My mom flew in from Arizona to join me and my church friends in attending the Women of Faith National Conference in San Antonio.  We had a wonderful weekend.  Mandisa was there and she was amazing!  American Idol has no idea what it missed when she didn’t win.  We also enjoyed mini concerts by Mark Schulz and Michael W. Smith.  One of the other highlights of the weekend was Max Lucado talking about “John 3:16″ his new book.  One downfall of the weekend (outside of the traffic challenges) was being away from Sydney for the first time.  Is it possible that she changed in three days?  The only disappointment of the weekend was not seeing Lisa Smith at the conference.  Lisa is a beautiful woman with Down syndrome who signs.  She is so graceful and her love for God radiates in her signing.  She now has a website that I invite you to check out thoroughly.  There are videos and clips of her signing.  www.lisasmithsigns.com  I hope to see her in the future back with the Women of Faith.

Wow, 6 months.  Time really flies!  Our little Sydney is doing wonderfully!  She is a bundle of smiles.  She is sitting up with some assistance in balancing and working on her tummy time.  Our darling Sydney does not like to recline either, so the baby carrier/stroller combo is NOT her favorite.  Because she likes to sit up, we started her riding in the backpack instead of the stroller and she seems to really enjoy it.  The funny part is that EVERY time she rides in the backpack, she falls asleep.  It looks awkward, but she doesn’t seem to mind.

Our latest milestone is baby food.  She is enjoying oatmeal cereal and trying new baby foods now and then.  So far she is a fan of carrots and pears.  Squash is tolerable but bananas and peaches are NOT appreciated.

She just had her last physical therapy appointment this week and she no longer has any physical concerns so we have said good-bye to Kathy.  Now are moving forwards with the developmental therapist.  She will meet with us once a month to check in with Sydney’s progress in milestones and provide assistance if needed.  So far, so good.

Last weekend we attended the January Ink Dots event (for children with Downs 0-6 and their siblings).  We went to an inflatables place and needless to say Anthony had a FABULOUS time!  Sydney and I enjoyed it as well.  We met lots of other kids and their parents.  It was nice to chat with other parents and share stories and joys.

We are looking forwards to my mother coming into town on Tuesday.  It’s been almost 6 months since she has seen Sydney.  I think the two of them will be best buddies.  =0)