San Diego fun

We just got back from a trip to San Diego to visit with family. We stayed with RJ's aunt Kim and Uncle John and cousin Cory came from college to be part of the fun (with a fun friend, in case you see a face you don't recognize!). While there we also got to see RJ's sister Debbie and her husband and three boys (and RJ's GREAT nephew...yep, he's getting old!)
We went to Sea World, which was great fun. The top photo is Kim and John leaving the park with Sharon after a long day. John is the style consultant of the family, as you can see. The next picture is everyone (except the camera woman) including Debbie and Randy at Sea World.
The last shot is RJ and Sharon with the House crew...the boys are all RJ's nephews (Sharon's cousins) and the baby is the great-nephew (and his mommy behind him).
A very special opportunity to see folks we don't get to see often and for Sharon to hang out with aunts, uncles, and cousins!
The plane ride is LONG with a two year old, but Sharon was really a trooper (as usual). She stayed cheerful throughout and even handled the time change pretty well.
While we were out there, she started calling me "Mommy" (instead of MaMa) and said "night night" and "I love you"...so she was definitely inspired by CA air and family!
Oh, and she also learned how to "jump" (it's more like a cute little hop, but it's adorable and she figured it out all on her own)

Thanks for checking in!!!
Peace,
Jaye, RJ, and Sharon I.

Gleisner cousins visit

I'm a little delayed with this post, but such is life :)
A couple of weekends ago the Gleisner cousins, Gracie and Jared came with their parents in their RV to visit. It was great to have them here and the kids all had so much fun together. Since they left, Sharon has been much more chatty and is making all kinds of great sounds.
So, here are a couple of shots: one of Sharon and Gracie and Jared, and then one of the whole crew (Dutilly cousins are in there too) during a water balloon toss in our front yard!
Since then we've also taken a train ride to Charlotte and had Grandma Baer visit so it's been very busy! While Grandma Baer was here, Sharon learned how to put her face underwater and blow bubbles so that was very exciting!

Peace
Jaye, RJ, and Sharon I.

what a week, what a gal!

So, this girl is something.
Here she is happy, smiling with her newest friend, her educational therapist Laura who is a Godsend! I included a picture of Sharon posing with me because people have asked for me to be in one of these pictures...so, here it is.

Last night cousin Anna spent the night so that she could come with Sharon and I on our early morning appointments to help out. As we were getting ready for bed and i was putting Sharon's hip brace on, Anna said "wow, i couldn't sleep with that thing on!" And i said "well, most of us couldn't do half of what Sharon does in a day!!!!". And it got me thinking about what this daughter of mine has had on her schedule recently. in just the past 9 days, she has had 7 doctors appointments, given blood, had x-rays, been to the dentist, and has had 9 therapy sessions (and been camping in the mountains over the weekend for a little R&R!). And while i'm about ready to fall over, she is just smiling and as fun as ever. She just gets cleverer every day and is such a hoot! A tiny little 19 pound gal who just takes what life throws at her and keeps on trucking...Pretty neat if you ask me :)
So, if anyone is feeling worn down, come on by for a visit with Sharon, she'll inspire you!!! (the therapist in the top picture cares full time for 3 profoundly disabled teens, and when she comes to "play" with Sharon she says "Ah, here is my reward!")



Note: we are helping out and forming Team Sharon again for the EASter Seals/UCP Walk with Me in Greensboro. Feel free to check out our team and join or help in any way :)
i think this link will work...
http://www.easterseals.com/site/TR?pg=teamlist&fr_id=1813

Here's an older picture, from our zoo trip, but cute! (I haven't taken a picture this week so here we are :) This is Sharon with her uncle Jason and cousin Anna












Today Sharon had another Botox treatment. She didn't come out of the anesthesia as smoothly this time, but seems to be recovered now and is wiped out. We'll see how this round goes. We are most concerned that her balance will be thrown off like it was last time she had Botox (she was so thrown off that she stopped walking for a couple of weeks). Since she is a much stronger walker now, we're hoping that her balance issues won't be as drastic. We're also going to go back to the larger leg braces since she isn't doing as well as the therapists would like with her foot braces. She's still young enough that she doesn't care, which is a blessing. But it is a blow to us since we were so happy that no one could tell she was wearing braces with her little ones on. Ah well, all in the name of progress! I've gotten serious about sign language as well so we'll see how quickly i can pick it up and try to teach her. It's apparent that her speech is going to be a long time coming, so i want to be sure she has a way to communicate in the meantime...
And the biggest news is that I've decided not to send her back to her special school this fall. They were requiring that Sharon attend FULL TIME and i just think that is unreasonable and unneccesary for a two year old! It's scary to move her because she is safe and secure at that school. But, i've also been feeling that she wasn't being pushed enough because there weren't any kids that were walking or talking to inspire her. So, i've enrolled her in two mornings a week at a Christian pre-school. We're very nervous that she's (literally) going to be bowled over by other kids, but we'll just have to see what happens. And if it doesn't work, then she'll come home with me and we'll find other ways to get her caught up...This preschool does an "ease-in" system for the first few weeks where parents are allowed to spend time with the children until they are comfortable, so that is good. And one of Sharon's therapists has offered to do a session each week with Sharon in school so that makes me feel better too! I think she'll love being around the kids, but she's also going to be overwhelmed by them and i'll have to be sure that she doesn't fade into the background (the way she learns is to watch,quietly, over and over, as things happen until she feels like she can do the same thing. With her, this can take months, so i want to be sure she is participating as much as she can without feeling out of her league...)
anyway, that's all for now! Thanks for continuing to check on her! We're loving summer and are so busy it's amazing...so many fun activities to fit in around therapies!
blessings,
Jaye, RJ, and Sharon I