Charlotte Gives Her Best of All at GiGiFIT Infant 

“We are so happy to have found GiGi’s Playhouse Lancaster, and even more so to find the GiGiFIT Infant program. We heard about GiGi’s soon after Charlotte was born and started going to their events and monthly Language Music ‘N Our Peeps (LMNOP) program for participants birth to 36 months. Instantly, we were greeted with kindness and acceptance from everyone we met at GiGi’s”, shares Crystal, Charlotte’s mom.  

“We then happily heard about GiGiFIT Infant and Charlotte started attending just before her first birthday. GiGiFIT Infant has been such an amazing program for Charlotte. Not only does she get to socialize with her friends, but she works on skills in a fun, creative way. GiGiFIT Infant incorporates songs, exercises and play to help her with her gross motor goals.”  

“While she is ‘hard at work’, it’s also nice to talk with the other parents in the program. The program is fun, creative and engaging. Charlotte loves singing the songs she learns at GiGiFIT – and they often make it into our daily routine at home. She loves doing the exercises she learns at GiGiFIT. For example, Waddle Like a Penguin is one of her favorite and most requested at home.”  

“At the GiGiFIT Infant program, GiGiFIT volunteer instructors and assistants meet Charlotte where she is. They work with her on individualized gross motor and therapeutic-based goals throughout each session. When Charlotte began with GiGiFIT Infant, her goals were to begin crawling and to bear weight through her legs. Each time we attended GiGiFIT, we were given new and interesting activities to do with her to work towards these goals.” 

One of her GiGiFIT instructors shares this: “Many days at GiGiFIT, Charlotte was content to sit and watch. It took a lot to encourage her and motivate her to participate and move out of a seated position. One of the sessions, a Best of All moment for her was when she seemed to get excited about scarves. She reached forward, bearing weight on her hands in order to reach them and begin participating in the scarf song! Charlotte also showed difficulty and often reluctance to bear any weight through her legs and feet in order to stand. It was a Best of All moment when she grounded her feet with support for the whole song of Waddle Like a Penguin! You could tell her she was really tired afterwards. Another day, we worked on her sitting in a cube chair in front of a mirror with a bar and prompted and encouraged her to reach out and grab onto the bar and pull herself from seated to standing. We could tell it was difficult for her and she worked so hard. It was a Best of All moment when she got the strength and determination to hold onto the bar and pull to stand up with almost full support!  This summer, it seemed that the whole GiGiFIT Infant class rallied around Charlotte and cheered her on, celebrating each Best of All moment! By the last day, another Best of All moment was when she was observed to pull herself up on the bar with less support and stand there longer than she had before! We are so proud of her!” 

Her mom shares after the completion of the summer session, “Charlotte is now crawling all over the place and standing every chance she can get. There is no doubt, that a large part of this growth comes from her participating in the free, purposeful programming at GiGiFIT Infant on a weekly basis. Best of All, we know that we found an amazing place that Charlotte will continue to be a part of for the rest of her life, where she will be accepted, challenged, welcomed and loved!”