What's Happened Since...

Friends & Fam,

So many of my post's start with "well, it's been a while..." I guess that's to be expected, right?. Wanted to share some pics & stories of what's been going on in our lives these past few months.  First, Ava Gray continues to thrive & blossom. Her mischievous personality and wry little smile come out often, and we are just thrilled to see her emerge even more from her cocoon of "just trying to make it through" and starting to really enjoy life, her family, her sweet nurses and her equally mischievous sister. She's starting to gnaw on foods (mostly healthy, but she really likes ice cream), sitting in her walker chair and scooting herself backwards, playing her electric organ with her hands (she's also pretty proficient with her feet), grabbing at anything electronic (phones, iPads, etc), talking more and more in her "clicks and clacks" language that we love, and acting like she wants to start crawling soon. We have no surgeries scheduled in the near future and things are starting to settle down to a new "normal" (which feels a little abnormal for us!) Oh, and Ava Gray's time in the EMU (Epilepsy Monitoring Unit) a few months ago was informative: we found out that her seizures are coming from both sides of her brain. That means surgery is not an option for correcting her seizures. That's good in the sense that we don't have to go through another surgery right now (yay!), but bad in that the only medical option for controlling her seizures at this point is medication. And boy, is she on a lot of those! As she grows and puts on weight, she "outgrows" her doses, so we're constantly bumping up her doses or adding new meds. This tends to make her nauseous for the first week or so (and sometimes a little more sleepy), but she is a real trooper about it all. Love that girl!!

Her sister is also growing and thriving. She's such a tenderhearted but fierce little girl (very sweet and attentive to her sister & mom & friends, but with a dash of wild thrown in the mix). She's loving her books, figuring out how things work, juicing with her mama & Grandma Blanco, running like a....well, I can't easily put it to words. If you've ever seen the "running-in-the-park" episode of Friends where Rachel is embarrassed be seen running with Phoebe, you'll have some idea of how cute and wild and inefficient Havyn's running style is. (Except unlike the Friends episode, we're not embarrassed: we love it!) She's learning new words every day (and how adorable is it to hear little toddler say words like "broccoli" and "good morning" for the first time!). So many precious & hilarious moments with this girl. I'm storing up such wonderful memories of both. 

And now I'll stop making you read, and let you get to the fun stuff: pictures! Here's some of the things we like to do right now:

Snuggle with (& jump on) our loving nurses:

Take long luxurious naps (well, Havyn doesn't so much anymore...sigh):

Get all stylish & sport our "tude":

Work together to outsmart mama (Havyn got a step stool and stole the bell pepper from a kitchen countertop, dropped it by her sister in the livingroom, where her sister promptly grabbed it and started munching away. Then mama comes out to the livingroom and tries to figure out how AG got the bell pepper...love it!):

Soak up all the attention:

Keep an eye on the neighborhood goings-on (most especially the target of our surveillance: all canine activities!):

Play with and on all electronic devices that are brought into the home:

Look gorgeous at all times:

Be coy (especially when some activity isn't our idea to start with!):

Practice using utensils:

Let our hair down (or up as the case may be):

Steal little moments of quiet:

"Ride, ride, ride!" (Only stopping to feed the pony or pat it's nose):

Take the pony to the races:

Practice sharing with our sister (both girls love to both share & steal from one another!):

Decorate for Christmas (it's our Thanksgiving tree morphed into a Christmas tree: fun, right?)

Get lots of good kisses & hugs from our Grandma & Grandpa Blanco:

Draw with pens (this shows just one of Havyn's favorite things to draw on, the others include: the walls, the floor, her sister, herself, her mama, and any toy, cup, bowl, box that she can get her hands on!):

Grin. We love to grin:

Click and clack away:

Figure out how to make more noise & lights come out of our toys:

Soak in the sunshine:

Smile sweetly to ourselves (isn't she the cutest!?):

Master all things leggo-like:

Practice counting with Grandma Blanco:

Vogue:

Sport cool hats that our Grandma Aiya made for us:

Dress up:

Push the limits (apparently it's okay for toddlers to drink & ride):

Play with our awesome therapists and trainers (even though they come for Ava Gray, the sisters "share" em):

Eat yummy food (Havyn's current favorites: broccoli, spaghetti, tangerines. Ava Gray's: anything sweet!):

Explore the outdoors:

Imagine that we're lions (Havyn's favorite animal after her first love: dogs):

Get jiggy with the keyboard:

 Get a little taste of the Arts (first time at the TPAC watching "A Christmas Story"). Havyn's favorite part of the experience? The elevators! Had to watch her like a hawk: she kept pressing the button and darting in when the doors opened. Good times!

Okay, that's all for now. I'll try to make sure you get more regular updates from here on out. Thanks for stopping by!