the "flower princess"

Sharon and I (Jaye) were in cousin Jen Pierce's wedding this weekend. Sharon was fabulous and did her part well and managed to enjoy the reception as well....








Here she is dancing with Pop-Pop



Being cute with Uncle Martin ....














and Aunt Jax











Going up the aisle with Mommy....

while in PA, Sharon got to spend some time with Aunt Joan...and adored her!!! Here they are reading together...











Here are Sharon, RJ, Aunt Lorrie and Uncle Fred the day after the big wedding....

First carnival

Sharon went to her first carnival today. We didn't expect her to care one way or the other about it, but she became very excited when she saw this ride and kept pointing at it. Cousin Anna offered to take her on the ride (and held on tight) and Sharon loved it!!!! 

standing tall

look at the big girl standing up! (I realized that i haven't shown a picture of her standing, which she is quite good at!!...and of course, "CAT" is always there to help keep her occupied...) 

Milestone Excitement!!

Well, Sharon totally surprised her daddy and I last night by rolling all the way over, from her back to front. This may not seem like much for a 17 month old, but it is huge. It is also something we had pretty much given up on. She is so stubborn and completely refuses to do anything that puts her on her belly. But the PT has been urging us to just leave her alone with toys out of reach, because we all know that she has the capability of moving if she would just put her mind to it. And i guess she has finally decided that it's time to get a move on. She has been rolling over repeatedly! We don't want to jump the gun, but this does open up so many possibilities for her and is a huge step. Now that she knows how to get on her belly, she will hopefully figure out that she can begin to "creep" on her belly. This has been one of her PT goals since last fall and i had been telling the PT that we might as well give up on that goal....
The "big picture" for all of this is that any time a child is on their belly, they are developing major muscles in their arms and backs. Sharon's legs have gotten very strong from her standing, but her arms and trunk continue to be very weak. Hopefully, this is the start of her catching up with all of those muscles!!!!
YAY!!!!
Keep those prayers coming!
And Congrats to JOSH BLUE!!!! We are so excited! We hope that this is just the start of people in the spotlight who have disabilities.
love and peace
Jaye, RJ, and Sharon I.



Here I am with my very protective relatives (this picture cracks my mom up!)






She has a huge grin in this picture with Pop Pop if you can see....

a monkey's uncle

Sharon is celebrating with her uncle Jason...
He has been making films now for quite a few years, and participating in different film festivals. He recently directed and produced a short film for the "48 Hour Film Festival" and last night was awarded "Best of Greensboro" which means that he and his film/team go on to a national competition...





Sharon enjoys her brush with fame :)

(she says, heck, i've always known he was something...he can sing and play the guitar and make up songs for me!)

Goodbye to one of our angels

On Tuesday we had to say goodbye to Connie, our wonderful OT who has been with us since Sharon was 4 months old. She is moving on to a different job and i trust that we will have a capable new OT in her place. I also know that many therapists are going to come in go in our lives over the next few years...
but this was a hard one to say goodbye to. She was incredibly skilled and knowledgeable in all areas of child developments and helped us in so many ways. When Sharon waves "bye Bye" or gives "high five", those are hard earned skills taught by Connie. Her ability to hold a fork and cup, or stack blocks. Even the things we now take for granted, like patting the cat, were things that once seemed impossible. Sharon amazed Connie and i on the last day we had together by consistently using "more" in sign langauge. (Sharon has been very reticent with her signing and Connie and i were beginning to wonder if she would ever do it!). Connie is the one who advised us to see an orthopedist, geneticist, developmental pediatrician, to start signing. She helped Sharon get past her swallowing issues, tried very hard to get Sharon to sleep better at night. She gently suggested that we need a new pediatrician (which is TRUE! i just needed to hear someone tell me that). She has put me in touch with support groups, great online resources, area programs. She answered questions that had nothing to do with OT but kept me up at nights. And of course, on top of this, she worked diligently on Sharon's right side and i know that we will always credit Sharon's progress to Connie's skill. So much of how Sharon will do in the future depends on these first months, and having Connie on the team was definitely a gift from God. Sharon won't remember Connie, but we sure will...every Tuesday morning she was in our living room, teaching our girl too many things to name...