Sitting Pretty

Sitting during therapy

For several weeks we have been working on getting Sophia to sit independently. It was one of the main things her therapists focused on during our weekly visits. We would support her in different positions encouraging her to use her abdominal and core muscles. She was quite reluctant to sit by herself - she would prefer to be sitting supported, standing (supported of course) or lying on the floor. Well, during her occupational therapy visit on May 19th Sophia started sitting independently. We were sitting on the floor and she was sitting right in front of me. I was supporting her back with my hands and then little by little throughout the visit I moved them away until she was doing it all by herself! It was such a shocker to her and us. There was lots of cheering and clapping. I'm not sure that she really had any clue as to why her therapist and I were so excited.

Waiting at the doctor

I think this was by far the most exciting day that I have had since she was born. For so long we had no expectations for Sophia. We didn't know if she would ever be able to eat, babble, sit up, crawl etc. The other girls with Aicardi are very limited in their abilities so using them as a reference we didn't want to set unrealistic expectations.  Needless to say, we have always been hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. So, for her to be able to do something that I never thought she was going to be able to do was...amazing!  I think that it gave me the realization that great things can happen and that perhaps she can do anything. 

Now that Sophia can sit independently it has opened up a whole new world for her. She loves to sit amongst all of her toys and bang, roll and shake them to her hearts content. She has so much more freedom in her movement and she seems to really enjoy it. It has also given me the ability to put her down for longer periods of time allowing her to play while I change out the laundry, work on fixing dinner or doing household chores. In addition, Drew has taken more of an interest in his baby sister, helping her get toys that roll out of her reach or enticing her with toys that make noise or vibrate.

We are so very lucky to have Sophia in our lives and each little milestone that she achieves is like winning the Boston Marathon for us. We just revel in her accomplishments while remembering to keep pushing her farther to continue developing and learning each day.

Playing at home