8 Months Old

Ok so i started this awhile ago, just have had no ambition to finish. 

8 months ago today Kylee was born.  It was definitely a day that i won't forget.  What was supposed to be a joyous and exciting time quickly turned into something devastating to us.  But as the initial shock of the down syndrome diagnosis wore off and despite the heart defects the devastation quickly subsided and she was just a sweet and precious baby.   Fast forward to today and although i am well aware of the fact that she has down syndrome, it doesn't define who she is.  She is such a sweet, happy baby.  Yes she has therapies every week and visits the dr's offices more often than not.  Yes there is worry about the future for her.  And yes there will always be worries about her heart even though it has been repaired.  But all this quickly goes to the back of my mind when she gives you one of her great big smiles.  As a friend and a heart mom to her son Nicholas who also has down syndrome, Lisa said the world would be a better place if everyone had a son like her Nicholas and i feel the same way about Kylee.

So Kylee has definitely changed since her surgery.  She has alot more energy, she has gained about 2 pounds and is now up to 16 lbs 12oz.  Her new favorite things to do are rolling from her back to her stomach, blowing raspberries, and babbling alot.  She is still working on getting her bottom tooth which is almost through.

Now she has been doing awesome with sitting.  She can sit for a few minutes at a time, sometimes a little wobbly and sometimes not all the way up, but nonetheless she is sitting!  Her therapist was thrilled with how well she is doing, she was expecting some regression from her surgery.  She has also tried scooting on her tummy a little which is a start to crawling.  Also, she is loving her feet.  She will get her feet up to her mouth sometimes both at the same time.

Kate had her birthday party at Chuckee Cheese this past weekend when Uncle Mike, Aunt Nicole, and cousin Austen were here.  Although that place was crazy, she had fun.  She definitely had fun with her cousin and was sad when he left.  Her teachers at school are really amazed at how well she can read.  She can not only read short words, but she can also read the bigger words as well.  It is so amazing at how much she can read.  She has been reading books to us at night instead of us reading to her.

Here are a few recent pics.

she chewed on her bib so much, she fell asleep

doesn't look like she has a problem with eating, does it?

looks like she is posing

i tried to get some shots of her sitting, this is the best i could do.

not sure what this face is

Kate reading to herself

Kate's 5th Birthday And A Whole Lot Of Pics

Last Tuesday was Kate's 5th birthday.  It's hard to believe that that much time has gone by.   Although she can be your typical 5 year old and have problems with listening and being sassy, she is such a sweet girl.  She is such a smart girl and can already read a ton of words as well as some books.  She amazes me with how much she knows.  She loves to have fun, sing, dance, and be just plain wild.  Babycakes(as we constantly refer to her as) is definitely a daddy's girl and does not like for daddy to give mommy or Kylee any attention. 

For her birthday, we went to Extreme Play or as Kate calls it the jumpy place. It is a bunch of inflatable bounce houses with slides.  She had a ton of fun and went with her boyfriend(as she repeatedly calls him) Joseph.  She was so excited when he brought her a dozen roses.  They are so sweet.

On Saturday, we had a little family party for her.  She had alot of fun playing with her cousins, Marissa and Garrett.

She is one spoiled girl!  She will be having a party with her friends from school next saturday at Chuckee Cheese.  She is so excited because Uncle Mike, Aunt Nicole and Austen will be here.

Both girls had appointments with the ear nose and throat dr. Both girls have been sick free for the last month, so when we went to the dr, he wanted to postpone having Kate's adenoids and tonsils taken out since she has been feeling well.  Well of course we get home and Kate started to have a real raspy throat and a cough, so if she keeps getting sick then we will go back to the dr and talk about getting them removed.  He said her adenoids are bigger which can definitely cause her to be continuously sick.  As far as Kylee, she will have her hearing tested again in her left ear to see if she passes. He doesn't really want to put tubes in yet because her left ear canal is really small.  Kids with down syndrome have smaller ear canals but he said hers is really small which can make putting the tube in a little more difficult.   Overall she is doing really well.  She has a ton of energy and is growing like crazy.  She constantly smiles and laughs.  In fact she will anticipate when you are going to tickle her and will giggle before you do it.  She also has been babbling alot and blowing raspberries.  Lately she has been very cooperative for the camera hence the reason for the abundance of pics!