A Cup of T: An Ode to Ms. Tracey

Ms. Tracey is our fantastic Physical Therapist who was a total answer to prayer! She is first of all a Christian- which did this mommy's heart good! She is loving, kind, knowledgeable, and talented! And, and major plus she is a good runner- which is helpful because she spends most of the time running after Ruthie who has seen another fun and exciting thing to get into...

I swear, that Pedi Rehab is like a kiddie playland on steroids. There is something fun to get into around every corner. When Ruthie started out she wasn't walking, she was about 16 months old and she was just cruising while holding on to furniture. Tracey determined that she has low muscle tone and needed PT two times a week until her muscles stregthened enough to allow her to walk. Meanwhile, we were visiting the neurologist and he ordered an EEG and an MRI- both which came back normal! Praise Jesus!

Today, I am proud to say, was our last evaluation!! Ruthie has graduated and is no longer in PT on Ms. Tracey's case load. While I am super proud of Ruthie and very excited that she's made this progress... she's now running and kicking, and right on track. I will miss our PT appt. because God used them to teach me. He put a wonderful friend in my path that encouraged me, loved my child, and gave my child the gift of being able to walk. And, a major plus- Tracey is hysterical. She had me in stitches with her stories most of the time! It was like a coffee play-date minus the coffee!!

Here are a few pics of Ruthie last offical PT session- right after Emma was born.
These are called "ker-plops" Ruthie has to "ker-plop" on her back and then sit up. She has to use her abdominal muscles to do this and those core muscles are what helps her keep her balance and be able to stand up w/ out holding on. She started every session out w/ a bunch of these!

This is the next step... up on the knees. She didn't start doing this until later

Going up the ramp... at the end is a slide!! At first she started out pushing a kids grocery cart filled with weight balls up the ramp. Actually she wasn't able to push it more than 3 steps the first several times. But, as she grew stronger she'd push it farther and Tracey would add more weight. Then she would take her up the ramp! Now she can run/walk up and DOWN the ramp w/ out any help!! :)

Going up the stairs also builds those muscles and allows her to practice an important skill! She would have to take puzzle pieces up the stairs and complete the puzzle. One piece at a time... that would give her a purpose for going up and down other than just "working out"!!