OSV with Josh

This morning Charlotte had an appointment to get two vaccines we had missed previously. We have been using an alternative schedule for her vaccines since the beginning and delaying some we didn't feel were important at this time, but she may have at a later time. We have been following the alternative schedule in the Dr. Sears Vaccination Book. That seemed to fit with what we wanted and we have been happy with it. Our doctor has been very accommodating as well, which makes it so much easier. Anyway, back to the appointment.....There was barely anyone there when we got in and so Charlotte was showing off to the nurses with her walking (while holding my hands) and her new braces. They were making such a fuss over her and she was so proud of herself. They just love her there! She did really well with the 2 shots also. The nurses are great and if she needs 2, they will have 2 nurses in there and do them at the same time. No crying from Charlotte until it was over and then just a few tears, but we were able to distract her with getting a sticker.
After the appointment we headed out to Old Sturbridge Village again, only this time with Josh in tow. We got there and I was so excited to take some pictures and I realized I forgot my memory card for my camera. It was back at home still in my computer! Oh well.....we still had a great time. We walked around to the different houses and of course visited the animals with Charlotte. We ate lunch, walked a little more, and then headed out to get home for Charlotte's nap. It was a great morning. Charlotte spent almost 4 hours in her braces with no complaints or asking to take them off. Since we were out and about, it kept her distracted enough. We practiced walking while holding our hands a few times and she did awesome! She is really gaining confidence while wearing them.

Josh had to go home for his music lessons tonight, but him and his mom are coming back tomorrow to hang out and spend one more night with us. It's been so much fun having him here. After nap today, Charlotte and I were just relaxing. I was recovering from a yucky headache I had pretty much all day.

I took this picture of her vegging out in her braces while watching Curious George. I put baby legs on her since I couldn't find knee socks in her size. These work great because I can fold them down over the tops of her braces to cover the velcro and pad the tops of them as well. The velcro tend to rub against each other when she is walking and scooting. Tomorrow her physical therapist will see them for the first time. She was on vacation last week. She will be so excited to see how well Charlotte is doing with them! :)

Blueberry Picking with Josh

Today was a busy day for us....Charlotte and I had an appointment with the chiropractor this morning. We both love being adjusted. She does such a great job. Later morning was her occupational therapy visit and we were excited to show off her new braces. After lunch and nap we headed out to pick some blueberries with Josh. It was a lot of fun and I think Charlotte ate more blueberries then she put in the bucket. The bushes were at a great height and we could push Charlotte around in her stroller so she could join in the picking.
She gets so excited when she sees Josh...she'll say to him "Come on Josh, Come on!" Josh is such a good sport and he even plays dollhouse with her when she asks. :)

Charlotte and I picking blueberries this afternoon! Charlotte loved eating them!

Helping Josh pick some blueberries.

Aww...do I really have to put some in the bucket?

OK.....as long as I can eat the next one. 

Mmm....yummy! These are some yummy blueberries.

Dave picking some blueberries!

My sweet Charlotte enjoying the time! :)

Josh helping out too!

This afternoon Dave had an appointment with his doctor, who is also Charlotte's doctor. We brought Charlotte along to show off her new braces to her doctor. He was so excited to see how well she is walking with them and happy to hear that we finally have a diagnosis for our girl! :D

Nana and Papa and new shoes!

After our visit at Children's Hospital, we headed down to visit Dave's parents. They were going to take us shopping for shoes to fit Charlotte's braces on Saturday!
Charlotte enjoys visiting with both sets of her grandparents!
We enjoyed dinner with them Friday and afterwards Dave and I took Charlotte to a local ice cream store. She loves ice cream and has been leaning towards chocolate chip as her favorite. :)

Reading with papa....nana got Charlotte some new books!

Enjoying her chocolate chip ice cream! :)

On Saturday Nana and Papa took us to their favorite shoe guy at a children's shoe store. We presented him with a challenge to fit Charlotte with some good shoes to fit over her braces. He was up to the challenge and did an awesome job finding just what we needed! We also picked out some soft soled, cute shoes for Charlotte to wear around when not in her braces. They aren't the most supportive for her ankles, but she is in love with her pink sparkly shoes!

So excited to be wearing her new pink sparkly shoes! :)

Trying out walking with her new pink sneakers from Nana and Papa! :)

Walking some more! Thank you Nana and Papa for my new shoes!! :D

On Saturday Auntie Rachel and cousin Josh stopped over to Nana and Papa's house. We were going to be taking Josh back to our house to stay for a few days and hang out. Charlotte absolutely adores her cousin Josh and she was so excited to see him and Auntie Rachel. Here she is playing with Auntie Rachel after showing off her walking skills in her braces and new sneakers.

Dentist and Children's Hospital

On Thursday the 26th Charlotte had her first dentist appointment. We went to a pediatric dentist and she did great. She was upset when we went into the appointment because she really wanted to play in their tent playhouse. She was crying for awhile, but calmed down when she got to play in the playhouse again. :) The dentist said she looked great, just have to work on brushing the fronts of her teeth more. No pictures since she was clinging to mama! :)

Our visit to Children's Hospital was the next day. We met with a neuromuscular doctor who finally gave us some clue as to what is happening with Charlotte and why she isn't walking yet. The doctor diagnosed her with what is called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Hypermobility Type 3.....Here is a good website explaining what EDS Type 3 is. http://www.medicinenet.com/ehlers-danlos_syndrome/article.htm
Basically it's this... "Ehlers-Danlos syndromes are a group of disorders which share common features including easy bruising, joint hypermobility (loose joints), skin that stretches easily (skin hyperelasticity or laxity), and weakness of tissues."

"The Ehlers-Danlos syndromes are inherited in the genes that are passed from parents to offspring. They are categorized according to the form of genetic transmission into different types with many features differing between patients in any given type. The fragile skin and loose joints is often a result of abnormal genes that produce abnormal proteins that confer an inherited frailty of collagen (the normal protein "glue" of our tissues)."

It was a little scary at first to hear this news and then to go home and read about it online. In the end, we feel good about this because we know what is happening with her and the doctor also told us that we have been doing everything we should be doing to help her. We are going to try to continue to be proactive with her like we have been.

The doctor is sending us over to genetics to see another doctor to hopefully get more information on what we can do with her and what to expect. We will keep you updated with what happens!

No pictures from Children's either....too much happening! :)

Painting in the tub!

Today was busy! We had some errands to run at Target and Old Navy. We also stopped at Barnes and Noble to wander around and hope that Charlotte would want to try walking and standing with her braces. She is very hesitant to move or stand with her braces when we aren't at home. It's only the 2nd day she was wearing them, so no huge expectations! We at lunch out at Red Robin and for the first time Charlotte didn't sit in a high chair. She was having a grumpy day since she woke up an hour earlier then usual this morning. So, she was kind of off all day. She was excited to sit on the bench at our table with her daddy! After lunch we headed home for nap time! After her nap, Charlotte and I took a trip up to the town common for the farmer's market. We picked up some eggs and veggies. There was a dinner tonight at church for the kids and chaperone's going on their mission trip to DC. Dave is going as a chaperone, so we went to have dinner, then Charlotte and I came home for a tubby and bedtime. I mixed some food coloring with shaving cream tonight and we painted all over the tub. Charlotte was in heaven and had so much fun!
I got the idea from Pinterest and this website.....  http://www.havingfunathome.com/2008/11/shaving-cream-bathtub-paint.html

Painting in the tubby!

Going for more "paint!"

She had so much fun! She would get shaving cream on her hand and 

say "uh oh!" I would tell her to just put her hand in the water. 

She was so fascinated by the shaving cream!

We painted all over the tub!

Charlotte and her walker

Charlotte in her walker this afternoon with her leg braces. She is starting to get so confident with them too!

Charlotte gets her leg braces!

Tuesday was our BIG day! We went to pick up Charlotte's braces at Shriner's Hospital. We have been talking it up for the last few weeks telling her she would be getting her "special shoes" that will help her walk. She woke up Tuesday morning and the first thing she said to me was "special shoes!" She knew it was her big day. :)

Walking into the hospital.

Playing in the waiting room.

Playing again while we were waiting for her braces to be sized.

They are finished and she is trying them on.

Playing with the Velcro while the doctor was talking to me.

One tired girl! She did this after trying out her walker with the braces. 

It was a lot of hard work for her.

Lazy Monday

Monday was a lazy, lazy day in our house. :) Charlotte and I went to the chiropractor for the first time in months. I have missed going. Charlotte did really well with it. The rest of the day was spent being lazy. Knowing we had a busy week ahead of us, it was good for Charlotte to have some down time. After dinner was over, Charlotte was eating her yogurt and dropped some on the table. She started "painting" with the yogurt, so I asked her if she wanted to do some painting and of course she said "YES!" Her and Dave enjoyed painting with their fingers and brushes before it was time for a tub.

Painting with Daddy after dinner.

At first she would only use one finger.

She kept saying, "dot, dot, dot."

She kept putting her finger towards her mouth and I would

 tell her "no mouth, yucky." She decided to try the paint anyway!

She decided it was pretty yucky! :)

Family trip to the Village

We decided to head back to Old Sturbridge Village this morning as a family and we met our friends there with their little girl. It was so much fun! Charlotte was so excited when she got to pet the baby cow right up close. They had a meet and greet with the newest baby cow who is about 2 months old. She wanted to just keep petting her. Charlotte also got to try her hand at fishing 1800's style with her daddy. She thought it was so fun! It was a great family morning! :) We came home for lunch and Charlotte's nap. When she woke up we headed to our other friend's house for some swimming and dinner. Charlotte is starting to love the water more and more, which makes me feel better. At first she was scared to death of it. I am really enjoying my summer with her. It is going to be a tough transition when we have to go back to work, but she will also love being back at daycare too. She loves it there!

Thinking about whether or not she wants to pet the cow.

She thought the baby cow was so soft! 

She kept saying "awww...baby cow."

I think she would have stayed with the cow all day if we let her.

Fishing with daddy.

Mama tried it with her too.

Family picture at the Village.

We are coming up on a big week for Charlotte. She will get her braces on Tuesday morning. I can't wait to see them and see what she thinks about them as well! I will definitely update with some pictures.

Horseback riding and relaxing

Saturday mornings Charlotte has her horseback riding, which is part of her early intervention. She loves it and has been doing it since she was 15 months old and will probably continue to do it until she is 3 and graduates from EI. She's been using a saddle for the last month or so and she looks so big and so much like a toddler. :( My baby is growing up!

Later while Charlotte was napping, I started going through some of her baby clothes to see what I felt like selling and what I wanted to keep. Whenever I do laundry and stuff, she loves to get into the clothes and she looks at them and throws them around and just acts silly. I can never put her clothes away when she is in her room. :) She saw the clothes and she kept trying to get into the pile of clothes, it was hysterical. I was trying to stop her and she was laughing so hard. Dave decided to take some pictures because she was being so funny with it.

Trying to get the clothes and me tickling her. She loved this!

I laid down on the clothes and she was trying to push me off.

I put a baby hat on her and she didn't really like it! :)

Trying to pull something from me.

She spent most of the rest of the afternoon playing with her dollhouse.

In the last few days she has started playing with it more and more. She woke up this morning asking for it.