This was the message Isla had for the family this morning, after her first successful wee in the toilet :D

I know she's 3 and it's late to be toilet training, but Isla's issues with balance have really hindered us in the past, plus the incident with FDC had scared her off the poor little lady.

So, we're in undies, not knickers Mummy, thank-you very much. And Dora ones at that. I always swore that I'd never dress my child in licensed clothing, and now she's sporting not only Dora undies, but shoes too. How shameful.

Botox Clinic on Wednesday (if they managed to find the numbers to fill the day) then Mel's coming over to have a look and see whether we need any equipment in the bathroom for Isla...

Isla's booked in for the 1st of May for Botox, and I'm in two minds about it all. On one hand, it could release the spastic muscles and only help her gait improve more. On the other hand, it may not work at all, and I really struggle with the idea of putting her into hospital and injecting her, the possibility of her needing to go back into plasters, and lose the strength in her legs. It's all too much. I know Michael, Dr L & Dr F wouldn't suggest it to us if they didn't think it was going to be beneficial, and I know that they have great expertise in this area, but at the moment, my heart is in charge and I feel like just bundling her up in my arms and running far, far away from everything medical.

The Spastic Centre have been calling, they want to have Isla back in the older group this year, and I have no idea what to do. In the group she used to be in, she was the most advanced (I can't remember if she was actually walking at the stage) so we received the least amount of "attention" from the therapists, and Isla doesn't particularly like the group sessions either...Decisions, decisions.

These past few weeks I haven't stopped, it's been go go go around here!

We had Ian's cousin's wedding 2 weekends ago, Allison's 30th last weekend, a 40th this weekend, plans with friends the following weekend, then Easter and Ian's Mum's bday the weekend after that, then we move house the weekend after that. Add in the physio, OT and Botox Clinics, the extra shifts at work, a quick trip to Terrigal, Isla starting a new Kindy - argh! We should manage some time to ourselves somewhere around April!

Isla has been wonderful with all the goings-on, even had her first sleep over ever at Nana's place (my Mum's) the night we went to the wedding. Much harder for me than it was for her, even though I've spent nights away from her she's always been with Ian, so it was a big step for us to have her sleeping away from the two of us. From all reports the two had a great time, and Mum is still exhausted!

We spoke to Isla's OT, Mel, last week who said that she expected Isla to come out of the assessment a few months behind, but, amazingly, is in the normal range. I am so excited, it's probably the first time Isla's had an assessment and the word "normal" has been used!

Last night (wednesday) Ian, Isla and I went to Terrigal to catch up with Bron, Andrew and Cooper while they were in town for Coops' ABR. I can't get over how improved Coops is now, his posture, his vocabulary, his stability, it's nothing short of amazing! And, he's crawling around, such a beautiful sight! Bron looked beautiful, sporting a gorgeous little bump *wub* Here's a pic of Gorgeous Cooper!


Allison's 80's inspired 30th was a crack up, I have a tonne of pics, none of me, I really should have got one with Allison in her feral pink legwarmers...there may be one floating around somewhere.

My little Chihuahua, Troy, has been staying with my Dad because we're unable to have pets in our rental property. Dad is now affectionately known as "Poppy Troy" since being awarded this title from Isla.

About three or four weeks ago, Troy escaped from Dad's yard by digging under a shonky fence pailing. We'd feared the worst for him, given that he's microchipped and we hadn't heard anything from a pound/rspca etc, but on Saturday morning Ian received a call that Troy had been rescued by a family while roaming the streets. They fell in love with him, and called him "Stevie" and wanted to keep him, but took him to the vets to see if he was microchipped.

So, he's home, happy & healthy. Isla and I bought him a collar this morning and went to visit him, thankfully the pet store had run out of pink collars, so Isla chose him purple. He did originally have one but almost hanged himself in the low-lying plants in the backyard so we removed it. Never again though!

and where has my baby gone?

Parramatta City Raceway is holding the 46th (??) Australian Sprintcar Title this weekend...Dad and I were only going to go for 1 night instead of 3, so we decided to go the final night, which we assumed was the Saturday night (despite Thursday and Friday being washed out). Much to our surprise, Saturday was heat races only!

So, we decided to go again tonight (Sunday) only to have it pour down again, and the night's racing was cancelled! Hurumph!

Rescheduled for the 9th of Feb, can't wait. If Saturday night is anything to go by, I think Garry Brazier will take home the title, despite the fact that I can't stand him, he is a very impressive driver. Sartori was very fast, and 2nd on points at this stage, and Brooke was on a charge too. If I could choose the result, I'd go Robbie Farr, Max Dumesny then Sammy Walsh. Having said that, it'll be Brazier, Tatnell, Madsen 1,2,3.

Took the P&S on Saturday night and got a few good snaps, but I think the 400D will have to come with me next weekend and we'll go for a wander through the pits :) Most of my pics from the night are of Max & Robbie, and some impressive shots of the catch-fence :P

Two weeks ago we had an OT assessment with Mel at the Hospital. It was purely to see where she's at.. Here's the report...

"Isla has been attending Occupational Therapy since November 2006. Her presenting problem related to mirroring of her hand movements. She has attended regular appointments on a monthly basis in which she has been provided activities to decrease the presence of mirroring her hand movements.

A review assessment was conducted today to determine her level of function for her fine motor skills.

Results of Assessment
The assessment conducted was related to her motor skill development. Isla was assessed using the following assessment tools:

* Parent Questionnaire
* Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (2nd Ed)
* Non-standard observations.

Assessment Results
Peabody Developmental Motor Scale (2nd Edition)
The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-II is comprised of six sub-tests that measure interrelated motor abilities that develop early in life. The assessment measures both gross and fine motor skills, however for the purpose of this assessment, only the fine motor component was utilised. Isla achieved the following results:

Component Standard Score Age equiv.
Grasping 9 34 months
Visual Motor Integration 9 34 months

* Grasping
Isla swapped hands throughout the assessment, Her mother reported that she predominately uses her left hand for feeding and ball skills, however swaps for fine motor activities. She held her pencil with a quadripod grasp (Placed her middle finger on the pencil as opposed to resting it underneath)

* Visual Motor Integration
Isla was able to build a tower of 10 blocks. She also attempted to imitate building structures such as a bridge and a wall, however demonstrated difficulty with copying the structures exacrtly. She was able to copy a vertical and horizontal stroke and a circle, however was unable to copy a cross. She has not yet learnt to grasp scissors with one hand and was unable to snip the edge of the paper. She was able to thread beads onto a string and laced a piece of string onto a lacing card.

Recommendations
1. It is recommended that Isla continue to attend Occupational Therapy to monitor her scissor skills development and hand preference".

So there you have it, Isla is only "delayed" by 2 months with fine motor now which is unreal! We're trying to work out which hand she'll write with. She's always been prone to using her left hand for feeding, throwing etc, and kicks with her left foot too, but has more control and uses an almost proper finger grip when drawing with her right. We need to build her stamina with the one hand, so in effect, stop her from switching hands half way through drawing. We stick a sticker on the hand she uses first and tell her this is her drawing hand, and constantly make sure we keep on her about this.

By the way, the monkey is 12kgs now :)