Getting Back to "Normal"

Somehow, July is nearly half over and Mom's long days with the girls are unfortunately beginning to wind down. Still, she’s been enjoying every moment of her summer with Braelyn and Gwendolyn. Unfortunately, it’s been somewhat of a full “dance card” with Gwen getting two P.T. visits and an O.T. visit each week. Today, they’ve even got a regularly scheduled pediatrician visit on tap to get the week going. But for Gwen these visits have become invaluable as her progress has been immeasurable. Dad was lucky enough to have the opportunity to swing by one of Gwen’s P.T. sessions last week. As you can see from the photo below, not only is Gwen starting to sit pretty and hold her head upright but she’s reached the stage where she’s able to actually enjoy some of her therapy now.

We just secured daycare for the girls this fall. It is an at-home situation with a wonderful twist. The individual that will be watching the girls has a daughter two weeks older than our girls who has spina bifida herself. Hers is a similar case to Gwen’s but she does seem to be blessed with a little more movement than Gwen has. Because of their similar circumstances, Gwen will receive all the daily specialized attention necessary from someone who is more than use to administering it. That is such a huge deal to us because since Mom’s had off this summer and really focused on working with Gwen, her progress has gone through the roof and she’s really starting to come out of her little shell. To bring it all full circle, there are other similarities that they share… They have the same Neurologist who performed their initial operations after birth and who continues to see them each for subsequent follow-ups, they have the same in-home P.T. who will be able to see them both at the same time and pass along daily exercises that Gwen will be able to get at day care, and they even share the same pediatrician. We feel so fortunate that there will be someone with that intimate perspective who will be able to care for the girls.

Our weekend was rather mundane as we enjoyed some R & R from our just completed vacation. It’s amazing how draining it was to shuffle the girls through security, on the plane, off the plane and then back home again… It was undoubtedly all worth it but at the same time we are still trying to recharge our batteries from that little maneuver. On Saturday we did muster enough strength to go down for lunch and a walk on The Plaza. We thought it would be nice for the girls to enjoy the wonderful weather we had (not to be confused with the downpour that took place the following day). At one point we stopped and sat the girls on a bench. For some reason, we realized that Braelyn soon became infatuated with the shadow her hand was making (And check out how tightly she curls her little feet).

Mom has finally embraced the fact that like it or not, it’s time to get rid of her beloved SUV so that we can get a mini-van. Nothing says “You’re totally getting old” quite like a vehicular unit of that ilk but the time has come. Hopefully we can move her Sante Fe soon so that we can get the van in place (and the extra room it will offer) by the time school starts up again next month.

Finally, kudos to Mom for installing that cool tracking device in the purple box on the right of our main page… It’s just amazing for us to see all the places that folks log into the blog from so they can get updates on our two beautiful girls!!! It is even more humbling to realize that there are so many of you that are still interested in Brae Bear and The Gwenner.

Talk to you later…