Almost end of summer

Where has the time gone?

We went for Lauren's 1 year checkup and she weighed in at 15lb 10...she is even smaller than Kayla at 1 year!! I really didn't think that was possible. Kayla was 16lb 4 at 1 year. But, for those of you who know Kayla, you will probably recall how we had to distract her with toys, a song and a dance at every meal just to get her to eat. With Lauren, we just let her eat what she wants to eat...and as it turns out, she doesn't want to eat much. We are now doing a similar diet that we did with Kayla: adding table cream to her milk, avacado, almond butter, and overall just trying to give her more high calorie foods. Here we go again. Food is such a struggle with these two girls! I have pretty much given up on Kayla. I weighed her the other day and she has gained 1 lb in 6 months! Guess she'll be wearing the same clothes next summer as this summer...for the record, Kayla is still wearing a few pair of shorts this summer that are size 12 months and she is 3.5 years old. Lauren is still in her 3-6 month onsies and she is 1 years old. My two peanuts :)

I can't believe summer is almost over. Kayla just finished her week of skating lessons.  Steve got her a pair of boys hockey skates (he refused to have her in white skates!), and by the end of the week, she was moving on the ice independently and was getting up to standing from sitting on her own. Kayla is now enjoying her last days of summer before she goes full time to preschool in September. She loves having sleepovers at Grandma's place (because they let her watch tv before bed), and she is singing along to pop songs like OMG by Usher.

Lauren is doing well. She is smiling alot these days and LOVES to play with herself in the mirror. She gets very excited when she sees herself and will interact with herself. She makes faces at herself and bangs on the mirror. It the cutiest thing! For the first time, I couldn't care less about fingerprints! Lauren is becoming more mobile and is now crawling more steadily and with more confidence around the house. She is also now cutting her 8th tooth and has become the worst sleeper in the house. She cries every night for 30 min to 1.5 hours. She stands in her crib, eyeing the door, with tears streaming down her cheeks and cries and cries and cries. There have been nights where Steve, Kayla and I have fallen asleep with Lauren still crying. No rescue from mommy.

The vision consultant continues to study Lauren but mentioned at her last visit that of the 40 kids on her case load, Lauren is the most baffling. Still a mystery that little girl. We went for another eye test this past week and should hear back in about a months time on the results. We'll keep everyone posted on this. Still no palate surgery date either. PT and OT are going well. Our PT said she wished more of her clients were as strong as Lauren...we thought that was such a nice compliment. And of course counted our blessing on this one. 

Works for me starts next week. I'm excited but nervous. I hope I can keep up...it feels like forever since I've worked, especially in a corporate environment. Lauren is going to be spending her days at Grandma(s) house. I think it will be a nice change of scenery for her. Kayla will be in school full time with ice skating lessons on Mondays after school and ballet on Saturdays. Lauren will be doing music classes on Saturdays. Steve - hockey (i'm rolling my eyes as I write the words). Me - i promise to floss, that's about all I can commit to....All in all its going to be a busy Fall for all of us.

On a last note, I do want to genuinely thank all our family and friends for your support over the past year. I think Lauren has brought alot of us closer together and has truly showed us what is really important in life. Its family and close friends that really count in the end. You are the ones that listen to us in time of sorrow, you are the ones that give us a shoulder to cry on, you are the ones that shed a tear of joy when we share a proud moment of Lauren's progress with you, you are the ones that embrace Lauren as your own, you are the ones that are cheering for her on the sidelines. Lauren has made alot of gains over the past 6 months and we wanted to really thank everyone for helping her to get to where she is at. Every gesture you do, whether its a simple wave and smile at her, a fun game of peek-a-boo, helping her to walk, or giving her first taste of ice cream, it means alot to us and we just wanted to take the time to say thank you. So thank you again.