Emmett is ten months old today!!!! (January 9, 2016) In honour of this special day, I (Alisha) have decided to write a post about a few of Emmett's most favorite things.  One of the (many) challenges of SMA is that Emmett is a really smart, intelligent baby and he wants to do the things all 'normal' babies do, but his mobility is very limited.  We've had a hard time finding baby toys that can work for Emmett.  For instance, he really loves music, but it is hard/nearly impossible to find a musical baby toy that Emmett is strong enough to press the buttons. Thankfully his Grandma Rhonda found one toy that plays songs and animal sounds just by touch (Emmett is so excited about it that we sometimes can even forget how annoying the sounds are!) On this blog we've already shown you some of his favorite things; his bath ring, his balloons, and his jolly jumper that really allow him to play and explore his environment. 

Even before Emmett got his SMA diagnosis, we realized that his mobility was less than other babies and we started to make changes to his toys.  For instance he really loved to play with toys that dangled off of his baby play mat, but had trouble reaching up to them, so we just added a few extra plastic rings. When he was about 6 months Emmett started losing even more mobility in his arms so we would have to roll up blankets and prop his up arms so he could still swat at the toys.   

Ever since Emmett was 5 month old, feathers have been one of his favorite toys.  They are colourful, light, easy to wave around, and they tickle! He also has some weird mini pool noodles things that his Grandma Pamela found and that fit perfectly into his hand. He enjoys hitting his Dad in the head with them. We were even giving him Kleenex, plastic and tissue paper to play with because of how light and easy it was for him to hold on too, but had to stop that once he gained back the ability to put things in his mouth. (For those who have been following Emmett's Journey, you'll know just how huge a deal it is that he can reach his mouth again!!!!!!!!). Now we also let him play with cheerios so that he can learn to coordinate his thumb and index finger by picking them up.

Recently Emmett’s discovered that the lids to his bottles fit into his little palm perfectly and make some really cool noises when hit on the floor, you can watch the little movie clip to see how much fun Emmett has with them!  We are so happy that we have still been seeing some small improvements in his movement and strength - the other day he rolled his head while he was on tummy time – we haven’t seen him do this since August!  GO EMMETT!!!!!!!!!

Emmett loves flashing lights and whirring, spinning toys. Sounds and touch are awesome. He is a little boy who loves going for stroller and wagon rides. Bedtime is one or two stuff animals and his amazing turtle music light. Happy tenth month birthday, Emmett. We love you and are so proud of you!