My Little Monkey :)

Since Kylie has been with me throughout my PT school experience, I shouldn't be surprised that she's the monkey that she is.  I mean, I am the one who has taught her to challenge her balance at every opportunity.   I've been practicing my PT skills on her since she was born!  I know all my classmates can testify, but you just can't help it sometimes.  For example:  I'm driving down Dave Ward, and I see a man walking down the street with a limp.  What do I do?  I sit there and analyze his gait looking for deviations trying to figure out what's wrong with him.  Is it an antalgic gait, or was this something he's had for the better part of his life?  Sometimes I feel like lunatic, but I guess I've just had good schoolin' ;)

I was thinking back over Kylie's life thus far, and I thought I'd share a few Physical Therapy related stories and pictures.  She's helped me learn a ton, and I'm sure she's helped my classmates at some point in time.

Here she is having some tummy time.  Initially, she wasn't that big of a fan like most kids.  She finally decided she liked it by month four ... haha, month four.  She was stubborn already.

She had just turned 4 months old here.  See how she is not fully on her elbows?

This was just a couple weeks later, and she was propping up on her elbows!

When Kylie was born, I knew that Casey would be getting married in October.  She already told me that she'd like for Kylie to be the flower girl, but that meant Kylie would have to be a great sitter by 6 months of age.  Now, 6 months is the typical age that kiddos start to sit up by themselves, but I was asking Kylie to not only start sitting up, but be a dynamic sitter by then.  Casey wanted her to be pulled in a wagon, so she needed to be able to adjust to any sudden movements.  And, by golly ... I had her sitting just wonderfully by then.  Too bad it didn't work out.  Casey's wedding day was a very cold one, so Kylie stayed inside watching through the window sitting on GranDaddy's warm, cozy lap.  But, here are a few pictures of Kylie working on her sitting abilities :)

She was only 4 months old here!  The Boppy Pillow is pretty versatile :)

Here she is sitting up on the couch at 5 months in Daddy's favorite sleeper.  

And, whalla!  Here she was at Casey's wedding chillin' next to the fire.  

She first pushed up to quadraped (the crawling position) when she was about 6 1/2  months.  She initially skipped crawling and started pulling up and trying to cruise.  By the end of month 7, she was a full fledged crawler and puller-upper :)  

My crawling, smiley Kylie

She was so little!

Pulling up led to standing on her own.  At 7 months and 3 weeks, Kylie stood all by herself.

Sweet little thing!

Look at that wide base of support!

LOL!

So, naturally ... the next step was walking!!  Sorry the video is sideways, I can't figure out how to flip it ;)

At 10 months, 2 weeks ... Kylie took her first steps.  I actually caught it on film :-D

From there, it has been a blur.  Walking, galloping, running, jumping, dancing, climbing, etc.  She has been such a delight!!  I'll leave you with just a few more pictures of Kyliebug trying to be like her Momma, the PT student. 

Letting Dr. McGee put her into the all the many positions we needed to learn for our Peds practical.

She still loves to play with my goniometer!

Showing me how to properly transfer Daddy from point A to point B ;)

Helping Momma study :)

Balancing on the trampoline.

On the balance board playing the Wii :-D

Climbing.

Running.

Playing fetch with our neighbor's dog.

Walking on her make shift balance beam.

Inching her way up her make shift ramp!

Teaching us about negative pressure wound therapy and how to get a good seal ... haha :-D

 It is truly an honor to watch her grow, learn, and explore.  She is quite the little monkey.  I pray that she always stays as inquisitive as she is now, and strives to constantly challenge herself.  I just love that little woman!