Sydney had another PT appointment this week.  She is doing great.  She is gaining control of her head, staying engaged when talking to us.  She coos and gurgles and smiles an award winning smile!!  Our challenges are working on strengthening her neck muscles and fighting her flat spot.  The little turkey is rather persistent.  No matter how many wedges and rolled up blankets you place under her when she sleeps, she manages to wiggle free and lay on the comfy flat spot.  This looks like we are in for a battle of the wills. =0)

We had our first Buddy walk this last weekend.  It was wonderful.  Our team was called Sydney’s Saints in honor of the wonderful people “saints” that we have been surrounded with.  Since we had never done anything like this before, we set our donations bar at $250.00 and were continually surprised and delighted to have to bump it up again and again.  The grand total was $2,068.00!!!  Woo Hoo!!  Thank you so much to EVERYONE who donated.  Those dollars will directly affect so many children, including our little Sydney. 

Thank you to our FABULOUS team which was made up of 20 walkers: Arthur, Kathy and AJ Callaway, Nancy and Robert Wren, Kimberly Sterling, Randall, myself, and Anthony, Rhonda Fariss, Tracey Eckert, Cathy Valusek, Paul Hancock, Cindy and Frank Wells, John Downing and Debbie, Jan Halstead, Mary Catherine and her girls Kaitlyn and Kendall, and Laura and Zack Goebel.  They were troopers sporting their Sydney pins and Peach bandanas.  It was sunny and breezy although we all enjoyed the occasional cloud cover.  There was so much to do at the Buddy Walk.  There was entertainment including Joe McDermott who is a children’s song-story teller whom Anthony enjoyed immensely!  There was a helicopter, Fire engine, SWAT mobile, obstacle courses, a jumping house, pony rides, Shetland pony petting, and even an Elvis impersonator.  It was a great day!  The only downfall from the weekend was Sydney’s sunburn.  Poor baby…. (bad mommy).  I put on sunscreen, but apparently needed to reapply!  (Sorry pumpkin!)

We are already thinking about next year when the Saint will go marching in full Mardi Gras regalia!!!  So hang on to your party hats, boas, and beads next Mardi Gras…  We are going to march to our own drum on the Buddy Walk 2008!!!

Proud Mama!!

Sydney had her first in-home assessment today from Early Childhood Intervention (ECI).  They checked her gross motor skills and developmental milestones and we are delighted to say that she is right where she needs to be.  She is sleeping through the night, eats like a champ, (as you can see by the chubby cheeks), watches objects with her eyes, holds her head up, and when on her tummy she lifts her head.  She is smiling for real now, which just makes us all light up.  She enjoys intense conversations with her mama, papa and big brother.  She does have a flat spot that we are battling.  The little monkey is very stubborn and all of the maneuvering that we do to keep her on her side is quickly thwarted.  She manages to wiggle away from the wedges and rolled up blankets and ends up on her back, on the flat spot and making it worse.  We are also delighting in her newest gift, giggles.  There’s nothing like baby giggles to make you smile.