I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass...

Okay, not really broken glass. This probably ages me, and all those who get this reference, but so be it. But lately Noa is really enjoying the satisfying sound of destruction as demonstrated by this video below. And no worries, nothing broken. The interesting thing is, she is purposely throwing this fantastic lighted balls (thanks Grammy) to the side where all her light box toys are stored in order to create that sound. Which, as you can see, she loves.

So, that's fun, but there is news too.

First, we had our evaluation with the behaviorist/communication specialist which was very very helpful. As usual, Noa is her own best advocate. After much talking with us, Noa's teachers and Noa's therapists, a few short minutes with Noa demonstrated pretty clearly that Noa is communicating well with signs and is hungry for more. So now we take his report to the Board of Ed and... fingers crossed.

The evaluator was very encouraged by the various skills that Noa was already demonstrating, things like putting together two signs and reaching out her hands to feel hand-under-hands signs. In terms of her cognitive abilities, I think he is one of the few folks who has walked in the door and immediately seen the kid we see. Of course, a big part of that is that he speaks her language!

He gave Ben and I some important assignments as well: 1) to get Noa into more situations with normally developing kids and 2) to get ourselves into an ASL (American Sign Language) class.

I have to say that a few months ago, I might have poo-pooed the idea of spending more time with normally developing kids: they used to just steal her toys and walk away before she even realized they were there. But this holiday season Noa hung out with a lot of cousins around her age and she really did well - and seemed to enjoy herself. So we'll try to find more opportunities for interaction - frankly, it isn't alway easy to find situations in which Noa can participate with other kids.

As for the ASL - we've been wanting to learn more, what has stopped us is not knowing what kind of sign language Noa should learn: ASL or the Deaf-Blind version (which is what Helen Keller used, and all the signs have to be done into the hand). It's kind of a question of what community she'll be in and who she'll be communicating with. So now we know what to learn. Phew.

I have another bit of video that I'll try to post later but for now... duty calls.

Walking and Jumping for Joy!

A lot of new video this weekend... and a lot of new stuff!

Noa continues to make fast progress in the walking department. We got new braces for her feet last week (after she rather suddenly outgrew her previous braces) but I think they will take a while to get used. They tilt her foot every so slightly to try to prevent her from trying to balance on the inside of her foot... so for now we're just wearing for short stretches a few times a day. Even so, she seems to feel much more balanced in them. As you can see in this video, her latest trick is the one-handed walk.

The way she is walking, with her other hand along the wall, is called "trailing." This is something they do with the kids at her school. It keeps them walking in the right direction and helps them to orient themselves and learn where things like doors and windows are. You can see in this clip that she finds the corner and explores a bit of how it works. In time, she'll learn that if she turns at this corner, she'll be in the bedroom.

We continue to be amazed at how quickly she is making progress on her feet. It's not just the fact that she able to do more physically, it's also that she has a real interest in exploring her surroundings. And this new desire to explore may really be the MOST impressive thing. Frankly, it was not so long ago that Noa would have touched the wall and then just pulled her hand back. But now, if we're walking by a shelf she'll not only touch it, she'll start pulling stuff down... yes, just like any other kid (which is not something we get to say all the time!)

The second video is of us telling Noa that it's bath time... which is fun fun fun! In this clip you can see how exciting it is for Noa - not only to have bath time, but to be able to understand that it's bathtime, and to be able to tell us about her excitement!

It's kind of hard to convey what a huge difference signing has made in Noa's life (and in our lives), but hopefully a moment like this captures the joy of being able to have this very simple exchange.

Believe it or not, there is actually more video to come... but Noa's nap only lasts so long so it will have to wait.

Rockin' in the New Year!

So check out Noa rocking it out at the piano all on her own! Okay, sure, she is leaning on the table a bit, but she does some nifty knee bends to check out her balance a bit. What's really incredible is that she was solid enough at the table that I felt comfortable taking my eyes off her long enough to take this video!

By the by, the squeaking you hear part way through is her "squeaky shoes" - they squeak when she walks and she LOVES them (I got them on Amazon, for those who are wondering).

I'm sorry you can't really see her face in this, but we moved the piano up against a wall so she could to this... so while it doesn't make for pretty pictures, it certainly has served the purpose.

Noa continues to do A LOT more reaching out and exploring. We've created a "map" of her play area, putting toys in different corners (but always the same toys in the same corners) so that she knows where to go to get what she wants to play with. So, she's been all over the place.

Yesterday, I went into the kitchen for a few minutes and she had scooted over to the new piano location and was pulling the thing down on her head. This morning, I went to the bathroom and came back to find that she was laying down by her stroller and pulling it back and forther over her head! (the wheels on either side of her head - the bottom of the stroller is blue, a color that she is attracted to)

She's even making trouble in the walker - getting into baskets on shelves, etc... last week she got ahold of my favorite blue scarf, wrapped it around herself and wore it around the house for hours! We did have one mis-step in the walker, she fell and cut her chin. Nothing serious and she got over it pretty quickly. It was bound to happen, she really throws herself around in that thing.

So, yeah, Ben and I are finally having to get around to that child-proofing thing we hear so much about.