Stairs and beds

Olivia is rocking on the steps. Knees on one step, hands on the next, leans back, slings herself forward, knees rise off the step and then back down. Over and over. This has become her favorite self-stim lately, and sometimes she would be happy to spend most of the day there. Today, she headed to the steps three or four times and didn’t get upset when I moved her after a few minutes. But, there have been a few days when she gets mighty unhappy that you’ve interrupted her rocking time.

What does she think about when she’s rocking? She’s so content, even giddy sometimes as she rocks back and forth. I dread the day (that will come soon) when she is too tall and begins hitting her head on the steps as she rocks. She already hits her head when she slings herself forward too hard. She’s not going to understand why we won’t let her rock anymore. I guess we’ll have to build bigger steps.

O still sleeps in her crib. We tried the toddler bed for a few nights (was that last year?), but after the first night, she ended up on her knees, crying at the baby gate, hitting her head. So, back to the crib she went. Jeanine needed the toddler bed back anyway for Jayden. O isn't too big for the crib yet, but it won't be much longer.

Now that she's on Clonidine, we let her fall asleep in the living room floor every night and carry her upstairs. I know that means she isn't learning how to fall asleep by herself in her room, but I don't care. She's sleeping (most nights, anyway) and isn't the last person in the house awake, so I'm a happy girl.

We told Jeanine about how concerned we were with a safe bed when she gets bigger. We could go back to using a baby gate at the door and putting up a twin bed, but I'm worried about her being safe in her room. Jeanine got a quote for a SleepSafe bed and as soon as we are approved for Medicaid, we're going to order it (and the wheelchair). I was worried that it would look like a hospital bed, but after looking at the pics online, I think it will be just what she needs.