Aubrey's Getting Braces......and NO not on her teeth!

We just got back from the Pediatric Orthopaedic doctor this morning - add it to the the list!



THE LIST.....

Pediatrician - general health
Neurologist - for seizure control
Urologist - for kidney reflux
Gastro Intestinal - for the Pancreantitis scare
and now Pediatric Orthopaedist - for her ankles rolling in when standing and walking.


Anyway - Aubrey's Physical Therapist was getting concerned with how her ankles were rolling inward while standing and cruising in her walker. She referred us to an Orthopedist for further guidance. This morning we waited for about 30 minutes in one of the tiniest doctor's offices we've been in with both girls getting antsy and ornery! Then in a matter of 5 minutes we talked to a resident, the doctor, and someone named Jill?!

During this 5 minutes they determined that Aubrey would likely benefit from wearing a type of foot/ankle brace for support and to keep her feet properly aligned.

They took her measurements and told us they'd have them in 2 weeks for her.

After the excruciating wait - it happened all so fast - it seemed odd at the time - but hey - if they think it will help Aubrey -we're on board!

Here's a link to the specific orthotic device they recommended:



http://www.surestep.net/about.html#parents

Hopefully Aubrey will take to them well. I know how much she likes plastic, velcro, and any type of strap or tag - - so I just hope that she won't be extra distracted by them and want to try and chew on her foot all day!!

Ultimately, we hope it will provide her the ability to become more balanced - which we feel is the one thing that's really holding her back from independently stand and walk.

We'll see!!

That's all for now - - - I promise - more pictures will be coming soon!

Aubrey's Learning to Potty Train - this is HUGE people!!!

So I've been really busy at work and fell slightly behind on this blogging thing!

But - I just have to share that we've been totally blown away with Aubrey this last week - she's becoming such a big girl!

Let me back up - last weekend eight Angelman Syndrome families got together in Omaha to meet, talk about the ASF Walk-a-Thon, and just pick each other's brains for a bit - IT WAS AWESOME!

Aubrey was one of the younger Angels there and it was great to get tips and tricks first hand. Anyway - after leaving the meeting last week - my husband and I were extra motivated to have Aubrey start potty training. Aubrey is 2 and a half and we just have been lazy up until now since she can't walk yet.

Anyway we talked to her teacher at daycare about and she was so excited to do it. We decided to just try and get her used to sitting on there every 2 hours. Quite honestly - we didn't expect much - and knew that it was likely to be a very very long process.

Long story short - Aubrey totally blew our expectations. On Thursday her teacher called me and was ecstatic to report that Aubrey had gone to the bathroom on the toilet!!! I was so happy I stood up at my desk and shouted out the news to everyone! But - again I sold Aubrey short and wrote it off as coincidence and a stroke of beginner's luck. Then after the second and then the third call of the day where she had a dry diaper, set her down on the toilet and she peed - we were over the moon.

It wasn't until she did it again for the 4th time that day at home for us that we started to think - - uh I thinks she's actually getting this on a cognitive level! On Friday - same thing - and we even got a call that she went #2 on the toilet. I yelled this one out at my desk too!! I have a friend with a "typical" daughter the same age - and she still hasn't done that yet!!

On Saturday Aubrey batted 3 for 4(her father missed the 2 hour mark - otherwise I think she'd be at 100%). She will still have a wet diaper after naps and overnight but other than that - since Thursday - she's basically waited to pee until she sits down!

Now - I know we're a long ways from being out of diapers or for her communicating to us that she has to go - but HOLY buckets she sure showed us. This initial step of her even making the connection and going intentionally I thought could take 4 years....but nope...Aubrey totally exceeded our expectations and did it in basically 4 days!

She taught us a great lesson this week - one I'm glad she got through to us while she's so young -- Never Underestimate her Abilities!!! We're so proud of our little girl and are so thankful for all the friends and family that are a constant means of support, encouragement and inspiration!

Yeah Aubrey!

That means.......Molly better get going....you can train a 9 month old to use the toilet - right! ha,ha!