Saturday, December 31, 2011

Happy New Year!


Wow, what a year!  I am so relieved this one was better than the last.  2010 started as the best year ever after Callie's birth and ended as the worst year ever after her diagnosis.  2011 was much more positive and better all around.  We definitely had our ups & downs and tears of both joy & sorrow, but overall it was full of blessings.  It is hard to believe one year ago our little Callie at 13 months of age was about 15 1/2 pounds and not able to sit independently.  Today at just over 2 years old she is about 24 pounds and working very hard to walk!  She just learned to take steps with her new baby doll stroller and with any luck will soon be making her way around on her own!  And she did not have any seizures this whole year!  PRAISE GOD!!

I have been somewhat obsessed with getting her walking over the last several months and have been focusing primarily on her PT.  This year my focus will be on her speech and feeding.  These are now the areas where she is lagging the most.  And I should point out that this is exactly what Dr. Dobyns predicted when we went to Seattle last year!  Callie is trying to say a few words like "up", "ball", and "baby", but they are very approximate at this time and her speech sounds are still pretty much limited to "ba" (no "da", "la", "ma", etc. except for something that sounds like "a-up-a" for "up").  When it comes to eating, she will accept food into her mouth like taking a bite of banana, but once it is in there she does not know what to do with it.  She has not figured out chewing yet.  So we are sticking mostly to purees and she for the most part could care less about eating.  If we just tube fed her all day, she would be happy.  Please pray we can make great progress in these areas this coming year.

I have been writing about caring for Callie for nearly a year now and it has been therapeutic for me to share this journey.  I am typically a private person and it took me a while to feel comfortable sharing, but I am so glad I did.  I cannot thank you enough for following Callie's progress and for your support & prayers.  Each comment left and email received has meant so much to me.  I love how it has connected me with other PMG moms from across the country and around the world!  It has been a real blessing.  Thank you all so much.

Callie & I wish you the very best in this new year!  xoxo





0 comments:

 

Caring for Callie Copyright © 2011 Flower Garden is Designed by Ipietoon for Tadpole's Notez Flower Image by Dapino