Without context, a lot of things Therese says don't make any sense. For example, last night she told me, "Papa put my barf on me." For some reason she puts an "f" sound on bar, as in the Ponsetti bar she has to wear while she sleeps. The braced shoes snap into a bar that hold her feet out. She will need to wear this at night for a long time. We found out that she was waiting until we tucked her in, then unbuckling herself and sleeping without it. It is frustrating because her feet want to go back over and we could end up back where we started. She looks like a little shackled inmate or maybe a very tiny snowboarder in her bar and I'm sure it isn't very comfortable to be stuck in one position all night. I talked to her and told her that if she doesn't sleep in her bar(f) that she will have to get casts again, and she won't be able to take baths. Not getting to take baths is the ultimate threat, since this little girl loves her baths.
It has been a long few weeks since the casts came off. Therese has been super cranky and whiny. I think she is frustrated at how hard walking is. Her ankles flop over when she tries to put her feet down. I got her a tiny walker and she can get around with that but complains about her feet hurting. They are very swollen and of course the bottoms of her feet have never been walked on so the skin is very tender. She has enough feeling down there to notice that. She often just gives up and scoots around on the floor, or asks to be carried. That is quite a change from our little girl whose motto was, "I do it by self!" She got fitted for her AFOs last week and they will be done next week. I hope those will help her. She is also complaining about her teeth hurting. Now that we have almost finished her dental treatment plan she has only a few teeth left without enamel, and she can feel the difference. When she had a mouthful of them she didn't know any better. In schoolwork, I am reading her nursery rhymes and she is learning some phonics. She has trouble with vowel sounds, I don't know if that is because she is a new English learner, or if she needs speech help. She is trying to memorize her first poem, and she can now color in the lines on a coloring page.
The good thing is that John is cheerful most of the time, and he has started the great adventure of potty training. For him to be able to get out of diapers is a great step for his future. We are seeing results from his new shunt--his balance is much better and he doesn't fall down nearly as often as he was. When he falls he isn't falling as badly. He used to just fall over, and hit his head. Mostly when he falls now it is just to one or both knees instead of a total wipeout. He is starting to learn phonics with the other kids and he is really enjoying his special coloring book. He takes each page very seriously. Most of my kids were uninterested in coloring books when they were that age or smaller. I bought them, trying to be a good mom, but they only wanted to color on the walls, or scribble on plain paper. Maybe he will like workbooks. That could be a help for a homeschooling mom.
