While every child seems to grow in leaps and bounds during their time at Casa Jackson, I can't help but be especially heartened by Alison's progress since I last saw her in April. That intense, serious stare she always sported still makes an occasional appearance, but she's so much more interactive and engaging now.
I brought Alison to the upstairs playroom with me to work with her and get a better sense of what her current skills actually are. Rafa filled me in on his biggest concerns for her: she rarely touches anything with her left hand and consistently pulls it away from any stimulus, and she doesn't seem to be making any sounds other than "puh puh puh."
My silent, pensive little Disney monkey has turned into a strong-willed fussbudget who very much has her own ideas about what she wants to do! Once I figure out what motivates her to really work hard, I think she'll make great progress. With an iron will like she's got, it's just a matter of convincing her that she wants to do the things I want her to do...
Regardless of where her skills fall right now, I am thrilled to see her smile and laugh so much. That one little half-smile that took a month to appear has blossomed into a toothy grin that she gives up easily. She was a little disconcerted being in the playroom upstairs, and pulled her hands away from all the toys I offered her. I decided to entice her with some good old-fashioned sensory play and we spent a good fifteen minutes taking turns slapping the giant therapy ball and making motorboat sounds (it's the simple things...). Alison imitated me readily, putting both hands on the ball, hesitating only a moment with her left before slapping it down next to her right hand and looking at me to make the silly sound.
After all the giggles, seeing that she was growing more comfortable, I decided to push her a little bit further. I sat her on top of the ball. She began to fuss and reach for my neck. I ignored the fussing, started to sing the ABC's, and began to roll her slowly back and forth, and side to side. It took a minute, but she began to enjoy this too, and wiggled her little body around whenever I stopped. I bounced her gently on it, making the same motorboat sound as before, and boy did she love that! Each time I stopped, she tried to imitate the noise and bounce herself until I continued to do it for her. As I rocked her side to side, she began to first put her left hand down, palm up, on the ball. After a few tips to the side, she began placing it palm side down. I'm feeling pretty confident that this left hand avoidance can be overcome!
Alison was none too pleased when I first laid her on her tummy over the ball, facing me, with her arms in front of her. All of the points I must have racked up in our fun just minutes before went out the window when I did that! It took a bit longer, but with more bouncing and rolling and silly noises, she enjoyed being on her belly, rolling forward and back, bouncing, and pushing up on her arms. She definitely hasn't been spending time on her stomach; her weakness and rapid fatigue are a clear testament to that. But, again, judging by her eventual acceptance and even enjoyment of it today, there's hope!
After a good lunch (during which she held her bottle by herself once I positioned her hands there and decreased my assistance from hands, to wrists, to elbows, to none), I brought her back downstairs and put her into her crib with a toy across her lap. She enjoyed exploring the toy with both hands, pushing levers and opening little doors. She continued to smile at me every time I went back into her room to change a diaper, chase a runaway toddler, or grab more diapers or wipes. She definitely has something going on, but I'm feeling good about the direction she's heading-- up.
I spoke with Rafa about another little girl, Joanntoni:
Joanntoni has issues with her legs and feet, though no one knows what they are. Joantonni walks with her feet turned slightly inward; standing above her and holding her hands while she walked, it appeared almost as if her hips and legs were rotated slightly to face to the left rather than straight ahead. Her legs are extremely slender, but muscular, unlike the stick-thin, fragile limbs common on some of the older toddlers. She can walk with hands held, but she puts a lot of her weight onto her arms. She prefers to ring-sit and scoot around that way. Joanntoni was willing to pick her feet up individually to take a step up, but threw her torso back onto my arms to avoid putting weight on either leg individually.
She's definitely an interesting little one. Apparently she had an X-ray recently to try and determine if there were any abnormalities, but nothing showed up. I'm hoping she may be able to get in with an orthopedic specialist soon.
I also had a chance to speak in a bit more depth with Heather, the new CJ volunteer coordinator today. She echoed many of the sentiments I've had for awhile regarding the missed opportunities that exist in terms of using the volunteers to their full potential, and ensuring that the kids are getting the most benefit possible while in Casa Jackson's care. She seems eager to get more training and orientation for the volunteers, so I will be trying to put together some basics and work together to determine the best way to identify and communicate with volunteers who want to be involved in a more complex fashion than just coming, caring, cuddling (all very important, but not the whole picture!) and changing diapers. I'm excited to finally get going on this aspect of the project I've had in my head for the past six months!
Corinne and I took a lovely walk up to Cierra de la Cruz this afternoon. It's a very do-able trail of steps leading up to the top of the mountain that our apartment is on the side of; we actually can see the backroad to it from our front window. We went up the safer "tourist path" and enjoyed a beautiful view of Antigua, complete with cloud shadows, clouds blanketing the tops of the volcanos, and the stunning view of the entirety of Antigua laid out beneath us. I find myself having at least five moments each day where I can't help but feel so very lucky to be living in such a beautiful place...
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