Lively's Fall Developments, Part 1: Gross Motor

I have so many updates for the last few months that I've decided to try to simplify by dividing them into categories. Gross motor refers to skills involving large muscle groups. This means development of head control, balance and strength. These are the things we work on in physical therapy, so that Lively can sit, shift his weight, crawl, walk.

In August when Lively was 13 months old, I stupidly read the one year expected motor milestones, and he had not met any of them. I'm happy to say, now, at 17 months, he meets most of them (I highlighted the ones he has accomplished):

• Reaches sitting position without assistance
• Crawls forward on belly
• Assumes hands-and-knees position
• Creeps on hands and knees
• Gets from sitting to crawling or prone position
• Pulls self up to stand
• Walks holding on to furniture
• Stands momentarily without support
• May walk two or three steps without support

It's actually nice to be able to look back at the old list (here) and compare it to what he can do now. Four months ago, Lively couldn't do any of these things. Now he can do almost all of them. He started crawling about a month ago (!) and within a week, he pulled up to standing, and within 2 weeks he started cruising. This morning Pete and I took our eyes off him for about 5 seconds and he crawled halfway up the basement stairs! I didn't even know he could go up one stair.

So this is great news, and we're thrilled about his progress. When Lively started trying to get on hands and feet, it was obvious that his left arm was weaker than his right. His arm would collapse after holding himself up for a few seconds. But he has been able to strengthen so that now he can crawl all over the place. When he gets really tired (after chasing Annie for an hour or so), his left arm is noticeably weaker than his right, but clearly he is much stronger than when he started trying to crawl.

About 2 weeks ago Lively was able to start walking while holding our hands. He looks so proud when he does it, and after a few steps he's so pleased with himself, he tries to run! Today he pulled up on the back of my pants, and I started to walk slowly, and he walked right along behind me, holding onto my legs. Now that he's really using his legs, we also see a significant weakness in his left leg when compared to his right. We feel hopeful though that he will be able to strengthen his legs also so that this doesn't cause him a problem.

So, for my readers that may not have absorbed all of my 47 earlier posts, Lively had a right-sided stroke, probably around the time that he was born (although we'll never know for sure), and this is causing left-sided weakness. When Lively's stroke was diagnosed at age 6 months, no one knew what this would mean for him from a gross motor standpoint. We were told he may have cerebral palsy. Actually, he probably does have a mild form of CP, but the fact that he is able to move and strengthen his arms and legs and is progressing so well is a great sign.

I understand now that his neurologist really didn't think he would ever be able to do what he can do now. I didn't realize that at first, but she is so surprised and pleased every time she sees him, I know he's doing better than expected.

The rest of Lively's milestones aren't progressing as quickly as his gross motor development. No one knows what this means. Perhaps these areas (fine motor, speech, cognitive development, social skills) will come along too. We don't know.

I've mentioned this before, but it's something I think about every day: when Lively's stroke was diagnosed, the neurologist told us that we will celebrate each milestone he achieves whole-heartedly, and then we will instantly start to worry about the next one. He was right.

Here's a picture of all the kids on Pete's side of our family that he took on Thanksgiving. The 2 older girls are Pete's sisters, Cassie (holding Lively) and Maggie (holding Pete's sister Patsy's baby, Natalie). Brooke and Leo (also Patsy's) are my kids' older cousins. Annie and Leo look like they could be twins!