We slept a TON last night. Jordan was so well rested that she popped out of her pack and play and squealed HI!!! to me this morning. I figured that meant she was ready for business today. We worked with two different test sockets, watched a lot of Elmo and finally got Jordan into the mood to really work on using her muscles so we could find a good site where she can learn to open and close her “hand” on command.

It’s all about getting this sensor to feel muscle movement — and the hard part is finding a muscle Jordan can move on command that is strong enough to trigger the sensor. I hope (knock on wood) that we found one today. It’s actually the muscle she uses that bunches up her arm at the base — Something we were able to get her to do on many different motions, especially when she moved around, picked things up and often when we asked her to wiggle her fingers.

Jordan is napping now and we hope to get her back with a possible arm that’s ready for her. It will probably be ready by tomorrow since it took us so long to get a good test socket and sensor site. Either way, tonight we get to hang out with a family of a little girl who is two months older than Jordan. They met last year and I can’t wait to see them again!

Matching girls
Originally uploaded by Jen Reeves.

Jordan is picking up words by the minute. Tonight she told her Daddy: “Night night.” Her vocal cadence repeats some of my sentences. And she’s catching a little temper. If she wants Mommy cuddles and I put her down, she is not afraid to throw herself onto the floor and cry. I know the cuddles will go away someday, but I have to get things done from time to time, so she can’t be in my arms all the time!

She’s so smiley and happy at school and at home. She gets to excited to see family members. When Dad came home tonight, she was chanting “Hi da da.” It’s awesome.

She’s trying harder and harder to pull up. Today, she was more comfortable standing (but you have to put her into a standing position). For the first time, I saw her stand along the couch and hold onto it with one hand… and not standing very close to the couch. She was doing pretty good. She had her prosthetic on at the time so I wonder if it was giving her extra balance. I’m torn about what to do with her growing skill of pulling up. She has such a hard time moving up with her prosthetic. I can’t figure out what will help her learn how to pull up in the best way. Should I let her go prosthetic-free more often? Should she wear it less? But then there’s this challenge: Her feet. When Jordan plays with toys without her prosthetic, she uses her little arm to hold things. When she’s wearing it, she pulls out her left foot and gets just about everything done that way. I just can’t get her to use the prosthetic arm with her big arm. It’s tricky.