All the hard work is actually paying off!

OMG it seems that since the HBOT Angelina has really come out of her shell more so than before.  She has been doing so many things that she wasn't able to before.  She's been taking steps when held upright, she can take steps with a walker at therapy, eating food is getting SO MUCH BETTER, she's staying limber (for her), she seems so much more aware and has actually been making choices! 

A week ago I took her to see Dr. Teitelbaum for Craniosacral Manipulation Therapy and he was so impressed.  She hadn't seen him in about 2 months (before HBOT) and couldn't believe how loose she still was.  I made sure to tell him that Angelina hadn't been back for BOTOX since August since she has remained loose.  He asked all about the HBOT and how Angelina's responding to it then when it was over he told me that he has never had a patient similar in condition respond to the Craniosacral Manipulation Therapy like she has.  He used the word NEVER and in a good way!  Yay Angelina!  I can't tell you how uplifting that was to hear about my little girl!

Angelina saw her speech therapist, Jana, on Friday and it had been about 3 weeks or so since we saw her last.  Jana was so impressed with how much faster she was swallowing food and actually engaging the spoon with her mouth.  Angelina was grabbing my hand and pulling it toward her face to get what was on the spoon!  It was great! 

She'll be starting school on Monday and I am hopeful that we continue to see postive results.  She'll be in a class with about 7 or so kids, one of which has a wheelchair and leg braces similar to Angelina's.  I hope that is good motivation for her to do more things that are difficult for her right now. 

She's such an inspiration and I just love her so!  In the words of Brady "Great Job Angelina"!

The Cookie Monster!

Okay the last few days have been a culinary wonder for Angelina! Today we were "having" a cookie (aka teething biscuit) and I usually tap it on her teeth because she thinks its funny and I will scrape it along her back teeth to try to initiate a chewing motion. I couldn't believe she actually started to bite down on it and didn't try to fight it out of her mouth! I let go and she kept it in her bite so I snapped a picture then she just grabbed on and handled it herself. She totally demolished this thing! It was a funny scene because we were all at the table and we were telling Brady to look at sissy with the cookie so he says "ooh sissy got a cookie, mmm that's good!" Larry was taking pictures with his cell phone as well.


For the longest time now she has been only taking small bites of baby food probably not more than 1/4 of a jar on a good day. Well, I guess she has decided if the baby can do it, then she can do it too! Now she is able to get about 1 1/2 jars down per day and has been trying to give herself water out of the sippy cup. She can hold onto the handles and bring it up to her mouth but hasn't yet figured out that she has to lift it up to get the water so Mommy helps just a little bit!

This is just another bit of positive response to the HBOT!