Her strength amazes me

Kids with Down syndrome typically have low muscle tone, which is not to be confused with muscle strength {confusing, I know}. Payton's muscle tone is mildly low, which is why I believe she has done so well in the gross motor department. Given her lower tone, I am just amazed at her strength {even though I know it is separate from tone ... it still confuses me}. Over the past several days, I have witnessed her pull her entire body weight up in ways that amaze me. For example, when she wants to get on the swing, she will wrap her tiny little hands around the chains and dangle her body in the air trying to get her butt on the swing. Heck, I can't even do that!

Payton and her shoes

Payton has a little obsession with her shoes ... she is definitely a girly girl! If she has shoes on, she wants to take them off. If she doesn't have any shoes on, she wants to put them on. While she has mastered taking her shoes off, she has only been able to really put her Crocs on by herself so far.

Over the weekend, we were getting ready to go somewhere and I watched her put on one of her velcro mary janes all by herself. So exciting! She has long known what she needed to do to put the shoe on, but she has never really mastered it. Well, now we can check that off our to do list!

Payton Update

Payton is really doing so well. We are so proud of her and her accomplishments. She is so funny...she has been putting her hands together for awhile now, but she has now started really clapping. She does it constantly...I think she enjoys the sound it makes. LOL

I also wanted to note that she has been using the pincer grasp for a couple months now. She really does great with it...she loves picking up her Gerber puffs and putting them into her mouth. We are really glad she has the pincer grasp down, as we didn't expect her to accomplish that until much later.

YAY SWEET GIRL...KEEP ON AMAZING US!!!