TA-DA!

THIS. IS. HUGE.

Annie can sit up on her own.


Annie's paralysis seems to start somewhere between the bottom of her rib cage and her waist which is where the muscles that enable you to sit up on your own are located.

For 18 months or so now Holly and the therapists have been working with Annie on core-strengthening exercises and Annie has continued to impress.

So here is why this is huge. Up until recently, we basically had four options for setting Annabelle down: Highchair, Stroller, Her "Bouncer" and the DIY Cart on loan from therapy. All of them are basically chairs with straps.

If your toddler is constantly in a restrictive chair, they can't really reach anything on their own. Which means Annie would have to sit there and wait for us to hand her a toy / book etc instead of being able to engage in independent play. We have done our best to come up with solutions but still . . .

In addition, when we are around other toddlers, the chair has been a barrier to Annie's interaction with other children.

So in the past two weeks, Annabelle has gotten to the point where she can sit on the floor amidst a pile of toys and entertain herself for a while. She does have a tendency to fall over from time to time though. Holly and the therapists are working with Annie on being able to push herself back up to a sitting position when she topples over but it takes some time and effort so for now we are using the nursing pillow for support.

But man, this is a major milestone for us.