Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Gaining Strength and Having Fun

Whitney's strength continues to improve. Melanie has made our walks around the block almost a nightly thing now. And Whit will go most of the way without even reaching out for our hands. Her stamina is really improving and so is her stability. Step after step she proudly walks along. Sometime the neighborhood kids will stop their playing and shout, "Hi, Whitney" and offer words of encouragement. Whitney smiles and often waves back as she walks along.

There are other benefits to her improved body strength as well. For the first time Whitney is able to swing on our glider swing out back. Her trunk is so much more stable. She just hangs on and enjoys the ride. Melanie and Whit are demonstrating Whit's new swinging ability in the photo here. Whitney is pretty proud of herself for being able to do yet another thing she sees the other kids doing.

4 comments:

Kathy said...

Melanie
That's great! Gavin's speech therepist has told us that walking comes first and the important thing is trunk support to promote speech. Our Gavin is progressing and starting to make different sounds. Thank you for offering to have next year's conference in Utah. We are saving for our vacation for next year, it will be so exciting to see everyone again. Hopefully we can see Taylor since she is so close to you.
Kathy (Gavin's Gramma)

Nate said...

I really hope Taylor and her family can come for the conference too. We're getting really excited! We're close to finalizing the dates and soon we'll start looking into hotels. It's so fun to get together. Please give Gavin a big hug from us.

Jen from Ohio said...

I am so glad to hear that Whitney is doing well, she will be walking independently all around the place in no time! I can't believe we are preparing for a new conference already, it's so exciting to think about seeing everyone again. Maybe at the next conference we'll have more time to talk and catch up. Tell your family we said Hello and tell Whitney to keep up the good work!

Nate said...

Thanks Jen! We'll look forward to seeing you guys next summer too! Whit sends loves and hugs!