Sign Language Class 1

I had my first sign language class yesterday and it was wonderful.  We learned a ton of signs we will see how many I will remember next week.  The teacher is really funny which is making it even more interesting learning this new language.  Both of his parents were deaf so he grew up in the language. 

At our last class we have to sing a song in sign.  So I need to start thinking about what song I want to do so that I can start practicing.  I want to do really well with this.

I will keep you updated

Looking back

I was going to post this yesterday but the day got away from me.

Riley came home from the NICU on 4/21/10.  She has been home for a whole year.  I was looking back at photos of her in the NICU and thought I would share some of them with you.

12/11/09- this is right after is was born

12/13/09 - This is our 1st family photo

12/17/09 - She was jaundice, she had to be treated with the lights

 2/11/11- She was on and off oxygen throughout

our 4 and half month stay in the NICU

4/10/10 - 11 days before coming home

4/21/10 - GOING HOME DAY!!!

We loved the nurses in the NICU but were soooooo happy to say goodbye to them. 

Look how far she has come.  This is from this past month.  It was the first time she rode in the cart.

Sign Language classes

So I am super excited about next week.  On Tuesday I start a 6 week sign language class that is offered at my work.  Ever since college I have wanted to take a sign language class.  I was never able to fit into my schedule.

I always planned on using baby sign language with my kids.  That has become even more important with Riley since she will be delayed in the language department and with her hearing loss.  I am really hoping that this class is going to be good, because I am looking forward to it so much. 

I will update about how it is going periodically.

Gait Trainer

My daugther amazes me everyday.

Kids with T18p don't normally start walking until two and half years old.  So because of that Riley gets PT once a week.  About a month ago her PT brought in a gait trainer.

A gait Trainer allows Riley to walk around even though she is unable to stand on her own currently.  At first she was able to move it backwards alittle bit, but it was not deliberate.  But on Sunday night we put her in it and she as moving forward all over the place.  I decided to see if I could get her to deliberately move forward.

So I grabbed her most favorite thing right now . . . bubbles and sat on floor.  And look what happened.

She moved it all the way across our KITCHEN.  I was sooo proud of her.  She is making great strides and it makes my heart soar every time I see her do something tI have never seen her do before.

Carpi Demi

Recently I have been following the jounrey of Kellie.

Not long ago she lost her daugther to SIDS.  She has been sharing her grief and how is she coping.  After reading her posts she always makes me realize how precious life is and how it can change in a moment.

As hard as Riley's 1st year was, I appreciate every moment I have with her.  Everytime that she learns something new it is a great trumiph.  Yesterday I watched as Riley banged two toys together.  And I was so excited, this is something that her developmental specialist has been working on since she came home fromt he NICU in Apr 2010.  This simple act any other child would do naturally is such a milestone for her.

Remember to kiss your loved ones whenever you can.  And always tell those you care about that you love them whenever you are parted.  Even if is only going to be for a short time.  You never know what the day will bring.

Ri's hearing aids

So we have had Riley's hearing aids for about a week and a half now.  And I am amzed by how little they are and how much of a difference they seems to make.  Riley is playing with sounds more now and I think it is because she is hearing more sounds now.  They are pretty small.

She hates having them put in but once they are in she is totally fine with them.  They are not nearly as much work as I thought they would be.  She goes back on Wednesday to get her hearing tested to make sure that they are helping.  I will post an update after that appointment

Having more children

So both my husband and I have been asked several times recently whether  or not we will have more children.  And if we do if they will have the same issues that Riley has.  Now the second questino is a little harder to answer then the first.  But we do want to have more children, it just is a question of when.

I have one brother and my husband is one of 4.  We think we would like to have 3 kids, I want more then 2 and 4 seems like alot with every thing that we have to do with Riley. 

With the T18p Riley will probable not walk or talk until she is like two and half.  So we would like to give her a full two years of it just being her before we have more kids.

As for whether any additional kids would have the same thing as Riley.  We are not really at an increased risk we don't think for more.  That being said there is still a chance, so there is testing that we can do early on to know whether or not a new baby has T18p or not.