equipment.

Mabel received her activity chair this week!  It isn't the same as a wheel chair, although that has been ordered as well. But this chair does serve such a huge purpose for her.  She can be at floor height or lifted to table height.  There is a tray so we can feed her in it. She can recline or sit straight up.  The main purpose is to get  her up out of the plastic infant seats and into something that will maintain her position which will hopefully help her hips and back stay aligned correctly.

 We special ordered her chair to have wheels so that she could be pushed.  She likes as much motion as we can provide. Her new stander also came and was made with custom wheels as well. 

 She seems to like it. She's doing well and I'm beyond grateful. She has been in Early Intervention for almost 2 years and the amount of support we have been given is incredible. Our therapists love Mabel deeply and even her service coordinator holds a special place in our hearts.  They are just incredible when it comes to providing equipment and anything else that we may need. 

 I'm really proud of the redheads too. When Mabel first got her stander they were so nervous about how it looked.  With each new piece of equipment they have continued to grow with their sister and are so adaptable. 

 What I am loving most about these days is that I see all of the children interacting with Mabel very normally.  They are talking to her, tickling her, involving her.  There is something to be said about the character of these kids and very little of it has to do with us. Their hearts are on fire for their sister and that's really all that matters.

 What seems so simple, like pieces of equipment in the midst of special needs and our kind of diagnosis is actually a really  huge thing. These types of things give our other children the ability to interact with Mabel in ways that they don't otherwise get to.  They give us relief physically but also emotionally because when someone sees our beautiful daughter with the big round eyes sitting in a wheelchair, they understand why her body shakes, why she looks so little, why she can't hold her head up.  The equipment is our voice and we have so longed for that.

So it's been a fun week-adjusting to new things once again.  I just can't believe how far we have come and the place that we are at in this journey.  A place that, looking back, I couldn't envision living in.  But I'm doing it every day and it is now so normal.  

I really do thank God for bringing us here, now.  We are all really ok.  Life is oh so good.