Now that she's 3

A well needed update is overdue. Elizabeth is feeling much better from her latest illness and is now fully recovered, no more shortness of breath or hacking cough. We had tried Slippery Elm that was recommended by Kathryn, it can help rebuild the cilia in both the respiratory and gastro-intestinal tract and it really seemed to lessen her bought of pneumonia.

As for language and hearing Elizabeth has been discharged from the Infant Hearing program. Elizabeth since she was 4mths old has had a teacher from the school for the deaf come and work with her twice a month. On her last assessment Elizabeth's language is falling in the scale of 48-54 months which is amazing. It was kind of sad that she was discharged as her teacher was one of the first professionals in Elizabeth's life and we really enjoyed the visits. She still attends bi-monthly Auditory-Verbal therapy and there we are working on articulation and improving her listening skills. We go to have her hearing checked next month and on each visit her hearing has improved. Through a private SLP we are working on oral motor skills and Elizabeth is learning to lick and blow objects which really have been a challenge for her.

Elizabeth still attends physiotherapy 1-2 times a week and we are working on her balance, improving her trunk stability, walking up stairs and awareness of her body and her surroundings while walking. We recently returned her walker as Elizabeth no longer uses it, it would be nice if she used it on her wobbly days but it cannot go as fast as her, therefore she leaves it behind in her dust. She walks independantly in smaller areas and holds our hand while we are out as she is not balanced and is not ready for uneven surfaces. Daddy has made her a balance beam and boxes to step on and we make obstacle courses which she enjoys.

With her occupational therapist we are working on self-help skills (dressing) and improving her fine motor skills. We really have noticed how important her positioning is and through lots of trial and error have discovered that she really needs a supportive chair to help allow her to complete fine motor activities.

Elizabeth contiuues to be a hard worker and enjoys seeing all her therapists. Now that she is older we all have to be creative and find ways to keep her motivated and for her to have fun while working as it such a big part of her life.

The Inevitable

We knew it would come and we are really lucky that Elizabeth had lasted until February before she got really sick. Elizabeth has been battling a cold for the past week which had the appearance of RSV. Every night I would listen to her chest to make sure it was clear as she had high temps and a congestive cough on Friday when I got home from work, Grandma was quite concerned as Elizabeth was very restless, short of breath and her cough was even worse. When I listened to her chest I heard crackles in her right lung so off we went to the hospital. After nine hours of waiting they confirmed what I had told them nine hours earlier that Elizabeth had pneumonia in her Rt. lower lobe. Elizabeth really didn't enjoy the x-ray this time as they pinned her in a tube like contraption, last time she happily called out cheese when the took her x-ray. Elizabeth was so good she hardly complained despite feeling very unwell and staying out until 3:00 in the morning. She is now on the mend on antibiotics and her puffers, she still gets out of breath quickly but is beginning to catch her breath enough to boss us around and has started walking again. Every time she gets sick she goes right back to crawling as she is so off balance. She again is enjoying the opportunity to watch all her t.v. shows, having breakfast in bed and getting out of therapy (she missed 6 appointments last week). Hopefully she will be better by Valentine's day, they are having a Valentine's dance at her school and she has already chosen her dance partners (Owen and Cormick, she really has a thing for blonds).

Getting into trouble

We now have a few new additions to out family, 6 fish and a snail. Elizabeth loves to watch the fish swim around and loves to help feed them. We are not sure how much the fish enjoy Elizabeth as she loves to bang on the glass and scare them, we have nicknamed Elizabeth Darla from Finding Nemo as she would shake the fish until they were belly up. Along with the fish tank came new things to get into fish food which Elizabeth got into and spilled on the floor. Elizabeth also decided to try the "fish food" as she called it and drank aquarium conditioner. This necessitated a call to poison control who allayed our fears as the chemicals it contained were not enough to do any damage. Daddy has now swore he will never cook again as he was making dinner while she got into trouble. Elizabeth now enjoys Pizza Pizza while Mommy is working.