Summer's Here!

We have been busy enjoying summer around here! The weather has been gorgeous -- Annie even got her very first full day at the beach this week. My mother is here now keeping both girls occupied, so I have a few minutes to post.

Annie saw our NH cardiologist right before the Easter Seals Walk on June 7. It was just an office visit (no echo or EKG) to check in, and he was pleased with everything he saw. Annie looks great and seems to be doing really well. Dr. Johnson did increase Annie's digoxin levels, since we never got that done with Dr. Smoot. He also gave us a last minute donation for our walk -- thank you, Dr. Johnson!

The walk was a wonderful time with good friends. The weather held out for us and we enjoyed walking and chatting, even though we were novices and ended up at the very end of the pack. (We'll know better next year!) Thank you again to everyone who donated! We raised close to $3000 when all was said and done. Special thanks to our friends Grant and Sheila who raised several hundred dollars on their own -- all in Annie's name.

Little Annie has been doing amazing things lately. Her gross motor skills are doing great these days! She is pulling herself to a standing position in the co-sleeper and the pack-n-play, crawling (still on her belly, army-style) all over the place, and generally just doing great. We just finished meeting with the nutritionist and swallow specialist (along with Annie's regular physical therapist) and it was more good news. The nutritionist took all kinds of measurements and said that Annie's fat stores are actually quite good. That's a relief, because if we head towards any surgeries she'll need some reserves to get her through.

I had to answer questions for the nutritionist and OT in two different ways: before four days ago and for the past four days. That's because Annie has been very different for the past four days -- suddenly taking over her feeding and just guzzling her bottle when she puts her mind to it. She isn't getting that much more over the course of the day, but it is so much easier to get it into her all of a sudden. I don't know what's going on, but I'm thankful for it! I'm also hopeful that her eating better as well as the leaps she has made with her gross motor skills somehow translate into her feeling better or her heart doing better in some way. I hope, I hope, I hope.

Scott has been crazy busy for the past month, so we have been fitting in life around his work schedule. Jamie wrapped up her school year on June 15, so she is out of school now. Scott is in California this week, so Mom is here helping out (thank goodness!!). We are enjoying the first day of summer and we're on our way out the door now to go strawberry picking! Take care, everyone. Happy Summer!

(Photos are Annie playing on the floor; showing a propensity for following in her sister's footsteps and eating all the sand she can get her hands on at the beach; and crawling under her mega-saucer.)