be like the little children...

Here's Sharon dancing with cousin Rose...RJ and I went on a date and Sharon had fun entertaining the Messicks...

I had to share a neat cousin story that is an example of the wisdom (and innocence) of children. Anna, Sharon, ROse, and I were organizing Sharon's room and found a book that i had as a child about a child who is mentally retarded. Rose commented that it didn't seem like a very happy book after reading the summary. Anna asked why. I was trying to explain to Anna what mental retardation is. I said "some people have brain damage like Sharon and are never able to think like a grown up or learn a lot of things" and Anna said "so, what's sad about that?" (when do we lose that wisdom???). I explained that the book is kind of sad because the girl's sister is embarrassed by the mental retardation and that people can tease and be mean when people are different. Anna and Rose got very defensive and said "we will never be embarrassed by Sharon!!!"
Gotta love kids...what an example for us grown ups who have lost the ability to see life so simply...

Peace to all 

Here's the skinny...

Here's our cute girl. She was looking so grown up today that i had to snap a picture and share it... Today we went to our new pediatrician...she is fantastic and is going to be a huge help to us. Sharon loved her and had no problems with being checked out by her. Sharon is still tiny as can be. We keep telling ourselves (and everyone else!) that she has no chance at being big with the parents she has, but then a doctor will express concern over her size and we wonder if we should be worried. This pedicatrician is going to do some follow up checking with the specialists that Sharon has seen so that she can be sure all areas have been checked for any medical reasons for Sharon's tiny-ness...
I'm sure she'll find what everyone has found: Sharon is just going to be small! (to give you an idea of what we're talking about, she is not even on the growth charts for head size and weight, and is barely hanging on in height-she used to be 70% in height and is now less than 5%). It would be interesting to compare her to RJ and my growth charts, but such things didn't exist back then so we can just presume that he and i would have been off the charts as well...
I was hoping Sharon would have broken out of the 16 lb mark, but she's still there at 16.12. But, the silver lining there is that it would be very difficult to carry around a 30 lb child!! Another factor is that people who have high tone (which Sharon has in her hand and foot) use a lot of energy and calories on that tightness...Hey, i just looked at the picture i posted...maybe i should have put some food on her tray if i want her to gain weight :)

We're also about to start speech therapy which i am very excited about. We also got a new case manager (thank God for that...i was getting tired of doing all the work!) who is on the ball and a very positive force. She is going to try to get us some educational therapy as well for Sharon. Whew! A lot to fit in! But, it's great to have these services available at such a young age...the more we can stimulate her brain activity now, the better!
Thanks for checking in
God Bless
JAye, RJ, and SHaron I

updates

I realized that with the fun i have posting pictures, i forget to give updates on Sharon's progress.
Remember how excited we were by her rolling over? well, she hasn't done that in a few weeks! She learned to sit up totally independentally, which is fantastic...but, it means she no longer has any reason to stay on her belly and roll. She just sits up whenever she is on her belly. Sigh. It's a good thing, but the rolling would be very good because she'd be able to move around. So, now she's back to being stationary. We swear she has stretchable arms though, because she can reach things that are placed well out of reach.
Every day she gets stronger with her standing and that is very exciting. Again, mobility is going to be the issue. I am thinking that is the common theme with Sharon. She learns skills but doesn't implement them to help her move. As she gets stronger standing, hopefully she will get the urge to move. We'll see! She'll get it all in time...

A big concern right now is the food allergy. It seems that she may have problems with more than dairy. Frustrating to say the least. We're in the process of trying to get to the bottom of that. Please say some prayers. It would be really nice for her not to have serious food allergies to contend with along with everything else...

THe other big news is that we are helping coordinate and are participating in the first annual Walk With Me of the Triad. It is a national walk that helps support Easter Seals and United Cerebral Palsy. The walk is in October and we've put a team together for Sharon. iF you are interested in joining us or helping out in any way, check out the link
http://www.easterseals.com/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=1598&team_id=26655

I think that's about it for updates for now. Thanks for reading!!
love and peace
Jaye, RJ, and SHaron I.

Fun times

Here's Sharon hanging out in our hot tub with Kayla and Daniel, friends who came with their parents to grill, climb, and swim. Sharon loved hanging out with them as you can tell!













We have recently (this weekend!) discovered the fun of geocaching and highly recommend it to everyone we know!! (www.geocaching.com) . We are hooked! Jax got the gear for her birthday and we have been taking every opportunity to go find caches. This was a find tonight with Namon, Pop Pop, Martin, Jax, and the three of us here. Anna is holding the cache and Sharon is pulling my hair.

fun weekend and good news

We had a very nice Labor Day weekend and enjoyed having daddy around (he is back in school at nights getting his MBA so our time with him is precious!!!!) Sharon has started getting into sitting position totally on her own. It's so cool! It still shocks me when i lay her down and then turn around to find her sitting up playing...
Our new OT started today and i think we're going to like her. She seems very experienced and pushed Sharon a lot. She also was very very impressed with how well Sharon is doing with her right hand :) In just the past couple of weeks Sharon has really begun to take some initiative and move her right arm/hand. She will reach out to "hit" us in play and just gets so proud of herself when she sees how excited we get! Her cousins are expecially good at encouraging this. It's very heartwarming to see them, on their own, playing with her and making her use her right hand. I swear they will have more success than any of the rest of us!!!
This weekend AUnt Joan and Uncle Lowell came down for a visit and brought cousin Kelly with them. It was very nice to have them around!! Here are some pictures of some of the fun we had...

Here's a goober trip to the zoo. Not everyone in this picture was part of our crew, but there are a lot of us in there (i see Aunt Joan, Pop-pop, Zac, Rose, RJ, Anna and Sharon...but there could be more...














a fun carousel ride
















labor day picnic at our house with Aunt Joan
Here's the crowd...enjoying a fire and some cornhole...Sharon had a ball with everyone and got to stay up late. (in this picture, she is in the backgroun on the ground with cousin Anna)