MAGGIE TOOK HER FIRST STEP TODAY!!!

Oh my gosh, I can’t even describe how amazing today was. Maggie has been *almost* walking for months. She could pull up on furniture and kind of cruise, and even stand up a little by herself, at the end of April. So, we were pretty confused as to why she still wasn’t walking when she hit her 14 month birthday, when she was already cruising at 11 months.

On Wednesday, we had her Physical Therapy evaluation, and Maggie qualified for PT. The therapist said that Maggie probably wasn’t walking because her trunk (abs, lower back, etc), neck, and ankle muscles were weak. She said you have to be able to hold yourself upright to walk, and leg strength isn’t enough. So, today, Joe Mac and I worked with Maggie to get those muscles stronger. We had her doing little baby sit ups on the floor and in our laps, and we worked with her on bending forward at the waist and then raising back up. Now, I’m not saying this one afternoon of exercising is what made her walk, but I’d like to think it helped

Well, this afternoon, during her Early Intervention therapy, while Tyler and I were both with her, she was standing by herself better than she ever has. She hasn’t even been standing much lately…to the point where I thought she had forgotten how. And today, she was standing straighter and more balanced than ever, for up to 10 to 15 seconds at a time. Then, once when she was standing, she took a step. Tyler and I (plus her EI and the girl she brought who was training), all squealed so loud and clapped so loud that we scared Maggie, and she wouldn’t do it again during the rest of the session. I was smiling so much that my face hurt, and I had tears in my eyes. I was so proud of her! Her EI got teary-eyed as well, because she knows how hard we’ve been working with her on the walking. It was so great!

So tonight when we put Maggie to bed, I was holding her, and kind of dancing with her to “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” as performed by Glow Worm, and I just looked at my little baby girl, who is fast becoming my big girl, and I got teary-eyed again. Ever since getting the diagnosis, I wonder if she’ll be able to be independent, if she’ll be able to “stand on her own.” I try to not get my hopes up too much, because I want to be realistic, and I know she has some delays. But this little girl continues to amaze me all the time. She is so motivated, and she’s such a little fighter. I am so proud of her. My heart and my head are just so full of emotion…about the walking, the imitating, the words she’s starting to say, and just about her in general. I never imagined I could love someone this much, and I never imagined that these little things that we take for granted every day, would be so wonderful and magical and mind-blowing to see my daughter doing for the first time. Growing up with a family member who is disabled, I know how tough things can be for an individual and a family. I am so thankful for Maggie, and I’m so thankful for how well she is doing. I never thought that my child would have a disability. I never thought that my child would have delays, or health problems. But now that I know she has WS, and I know that she is doing so fantastic with all things considered, I really appreciate every little victory so much more. Today, she showed me that she can stand on her own

I love you, baby girl

So, a quick update on other parts of our life (which all pale in comparison to Maggie’s milestone)…Tyler’s physical went great and he’s in pretty much perfect health according to the doc; Maggie is becoming a ninja warrior in the battle against sleep…she can evade sleep (naps or overnight) better than anyone in the world, which makes it hard to understand how she comes from the same genes as Tyler, who could fall asleep during a fireworks display; and I’m making an appointment with the eye doctor soon to see if my headaches are being caused by eye strain, as my parents and husband have deduced. Also, we scheduled our next trip to see Dr. Mervis in November, so I’m really looking forward to that.

And thanks to Tes and Julie for the possible sleeping situation solutions. We’re hoping that soon we’ll have everyone in our house sleeping soundly, because currently, the only one in the house who is well-rested is the cat.

I’m hoping to get caught up with all of the other blogging mommies this weekend…hope everyone is doing well, and I can’t wait to see how all the kiddos have been lately

So I haven’t updated this in a while. I think its just because I haven’t felt like writing. I guess I’m just in a weird funk…not really wanting to write, because I know I would just complain a lot.

But, I decided that there are a lot of good things going on, and I should write about them, even if some complaints sneak their way in.

Most importantly, Maggie is doing great. She has mastered putting objects in containers, and I still feel like I could squeal every time I see her put a block in a bucket. I’m just so proud of her.

She’s also gotten good at giving high fives, and giving an object to someone when they hold out their hand and ask her to give it to them. She’s kind of saying “hey,” and “no” keps trying to say Daisy (it still sounds like “day,” but I know what she means

She’s not walking yet, but she is getting better at reaching from the couch to the coffee table, and she seems to be getting more confidence. She has her evaluation for Physical Therapy tomorrow, so hopefully she’ll start that soon.

We go week after next to see the Special Needs coordinator for Maggie’s pediatrician to see if she’ll write Maggie a recommendation for TEFRA, which will help us pay her medical bills if Maggie qualifies. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for that one, since that would be a huge help.

Maggie is doing well in her speech and early intervention therapies, and she seems to be improving. I love both of her therapists, and I really do think it is really helping Maggie.

Maggie has been having some issues with sleep lately, mostly note wanting to do it. She fights sleep like its her mortal enemy, and she puts up a good fight. Sometimes, she whines for hours in her crib before she loses, even though she’s rubbing her eyes and can barely lift her head the whole time since she’s so tired. We got her up at 6:30 this morning, hoping to wear her out today and stop this falling asleep at midnight or 1. Its great for my schedule, but I know its not good for her, so we’re going to try to get it taken care of.

No offers yet on the condo, but I’m still hopeful. We’ve had several people who said they were really interested, so I hope something happens soon.

The house we liked in Olympia didn’t pan out. The owner wouldn’t respond to us when we asked it we could get the foundation checked out before we made an offer, so we decided that she knew something was wrong with it, and we just decided it wasn’t worth the battle, since she seemed kind of uncooperative.

We found another house we like in Earlewood, but its way out of our price range. We might just make an offer anyway, since its been on the market for so long, and just see what happens.

Tyler goes in today for his long overdue physical, and he’ll be having a sleep study done at the end of the month. I hope they can get him to stop snoring. I feel pretty bad not waking him up when he falls asleep on the couch, but really, I need my sleep too, and I can’t take much more of the snoring. I’ve already got my own insomnia to deal with, and I need some quiet if I’m going to have a shot at rest. I mean, come on, how can someone who is not even conscious be so loud?!

And me…I’m here. I just feel really off lately. Overwhelmed, tired, kind of sad, kind of angry, kind of bitter. I am counting down the days to my beach vacation with my mom and aunts in October…I absolutely cannot wait! Only 2 more months!