What has life for the last 2 1/2 years been like with Amelia Rose (officially on August 6th)?! To say you are the light of our lives could never be enough. You are incredible, baby. You’re definitely entering the “twonager” stage… what I thought was an “off” week is here to stay! But even on our toughest days, you bring us so, so much happiness. You’re seriously speaking like an adult. Ok, maybe you’re actually only speaking like a 3-4 year old according to your numerous speech evaluations (and have been testing above average since your first speech eval at about 18 months) but it’s crazy that we can have full conversations with you! You continue to overcome every foreseeable obstacle (hearing, speech, spine, jaw, heart) and I’m not sure I could ever put into words how proud we are of you. You just started “school” once a week at the beginning of August and you love it! Your teachers keep telling me how good you are and how much of a big help you are! Last week when I went to pick you up your teacher told me you had a friend and you both talked about your mommies the whole time. It made me so happy!
You became a big cousin for the third time this month to little Carter (Cora was born in April and Faith was born last June!)!
Medical updates: We saw Orthopedics last week to go over your MRI from when you were a baby and discuss the fusion of your C2 and C3 and what that means for you as you grow. Basically right now it means no gymnastics, trampolines, bounce houses, tumbling, somersaults, or anything that will put your head/neck at risk of being hit. As you get older, restrictions expand to no contact sports (football, lacrosse, basketball, we’re not sure about soccer yet, etc.), no diving, and not riding any rollercoasters without really good neck support. We’ll see Orthopedics now on a yearly basis as well so we’ll be able to talk more each year as you grow and develop more interests (here’s to hoping you love golf and tennis… and maybe track!). We also recently saw Plastics and your doctor said you look great! There’s a new ear reconstruction surgery he’s been working with that could mean only 1 surgery for your ear instead of the typical 3 and it can also be done much earlier, age 5 as opposed to age 7 or 8- which is when your potential mandible surgery(ies) will probably be as well. You’ve had your first dentist appointment and you were amazing! You got a really good report which isn’t much of a surprise as you LOVE to brush your teeth (we just started using a bubblegum flavored big girl toothpaste which you also love!). We haven’t seen ENT or Pulmonology since the spring and we won’t see Cardiology or your Cranio Facial team until the winter. We also probably won’t have another sleep study until the spring, either. You just had your 30 month well visit and you were 29 pounds! We talked about putting you on allergy medicine because you always seem to be congested but we haven’t started that yet. You got discharged from outpatient speech but you’ll be evaluated again in September.
Looking back, I can’t believe how much we’ve done in the last 2.5 years! We went on our first road trip as a family of four to Montauk, NY, this past June and you had such a great time exploring! We’ve been at the beach or the bay almost every weekend this summer and even though the travel has definitely taken a bit of a toll on me and your dad (and the house and the laundry), you’re loving every minute of it! You’re so good in the car and so good with not being on a set schedule that it’s so easy to take you anywhere! One of our favorite things is listening to you sing along to either Moana or Frozen songs in the car. Sometimes you even make up your own songs for us! Your dad laughs and I melt because you always tell me I’m your best friend but you really are my little bestie! We love you so much, sweet pea. To the moon and back and more than words.
on Britt: dress: Shopbop, sunglasses: Illesteva
on Amelia: dress: Old Navy, sunglasses: Gap, bows: Matilda and Grace c/o
