Peyton's World

Peyton has a new therapist coming weekly now.  She is a speech therapist and it is amazing!  She is working with Peyton on communication skills and feeding.  This is just so cool to see.  Initially, she had Peyton choosing objects she wanted.  She would hold two toys in front of her and let her choose and Peyton will pick the one she wants.  If that isn’t awesome enough, this past Friday she had her choosing between a bell and a block and Peyton would choose correctly each time.  We are seeing a side of Peyton we just didn’t know to tap into and it is clear to me that she is headed towards being able to communicate her needs and wants to us.  This is exciting stuff people!!

Her other therapies are going well too and we are seeing positive things happening.  She is getting closer and closer to maintaining balance while sitting and even starting to push on her hands when she is on her tummy.  Head control is fully achieved and it’s rare that she isn’t holding it up.  She enjoys family outings more and more as long there aren’t too many people and as long as we don’t stay too long. 

Big news - today when the dietitian came to check in on her, Peyton has gained some weight and and and……..her head circumference has grown by 1.1 cm since December.  This may seem like a non-event, but it’s truly a big deal!!  She went about 9 – 12 months with no growth and this has been a huge concern, but since the calorie increase, she is doing more and more and her little brain is growing. 

We noticed about a week ago that her eyes are starting to cross a bit when she tries to focus and she is trying to focus a lot more lately.  We contacted her neurologist and he said it could be accommodative spasms from her increased attempt to focus.  We take her in next week to her local ophthalmologist to get her eyes checked again.  She may end up with some little glasses, but this is ok with us if it helps her see and focus more clearly!!

So, a lot to report on little miss and we are forever optimistic of the great things in store for our princess.  It’s hard to feel sorry for ourselves when we see God clearly at work in her life.  Yes, she has some challenges to face that you never ever want your child to have to face, but as I have said many times before, we are always grateful our family was blessed with our sweet little Peyton.  We couldn’t imagine life without her!!

 Just hanging out.

Peyton and Mackenzie playing with one of Peyton's new favorite things....aluminum foil.

Blake teaching Peyton how to use the laptop.