new milestones

Buggy had *2* therapy appointments today and she astounded us at both of them. She has started to make verbal approximations when she is "talking" to us. Today she made several more and is even understood by her Speech therapist. We have some new goals for using her speech board and articulating better. She played some great pretend and used some new signs and approximations during the session.

After that, we went to Cache Kids and she had OT. She was coloring in circles (has only done horizontal lines up to this point) and even identified and colored pictures when directed. Two months ago she was tested in identifying pictures and she could not do it at all. We were working with her as if she had a visual processing problem. Today she identified eight pics correctly and then identified body parts on a hand-drawn person. Once she was "helped" by cuing to visually scan rather than just point to the first pic she saw, she identified them all correctly. she has *never* done this. I know this may not seem like a big deal for most kids and, for most kids this happens without us even knowing when, but for Buggy, this is huge. This has repercussions with her communication as well as vision. I had no idea we would see any improvement on this front, let alone improvement this quickly.

She is "finding her footing" and walking more and more. She has such motivation to be moving in the same manner as her siblings and friends around her. I finally have a new neuro appt along with a chest CT and a FEES evaluation. It turns out that one of the resident neuros is now an attending. We met her on her first rotation through neuro and she was one of Buggy's dr's on her first foray in PCMC. When she had to stay again for a month the next spring, this neuro got to see her again. She's really nice and I'll be interested to hear what she has to say.

I'm finding it harder and harder to keep up with Buggy and the rest of the kids. I'm getting wicked tired about the time that the kids and Buggy have caught their second wind of the day (right after nap time, of course). I also notice that if I do too much, I am sooo sore for the rest of the day and I can't even get up off the couch. People are still raising their eyebrows when i tell them I am 5 months pregnant..."Are you sure there's only one in there?" and other such comments are common. Aah well, I will never be one of those cute little mamas that only ever gain 15 pounds and it's all inside of the ribs. So far, this baby has been much more demure in her movements.

Rapunzel is playing princess every chance she gets. She loves to dress up and wear her jewelry. Frodo is continuing to impress outsiders with his vast amount of trivia that he loves to share. He's also learning new jokes and riddles thanks to omi's book collection and he is loving the Magic Tree house books. They are all excited for the new baby and they hug and kiss my belly in anticipation.

When I think about my young growing family and my beautiful kids I often get overwhelmed and worry about their/our future. Then i remember Sister Beck's amazing talk in Women's Conference this last year and I find strength. I know that we are where we are supposed to be. It gives me hope and purpose.