welcome new friend!

I just had to post shots of Sharon meeting her buddy Jack. He is 9 days old today and Sharon got to visit him (admittedly, she was more excited about playing with Jack's little dogs, but she was happy to see him too!)
Jack is the son of the folks who keep Flare at their barn for us. Whitney (Jack's mom) used to be Sharon's PT but is now a good friend and we're excited to have a new friend up the street for Sharon to play with and hang out at the barn with! Sure, he's tiny now, but mark my words...in another year i'll be posting pictures of Jack and Sharon and i'll bet money that Jack will be bigger than her already :)

BIG girl

Here's Sharon with her dogs (her absolute favorite play-toys...they are so good with her!) in front of the wood-stove...nice and cozy!

And the other is of her doing some of her exercises...Her legs/thighs/hips are really tight and she gets very sore with stretching so i've been trying to figure out ways to get her to stretch without fighting it. Now is the time she needs to be riding her horse but it's too cold...soon though, and that will be a big help in her recovery. (she is very hesitant to put weight on her legs, so it's going to be a slower road than i had hoped...) She's sitting on her enormous bear and showing off that she knows how to say "CHEESE" (her cousins taught her this on the cruise...and tonight when i took the picture and said "Smile Sharon", she said "Cheese!!"...which is a really big deal. Not sure if i can do her speech issues justice right now because i'm wiped out, but she is working so hard at just imitating words that are said to her. The fact that i said something to her, and she knew what that meant and was able to come up with the word "cheese" all on her own is huge. You can see by her grin that she knows it and is quite pleased!!) I'll try to remember to spend some time soon and post about her speech...but the summary is that we are treating her for apraxia (feel free to look it up..) even though her therapist agrees with me that 2 years old is too young to put a diagnosis on (i'm sure it's what she has though)..anyway, this is common in stroke survivors. At its most basic form, it means that a person KNOWS what they want to say (for example, "turtle"), but when they open their mouth and speak, something totally different comes out ("clock"). It is treated with TONS of repetition (teaching the brain by rote). (I'd think it was a pretty fascinating process if it weren't my daughter dealing with it)

Anyway, what a tangent! I just planned to post the pictures...and tell how great she is doing with school!!! Before the holidays school had become a nightmare for us, she hated going and screamed and cried every day. I dreaded bringing her back after a 3 week break...well, she surprised me!! Her first day back she was happy as could be and just gets happier each day we go! Today we got to the parking lot to drop her off and she was kicking and squealing in anticipation, and now doesn't want me to take her home when it's time! I think she just feels so much more "able" without her casts on...and those kids are just so good to her in that class that she just fits right in. It's so neat to see. Today when i picked her up she was having a good-natured tug-of-war with a little boy over a toy...i don't think a mother is supposed to be as thrilled about that as i was, but that's so great for her (she is usually very timid with other kids and i've worried that she will be "walked all over"). And if anything will get her talking more, it will be her classmates...so I'm thrilled to have her back there full time (she was VERY part time since her surgery) (and by full time, i mean two mornings a week!!)

moving ahead

Here's another cruise picture: this was first boarding the ship (I hid the fact that i was terrified quite well!!)...Unfortunately, Darby and Kim (RJ"s mom and aunt) aren't in this shot because they boarded long before the rest of us...(and we all were wearing shirts that said "Goobers Afloat!")

So, We got the "all clear" for Sharon to get back to PT and stand, walk, whatever. A lot of people seem to think that she's just going to get up and walk within a day or two, but that's asking a bit much from her! Kids without CP would probably be up and walking after this surgery within a week or so, but would still need help and time to get their muscles strong. Sharon had weak leg and hip muscles to begin with, then they sat unused after being cut in surgery, so she is facing a lot more healing and therapy to get her strong again. That said, she is tolerating standing (with me holding her up) and taking some (very) assisted steps. I have seen her get significantly stronger and more confident in just two days, so i know that she's going to do this just as quickly as she is able...We were to start PT today but because of "Wintery weather" (it rained all day, with some ice in the morning...all schools were closed, no one was working...gotta love the south!), SO, PT was cancelled...but, Sharon and I haven't been doing therapy together for almost 3 years for nothing! So, i've been working with her and she's doing just great and is so pleased to be able to move!!!
On a side note: i've been trying to figure out how to make it easier for people to comment on here (i know it's quite a process!). I changed a couple of things, so if someone doesn't mind attempting to comment and letting me know if it's any easier, the same, etc. Thanks!

Disney fun

I have two separate posts up here because i put a lot of pix up and it clogs up the system if i do them all at once...
Anyway, we just returned from a 7 day Disney Cruise...I think there were 16 in all of us that went? my whole family, RJ's mom and aunt, and Jax's mother in law and sister and Zac had a friend that went. Somewhere are shots of all of us, but i don't have them...these may not be the last posts i do on this trip! There may be some other great pictures out there!!
RJ and I have never cruised before so this was quite a luxury. So much great food and service and room cleaning..i was spoiled! Sharon is a bit young, which we knew going into it. I hadn't anticipated how crowded and noisy it would all be (I had an image of serenely floating along the ocean...). It was a bit overwhelming for her and her favorite thing to do was sit in our room. She was a real trooper though and hung in there for all of the island stops, noisy meals, etc. But i have to admit that it was the most exhausting week i've had in a long time! Maybe we'll try one again when she is much older, but for now, i'm glad to be home (I don't think i speak for RJ...he absolutely loved it!)
Let's see...these photos are:
The first is Sharon kissing a little Mickey
The second is RJ and I with a big Donald (Sharon was too scared of the characters to take any pictures with them...she liked them small or very far away!)
The third shot isn't of the cruise...Grandpa Baer got Sharon a slide for Christmas and RJ set it up today in the living room. We haven't seen Sharon this excited in quite awhile!!! The picture is a bit blurry, but she is just THRILLED with her new toy! And her PT is going to be very happy to work on her getting up and down the ladder (once we get the go-ahead to start PT again...hopefully this week!). We take her for another x-ray with her hip surgeon this week and are hoping that he will then give us the "all clear" to resume intense therapies and get her standing again. She is fed up with being carried everywhere and not being able to move, so we're hoping she will be very motivated and will get up and around within a couple of months...i'll certainly keep you posted on her progress (it's a bit of deja-vu to go through this "learning to walk" again...ah well...)

Disney MAGIC

Here are a a couple more shots...couldn't resist the happy one of Sharon on "Pirate night"...(note her pirate wear...stayed on for 30 seconds!).
And the second one i just love...it's our ship, the Disney Magic, alongside the "Flying Dutchman". It was the actual pirate ship used in "Pirates of the Caribbean"!! The last day was spent on Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, which also happens to be where the three "PIrates" movies were filmed (I walked where Johnny Depp walked!!). This was the best day by far and the island was gorgeous.
the last of these pictures is of Sharon and her cousins singing at the top of their lungs (well, Sharon doesn't make any sound when she sings, but i am confident that one day she will! she loves it so much and i can't wait until she gets some sound out and realizes how much more fun that is!!!)