Sitting, Standing, & Snot

Sophia has been making quite a bit of progress lately.  She's been sitting, occasionally.  When she wants to, she'll stand with assistance.  She's been sick a few times but we've managed to keep her out of the hospital.  I love Texas.  I really do.  But the extreme temperature changes are so hard for Sophia.  It was 80 degrees on Saturday and we woke up to 16 degree weather this morning!  I don't mind it but Sophia sure does.  Too much humidity produces a ton of secretions.  Too little humidity dries her up.  To my surprise and pleasure, she's handled the extreme temperate changes like a champ!  She's hasn't been terribly runny.  Anyway, here's what she's been up to.

Sitting

On Jan. 4th Jeremiah yelled for me to come into Sophia's room.  I got there and saw this.  Sophia was sitting up!  Usually, we have to prop her up or sit her up in her chair.  I didn't think she was that far along with physical therapy.  I guess she was getting stronger than it appeared.  It's like she decided to sit up and she sat up!

The girls are always proud when Sophia accomplishes anything.  It's the sweetest thing to see.

Here she is in action!

Standing

This picture was the week of Thanksgiving.  We work on weight bearing a lot.  Our pt usually has to stand behind Sophia to support her.  She had to support Sophia's body, knees, and feet.

 Three months later...she has her feet planted firmly on the floor!  This was on February 27th.  Look at our girl go!  She's only being stabilized at her hips and has some support on her back.  She's doing great and I love it.  I'll be glad when she starts walking.  It's a little tiring carrying around a two year old that is 23 pounds and is unable to walk.  The bright side?  I am getting a nice little workout.  My biceps are looking great :o)

Snot 

Because it's cold and flu season, mixed with the extreme temperature changes, Sophia gets a lot of snot.  Her sinuses get bad just like most of us.  Hers are typically a lot worse because of her medical issues.  She constantly has stuff coming out of her nose and mouth.  We stay busy trying to keep her clear.  Poor baby!    

I am an equal opportunity mother.  Having said that, I recorded this solely for my entertainment.  If she wasn't a special needs child, I would've recorded it.  Why should I not record these moments just because she is a special needs child???  It gets really good at the :19 mark.  She was sleeping so hard that the ventilator had to exhale for her...continuously.  Enjoy!

Sophia Turns 2

Sophia turned two years old on Feb. 9th!  The family was excited and started talking about Sophia's birthday days before the actual event.  One evening we took turns and each of us said what we loved about Sophia.  Here's what was said:

Jeremiah: she's silly

Me: her smile and that she's happy all of the time

Liz: her curly hair

Scarlett: her hugs

Savannah: her kisses

We sure love this baby girl of ours and are so glad that she made it to her 2nd birthday.  Jeremiah commented that the first year went on and on and on.  He was right.  The second year wasn't nearly tumultuous as the first.  We are so thankful for that!  She's been home for six months and it has been glorious :o)

 We took several family pictures after church.  Don't be fooled.  Sophia didn't go.  I had the nurse to dress her when we got home while Jeremiah and I kept the girls awake.  They fell asleep on the way home and we bribed them with candy to stay awake long enough to take pictures.  They were good sports...and they enjoyed their candy.

After dinner it was time for b-day cake.  These were moments before the cake and song.  I think she was getting sleeping but didn't want to miss anything.  She was a good sport, too. 

Jeremiah made her a personal cake and cupcakes.  Unfortunately, she can't tell us what she wants so I told Jeremiah he could do whatever he wanted.  Giving him unlimited creative control is working out well lately.

About the upper left hand picture, just as I took the picture she started choking on her secretions. Jeremiah was moving in to suction her.  Then he was back to his usual antics.  This girl is so cute I can't stand it!

Happy 2nd birthday sweet baby girl!  Thank you for being a part of our family.  We are proud of you and love you so much!!!

Christmas Day

Christmas was filled with family, fun, and food.  My favorite thing about Christmas was making it fun for the girls.  Jeremiah and I tiptoed and navigated around the house to make sure that we surprised the girls with the best Christmas morning we could.

 These little princesses decided to sleep by the tree so that they wouldn't miss Santa Claus.  We decided to trick them and placed the presents underneath the playroom tree.

Here's the mess Santa left for me to clean up.

The girls woke up and was so sad that Santa didn't leave any presents underneath the tree.  Jeremiah and I kept hinting to them to check the tree upstairs but they were too distraught to understand anything we were saying.  We helped them follow the trail of leaves (that Santa must have tracked in) up the stairs and they were pleasantly surprised.  Savannah assumed that everything wrapped in Spider-Man paper was hers.  She was right :o)

Liz has been wanting some black boots and Jeremiah got her some doc martens.  The girl wears out shoes faster than the speed of light.  Hopefully, these will last her for a while.  I think these were her favorite gift and she wears them almost everyday.

Scarlett is happy with whatever she gets...as long as it's pink or Hello Kitty :o) 

We stole our final move from A Christmas Story when Ralphie was just about to get his Red Rider BB gun.  After all of the presents were opened, Jeremiah told Savannah that there was more one gift.   She tracked Jeremiah's every move.  She opened the gift.  And she must have been the happiest girl on this side of the Red River.  She got her Spider-Man pajamas!

Savannah didn't waste any time putting those things on.  I wish Scarlett got dressed that fast.

When Sophia woke up, we helped her open her gift.  I was so glad that we didn't spend another Christmas in the hospital.  We spent it at home just like families should :o)