Oh No....

My Mabel always makes me laugh. Mabel loves to walk to me and Zack and yell "Oh Noooo!" as she threatens to tickle us. She gets so excited that she falls over laughing.

Walking is getting better, we had our physical therapy session yesterday and she made out very well. She walked almost across the room. I think she is still so unsure of herself and you know as I look at other babies feet, Mabel's feet are quite small in comparison for her age. She still wears a size 3 in some shoes! I see smaller babies and they have little stocky legs and they look so sturdy. Mabel has such long slender legs and tiny feet, no wonder she doesn't feel steady on her feet! Well, anyway, she is getting better. She's toddles around, but still prefers to crawl most of the time. I don't mind that at all, she's moving at her own pace and she will eventually prefer to walk, no rush. My mom said she won't walk at all during the day for her. If mom asks her "Mabel can you walk to the ottoman?" Mabel will nod yes, but then crawl and laugh. I guess my mom needs to be more specific!

So our physical therapist is very happy with Mabel's progress. Mabel still isn't rotating her hips naturally, she kind of swings her legs, so the doctor did a lot of stretches to try and loosen that up. It is such a process, I'm so reminding how much her surgery and casting has changed her body and her realization of what you body can do. The time she was in that cast and brace was such a formative time and she has to learn that she's able to do things, but she's very smart. The physical therapist keeps reminding me how smart she is! It makes me feel good to hear that she thinks Mabel is so wonderful - she also paid me a complement that meant a lot too, she said I have great parenting skills. She said that nine times out of ten she only hears parents tell their kids what they are doing wrong, but I'm always encouraging Mabel for what she does right. That made me feel good. Oh, and what made me feel equally good is that when my mom took this picture of Mabel, she told Mabel to smile because this picture is for Mummy...look at that face!