Dynavox anyone?

So we went to an evaluation thinking we were going to come out being told to either buy an ipad or an itouch. They spent the entire time mildly outraged that anyone would suggest such a thing. They had a salesman there to give me the shpeal on Dynavox Maestro.

I have to admit, the first time he took the thing and bashed it on the table they kinda had me.

Pros about the Maestro compared to ipad:

Dedicated to speech, made by speech pathologists so it is easy to use

The therapist said it is 10x easier to program and to use than the ipad

Has camera, internet, and many of the great things the ipad has

Our current insurance will pay for all of it

Very durable

Has 1 year warranty

Can pay for warranty after that (although it is $300-$500 a year)

From 8-5 I will have tech support

They come to your home and school to teach everyone how to use it.

It uses PECS pictures (unless I choose to change them)

Cons about Maestro compared to ipad:

Someday we will have different insurance and even if it pays 80%, the Maestro is $7,000...that's still a lot

The ipad has about 1 million apps that at some point Josh will want to use (unrelated to speech) and although the Maestro is essentially a computer (PC) and you can do just about anything on it you can on a computer...it isn't an ipad

It is 3.5 lbs (and when you are only 36 lbs, that is a big deal)

It is thicker than an ipad

We will still have to pay for the warranty which is like buying an ipad once a year

His teachers are used to using ipads, not Dynavox. (Although the guy will teach them)

That is all I can think of right now. I went ahead and signed up for the Maestro with the understanding that I can call it off in the next few months without losing anything.

Do any of you have any experience with any of this? What do you guys think?

Love That Max: A simple way to help another family this holiday s...

Love That Max: A simple way to help another family this holiday s...: A reader, Lynne, shared the below letter with me, which she'd sent to her local radio station, The Point 97.1 in Las Vegas, for their "Holi...

Please Come!

If you have any questions please email me :)

Jesscaandrews@aol.com

http://www.fourinthefam.blogspot.com/



Theology of Disability

Hello all, I received an email from Tera at the 'Kidz' blog.  There is a student from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA who is doing her thesis on the LDS theology of disability.  She is looking for parents of special needs kids to interview.  While she is primarily focusing on the LDS view, she is also looking for parents of other faiths.  She is not LDS herself.  It is a very intriguing project.  You can read more about it on her blog here. Even if you don't want to participate, it may be interesting to follow her blog to see what she finds out.  She explains it much better than I do.  If you are interested, the best way to reach her is at kohleranne@gmail.com

Hey everyone. I am looking to take Mason in to get a thorough vision screening done, but I don't feel like I can take him to just any optometrist. It needs to be someone patient, good with children, and able to help a child who may not respond well to the "normal" routine of an eye exam. Have you taken your kids anywhere? Who do you recommend? I am looking preferably in Weber/Davis county, but I can travel a little if necessary.

Thanks!

Special Needs Dance Class

Just wanted to let you all know that the FREE special needs dance class is starting up again in Hooper.  There is a one time $10 registration fee.  They meet at 5:15 on Wednesday nights at the Dance Image Studios 5495 S. 5900 W. ( right across the street from Hooper Elementary. ) MK was in the class last year and REALLY loved it.  Any age, and any ability is welcome.  Spread the word.

Hi mom's! I am starting a support group for special needs families with the help from my friend, who is also an SLP who just left  Pingree! (she is donating talents to us!!!) I am very excited because I feel like it is something that is needed in the area. I know there are many support groups on the web, but I feel like as mom's and dad's we need to get out and mingle with other parents who are dealing with similar situations. (our kids need the interaction too)

I get many phone calls from new mommies who are being tossed into "Holland" with nothing.  They need to know where to "check in"   So... here I go.  On a new mission to share the knowledge that I have obtained and to open my arms and invite those who feel like they too have something to share, learn or even better.. both!

 I am working on venues and would love to know who would be interested in joining the group and in which city you hale from. This will be so fun and so wonderful to FINALLY get to meet! So... Please let me know if you would be interested in this!     As you know support groups only work if there are others to support you in the journey!

Autism School

Hi, again.

We had some great news over this last summer and that is our son was accepted to the Pingree School for Children with Autism. We were so excited and thrilled for this opportunity. His first day was last week and although he couldn't really tell us much he seem to share his excitement in his facial expressions.

I get to drop him off every morning at the bus stop and he is so excited when the bus arrives. We are so grateful for this school and how they are helping him. The teachers have been great and he has had great progress in eating. They will start potty training him this month which is awesome. It has been so nice for my wife to have a little break and spend time with our two year old.

Lately I've been reading this book called Healing and Preventing Autism by Jenny McCarthy and jerry Kartzinel. It has been a fantastic book. We are looking to try some nutritional supplements and I was wondering if anyone has tried anything before. They say that one of the problems is the yeast build up in the stomach and that if you can get rid of that and help their immune system to operate better this can lessen some of the autistic characteristics. So its worth a try in my mind.

Well, I hope everyone has a great month. We are also continuing to raise money for our son's education at Pingree, so if you are able to contribute a little that would be great. But don't worry if you can't because I can guarantee that just about everyone has a lot of medical bills. Our site is www.lifeandhopewithautism.com and www.lifewithpdd-nos.com. I keep them both updated with the same content.

family fun for a good cause!!!

hello all. Just got this email I'd like to pass along. For those of you who may not remember, Chloe's sunshine playground is the 'all abilities' playground they are trying to build in Syracuse:

A 5k and motorcycle rally are being held at The Gallivan Center in Salt Lake City on August 6th. If you register to participate, you can select to sponsor Chloe's Sunshine Playground, and 100% of your donation will go to help our cause!

The day includes all the events mentioned above along with a Special Kids Fair, live music all throughout the day, retail vendors, great food and drinks, and much, much more. The day begins with sign-up and registration for the 5-K and motorcycle rally at 7:00 am, with both starting promptly at 9:00 A.M. The Kids Fair, music and vendors are scheduled to open immediately after the start of the 5K. Everyone is invited to come and spend the day in downtown SLC having as much fun as you can find, while helping worthy causes. Also, tons of prizes will be given away throughout the day. The cost is only $10.00 per adult with kids under 10 admitted free.

Go here to register.

Please put it on your calendars, come if you can, and help spread the word! Thanks so much for your support.

A whirlwind of emotions and triumphs

First, thank you to all who share your stories, it helps to know that we aren't alone. After finding out our son was diagnosed with pdd-nos earlier in the year, we then had him re-diagnosed and they concluded he was autistic. We met with a doctor from a practice called Intercept who diagnosed him autistic and they recommended we start him on Risperidone. So we started him with .25ml and we saw a major improvement the next day. We continued with the medication and bumped it up to 1.0ml. It has made a huge difference! He is more responsive, he has much better eye contact, he is not so clingy and he is saying more words.

We've been on it for two months and he is now maintaining this level and so we are curious what to do next. He will repeat words but does not know how to use them. He can barely put two words or even two syllables together. He also has figured out that we are giving him medicine through ice cream or his soy milk and now he is refusing to eat or drink and consequently is starting to revert. We've been reading a lot about the connection of vaccines to autism. We've read the Jenny McCarthy book and are pretty much convinced that something in the vaccine triggered autism in my son. My other son who is 20 months is also following the same path.

I'm sure you understand our grief and when I say our hearts aches, you understand what we are going through. Has anyone looked into alternative treatments? Does anybody believe that there is a connection to vaccines and autism. My son that is 20 months will soon have his 2 year check up and we do not want to get him vaccinated.

Thanks for listening.

Jake and Melyssa

www.lifewithpdd-nos.com

Happy Mother's Day to some of the strongest mama's I know!

I Am Going On A Journey


I am going on a journey,

Won't you come along?

I need someone to help me.

A person big and strong.

I'm walking on my journey

But my feet are very small.

Can you stand beside me,

And catch me if I fall?

At times when I can't keep up

With life and all its fears,

Can you put me on your shoulders

And wipe away the tears?

When the steps I take are not big enough

And it's hard for me to grow

I know I can depend on you

To let me take it slow.

I'm going on a journey,

Please, won't you walk with me?

I need someone who understands

The place where I should be.

I promise when the road is tough

And you want to turn back home.

I will hold your hand real tight,

So you won't feel so alone.

I'm going on a journey

I don't know where it ends,

But if we walk together,

We can always be best friends.

And when the journey's over

And we find where we should be.

I know that you will be so glad,

You took this path with me.

I'm going on a journey,

Please, won't you come along?

I need someone to guide me

A parent—big & strong

QUESTION

Does anyone currently seek care at the H.O.M.E clinic?? How is it?

Does anyone see/seen Dr. Carbone?  Is he as wonderful as his wife, Dr. Jolma???

autism resource.

Hello. I am one of those nerds who listens to talk radio all the time. (It's just about the only adult conversation I ever get) anyway, I was listening to KSL in the car the other night as they were talking about autism awareness month. They talked about a group called "Big Maks" which stands for "Mothers-with-Autistic-Kids" They've got a blog. It looks really cute and fun. I tried to remember it so I could share it with those of you here who might enjoy it. I'll also link the blog in the sidebar.

Hey everybody,
I got an e-mail from a sweet little entrepreneur. Her name is Haileigh. She is only 11 years old and has severe hearing loss. For any of you who have hearing impaired kids - she has created her own business of making and selling charms and tube twists to adorn hearing aids. They are really beautiful. She asked me if I could let you all know about it. Check out her website here. And Good Luck to you Haileigh! We are impressed with your ambition!

Tiptoe thru the tulips...togther! (open invitation)

I got an e-mail from Tara at "Kidz" about this special event. It looks awesome. She is trying to get a special group rate for all of us 'in Holland' to go to this together. click on the picture to check it out! (If you are interested in going as a group with other special needs families, RSVP to Tara!) and feel free to pass on the invitation to anyone else you know!

Ogden Area Autism Meeting TONIGHT!

Hey Ladies! I know it has been a while since I have checked in here---as with everyone else, life is CRAZY busy right now. I did want to put a quick post in to let everyone know about the first FAAST (Families of Autism and Aspergers Standing Together) Meeting in the Ogden area happening TONIGHT at 5:00pm at West Haven Elementary School. This is a new group being formed to help families affected by autism come together and find support. This couple is awesome--they are making things happen, and I know good things will come from this. Check out the info at www.faastutah.weebly.com or follow them on their facebook page. I hope to see some of you there tonight!

We Are Alone in this Together

It has been quite a while since my last post, but I have been reading all of your posts. Those who have posted this year (2011) have really hit home for me because I feel as though I can relate in one way or another.

First off, in January, I had a baby- my fourth boy, and fifth child. Two weeks after that, we moved our family from Idaho back to Utah. I feel like I can totally relate to the chaos of having not only a child with special needs but a mother to more than one child. Add on top of that the responsbilities as wife AND full-time employee, well, there is never any sort of down time. For me, because organization is NOT my forte, I find myself scrambling from one deadline or emergency to the next. In fact, you would not believe the mountain of clean laundry that has overtaken the baby's room just because I haven't had time (or made time) to deal with it.

Secondly, on the side bar of this blog, I'm listed as having a daughter with DiGeorge syndrome. Just to give you a brief synopsis of what has been happening with my daughter, Kanani, we also had her in a Utah charter school last year. Her IEP was also 'dissolved' to where she was receiving no documented services from the school. What was really devastating (looking back at it now) was that the Charter school failed to re-establish eligibility which was required a year ago. So when we went back to school in August, we had to start FROM SCRATCH on testing and determining whether or not she was eligible for an IEP and what recommended services were.

Originally, her IEP was due to be renewed on 9-18-10, but because of the testing that had to get done, we did not get the required eligibility established and signed off on until the end of January 2011. So, we too have fallen through the cracks and are now in dire need of a tutor to get caught up.

Thirdly, we have gone through a battery of testing with a neuropsychologist and last week, received additional diagnoses of ADHD, Asperger's syndrome, and nonverbal learning disability. We were strongly advised to medicate her and also to pursue aggressive social therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy as all are deemed to be medically necessary.

As a result of all these new things, we trialed one med for a day and had horrible response to the medication. This weekend we will trial a second medicine... I've been looking for outpatient rehab and discovered that no one south of Salt Lake will bill my insurance... and that social therapy is not available or offered in Utah.

I'm terribly overwhelmed by the gap that lies betweeen the amount of help and services she needs and the services that are available to her in Utah and at her school. What makes matters worse (for me) is that as a parent I feel like a fraud, a faker, because in reality, I've no idea how we survive and most of the time in making decisions for her care, I give it my best guess.

The reason why I share my scattered thoughts with you is not only to vent the difficulties of my unique circumstances, but to also acknowledge that each of us have our own unique combination of trials that we are dealing with. And while none of us have identical experiences, we can (I DO!!!) take comfort in knowing that while we are alone in our own set of challenges, we are all in Holland together and can relate in some respects.

So. Thank you all for being so willing and generous to share your lives with me. Its nice to know that even though my life sucks on some days, there are other mothers out there that have equally bad daysm, too. Just like me. Love you all!!

S.O.S!

Im a little upset as I tried to hop that last plane to Italy, but due to some malfunctions on the plane they asked me to exit and return to my life in Holland. The flight attendents had no word on when I would be able to catch the next flight out, but she said that I should run for shelter as a storm was rolling in..........

I dont think I have prayed this much in a long while. Im feeling so beaten down by this jouney and I honestly have no one who can relate. Im trying to keep it together but ladies it's so hard. I hate being "strong" and having a smile on my face when inside Im a mess. I have not a clue as to help my child, but I need to get one as he is spiraling out of controll.

This morning by 8:00am I was in the ER because he was so upset he started head banging, headbanging so hard that he needed to get his head glued because he had mannaged a gash smack in the middle of his forhead. We were out of the ER by 9 only to return again hours later as he had another fit and started bleeding out where the doctor had just fixed.

This has been my life for the past 3 weeks. Okay, well no ER but the fits! Holy cow! It is creating chaos in my home and in my brain. I can't imagine what my lil guy is going through. He has become physicaly abusive to all around him and even worse to himself.

I need support. I need ideas of how to handle him. My fear of losing him is happening and I feel the need to hurry. hurry doing what im not sure about. I know he is a unique situation as he had Lung disease, and PDD-NOS. But Im so deperate for something brilliant to be thrown to me.

He currently goes to an ABA based facility to which he thrives in. HOWEVER, as soon as he is home, in publics, well, gee, anywhere then at school he loses all control. What therapies and such do you know about that have helped other Autistic kiddos? I feel like I have him in everything available in the 801, but maybe he needs more focus in each session or more freequent sessions? Ugh, did I sign up for this? Really?

It's been a VERY long time!

It has been such a long time since I posted on here. I check it constantly of course, but I think I have become so consumed in surviving my life that I have withdrawn a bit from the places I should have probably been venting to keep my sanity.

That being said.... here is my life in a nutshell.

I found out I was pregnant last april. It was a surprise since we were done after our 3 boys. But it was a wonderful surprise and we were blessed with our daughter, Kaitlyn, on november 21st. Due to many problems with the pregnancy she was over 6 weeks early. Initially she did very well and was discharged from the NICU at 7 days old. She had some problems that I could not pinpoint exactly, but slept all the time and wasn't hitting any developmental milestones. In january she caught RSV and was in the hospital for 4 days. While there they caught her Apnea and oxygen problems. She did OK awake, but her sats would drop during her sleep and so she was discharged from the hospital on Oxygen. She is still on Oxygen 24/7 as of now due to illness after illness. She has several apnea episodes a week. We hope in the next month to get her weaned  off oxygen during her waking hours. She is behind developmentally, but I think on target for her corrected age. We love her to peices. She has been a huge blessing in my life.

Trevor, my oldest will be turning 9 in a couple weeks. Since the last time I updated on here, he has been put on 3 meds for autism related issues, started one on one therapy weekly, sees a psychologist monthly, and has turned our lives upside down. I had to pull him out of a charter school he was attending and put him back in public school since the charter school let him fall through the cracks. They dissolved his IEP intending to move to a 504, and dropped the ball and left him with no services. We are currently starting over from the top basically. It is sooooo frustrating and draining on me. With the birth of Kaitlyn, we have had to hurry and finish two bedrooms downstairs for him and our middle son, Jordan. Becuase of his meltdowns we had to move the boys ouf of their room to do major repairs on their shared bedroom so we can move the baby in. His life has really truly been turned upside down in every way possible. Our family dynamics changed, his home life is chaos and school is all new with a new/old school. (He attended 1 and 2nd grade at the school he moved back too). This is the worst thing you can do for a child with autism who relies on that structure and stability.

Our youngest son, Josh, is going to be 4 in June. I joined this blog when he was 18 months. Time has flown by! He is doing pretty good, just slow and steady as usual. He still uses his g-tube for 85% of his nutrition and is maintaining a healthy weight. He has added a new diagnosis as of last fall. ADHD. He has been seeing a developmental pediatrician for a year and a half. We just started him on adderall a couple months ago. Our hope is that if he can focus more we can work on speech with him. He can say about 10 words and signs about 35-40. We are currently working on getting the PECS going at home. With his Speech Apraxia, it is very slow progress. He has so many diagnosis and is so complex that it seems like we can only take one little thing at a time. It gets so discouraging when you try to figure things out on a grand scale for him.

I hate to admit that I am overwhelmed, but I am. We are in the process of building two bedrooms in our unfinished basement for the older 2 boys. We started on Feb 21st and we have carpet being layed on April 14th. Our house is in complete chaos. All of this on top of the problems we have with two kids with special needs, and a baby who is needing some extra support for the time being. How do mom's with multiple children do this? Because I am starting to think I am not cut out for this. I have no idea what I am doing any particular day, or even hour right now.

So ladies, what do you do? How do you cope? I need some advice!!!

Application for an ipad?

I have heard a lot about applications for ipads that are similar to PECS. I think one of them is called verbal victor. Has anyone heard about these? Where I can find them? Which is best for young children? Anything? I am going to ask our speech therapist as well but last time she admitted she didn't know much about it. Thanks guys!

Need an ipad for your child?

Hello everyone, I just stumbled across a blog that is giving away 20 ipads to special needs kids awarded on merit/need. The give away started March 3 and just goes until they are out of ipads. I don't know much more than that, but wanted to pass on the info. Click here to check it out - and if you win one, let us all know!

Wes

I was talking to my sister about what I should do with JT since he will be going into kindergarten in August. I was talking about how I just want him to be able to make a good first impression with the kids he will spend the rest of his school life with. I am worried that he will be labeled and even if he becomes better equipped in a year or two, they won't except him because of first impressions. Other kids can be so mean. Then my sister reminded me of someone she used to know. She told me the story before but now as a mom, especially a mom of JT, I appreciate it more.

My sister grew up with Wes. He was popular in elementary because he was nice to everyone. He was popular in junior high because he was nice to everyone. Nice doesn't do the boy justice. He truly loved everyone.

Eighth grade is rough, kids pushing to find their place, not wanting to stand out too much or be seen with the wrong person. In their 8th grade class, there was a girl, we'll call her Sarah. My sister didn't know this girls exact diagnosis but Sarah was mentally disabled. Sarah told EVERYONE that Wes was her boyfriend. She loved him. He never shied away from her or even corrected her. He was always good natured about it.

In 8th grade there was only one dance the whole year, the Valentine's Dance. Wes asked Sarah to go with him. She wore a pretty dress, he bought her flowers. That night she spent the whole night with the popular kids, dancing and having fun.

We have since moved so we do not know Wes anymore. But from now on he will be someone who gives me hope. Hope that no matter what the future holds, there will be good kids who will love my son even if he is different. And Sarah gives me hope, hope that no matter what the future holds, my son will be that outgoing, that self-confident.

I still am not sure about when JT will be mainstreamed but maybe he will find his "Wes". Please let there be kids like Wes for our children....

The PDD-NOS life

Hi Everyone,

We created our site to share our experiences and found this awesome site. So thanks for allowing us to post and share our experiences. We are a family of five, our daughter is 5, middle son is 3 and then our youngest is 16 months. We are in SLC, UT. Our 3 year-old boy Cohen was diagnosed with PDD-NOS several months ago. This poor kid, he's been through the ringer. He's been to the hospital at least 8 times either for RSV or something else. His first 18 months he had reflux real bad. He's got asthma which makes a flu even worse, I suppose if we knew about his asthma we would have been able to stay out of the hospital. Our daughter also has asthma.

We started noticing signs early on but were a little hesitant to get him checked out, kind of a denial phase. We thought his hearing was lost because I could yell at him six inches from his ear and nothing would happened. Come to find out he had a lot of fluid built up and needed his tubes redone. This was done about a year ago. After having his tubes fixed and his abnoids taken out he was a changed boy. But he still didn't progress in talking. He was also a late walker which is the same with our youngest.

Throughout his life Cohen would not eat well. After his reflux he would live on milk. It was about six to eight months ago that he has started to eat better but we are still a ways from normal. The doctors said that he has a lot of sensory issues. So after several doctors appointments they diagnosed him with PDD-NOS. So we met with the school district and the Early Intervention program was able to start with him. His appointments were always pretty good but his progression was slow. If he were to learn a new word, there is know way he would repeat it later, which I guess is one of the symptoms of PDD-NOS, so although they were good it is always a little depressing.

We received the Tullips letter from a lady that my wife visited with about Cohen and that really hit home for us. Some days we are good with his condition and other days its rough. He is such a darling boy.

Well, there is a start to our life right now. We have a website called www.lifewithpdd-nos.com, check it out. Hope everyone enjoys the Super Bowl. I doubt the kids will let me watch it.

JT and me, the last little while

Life is crazy nowadays. Going to school, applying for the OT program at U of U, keeping up the house, trying to keep JT going in the right direction with therapy etc. But things are going pretty well.

JT is as fun as ever. He may not be able to speak but he has learned how to have a conversation anyway. One day my husband was watching Top Gear America (car show, we like the UK version better though) and JT kept up this generalized whine. I asked him to stop whining and tell me what was wrong. He pointed to the TV then made a disgusted face and shook his head. My husband and I couldn't stop laughing. He will find any way to get his point across.

It was lunch time and JT got out the cereal. I told him no and put it back. He took it out, I put it up higher. Then he came back with his PECS book. He had put on "I want cereal" and then at the very end he had added "cookie" too. I guess if you can't get cereal, cookies will do too.

We are moving into a lot of fun new stuff. We are having someone meet him to hopefully help us find something to help him communicate with the world. He goes in for his first IQ test on Monday. (I think I am actually ready. I hope I can take the numbers and if they are high, be happy, and if they are low, say, "I don't believe it, my son is smart no matter what you say") He is starting supplementary speech therapy this week. So we are busy but it is a good thing.

In good news, the doctors have decided that JT will be able to have 2 years between MRIs now. Also, he only has to see his Rehab therapist every 6 months although I am pretty sure this will change because although the Baclofen was working really, well I think he is tightening back up. The dentist says his teeth and gums look good (our first dentist check up, late I know). Amazingly, he still has his front teeth (he kept falling this year and smashing them in) but if he doesn't loose at least one in the next month I will drop dead of surprise.

This semester in BioMed we have spent the last month on the brain. After learning, in detail, about everything the brain does and what different parts of the cerebral cortex do I feel like getting on top of a building and shouting, "MY SON IS AMAZING! YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA!! HE IS A MIRACLE!!" There is no way he should be doing everything he is doing. Even if he never speaks, he is a miracle. How is he able to do anything? He is missing more than half of his brain!! This shouldn't be possible. He is so funny, he is so creative in getting what he wants and communicating, he can walk, he has some fine motor skills, he understands when I talk to him, who could ask for anything more?

So all in all, we are doing really well. I need to write more. I hope you all are doing well!

catch up.

My Goodness, it's been such a long time since I posted anything here. Like many of you - I've decided to go back to school. I'm busier now than I should be and too many things are falling through the cracks. I thought I ought to post a little update any way. So many things have been going on...

Last time I posted I mentioned the issues we were having trying to get MK's walker. We ditched Alpine and went through IHC (The Wheelchair Shop) And they have been wonderful. I've had someone from IHC calling me every few weeks to let me know how things are progressing. At this point, we are just waiting for the walker to come in from Rifton. I expect it any day and we're so excited. What Alpine couldn't do in a whole year - IHC has been able to do in just a couple months. The funny thing is that MK is doing really good with her walking now. She's able to control it better and go further distances. It's so exciting to see, and gives me so much hope.
Our baby is now 13 months old and walking too. They practice together. I'm so glad the baby didn't pass her up. But my heart hurts thinking about the day when she most definitely will.

Our last check up with the docs at Primary Children's was also very good. Because MK is doing so well with her walking, she was able to graduate from wearing DAFOs. Hooray! Just when I thought we were going to be able to go shopping for cute girly shoes - they want her to wear little 'construction' boots to support her ankles. :) I'm still not complaining!

She is really enjoying the free dance class at Dance Image in Hooper. They are so good with all the little girls there, and it seems to be helping her movement too - just by trying to move in different ways. Not to mention the fact that she absolutely loves dressing up in frilly little dance clothes.

Hope you all are doing well.
Tiptoe Mama