The last I reported was Erik is crawling!!! We are very excited about his progress. We have moved to closer to Denver which is about 1.5 hours away from Fountain. With this move came more access to more services. Erik is now attending Anchor Center for Blind Children (www.anchorcenter.org). He does vision therapy once a week. There are physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and vision specialists. He goes to 3 different classes; the first is the motor room where he gets to play in a ball pit, jump on a trampoline, or crawl through tunnels (which is not his favorite). We have learned so much about his vision. During the initial assessment we learned he can see about 4-6" away, he can see color, and he likes to take toys apart. The biggest tip we have learned about Erik and how to support his visual experience is to let him explore new things with his feet. This has made a huge difference! Even his feeding has gotten better. When we introduce new food we will rub it on his feet first and let him "play", when he is ready he will bring the food to his mouth. Very fascinating! With that said... Erik is eating ground meat, graham crackers, peanut butter and honey sandwich's, and coconut yogurt.
We have an OT that comes to our house now too. Her name is Rebecca. She comes once a week and works with Erik on feeding, walking, and sensory issues that are common with children with vision issues. We work with Erik on his walking, but he still isn't able to walk by himself. However, that doesn't keep him from exploring. He is very curious and knows what he wants. His determination is high, which will hopefully continue throughout him growing up and for the rest of his life. We went to the Children's Museum the other day... he found a favorite gadget and couldn't walk away...
"The Mirrored Owl" - it turned like a steering wheel. Erik thought this was so cool!
The last experience with Erik and his journey is his newest therapy... Erik is now doing hippotherapy. This means he gets to ride horses!! There has been quite a bit of research done that shows results of helping people learn to walk by riding horses. The gait of the horses teaches people which muscles to use while strengthening their core and muscle tone. We are very excited to see Erik develop. Next week will be his 2nd session. Don't worry, I've included pictures :)
Erik where's a helmet when he rides.... Safety First!
This is Erik riding his pal "Isabel". Isabel is very good to him... even if he does right on his hands and knees going backwards!
He even rides while playing musical instruments... "Look Ma, no hands or saddle!"
On a more personal note... we have been informed that there is a <1% chance that was Erik has will repeat to our next children. We are ecstatic to begin planning for more :) We all know that what Erik has is intentional and we are blessed to be a part of the bigger picture. However, we can not deny our excitement for our future children.
We still do not have a name for what Erik has only the information that there are parts of his DNA that are missing. All of his cute features are a result of this deletion, which will be interesting to see how these develop as he gets older. Cognitively, Erik is all there. We saw the neurologist in January and the doc gave us 2 thumbs up for Erik's intelligence and understanding of the world around him. Another concern was the chances of Autism; however, we have spoken with two of Erik's providers and neither of them are concerned about Erik and the potential for Autism. Answered Payers all over!!!
