Hello! I can't believe i'm not posting a picture, but i don't have any and am pretty short on time these days...
Just wanted to give some updates:
a few days ago Sharon started taking independent steps!! (her very first ones were while out with cousin Anna..Anna walked away to do something and Sharon took off after her! i just about passed out because i wasn't expecting it at all!!)
She is now walking just about all over our house. She still prefers to hold someone's hand, but is getting stronger every day. RJ and I had held out hope that she'd take steps by her birthday (3 weeks from now), so we are so excited! She is still very weak and it will be quite a while before she is independent as a walker, but it's still amazing! To think of the pain she's been in (and is still in some) and what her bones and muscles went through being cut and moved, etc...
And, (this is actually even more amazing!), she is actually doing a little assisted crawling. Crawling was a goal on her treatment plan since she was 9 months old. I finally had them delete it last summer because she was just totally opposed to it and it became a waste of therapy time. This past weekend she indicated that she wanted to move on her belly so i helped her to get into position and she did it happily. I don't want to push it because it's HUGE and would be SO SO good for her if she'll stick with hit (and she's stubborn enough that if she decides we're making too much of a big deal about it then she'll never do it again). But i'm able to get her to crawl a couple of feet a few times a day (with me holding her up and helping...it's a very hard task that she is undertaking...if you want to see just how hard, get down on all fours and try to crawl with only one arm, and with one leg dragging behind). If we can get her crwaling stronger, this is going to be the KEY to her learning how to get off the floor into standing position (she never learned how to do that before the surgery, so it's a huge goal now...what good is being able to walk if you can't get up and down off the floor??)
So, there's been a lot going on with our girl! and she is just BEAMING all over, so happy to be moving again and taking steps.
We're so proud of her!!!

SNOW!

So, we were surprised by a gorgeous snowfall yesterday and got a chance to play. Sharon was a bit nervous about it all and didn't like the snow spray in her face while sledding, but eventually was convinced to eat snow and did have some fun...
You will notice that we (mostly me!) are bundled for the COLD...but it was close to 50 and temperatures rose all day...so we mostly sweated while we played! And the snow was literally gone within hours. TOday Sharon and I played outside with no coats on at all...

So Sharon is getting her share of babies! Her new friend Jack is on the left in this picture and little Phoebe is on the right. Phoebe is the new daughter of another of Sharon's old therapists...

We've been working on getting her to do more pretend-play like dress up etc. and so i left the room the other night to get something and came back and Dina was wearing a purse...i guess that is a good start!

Having a tea party with Pop Pop :)


So it's been a nice couple of weeks. The weather has been gorgeous and Sharon has gotten to ride on Flare a few times...such a great stretch for her tight legs and she really enjoys it (well, for the first few minutes, then she wants to get off!). I'm so glad she has been able to ride! it's so good for her. I got her her own "saddle" too so she's moving up in the world (it's a bareback pad so that she can still feel Flare moving under her but it has stirrups...of course, i have to figure out how to drastically shorten the stirrups, but it'll work eventually!)

And the best of all is that she has gotten a little more confident about putting weight on her legs (slow but sure is the name of her game these days). I can't even imagine how brave she is just to stand on them after how much they hurt (heck, i was such a wimp with just a sprained ankle...she's amazing!). Anyway, she actually started to take some assisted steps on my birthday...what more could i ask for?!? She is now standing with a fair amount of strength and confidence and loves to walk a little bit with her hands held (very tightly!). She gets either very sore or very tired from walking after just a little while, but progress is progress! We've increased PT to three times a week (because Heck, we don't have enough therapies!) and it's making a difference. We're only going to have the three times/week for another couple of weeks and then it will stop so it's manageable and her PT is really working her and getting results. We're "down to the wire" with all of her current therapies and so her therapists are all trying to cram in everything they want her to know :) (once she turns 3 in March, she is discharged from the Early Intervention program and put into the school district program. It's going to be VERY differrent and i will have very little say in who her therapists will be...i'm sure i will have lots to write about as that all begins to take place...) We will still have the option of hiring these current therapists privately, but i am going to wait and see what she is assigned. I have said all along that this past year would be the most therapy i would subject her to since she is so young. Now i plan to back off a little so that she can have more of a regular life (we spend most our week in therapies when she isn't at school).
Peace!