Trick or Treat

Red Wagon

We finally used our red wagon for fun rather than for a place for Cam to live after her surgery!

Having Another

I've been thinking a lot lately about whether or not I think I'm ready for more. Right now the answer is no. When we had Camryn we weren't expecting what happened and what should have been an enjoyable time for us turned into a very stressful time. It didn't feel like having one child it felt like having multiple children. We were thrown into doctors appointments, therapy, surgeries, procedures and tests. I spent her entire first year working with her intensely at home to get her to improve as much as I could. It encompassed my entire life, some may say how unhealthy this is but how could I not. She was my daughter and she couldn't do it herself at that point. I only want the best for her, meaning the best doctors, specialists, and of course the same opportunities that children her age should have. At this point I think to myself, would it be fair to have another child when I give much of my attention to Camryn and her recuperation? Not right now is the answer, it wouldn't be fair to another child. I want to have to time to finally enjoy Camryn.

Therapy

We had OT today after a long day at school and work for both of us. We've been using the STEM machine at therapy. Cam is such a busy body that our therapist has to change her activity every couple minutes to keep her attention. Camryn loves therapy and has cried every time we've had to leave therapy the past couple times. She loves her therapist and it's weird to say but they feel like friends to me. They've been seeing Camryn since she was just 2 weeks old and she's now 17 months. Camryn feels so comfortable there and it makes things so much easier for us. Camryn's finally moved into the big girl room where she is using toddler toys and doing more intricate finger work. Her improvement has been slow but I'm just happy that we are seeing some improvements. We know it may never be 100% but it is better.

Pics from Yesterday

Nice Day

   My husband and I had such a nice day today. We of course are always up early so we got to the Pumpkin Patch early before it got too crowded. We took some great shots of Cam. We also rode the hayride! Camryn really had a great morning. When we got home she napped and we relaxed for a bit and after she woke up I was able to run out to go food shopping by myself. We spent the last part of our day going to the pool and playing with Camryn and watching football.
    I've noticed recently that Camryn has a lot more double arm movement. She's using both arms and hands at the same time much more naturally. Not always, but noticeably more. She's also definitely getting up a little higher, certainly not completely overhead but we are definitely seeing slow progress. We noticed today while she was in just a diaper that her shoulder isn't sticking out as far anymore either. We are so grateful that every couple months we are seeing slow improvements.

10/18

I'm writing this today because I don't know if I can handle writing this tomorrow. Tomorrow marks 4 years since my mother passed away. My family has not had it easy with growing up with a sick parent and all the things that have happened to us since she passed. For my entire childhood, I prepared myself for the day that my mom would pass away. Let me say that no matter how much you might anticipate it happening you are never prepared for it when it finally happens. In the last couple years of my moms life, we grew closer than we had ever been. I talked to her multiple times a day, even if she didn't know what I was saying or couldn't clearly talk back I was lucky that I could just talk my head off to her. I am lucky to have had such a fighter for a mom, she never gave up and kept on fighting until the end (even though she said she would never do that.)  Today and everyday I take a little piece of her with me, when I look at my daughter who is named for her.I miss her every day and think of all the life lessons she has taught me.

Hi-top kinda day

Speech

Camryn finally got evaluated for speech yesterday. Her receptiveness (comprehension)  is almost at 2 years while her expressive speech is almost at 1 year. Clearly, her speech is delayed. The therapist said that a lot of what she was noticing had to do with Camryn being a low tone baby. My question is...is the low tone from the Erb's Palsy causing the speech delay and low tone in her mouth? I just don't even know what to think anymore. It's one thing after another. I'm super happy about her comprehension being so high...but I'm upset her expression and speech is so low. She's also been pretty fussy the last couple days and am wondering if she's getting in some new teeth.

Who knows...

Stem at Therapy

Since I started going back to work I've had a hard time trying to get everything I need to do with Cam in a day done. I decided it would save time and get more accomplished if we started using her stem during therapy sessions. Day one was a success. Camryn's amazing daycare has also been stretching her during the day and will start splintig her with the elbow splint. We were so lucky to have found discovery kids experience in Hollywood. They have been amazing and so accommodating. 

Sick

I guess it was bound to happen at some point with everyone being sick around me. Yesterday I woke up with a scratchy throat and thought I was getting sick. By evening, I was sick. This morning I woke up with fever and feeling terribly. I just called in sick and I hate doing that. I don't want to push myself when I'm sick because I always wind up getting worse when I do that. Not only am I sick Cam is sick again too. If she doesn't have fever I think I may have George bring her to school so I can rest and get to the doctor. Feeling yucky.  On another note, we had a wonderful time this past weekend at our good friends wedding. Not only did my husband get to be a groomsman but the couple asked him to sign their Ketubah as a witness. (That's a Jewish contract of marriage.)