31 for 21 Day 1!!!

I love October for so many reasons, but especially since it is Down Syndrome Awareness Month!! I get to blog everyday! Not that I couldn't blog everyday anyway, but this really gets me in the spirit too!

Yesterday I hinted that there was some news on Addy. First off yesterday she got to go to a feeding clinic in Springfield!!! That is HUGE since I have been trying to find someone close to take her to for several months! Addy's PT let me know of the clinic (she just found out about it), however, the catch was that you specifically had to ask your pediatrician for a referral. No problem there! Addy's ped has immediately written referrals for me so that was easy. I'm not sure why he never suggested it, I guess since she's g-tube fed it just wasn't thought of?? I don't know but I am thrilled that she got in!! Two weeks ago Addy's ST put some soy sauce in baby carrots and she went to town feeding herself!!! She NEVER does this!! It just finally clicked that food is for eating, even though she is presented food everyday, it had to be her idea and full of salt! I know it's not the best thing for her but it gets her to put food in her mouth!! I hadn't been sure that she was swallowing anything but yesterday during the assessment she did find that Addy has a functional swallow!!! Woo hoo!! We aren't going to do another swallow study anytime soon, she wants to progress with the actual feeding for awhile since when we did her modified in August of 07 when she pretty much had zero oral motor control and was not aspirating that we will hold off unless we see signficant signs of aspiration, choking or gagging. She recommends that Addy be seen weekly for one hour feeding sessions. I am soooo happy about this!! However, there's always a glitch isn't there?? We live about 45 minutes away and all of their after school appointments are taken for the entire school year!!! Addy's nurses can't transport her so scheduling is going to be a real nightmare. I can't take off work weekly to take her either so we're going to have to figure something out. I'm hoping that I can schedule on Mondays when my BFF is off, she graciously has offered to help when she can. We are also trying to look at times when Scott could take them before work and I can try to find someone to bring them back to Marshfield. I'm prayerfully optimistic that this will work out and we will get this little girl eating!!! She is so ready and that is so awesome!!!!!

I love how amazing Addy is! She got the nail clippers and was pretending to cut her toenails. She is always showing how she knows how things work! She is one smart cookie!