What's New!

Our little Laney is changing so much.  It has been wonderful having her off her medications.  We've noticed such a difference in her.  She was on them for so long, it became our normal.  Without them, it's obvious to see the effect they had on her.

We've officially entered the world of having a toddler...with full blow temper tantrums.  They seem to center around nap time and bed time.  The minute we reach the top of the stairs, she clings to us and starts to whimper.  By the time we lay her down, she's lost it.  This is such a deviation from how she's always been.  We would easily lay her down and she'd put herself to sleep.  We haven't quite figured out exactly how to handle these new meltdowns!  As annoying as they've been, we secretly burst with joy, knowing that these kind of reactions are a great sign cognitively.  It's our little gal's way of communicating to us that she really prefers hanging with her Mommy and Daddy to lounging in her crib.   Hopefully, we can come up with some compromise so it doesn't take her 45 minutes to get to sleep!

Besides the exercise her lungs have been receiving, she's been working hard at her head/trunk control.  Her therapists keep pushing her and she keeps responding.  We've been working on sitting, tummy time and rolling.  We're so anxious for her to master these skills, as the rest of her development depend on these critical pieces.  She's been spending some time in her "stander".  It's a Frankenstein looking contraption that we strap her in to, then raise her up and she stands fully supported.  She looks pretty funny in it!

We're finally moving forward with her feeding too!  She's now eating 2 T. or 1oz. of baby food, twice daily! Yay!  We just introduced a "Honey Bear Cup" for "drinks".  We call it her "Honey BooBoo"! :)  She's surprisingly done pretty well with it.  It's felt really good to be able to make a jump in her feeding.  We've been taking everything really slow for her safety.  To see her respond well to these increases, makes us really excited!

Our little gal keeps fighting!  We're so proud of her.  This month has been hard, every day thinking back to what our life was like a year ago that day at Riley.  She has come so far.  We all have.

For our prayer warriors, here is a list of some specific prayer requests"
-Continued strength in her neck, trunk, arms and legs
-Head Growth
-Continued gains in her vision, especially her left field (which is much worse than her right)
-Patience for Mom and Dad in figuring out Elena's emerging personality :)

 Laney in her Stander

 Laney and Pete

 Happy Girl

Modeling her new hat :)