Last week, Sylas had his first physical therapy visit, and today his therapist returned but this time a big red ball accompanied her. Sylas has low muscle tone, which is called hypotonia, in many areas of his body. I like to think of his muscles "hanging loose". To improve the tone in his neck and trunk muscles, his therapist showed me how to stabilize Sylas on the theraball (the big red one!) and encourage him to lift his head. This not only activates those loosy goosy neck extensor muscles but also stimulates trunk control. Sylas needs strong trunk musculature in order to do just about anything, including his next developmental milestones such as rolling and sitting.
Oh, the other picture is Sylas wearing one of his "Minnesota" onsies, Go Gophers! Coincidentally, this onsie was part of a set of three that my friend Kris from P.T. school gave to Sylas. Thanks to Kris, MN is well represented in his wardrobe!
In the title of this post I have.....loss of hair. Well, that refers to handfuls of hair that are falling out of my head (obviously Sylas is not able to relate:)). Thank goodness I have lots of hair, otherwise I would likely be bald. No worries, I am not pulling it out, it is just due to post-preg hormones. I will survive.
Sylas looks a lot like you Elena!! We start PT (just have OT right now) next week and I'd like to start Bennett on the ball- after his surgery he's lost a lot of his head control while on his tummy-not sure if it pulls on his incision or what but he just can't lift it like he used to be able to. Sylas looks like he likes that ball-so cute!
ReplyDeleteAh, the 4 month postpartum loosing of the hair, don't ya love it! Great pics of Sylas!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the warning of hair loss to come! I sure have been teary eyed lately! Guess i had better find a ball. What a great idea. Thomas's therapy starts soon!
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