Roxie's New Skills

I wanted to post an update outlining what Roxie has accomplished in the past few months. Some of our friends don't see Roxie on a regular basis and several of you have inquired recently about what sort of things Roxie is up to these days. She turns 5 and a half in just a few weeks (her half birthday is her Dad's birthday) and she is growing in new ways and making impressive strides. And she's done it all since recovering from her illness and hospital stay in January. Not only did Roxie reach her baseline (her standard level of health and strength) as the doctors hoped but she has surpassed her own best.

Guess what?! Roxie can now crawl -- up to 6 feet on a regular basis and it is the cutest thing to witness. Just a few months ago Roxie could not crawl an inch and mostly rolled to get where she wanted to go. Now she will crawl 3 or 4 feet usually to get to someone and then she'll lunge up onto that person's lap. Sometimes when the girls are watching a show in our family room Roxie will crawl to the TV and press her nose against the screen, much to her sister's dismay. A sibling tiff often ensues in the form of McRae pushing Roxie out of the way while Roxie laughs hysterically. Watch out little Sis, Roxie's on the move!

And as some of you have recently seen in a photo (shown here), Roxie can now stand up when leaning against a wall for up to a minute and a half. And we don't mean that she is standing while holding our hands or with help from anyone -- which is why she isn't smiling in the picture. Standing is very difficult for her. Considering her profound hypotonia (low muscle tone) this is quite a feat for Roxie.

Plus since late January Roxie has eaten a normal diet. Before her stay in the hospital, she was on a sort of low GI diet, which was a step up from her ultra-restrictive Ketogenic Diet. Now she eats pizza, pasta, sandwiches, cookies, ice cream and lots more. And wow does she love food! She'll even feed herself using her hands, although this can get a bit messy.

But wait there's more ... Roxie also uses the potty every morning after breakfast and every evening before bed. We hope someday she'll be able to let us know when she needs to go but for now this is a big help.

As you can see Roxie continues to make strides. They may seem like small steps for a five year old, but each improvement or new skill tells us she is moving in the right direction. Roxie also has a new CAP worker, Farrin, who works with Roxie 3 or 4 days a week at our home. We hope this extra attention and reinforcement will help Roxie progress even further over the summer as we try to prepare her for Kindergarten!