Noah got some new Physical Therapy Tools

Yesterday Noah had Physical Therapy.  This usually means a full hour of crying and exhausting his poor little body. He had been sleeping for quit a long time and the therapist was about to arrive.  I hate when this happens.  We only get to see the Physical Therapist twice a month so it is imperative that we get the most out of these visits.  We can't do anything if Noah is sleeping so I was trying everything I could to calmly wake up my little man.  Taking him outside did the trick.  His eyes batted open literally as the therapist was pulling up in our driveway. 

This was not just an ordinary therapy visit.  Noah was getting "toys" today!!!  Well...not really toys but that is what I like to refer to them as.  Just like I call all of his doctor and therapy visits "play dates with so-and-so." 

I didn't get good pictures at all because I had one hand trying to hold Noah as the other was trying to take a picture with my phone that does not like to cooperate with me. 

Look at that head control

putting pressure on legs

The first piece of equipment that she brought over is called a Lady Bug Corner Therapy chair.  Take one quick look and you will probably agree with me that this chair should not come with the $850 price tag that it does.  Ouch!  What are the manufacturers thinking?!?  Thankfully, the Early Intervention Program has one of these chairs that they can loan out to families.  We were fortune enough that the family who had it previously was moving so we were able to borrow it for a couple weeks.  This chair is supposed to help with his head control and endurance while putting him in a 90/90/90 degree sitting position (90 degree back, bend at his waist, and then bend at his knees).  We had to improvise since Noah is so low tone by aiding the chair with dish clothes and books and additional straps.  You can almost not see the chair with all the "extra" stuff we had to add onto it.  Once he was in it though he did fantastic.  He was able to hold his head upright for a very long time before getting tired. 

After the chair stuff Noah got fitted for arm braces.  These braces are intended to lock his elbows in so that we can get him to bare weight on his arms and shoulders.  He had the hardest time wanting to use his arms for anything more than swatting his bottle away.  These braces are way too big for him but we did get to see him use his shoulders for the first time and he loved it for all about two seconds until he realized he was using muscles he never has before...then the tears came.  You will also notice in a couple of the pictures he is laying on this object.  I actually found this one used online but you can find them pretty much in any store.  There are a few forms of them.  This one is Winnie the Pooh.  It is a tummy time toy that spins on a colorful play mat.  I wish I would have known about these sooner as I can see the potential for Noah's therapy.  

getting fitted for his new arm braces

putting him on the spinning tummy time toy...does he like it?

Look at that!!!!  Way to go Noah!!!

Nope...too much...here comes the tears :(

Once we got him calmed down his wonderful therapist surprised him with a stimulation vest.  There are these wonderful "grandmas" out there who like to sew and create texture blankets and stimulation vests for kids with disabilities.  He looked pretty cute in it and sat there discovering all the fun toys that were attached.  What a great idea and we are ever so thankful for all these fun new "toys" to help Noah get stronger.  I just hope we dont have to return all the borrowed stuff too soon.