Private Time Chatter

Sometimes the bathroom is the only place
a person can have some private time...

We were practicing on the potty yesterday
and I HAD to go and get my camera to capture Maggie's chattering!

Here is a glimpse of our new Chatty Cathy Doll!

The words are trying SO HARD to come out!

Maggie blows a bubble!

Our friends from New Zealand did more than just visit...
they helped Maggie blow a bubble!!!

Blowing bubbles has been something we have been working on with Maggie because it helps her mouth muscles to work along side with blowing air. It was so special to have Lynn be a part of Maggie's progress!

Way to go, Maggie!

New sounds... New words!

Maggie is making new sounds...
this may not sound like "puppet",
but she has never made these sounds together before!
WooHoo, Maggie!

We are so thankful for continued progress!
She is our joy!

Eating

Here's a video example of Maggie eating. It's not the greatest example, but it definitely gives you an idea of how she eats.

First, she stuffs her mouth so full that food often spills out of her mouth. Then, she prefers to chew at the front of her mouth instead of using her molars (but in this example you will see her point to her molars and show me how she chews-progress!) She always wants to use her hands to manipulate the food into her mouth (which does not make her mouth do the work) In this video you will see me take her hand away from her mouth. If you watch closely you will see her lips pull the food in her mouth.

It may not seem like a big deal, but for Maggie... IT IS!

A New Word!

WooHoo!!!

Listen to this...
(turn the volume way up and press play)

We Wait Upon the Lord

We wait....
praising God for the creation he made in Maggie.
What a precious day that will be when we hear Maggie say,
"I love you, Mommy and Daddy!"

More things to try...

We have been blessed by our new house in more than one way! Our neighbor is a retired elementary school teacher and her husband is a principal a local school. They just happen to know a friend who is a speech therapist that comes to your home. Wow!

We called the therapist, and without any information from me, she was able to describe Maggie to a "T"! She is very familiar with hypotonia and how it affects speech. She came to our house and met with us for over an hour. (I could have kept her there all night) She had SO MANY things for us to try with Maggie to help build her mouth muscles.

(Here Maggie is practicing puckering and kissing the mirror)

The therapist described Maggie's mouth like this: Imagine if you were to have someone rub Novocaine all over the inside of your mouth and then you were told to try and eat something. Your mouth wouldn't know what to do because it wouldn't be able to feel what's in your mouth. That's what Maggie feels in her mouth- nothing- because the muscles have never had to work at eating or drink (remember the sippy-cup)

So, we all these tools that you see below to help Maggie work-out the muscles in her mouth. We basically have to teach her that she has molars and that she can use them! We have our work cut out for us, but hopefully it will help her to say more sounds with her mouth building more muscles.

stay tuned...........

Electric Toothbrush

We really have to reach out to find help for Maggie and her speech. Eric talked to some of the speech therapists at school and they recommended electric stimulation. The best thing is an electric toothbrush because Maggie can bite on the bristles while the electric part of the toothbrush will stimulate her mouth muscles.

Sounds interesting, so we're trying it!