Hi!
A quick update on Emma's progress. As you know, when you have a child with developmental delays, you wait a long time to see "transference" of skills, but when it happens it is like a gift. I mentioned before that Emma has become more engaged in her environment since being "up" in her Pacer. But, to see that concept of discovery being utilized in new and different ways is so incredibly exciting.
Emma has never really been interested in toys in a functional way, except of course to chew or mouth them. In the past two weeks she has actually sought out toys to play with. Granted, we have a ways to go to experience functional play, but just the motor planning to get to the toys and the desire to obtain objects not in her immediate vicinity is a tremendous accomplishment!
Case in point: I was in our Church nursery with the infants and Emma was with the toddlers in an adjacent room. One of the caregivers on the toddler side burst through the shared bathroom bubbling with joy as she exclaimed, "Emma just crawled over to the toy box and pulled out three toys and is playing with them! I just had to tell you so you could see it!" Tears streaming down both of our faces, we rushed over to see our sweetie fully engaged with toys.
Two remarkable things of note:
1. Previously in the nursery she would just sit and watch Veggie Tales videos as the other children played around her. Now she is "on the move!"
2. Others are taking note of her achievements, which really illustrates how great this accomplishment is!
We are probably the only parents on the block who are excited to walk into a room where our child is and find toys all over the place! LOL! Small potatoes for a typical kiddo, huge leap for our kiddo! We are so thrilled and, while this e-mail is not about Emma moving around in her Pacer, I hope you too see how she has transferred the motivation she acquired while in her Pacer. This motivation to find new things has found a way into another aspect of her development!
Her whole world is expanding! I can't wait to see what happens next with that newfound desire to discover! Thanks for literally being her "first step" in this exploration!!
Lynn
Blessed and thrilled to be Emma's mother
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