Thursday, November 29, 2012

A thankful heart

Cora spent the holidays asking for, and sampling, every one's food.  The kids and the extended relatives all thought it was wonderful that Cora was well enough to spend this holiday with them.  I cooked, and cooked and cooked some more for all the eagerly awaiting hungry people, and it paid off.

This past week has seen so many changes in Cora.  She loves turkey but doesn't like the pieces if they are too big.  She adores stuffing and pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes.  She, however, doesn't like the cranberry sauce.  That's okay though because its wasn't my favorite either.

With her increased awareness of grown up foods and the variety of taste that they offer, she has slowly started to wean herself from the baby foods.  Its truly is more of a sensory issue with Cora than a taste issues and I am so thankful that I had the foresight to be giving her tastes and textures of different foods all along.  While she still has a difficult time eating anything that is solid feeling, she is getting the idea of what teeth are for and her molars can do great work with many foods.

She is changing.  I see a maturity finding her and creeping up on the baby behavior.  She is losing her baby inpatients and starting to show toddler awareness and curiosity.  Cora will point and sign for someone to explain what has caught her attention.  She will look at you for the sign, and then practice the sign. She will listen intently as you show her and explain to her what the object is and what it does.  Gone are the days of spontneously grabbing for what has caught her attention and in its place is a child who looks and listens with an intensity that rivals my own.

I see these changes and part of me is saddened.  Not by her progress, merely for the loss of the baby days and the baby ways.  In its place is a blossoming and learning that comes with time and age.  I am filled with a thankful heart for these changes, despite the accompanying sadness, and any mama that reads this knows exactly what I am describing. 

This mama's thankful heart is filled with gratitude and wonder at Cora's changing ways and most of all , it is filled with overwhelming love,happiness and excitement for the upcoming Christmas holiday.  Cora is caught in moments of acting like a normal child and these moments become treasured, just like the memories of her first true Thanksgiving. 

With that we are both enjoying this holiday time with thankful hearts....and Cora's normal working one beats on with the rhythm of life and in time with her curiosity.  Yes, we are very thankful indeed.
Big sister Emily found a way to make horsey riding more fun...and Cora agrees with her!


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving

This year finds Cora at home instead of at the children's hospital and for that I am very grateful.  She will be able to have her first, at home, Thanksgiving.  One spent with her siblings, her grandparents, a great Aunt and great Uncle and a few family friends.  Life is wonderful and full of Cora blossoming on a daily basis. 

This year I am filled with more thanks that I can put into words.  Cora and I both have so very much to be thankful for....and the biggest thanks of all?  Her being home, doing well and eating turkey dinner surrounded by her family.

May this Thanksgiving be filled with many blessings for you and your loved ones.  Enjoy!!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Cora speaks up

The days are flying by.  I think it is the time of year and the holiday spirit.  Or, maybe its just the crazy life of Cora that keeps me so very busy these days.  Either way, the days find Cora progressing well.

I have to come to realize that this journey will continue to give me unexpected blessings, as well as jaw dropping surprises.  One of these moments happened yesterday.

Cora had an appointment with her eye specialist to see if her tear ducts had improved or if she needed the tear duct surgery.  The good news was that the surgery does not look like it is needed.  If she continues to improve with her eyes developing normal drainage then that is one surgery she will completely avoid.  This was such a blessing to hear because I was concerned about her having another surgery when she is not yet a year out from her last one. 

During this appointment Cora was showing her concern of having others around her.  She has started becoming very stand offish towards anyone that she doesn't know that wants to touch her.  While she cooperates and is willing to sit still for the procedure, she does not like to have the doctors or nurses that she doesn't recognize , touch her.  The eye doctor leaned in to look at her eyes and to see how they followed an object.  He gently took Cora's chin in his hand to keep her head from following the light and to get her eyes to follow instead.  Cora reached up, pushed his hand away and said, "DOON TOUS".  I was completely surprised.  He looked at me and asked, "Did she just tell me, "don't touch"?  I said, "She sure did.  Isn't that great?  That's the first time she has said those words!"  I was so excited and Cora was just looking at the doctor with that stern, serious look she has.  He told me that he was impressed that she could speak clearly enough for him to recognize what she was sayingas most infants with Down syndrome cannot.  I just smiled and thought to myself, YEEHAW!  More words for Cora.

It wasn't until later that I thought about the rudeness of Cora's remark.  Then I figured is it really such a bad thing to have Cora telling a stranger "don't touch?".  Yes he was a doctor, but to her he is a stranger that she only sees once in awhile.  How do you explain to a 19 month old the difference between appropriate touch from a doctor and not from a stranger.  I don't think you can. 

So instead of pondering of the rudeness and suddenness of her actions, I celebrate in her Independence and ability to get her point across.  Yeah Cora!! 

 Cora staying warm while I work on fences for the horses....


On a side note:  to have Cora saying words with a clear meaning is a huge milestone for any infant with Down syndrome.  Their facial muscles are not as strong and are more relaxed and harder to move into the correct position to form words.  Try saying "Don't touch"  or other words with four marshmallows in your  mouth.  Or maybe put one or two  in each cheek and then talk...this is as close of an example as you can get and as close to the feeling Cora experiences when forming her words.



Friday, November 9, 2012

Cora grows on...

Cora is a whopping 21 pounds and 31 1/2 inches long today.  The official measurements are in as she had to go to Pickford Medical Center for her synergist (sp?) shot.  It helps keep her from getting pneumonia during the winter months.  She will get these monthly shots again this winter to  help protect her and her heart from respiratory infections.

I knew she had been growing because I have had to buy her all new onesies and shirts.  Here upper body is doing most of the growing and its so funny to see a shirt that fit her a few days ago will no longer button or fit over the little tummy. I, however, did not realize she had grown that much.  A blessing indeed!!

Cora doesn't realize how big she is getting either.  Things that she used to be able to do, like sit in her plastic tub that holds toys she can no longer fit into.  The look on her face is priceless when I watch her try to fit into the tub that used to easily hold all of her body and now leaves her legs and head hanging out both ends.

With this physical growth and the changes to her body she is getting more adept at many things.  She can now reach the top of her crib rail and will work her way up the crib bars with her hands, get on her knees and stretch her finger tips to hold the rail.  It is lovely to see the look of happiness on her face when she achieves her goal of hanging on to the rail and being up on her knees.  The world is growing right along with Cora and she loves the new views she is getting along with the added height.

Cora was gifted with a baby doll crib today and she loved it.  She kept signing baby and pointing to the play crib for one of us to put the baby to bed.  Then she started to play on her own with the new baby doll crib. Eeventually one of her older sisters couldn't keep from helping Cora into the crib.  Cora was so happy and silly with this turn of events, but alas she was to big for this toy as well! 

Today found Cora growing, are you growing too?  My faith continues to grow and deepen as I travel this road on Cora's journey and it is my hope that today you find your faith growing as well.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Teething pains = perfect timing

Cora has spent the last few days, including today, fighting the fever that comes and goes with teething.  She continues to be different from my other kids and unique even in the cutting of her teeth.  Instead of trying for the simpler gentler method of cutting front teeth she is bringing in another molar.  These are the hardest and biggest of the teeth to get to break through and despite the discomfort that she feels , she remains in good spirits and with smiles at the ready.

I was feeding her lunch today and she signed "medicine".  I asked her "You are signing medicine.  Do you really want medicine?"  She nodded her head yes and patted her cheek while putting two fingers together.  Two index fingers tapping each other is the sign for "hurt".  I stood there amazed at this little girl (yes, sadly she is leaving behind the baby stuff) and then felt her forehead and took her temperature.  She was again with fever so I relented and gave her a small dose of medicine and put her down for a nap.

It was exhilarating to know that Cora can get her point across and let me know what is going on with her.  The fact that she just used the sign for "medicine" was no surprise as I have been using that sign steadily during all her regular med intervals.  It was the point of her telling me that she was hurting and could use something to make it feel better that really got my attention.  It continues to acknowledge that Cora is learning even when it is not a concentrated effort.  She learns from everything we do around her as a family.  It acknowledges that the videos are being absorbed and learned from.  It reaffirms that she is a child eager to learn and thrive in a environment that encourages her to speak in whatever language she can use.  It keeps us looking up new signs to add to her ever growing vocabulary.

If I hadn't listened to my gut instincts and prepared her for a non-hearing world (remember that she was born deaf) right from the start with the sign language, how would she have told me today that her pain was great enough to need a little help with the relief?  I could have stopped using sign language when I found out that her hearing was restored and working.  I didn't though. 
Despite being told that I didn't need to use the sign because she would be talking fine by the time she was five, I still used the sign.  Three months later following that gut instinct, following that push to keep working with Cora payed off, she signed her first question to me!

In this journey with Cora I continue to receive answers...maybe not in my time, but they do come eventually.  She showed me this today.  She showed me that by following my heart and standing in faith of her abilities the reward would, and did, come.

Creator is like that with his blessings and his rewards, with his answers and his comfort.  They come in his time, not in my time.  It is up to me to stand in faith on this journey and remain patient for the blessings that he and Cora have worked out.  Cora has her own way of doing things and with that comes her own time table.  Creator is like that as well.  He works on his own timetable that we can recognize once we can take a step back and become open to see the blessings.  Today, his timing was perfect...the added blessing was that Cora delivered the message.

 


Thursday, November 1, 2012

Little Punkin

The weather was to cold for Cora and the stroller this Halloween, so she spent the time watching her brother Trick-or-Treat.  She had the better end of the deal though because we followed along behind Phoenix in the warm car!!  It was a great night and Phoenix was kind enough to offer her a sucker without her having to ask.  Although the little stinker asked for "more" when he gave her the sucker as she reached for his candy bag.  Good thing he finds humor in most of what she does.

I hope you all had a blessed Halloween and were able to spend some time with your kiddos and made it a fun night.  Its the moments that we take time for our children that they remember more than all the things we could buy for them.  

After Trick or Treating and she just saw Phoenix dump his candy on the table next to her!!