tried sitting her on a bench with a toy to focus on and we got this:

Look how straight her back is! The thing that really impressed Betsy and took her aback again, is that when we set Elle back onto the carpet, she remained just as straight.

I put this old toy of Scout's away long ago cause Elle couldn't appreciate it and play with it like she should (standing next to it etc.) now, sitting so high- what a fun toy!
Here is a back view of all the tape. She said she'd like it to stay on for 3-7 days. The good news is that Elle doesn't seem to even notice it. If and when she does notice it, I am positive it doesn't bother her.

As far as crawling, standing and all of that jazz, she can be in and hold all the positions but she will not get into any of them on her own. They suspect that neurologically, she just doesn't process how to get into those positions and she also likes to keep her body where it is and where she feels steady. It's funny, cause she doesn't raise a fuss about it, she simply won't do it. BUT the good thing is, her OT (Mark) said that many kids will just arch their backs and protest and cry when you guide them into positions. Elle, cooperates and does it with you (sometimes even with a smile). So that is good, cause I think that means that she is willing, just doesn't know how, and/or she will learn fast since she seems willing to learn. Mark tried to guide her in getting into a standing position and boy did he have to do all the work (I know this cause he had me try next). We will keep working on that, but boy- she does not seem ready for it yet. Crawling on the other hand, I think she will continue to make progress.
I told both of them that she has an appointment at Genetics and they both were glad, but they both still see a lot of neurological symptoms. So, on some solicited advice, I called Primary Children's and got my own appointment with neurology. This one is on June 6th, so a little before the other one. Both were quite certain that we would need to be seeing them anyway, so instead of waiting lots more months after she sees the geneticist, we have the ball rolling.

So-I guess that's the latest. Elle has seemed particularly giggly this last week, which is nice to see, since I haven't heard her belly laugh in a while. It's music to my worried soul.

These lips were too dang cute to not share.

 

 

 

Original Comments

9 comments:

Haley said...

Yeah go Elles! I noticed her strange way of sitting while we were visiting. Hopefully the tape can manipulate the muscles so she can learn to sit up straight. That's awesome she is getting all this help!

March 12, 2011 1:28 PM

Matt said...

Yay for laughing more!

March 12, 2011 1:36 PM

Ami Hart said...

I think it is so great that you are getting Elinor help so young. I know too many people who wait on such things.

And her lips are so, so cute on that last photo.

What a sweetie!

March 12, 2011 7:49 PM

Amy said...

I'm so proud of her for having such a good attitude and I'm glad she's laughing lots. That makes everything better! Yay.

March 12, 2011 8:11 PM

Pops said...

Love that little girl!

March 14, 2011 4:15 PM

Cat said...

I love her shirt in these photos. In the song 'Elenore', The Turtles sing 'Elenore, love me'. I loved how that song happened to be playing when I read this post.

March 14, 2011 7:27 PM

Emily said...

I love that Cat! Didn't ever occur to me.

March 15, 2011 5:26 PM

Emily said...

Boy, in that third picture down, Elle looks just like Scout! Her face playing with that "new toy" is so cute. "Oooo. Look at this stuff!" Who knew tape could do such a thing? Very cool. Do you want to get together one of these Saturdays? Maybe even over Spring Break!

March 17, 2011 4:40 PM

megandjon said...

yeah that tape thing is way cool! i've never heard of that and what a difference it made! and that crawling form is great too! yay for that adorable, happy girl!

March 25, 2011 3:25 PM