from Halloween to Christmas

Well, it's been a long time since I have blogged, so please forgive me. This may be a bit long, but I hope you all enjoy the update!


The week of Halloween proved to be festive, however Lila spent October 31st not feeling well at all. She came down with pink eye like no other! Below is a photo of her Halloween costume at daycare that week. Go Chicago!
(OK, so I am having terrible problems uploading photos to the blog. I now remember why I haven't blogged in a long time! I am going to have to proceed without photos...sorry.) Picture in your mind a White Sox cheerleader...wait, that's Lila!


November...we had quite an uneventful month, until we headed to Danville, CA for Thanksgiving to visit some friends (Scott and Mikki, for those of you that are from Westmont). We had a blast, but Lila being the horrible traveler that she is, had her normal troubles...didn't sleep in the car which led to her being a fuss-bucket, didn't sleep well at all in the evening, and had trouble sitting still for an entire meal. The great part of the trip was her interaction with Nick (9) and Ben (7). She loved playing with the boys and crawling after them around the house. She bounced with them on their trampoline, and went for a walk down the block to pet the horses (insert mental photo here). It is great to get her out, and we will keep trying to turn her into a good traveler :-)

The last day of the trip we went into San Francisco to stay with Matt's Uncle for the night. It was great to see him for the limited time we had, and we hope Lila allows us to have dinner with he and Barbara next time we try to pop in for a day or so! Hahaha...yeah, she was a mess that day with having to sleep in a new place, as well as being overstimulated with all of the action around Pier 39. Hopefully she'll like it next year :-)


December....wow has this month flown by! We have had such a great month with lots of hurdles jumped by Lila and hope for the upcoming year! You may be wondering what I am referring to? Well, for the past few months I have been asking all of our therapists if I should begin potty training Lila. We thought she would have a lot of trouble due to her low muscle tone, so there was some scepticism. All of our therapists asked if Lila was telling us yet whether she was wet or uncomfortable? I would say no, and they would follow with, "she is not there yet with her cognitive skills".

They said that she would not get the concept yet, so we just have to keep trying to help her understand that she needs to verbalize, in some way, that she wants to use the potty. I then went back in my memory banks and remembered that Lila does not do anything in the order that people expect, so a week and a half ago I decided to start putting her on the potty three times a day. Sure enough, the first day she went #1, the second day she went #1...AND #2! Yes, we now go to the potty three times a day with activity almost every time! This is absolutely huge for her and we are just thrilled! Who needs Christmas presents when you have such great news as this!!!

Not only is Lila performing on the potty level, she is also walking as much as possible (with assistance, of course). Matt put up this handrail on a wall upstairs that is about 13 feet long. Lila has gained such a wonderful sense of independence that allows her to crawl over to the handrail, pull herself up, and walk the entire length of the bar on her own! Oh my gosh, monumental once again!
Lastly, two weeks ago Lila ate 50% of her meal with a fork! Yes, this is an area where she has a lot of trouble, and usually the fork ends up across the room. Not this time!

She is growing up so much and really progressing each and every day. We love to see strides like this, and keep praying that her strength and balance will come around so that she is able to walk in the near future.
Until then, we will continue to do special needs Yoga and gymnastics, along with all of our therapies. We have a lot of fun each week, and our entire support system has become such a wonderful part of our life. We couldn't do it without them :-)


Happy Holidays to you all and best wishes in the New Year (I promise to have the photo glitch figured out prior to my next entry).
We love you all!!!