Remlinger Farm Pictures

Happy Fall!!!!

Birthday season concludes

Phew....birthday season at the Gurry house is finally winding down....Lauren celebrated her big 6th birthday this week-end and we're finally all just recovering. I've been fighting a cold, which has threatened to take my voice, for about a week now and I'm so ready to be rid of it. I needed to be in fighting shape for this week-end and all of the fun festivities.

David took the day off on Friday and took Jacob to Whidbey Island for a boy's day. They had a great day - running on the beach, playing, and doing "guy stuff". Jacob loves his guy time and Taylor and I were able to enjoy a nice, quiet day together (although we did some birthday shopping) while Lauren was at school. Of course, when we picked her up she needed special "girl time" so we went to University Village (shopping area) and bought a few dresses for her, looked at books at the bookstore, and had a special dinner (at World Wrapps:).

Saturday was her big friend party and we had fifteen 5 year-old girls to the house. David had planned to take Jacob and Taylor to the zoo for most of it, so Lauren could have treasured "space", so I really needed my voice to hang in there. Can you imagine not being able to speak amidst that circus? Thankfully, I was able to talk and it was a really fun time. We moved all of the furniture in our living room against the walls and made a dance floor for our High School Musical party. It was put to great use as all 15 ran and danced and generally flung themselves around. They also decorated their own microphones, played dress up, and spread out all over the house. Lauren had a blast and the girls seemed to have a great time. This is a picture of Taylor surrounded by several of them. She's always a big hit since she is a "real life baby."

Sunday (Lauren's real birthday) was a beautiful, sunny day so we went for our annual Remlinger Farm visit. It's a great mini amusement park with kid rides and activities. They have a huge Halloween festival, so it's great fun. As the birthday girl, Lauren got to do whatever she wanted - and rode the pony ride about 10 times. Seriously - she rode nearly every pony they had. Jacob is a bit more adventurous and loved the "real life" roller coaster. He cracks up so hard, everyone on the ride laughs with him. It was a great day and Taylor was a good sport in the jogging stroller. She got to come along on the train ride and while Lauren and Jacob "drove" mini cars, so she had a good time.

It was a great week-end and now we're ready for fall and the next big thing - Halloween!

Bulking up

We are on a mission to fatten up Taylor. And, we think we're making progress. Our little peanut is growing. We saw a fabled feeding specialist (Gayllyod) on Monday afternoon - she came to our house and evaluated Taylor's high chair, her eating habits and how she eats food. She's such a guru that her evaluation was $400/hour, and Susan, our primary therapist joined, so it was $600/hour of expertise - thankfully covered by insurance. Gayllyod quickly adapted Taylor's high chair to help her sit more comfortably. Essentially, she needed a boost and so now she sits on a large layer of foam. This is similar to how my dad made me sit on large pillow when I first got my driver's license. It was quite embarrassing, but served the purpose. Taylor's in a similar situation. She sits much more upright with her adapted chair and now can reach out and play with her tray (before the tray sat too high for her arms to reach across comfortably).

She also watched Taylor eat and was very positive. She doesn't think we're in "crisis mode" and was pleased with how well Taylor is sitting in her chair and how well she eats baby food and drinks from a bottle. Essentially, our challenge is texture. Because Taylor has had limited hand control, she just started putting her hands in her mouth during the last months and she's just now putting toys in her mouth. This is another delay due to her hand motor control. This impacts her eating because her mouth isn't used to solids, or textures (most babies are introduced to solids/textures via mouthing toys - not actual food). Amazing how it's all so interrelated. So, we have these little tools now (like skinny toothbrushes without the bristles) to help Taylor get used to having solid objects in her mouth. She also advised that we give Taylor large food items (such as a large, peeled, whole carrot) that she can safely hold onto, hopefully gnaw on, and get the idea of food. She also encouraged us to keep trying. We'd gotten discouraged and worried about her weight gain, but we just need to be more creative. At the EEU today, David gave her a smashed banana and she ate almost half of a real banana! We are thrilled. Now we can try avocado and other mashed food to help her transition to solids. She's very slow, so we just need to be patient and keep trying.

The other thing we're doing is upping her caloric intake. We are really shoveling the food to her right now. She's eating at least 1-2 jars of baby food/day more than she was a few weeks ago. And, we're doctoring her food to add calories. Her morning oatmeal isn't just mixed with formula now - she gets a big hunk of butter and a spoonful of sugar. My healthy nature can hardly stand it, but the calories are good for her - and no surprise, she loves it! Amazing how much more oatmeal you can eat when it's loaded with butter and sugar. We're feeling optimistic that we're on the right track. She'll go back to Dr. Dudas for a weight check next week and we're seeing a nutritionist at Children's on October 7. Thankfully, Gayllyod didn't recommend regular therapy (hallelujah), although we will see her again in three weeks to see how Taylor is improving.

We're continuing to make great progress in therapy. The past sessions have gone really well. She's getting stronger and her sitting and standing practice is going well. We're so happy to work on functional skills and can't wait to report when she's conquered her next big milestone! This is a pic of Taylor sitting in her bumbo chair in the tub (we thought it was a great idea, except it floats, so you have to constantly hold the chair down - oops).

Johnny Jumper

This week-end was really fun, even though an early, rainy fall is upon us. Yesterday we had Jacob's friend birthday party at the jumpy house (tons of huge, inflatable toys). There is no greater joy than seeing ten 3-4 year-old boys jumping, tackling, and pummeling each other within inflatable play structures. They were all sweaty, laughing, and having a great time. The biggest hit was the toy with inflated boxing gloves. The boys had a blast and there weren't any tears, even though I worried that they were playing too rough at times. Several girls were at the party too, including Lauren of course, and they had fun as well. It's a great gender-neutral party. It was great fun seeing lots of friends - old and new. Jacob, in true "I know what I want" fashion had chosen a pirate theme for his decorations and goodie bags, and then at the last minute chose a basketball player cake. So much for coordinated party planning, but every guy should get what he wants for his 4th birthday. He and Lauren had a blast playing with his new toys when we returned home and Taylor recovered from the hoopla with a nap.

Today, Lauren and I ran/walked/skipped her first "race". It was a 5K race at Magnuson Park, coordinated by our church, to benefit our sister school in Malawi, Africa. I tried to use it as a teaching opportunity and explained to the kids that we needed to run to raise money so the kids in Malawi could have a nice school like they have. After a few seconds, Jacob asks "Why do they have a mean school?" Such innocence....and clearly I need a new teaching technique. Lauren did great and we finished in just under an hour (!). It takes awhile if you stop to pick flowers, count caterpillars, and visit with your friends. The sun came out during the race and it was a great afternoon.

Taylor had a great week-end of exercise too. We brought out the Johnny Jumper (a seat that hangs from doorway moldings) and she simply loved it. Lauren was also a huge fan and it was so fun to see Taylor patting her little feet on the ground to jump. She would jump harder when we would cheer for her and she loved it. She loved it even more when Jacob gave her a big spring - she cracked up, but we had to explain that no one else should make her "fly". It's just great to see her upright and having a great time.

So, a good week-end for the Gurry family - happy kids and one more birthday down during our birthday season. Lauren is next week-end, so we need to get ready for the next one! And no, we didn't plan it this way:)

Shout out to Jeff

Tonight I am thankful for Jeff Dossett. Jeff has been my manager at Microsoft for the last several years and we've been through a lot together. Through-out, he has been the epitome of strength of character, positivity and compassion. He's a 17 year veteran of Microsoft and is a great example of a brilliant corporate executive with a huge heart. Many have asked how work is going for me with everything else going on and I've been able to say that my manager has made all the difference. While pregnant with Taylor, he gave me this cool project called Live Earth (which became the most watched live event online ever) and graciously allowed me to take 8 months leave (6 month maternity plus 2 month sabbatical) after Taylor was born. Literally the day I was to return to work was the day we found out about Taylor's brain condition. Jeff was climbing Mt. Everest (seriously) at the time, but when he returned, he was incredibly supportive and gave me the time I needed to cope, develop a smart plan, and ensure we were doing everything we could for Taylor. This support has been a tremendous gift to Taylor, and our entire family. So many have helped us, but this time has made all the difference in the world for all of us.

Unfortunately, Jeff is not my manager anymore, but our last project together was in support of the RED campaign. Jeff is a huge supporter (so huge that he carried their flag to the top of the world) of RED - you can read more about his involvement at http://www.teaminspired.com. I'd like to encourage any blog readers to consider purchasing a RED product or join the RED community at http://www.joinred.com/ - as a huge thank-you on my behalf to Jeff.

We still have a white picket fence

The other day I ran into someone and shared the high-level details of Taylor's story. We discussed it for awhile and she was very kind. Then, as we were wrapping up the conversation, she said "so much for the white picket fence, right?" Now David and I know that it is very hard to find the right thing to say and we completely understand when people don't know what to say. And, we really have never been offended by anything anyone has said, because we know that people have kind hearts and only want the best for our family. I didn't acknowledge the comment and let it go, and left the conversation with a smile.

But, I couldn't stop thinking about it in an introspective (not sad) way. I guess some people might have thought we had a "perfect" life before (a la the "white picket fence") and now because Taylor has challenges, our life is no longer perfect. I view it differently. We are as perfect as any family can be, because every family has their challenges. Taylor's challenges are more unique, but Lauren was a rotten sleeper, Jacob had poorly functioning ears that led to numerous ear infections and ear tubes, and David and I have both fought through challenges in the past. This is our most important challenge to be sure, but in no way does it impact the "perfectness" that is our family. I really view Taylor as perfect as my other kids - they're all flawed in their own way, but completely, 100% precious and special. In fact, I think Taylor's challenges will over time give her strength of character and a work ethic that will aid her well in life. And, I think our family will be more compassionate, patient, and open-minded because of our experience.

So, my white picket fence is perfectly intact, thank you very much. And we feel a million times blessed for each of our children. Of course we would never want anyone to worry about saying the right thing - just knowing that our family and friends are there for us means the world to us. And, honestly, we haven't been offended yet - but I wanted to share my perspective on perfection.

Taylor and Lauren

The previous post was a bit somber, so thought I would balance with this picture of Taylor - I've tried to explain how much she adores her big sister, but this picture says it all. Lauren is holding Taylor and this is how Taylor typically looks when she is with Lauren.

Taylor's first days of school

Well, since my last post I was reminded that it's much easier to be a Tigger when you're well-rested. Sunday night, Jacob woke up at midnight screaming with a raging ear infection and screamed/cried for the next three hours. Taylor woke up and was wide-eyed for two of the three hours (Jacob has some major lungs - miraculously, Lauren slept through it all). In any case, I had about three hours of sleep all night and was decidedly un-Tiggerlike on Monday. Unfortunately, that was Taylor's first day at her new school at UW. She was tired and selfishly, new situations are always hard for me as it's a big reminder of the crazy situation we're in.

We arrived at her school at 9am and the structure wasn't perfect for Taylor. She typically has a morning nap then and we were all running on fumes from the night before. At her school, the schedule is 30 minutes outside play on Monday (varied with 30 minutes gym play on Wednesday), followed by a snack, indoor play time and circle time. It's a little Gymboree-esque, which is appropriate for the 12-18 month old crowd. Taylor was the littlest (by age and stature) in the program and most of the kids had been attending the school through the summer. Unfortunately, she also had the least physical skills (everyone else can sit unassisted), which makes some of the activities less thrilling for her. Outside time was hard because the only thing she could really do was swing, which she enjoyed. She was very wide-eyed and was taking in the new scene. She also was the only kid that couldn't participate in snack time, because she is the only one not taking solids. She sat with the kids and enjoys watching them, but the whole experience was hard for me because I so badly want her to have fun like the other kids. Keep in mind, there are kids with Down's Syndrome, autism and other challenges in her class and it was eye-opening to me that poor Taylor is the least developed. Of course, all of the kids have several months on her and our hope is that she catches up. But it was hard. And, the lack of sleep had me fighting back tears practically the whole class. I never lost it, but it was a big effort on my part.

Today was much better. The gym time was much more conducive to playing with her and helping her practice tummy time, etc. I also spoke with more of the parents, who are all very nice, and supportive. She ate a Rice Krispy and a sliver of peach at snack time, and while she didn't really swallow them, at least she didn't gag. And, she really enjoyed the indoor play time - they had her favorite chair with a tray so she could sit by herself and several toys that she enjoyed. She also likes watching the other kids and was much happier today (I'm sure the extra sleep helped her too). It was a much more positive experience and now that we're off and running, I think we'll all love it. The on-site physical therapist was there today and she was very nice. We were again encouraged that she thought we were on the right track and was impressed with our aggressive therapy plan.

So far, here's what I've learned:

• You will never see a more heroic group than special needs' kids. They have worked incredibly hard for minor skills that most of us take for granted and never had to "learn". They are precious, sweet, personable, and a whole lot of fun.
• You also have to admire the strength and determination of their parents. Some of them have sat through open-heart surgeries, heart-breaking meetings, and hours and hours of therapy. While every story is different, the commonality is that they love their kids - no matter what.
• Taylor is a lucky gal, and we're a lucky family, to be invited into this community. We have a lot to learn and hopefully, someday, will have a lot to give back.

Taylor has had amazing days of therapy the past two days. It has been such a treat to watch. We're still starting off with stretching and loosening her muscles, followed by tummy time and working with her on bearing weight on her hands. This is the hardest part because she really doesn't like it. Susan says it isn't painful for her, but it's like when your hands fell asleep and they're tingly when you try to use them - her hands were clinched for so long, the sensation of using them is unfamiliar. But, we're seeing progress and she's tolerating tummy time better. The most exciting part is she is getting much better at using her hands to catch herself while sitting. She's always supported during this exercise, but she's definitely getting the idea. And, today we practiced standing from a sitting position, which Taylor can do on her own. Her hands are the problem again - she can't get her hands out to balance herself, but once those hands work she'll be able to do all sorts of things. We're feeling really encouraged and that we're on the right track.

So, busy days, but we're beginning to get into a routine, which is wonderful. I got a little behind in picture posting so added a few extras for you to enjoy today. This is Taylor and her new friend, Owen, swinging and Taylor and I during circle time. There will be happier pics to post later, I'm certain.

Tigger vs. Eeyore

Here is my last reference to Randy Pausch - and this may be the most brilliant. In his rules to live by, he asks "Do you want to be a Tigger or an Eeyore?" Without a doubt, I am a Tigger. I want to embrace life with joy, optimism, and smiles everyday - excited to round every corner and tackle anything. I definitely do not want to be down-in-the-dumps and morose, and looking for the negative. While so simple, I have found this to be a really helpful tool. Just today, when I saw a baby the same age as Taylor, rather than sadly compare development - in my head, I said "I am Tigger." Later in the day, after folding mounds and mounds of laundry (how a family of five can create so much laundry is beyond me, and my own mom, who also raised a family of five), and losing patience with the big kids, I repeated my internal mantra "I am Tigger". It's amazing how envisioning that cute little orange fellow can bring a smile to my face. I re-read this portion of Randy's book last night and this morning, as part of my endless clean-up, I happened upon a small Tigger that was on one of the kid's birthday cakes years ago. I placed him on our windowsill to keep his spirit top-of-mind. We all could use a little Tigger and I hope to never lose sight of my inner Tiggerness.

Celebrating today

Today was a great day. We celebrated Jake's 4th birthday today, just our family. His big party is next week-end (strategically planned around the Husky football schedule). Today was a day that made us thrilled to be parents. Jake was so happy and we did everything he wanted to do on his special day, including pancakes with candles for breakfast, bike riding, Chuck E. Cheese for lunch, lots of time for playing with new toys, scooter riding, football playing, Husky watching, his choice dinner (mac and cheese, banana, carrots, sushi and pot stickers - what an eclectic little guy), and cake of course. He had a great day and he and Lauren played really well together all day. We're not sure if it's because it was Jake's birthday, or if she just wanted to play with his new toys. In any case, we had a great day.

We had several moments that I just cherished as special family time. The small moments really are the best. While we were driving to Chuck E. Cheese I started a rhyming game to pass time (dog/log for example) and David, in his most boyishness, said "spring/ding-a-ling" - Jake's favorite word for his privates. Jake died laughing, which cracked up Taylor, which cracked up Lauren, and suddenly the whole mini-van was in hysterics. This didn't do much for our anti-potty talk, but I cherished the laughter surrounding us. We also spent time in our front yard, just soaking up the sunshine - planting flowers, playing football, and running circles around Taylor. She just laughs at the big kids and we set her swing up outside so she could enjoy the nice breeze.

Nothing major to report today - it was just a blissful day. It was a day especially appreciated because the last week was hectic and stressful with Taylor's stuff, and David and I were both a little fried. A few words of wisdom have also lightened my heart today. Julie wrote a beautiful card about God making smooth and easy paths for us, illustrated by Isaiah 49:10-11 - "For he who has compassion on them will lead them and will guide them to springs of water. I will make my mountains a road and my highways will be raised up."

And, I returned to my favorite Randy Pausch book (The Last Lecture - you really must read it) - and found a great reminder: "We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier." So, smile on my face and looking forward to a great week!

Magic Shoes and Bulking Up

Taylor had a busy, and frustrating, week this week. I'm realizing my blog posts are more infrequent - the first weeks of school have been CRAZY with lots of "parent orientation", in addition to crabby kids at the end of the day. So, I'll try to catch up on the past week.

Her big focus this week was getting orthotics for her feet to help her start practicing standing and working on growing bigger. The orthotics were a total zoo. You can imagine trying to get orthotics perfectly made for a tiny baby. Taylor is still really little and her feet are quite small, so I'm in awe that anyone would even try to make her orthotics. I had taken her to get casted several weeks ago in Issaquah (about a 40 minute drive) and David, bless him, signed up to take Taylor to pick up the finished orthotics in Mt. Vernon (almost 90 minutes away). We were trying to work with the "best" baby orthotic maker that our therapist had recommended, thus the traveling circus to connect with their traveling clinic. David came home with orthotics that looked different than what the technician had talked with me about in Issaquah. When I took them to Taylor's therapy session, Susan was livid. She totally let the poor technician have it over the phone and insisted that they fix it immediately. They didn't fit well and didn't have some of the bracing stuff that she had requested. So, David's 4 hour trip was essentially a waste. Thursday, I took her to the orthotic company owner, who happened to be at Swedish Hospital in Seattle (don't get me started on the craziness of trying to schedule meetings with these specialities). He agreed the original pair were poorly made and made her a pair of good, temporary orthotics on the spot. Her shiny, pink pair should arrive in 2 weeks. The good news - Taylor can finally practice standing. She wasn't placing weight on her feet equally and Susan wanted the orthotics before she practiced standing to ensure that she learns correctly, which hopefully will help her walk normally. So, after about 8 hours of orthotics appointments, we finally have a temporary pair that can work for now with a great pair on the way. Of course, the big kids are fascinated with Taylor's "magic shoes", but I'm terrified they will get damaged. They are worth their weight in gold given how hard we had to work to get them. I'll post a pic soon. Needless to say, she doesn't enjoy wearing them, so I haven't snapped a picture yet.

Thursday was a really busy day. I also took her to the feeding specialist at Children's. Thankfully, her endocrine tests came back normal, so now we just need to focus on fattening her up. We didn't learn anything earth-shattering - other than we shouldn't worry about normal eating milestones for now (such as getting her to eat solids), but should instead focus on increasing her caloric intake. The therapist was nice (and also had kids at Lauren's school - small world) and the meeting was pleasant, although another morning at Children's is not my favorite way to pass time. Unfortunately, she didn't have magical answers for us, but recommended that we see a nutritionist (!) to help Taylor with a feeding plan. Taylor will soon have more team members than most professional athletes - it's seriously amazing. In the meantime, we're working on loading her up with baby food (she's getting all of the fruit she wants and the dreaded vegetables have largely gone by the wayside) and as much formula as she can guzzle. An indication of how far off we are - the feeding specialist said most kids Taylor's age are eating 2 jars of baby food per meal - we're lucky if she eats 2 jars a day. So, we have work to do, but we're glad she isn't alarmed. The next step is meeting the nutritionist and we have another feeding specialist coming to our house on 9/22 to look at Taylor's high chair and give us hands-on coaching - which feels a bit weird with our third child, but we'll take any help that will help Taylor.

Finally, we saw the speech therapist for the first time (also on Thursday - a banner day for appointments). She was really nice and great with Taylor. She gave me several good ideas to focus on (more working on nodding yes and shaking head no, giving Taylor choices using flash cards of common objects (do you want your bottle first or baby food?), and continuing to talk with her). She recommended against working on sign language for the next several months until Taylor gets better control of her fine motor skills on her hand. But, we can work on building her vocabulary so when she can speak, she'll be able to be a motor mouth from the get-go. We also won't see her regularly for several months, which is actually a gift right now, due to her aggressive therapy schedule.

We had a poor week of therapy since Taylor was so busy with other appointments. She was tired and not too interested in her therapy, so we're hoping to get back on track next week. She also starts her new school on Monday, so we're anxious to see how that goes. I've started asking all of the various folks we're meeting with for their opinion on Taylor's therapy plan and so far, they have all agreed that it is very aggressive, but great for Taylor if we can manage it as a family and pay for it (thank you again Microsoft for killer insurance). So, we're feeling peaceful that we're doing the right thing for Taylor, although this week was fairly exhausting for all of us. We're craving a routine and some sense of normalcy from a week-to-week basis. The various specialist appointments make this difficult, but I think we're doctor-appointment free next week - hooray!

Amidst the nuttiness of poor Taylor's schedule, Lauren and Jacob are adjusting to their new schools and Taylor is so happy to see them when they come home. Of course, they each have a runny nose already, so they'll probably share that with her too soon. But, it's great to see them all laughing and smiling at each other at the end of the day.

Taking it day to day

Today I'm enjoying a peaceful Sunday afternoon. Lauren is off with her girlfriends and Jacob and David are shopping for a "real life" basketball hoop for the backyard. Jacob is quite into shooting hoops these days and I don't know who will enjoy the new hoop more - Jacob or David. Taylor is taking a nice nap, so I get the unusual opportunity to update the blog during daylight hours.

Taylor survived her last trip to Children's. David was a great sport and took her for her blood draw and this one was a doozy. They took 5 vials of blood to run the various endocrine tests - the most blood they could actually take from her. She's such a little trooper. Thankfully, several of the tests have already come back normal, but we're still awaiting the conclusive report. We gave Taylor the day off of therapy because after the three shots in her legs the day before and arm pokes required for the blood draw, we felt like she needed a day to recover.

She had several great therapy sessions this week. We're continuing to work on reducing the tone in her arms and what used to take an hour (to see her arms totally relaxed), we can now do in 15-20 minutes. This is great progress. So, now we're starting to work with Taylor on sitting - primarily getting her used to bearing weight on her hands so she can catch herself. We're also returning to tummy time - her least favorite - but also an important step. We're buying her all of these snazzy new toys to help her tolerate the exercise - the latest purchase is a little dish that she lies on and she can spin it around to look at a colorful mat underneath her. She actually just did 5 minutes of tummy time on this new contraption without fussing, so I think it's worth it.

Susan and I had a long chat about the month ahead, and now that Taylor is tolerating therapy better, she wants to increase the session length and add more days. It's so conflicting, because of course we want to do everything we can to help Taylor, but the therapy is tiring for her and time-consuming for the whole family. It will help so much to have Lauren and Jacob in school so they're covered several hours during the week (because we don't like them to go to therapy, we always need two caretakers during this time - 1 for Taylor and 1 for them). David and I are also craving a consistent schedule to plan the rest of our lives around but understand the therapy recommendation will change as Taylor grows. So, we're doing the best we can to do as much as we think is good for Taylor. I was feeling quite overwhelmed the other day and found the perfect verse:

"Your father already knows your needs. He will give you all you need from day to day if you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern." Luke 12:30-31

So, I'm trusting that we will make it day to day and I'm pushing the "not helpful" worries again to the back of my mind.

We had a great appointment Taylor's opthamologist on Friday afternoon. He said she was doing much better tracking objects and he could see a lot of progress. As David says, we'll celebrate every piece of good news.

Taylor's 1 year dr. appt.

Phew....who knew starting kindergarten was so exciting and exhausting? We've had lots of orientation/meet-and-greet/activities leading up to the big first day (yesterday) and I'm happy to report that Lauren greeted her first official school day with chin held high. This is a pic of Lauren and her cousin, Griffin, who is in her class. She looks so cute in her uniform (if only it were pink) and so far, so good. She has short days the first two weeks to get adjusted and I think she thinks kindergarten is a piece of cake (their day ends at noon right now and the focus has been on fun, so we'll see how long that lasts). In any case, Julie has been a trooper and worked extra time with Taylor while we've gotten Lauren situated at school and Jacob prepared for his pre-school (which start next week).

Taylor had her first year doctor appointment today and it's left us scratching our heads. She officially fell off the growth chart (to -3 for height, weight, and head circumference) from the hefty 5% she had maintained. This would be cause for concern anyway, but given her potential to develop hormonal deficiencies, it's raised an additional red flag. Dr. Dudas said it's not terribly uncommon for kids to fall below the curve in weight, but typically not in all three areas. Bummer. So, she's going back to Children's tomorrow to give more blood (poor thing) to run a whole host of endocrine tests. If her results are normal (which we really hope), then we're off to another speciality clinic at Children's (the infant growth division). We're not overly concerned (it's all relative, right?) because if it's hormonal, we can likely fix it with a pill or shot; and if it's not, the growth experts can hopefully help us develop a feeding plan for her to help her bulk up. We ran through the typical updates on Taylor's various specialists and that was pretty much it. The topper - three immunization shots in her legs - with blood draws from her arms tomorrow. Poor kid is going to be one tough cookie when all is said and done.

Anyway, enough about that. We're trying to savor the joy of sending Lauren on her way to kindergarten - we're so proud of her. She's good to cuddle Taylor and play with her in the morning and when she gets home - Taylor just lights up when she sees her. We're so blessed to have such sweet kids in our family.