I can't believe it has been 5 months since my last update.    Our lives have been busy so say the least.  When we returned from Philly in May, we dove head first into preparing our house to sell it!   We staged the house, put it on the market and sold it - all in 2 weeks!  June brought all of the wonderful chaos that comes with end of the school year festivities.   July was filled with the final stages of packing, shuttling the older kids to day camps and finally a week away as a family to breathe!   On August 7th, we moved into our new Riverdale home and life began to make sense again.

When we were last at the Institutes in May, they asked we take a break from the program.  The break was suggested to allow Tatum more opportunity to crawl and communicate plus to give me a break.   Our break officially began on September 2nd when Riley and Peyton returned to school... although not much therapy was done between May and September because of the move.

Many people ask "How is Tatum doing?" and I am thrilled to say that the break from The Institutes program has been incredible for her.

On September 2nd, we committed ourselves to spending as much time on the floor as possible.   At the beginning on September, Tatum was crawling an average of 15-20m per day... always as a result of one of us motivating her to move with a favorite toy or her bottle.    By the end of September, Tatum had a record crawling day at 31 meters!   As of today, Tatum easily crawls 100+ meters per day and is constantly moving to meet her needs.   She crawls into her bed, over her covers and stuffed animals when it is bedtime, crawls to the fridge when she wants her bottle, the stove when she's hungry, the basement door when she wants to go downstairs to play with her sisters and the backdoor when she wants to go outside for stroll.  She crawls out of her room and into the bathroom in the morning when she sees the light on and hears someone in there!  Tatum crawls 4 meters straight to get to her swing in the far end of the basement... then she reaches up to grab it!   A few weeks ago, when our backyard was full of snow and Tatum was fully geared up in a snowsuit, she crawled across the backyard towards the shed where we keep her stroller... I'm guessing she was ready to get going!   Tatum is crawling everywhere, all the time, to get whatever she wants and needs.   Her crawling style is still on her tummy but she now uses her right leg to push herself along and occasionally uses her left leg too.    She has begun to use her open hands to change direction and and pull herself along as well... and often pulls her favorite toy (Puppy) along with her as she crawls these days.    It's amazing to watch Tatum's strength improve, her determination build, her independence grow and her personality flourish.  

We have introduced Tatum to a new form of therapy called the Anat Baniel Method while on our break from the Institutes.    We have done 3 separate weeks of ABM  since the beginning of October.

ABM focuses on helping Tatum's brain do its job better.  Through the application of gentle physical techniques that directly communicate with the nervous system, ABM helps the brain right itself and develop its ability to powerfully and consistently create new neural patterns that bring about successful solutions.   This is yet another amazing therapy form that works on the premise of neuroplasticity.

After 1 week of ABM, Tatum was a different child.   She figured out how to transition from sitting to crawling and is now very close to getting back into sitting from crawling.   Since starting our ABM treatments, Tatum's personality has come to life.   Her desires are very evident.  She is motivated to explore and get her needs met.   So many great milestones have been accomplished since starting  ABM:

• Tatum smiles and laughs all the time
• Tatum is motivated to move... everywhere, all the time
• Tatum is increasingly affectionate
• Tatum makes eye contact... all the time 

One remarkable gift came to us after starting ABM - Tatum became an amazing hugger.   Chris reminded me of something I said to him about 2 years ago,  just after we first learned of Tatum's diagnosis.   I had said "I  hope that we'll be able to hug each other one day".    This was one of many awesome two armed squeezy hugs today. 

One for Daddy too...

Tatum loves her ABM sessions.   She laughs and sings through every session as though it's a 45 minute play date.   It is a very refreshing feeling as a parent to know that your child is learning and progressing without frustration and discomfort.

The combination of Tatum's desire to move and explore (from ABM) and her opportunity to do so (from the Institutes) is enabling Tatum to flourish in many areas.   Her gross and fine motor skills are visibly improving every day.    She is able to pick up a variety of items with a pincer grasp and easily transfer items from hand to hand.    Tatum is able sit with beautiful posture, bum scoot, transition from sitting to her tummy and crawl, crawl, crawl... all by herself!!   With a bit of help, Tatum is able to kneel, pull herself into standing, cruise, stand for unlimited amounts of time and take independent steps with a walker.    In line with each of these progressions, Tatum's vocalizations are ever changing and improving too.    She makes many diverse sounds on a regular basis... sometimes babbling, sometimes yelling and sometimes singing.

We have decided to continue to take it easy (well, easier!) until January 5th, 2015.   As of January, our plan is to slowly get back into the Institutes Intensive program and give it a try again until we revisit the Institutes in May 2015.   In January, we plan to reintroduce Tatum's reading, math and knowledge programs, introduce her new balance (vestibular) and walking programs, reintroduce masking and introduce our new Oxygen program.   While working on this, I also hope to teach Tatum how to feed herself and start seriously working on weaning her from her bottle and potty training.    We've got our work cut out for us!!

The journey continues - we've set big goals for the next 6 months and we have no reason to believe that we won't achieve them!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!