Scooting

By January 2007 Anna could roll from her back onto her stomach and return to her back, she could sit up on her own and go from a lying down position to a sitting position. She was using her right hand and arm more and playing a lot more. Soon she started to pivot while on her tummy but still didn't get into a crawling position. So she could change her position from right to left but wasn't able to move toward something. Around her first birthday (March 2007) she started to pivot while she was in a sitting position and reach across and around her body. She brought objects to mid-line with her right hand (a big milestone for a child with a partial paralysis of one side - who knew?!) and used both hands, at times, to hold items and bang objects together.

And then finally she realized she could move! She started to scoot on her bottom from place to place. So whereas most babies crawl in order to explore their environment, Anna scooted! Definitely a sight to see. I had heard that other children who hadn't had a stroke also preferred to scoot rather than crawl. But, of course, the therapists still insisted that she learn how. So we persisted, but for now I was just pleased that Anna could finally move about on her own.