September Update

It's been a little while since I've checked in. Here's what we've been up to the last few weeks. Yay for fall!

Crazy Hair Update: Meredith got her first haircut last night! We went to Delarria Salon where my mom and I both get our hair cut by Traci, who we love. She had offered to cut Meredith's hair for us, so we scheduled for last night, and off we went. It took about 5 minutes! Greg came too, so he could watch and take pictures. We went back and forth on whether or not to cut bangs and in the end we did decide to get them. Meredith got to wear a grownup cape and everything. It was very cute. Check out her new do' in the picture of her playing in the water basin in her stander.

Stander Update: So we've had the stander now for about a month. It has quickly become one of our favorite things, and Meredith really comes to life in it. It's great for her hips, legs and learning to bear weight on her feet, but we have seen the most progress in fine motor and coordination. She is so supported through her torso and lower body that her arms are freed up to play! She's now making deliberate movements with her hands and will reach for an object. She will entertain herself for quite a while with a few toys on her tray. We try for two 40 minute sessions a day depending on how she's feeling. It's working out well transporting to and from daycare. We bring it in on Monday morning and home Thursday night. They are great about getting her in it, and the other kids are very curious and love to bring her toys when she's in it.

Seizure update: We are still doing our best to manage these seizures with medication. She has been having a handful every few weeks, usually in coordination with an illness. She actually had one yesterday morning and a few today, but is now resting and doing ok. She has conjunctivitis right now, threw up this morning and has a bit of a cold, so maybe that explains it. She had a great streak of happy, seizure-free weeks leading up to this, so we were so very grateful for those. Any day that is seizure-free in our household is a GOOD DAY! This cycle seems to repeat itself every few weeks. Our hope is that in the future, she'll tolerate illness without having seizures as her immune system gets stronger.

Rolling update: On a happier note, Meredith has now rolled 8 times! She usually rolls to the right, but this last one was to the left AND Greg got to see it! - he had missed the others. Yahoo! It's definitely a deliberate movement which is so great to see : )