2nd PT Appointment and "ECI"

We are going to PT weekly now, so this past Monday was Caleb's second appointment. This time, Cheryl showed us some stretches to do with his little feet and ankles. She also had us put his shoes on him and she worked with him on standing up flat-footed. He did so great! She set up an "L" shaped little play area with a bench and a little toy shopping cart and he stood there playing for probably 5-10 minutes. We were so excited to see him actually stand with his little feet flat and he even shifted his weight to his right foot on his own a few times! AND, he even did a little dancing (flat footed), which was a great sign since he was able to really stretch those heel cords as he squatted down and back up. Overall it was a WONDERFUL appointment! Here are a few pictures that I took this week around the house...


squatting down and stretching his heel cords.

ok, this is just him being rotten. I had to move that diaper box b/c he wouldn't stop climbing up on the couch, LOL

he's doing so good standing flat-footed in his little high tops!

I set up an "L" shaped play area for him like we did in PT...so he can practice moving and shifting his weight back and forth from one foot to the other.

In addition to the PT, Caleb is also being evaluated by ECI, which stands for Early Childhood Intervention. ECI is a state and federally funded program that offers developmental assistance to families with young children (less than 3 years of age) who have disabilities and/or developmental delays. I wouldn't say that Caleb is really developmentally delayed b/c it is still considered "normal" for a kid to not be walking at his age (18 months is when you would start to be concerned), but we still want to do all we can to help him with his little foot issues so that he can learn to properly walk without delay. We would rather be proactive now.

Anyway, we had the initial appointment where we learned about the program and what to expect should Caleb qualify. He still has to be evaluated by a physical therapist (who works for them) and one other professional (something to do with developmental assistance...not 100% sure) before we would even proceed with this program. The one thing about this ECI is that, well, it's a government run program....so things are slow! The earliest we could get for his evaluation is the first week of January...a month away! Then, if he is approved at that time they have to set up an appointment just to formulate a therapy plan...THEN, we'd set up our appointments for PT. So who knows when he'd actually start PT with them. And, you can't "double dip" with PT - so if he qualifies for ECI's PT program, we cannot enroll with them AND still take him to our private PT. The one good thing about the ECI therapy is that they come to your home for everything...evaluations, assessments, therapy appointments, you name it. And, it's provided at a reduced cost (or free, I think, for low-income families).

Well, while we are waiting for all of this, we will continue to take Caleb to private PT at the TEAM Approach. We are hoping and praying that by the time all this stuff happens with ECI that Caleb won't even need the therapy. Cheryl (our PT) thinks this will all work itself out within one to two months. We will still keep our appointments with ECI, though b/c if he continues to need therapy into next year we will have the option of switching to them (should they approve him). Heck, maybe he will be walking by early January and they won't even have to come out! :)