July 2013 – Consider Pure Joy

It has been a while since I have written an update on little Miss Reese McClain. She will be 2 this month—where has time gone?!?
Of course, birthday party planning is in full swing!

Sneak Peek of the invitation

Gulf Shores May 2013

Reese has managed not to be admitted into the hospital this past winter/spring and she is still doing really well. We have had 3 ER visits for constipation/UTI something that she battles continuously. We thought we had the constipation thing figured out but then she progressed with her foods and we are back to square one. However, she has really made some steps forward in eating. She will take the spoon/fork from me and feed herself! We are working on her pulling the utensil out of her mouth so when I do hand over and hand—I say “out”. Hopefully, when I say “out” she will remove the utensil rather than me assisting her. She was on all fork mashed foods but now she is doing soft foods that don’t have to be mashed. She is chewing foods great and we couldn’t be more excited about her progress. She is also holding her sippy cup which is a huge accomplishment. We have to add thickening solution to it for now but our goal is by the end of the year to be off of the thickening solution. Reese still takes a bottle before bed—Soy formula and out of a bottle. We are going to transition that formula to a sippy cup in the next month. We are not sure how much longer she will be on formula but for now it helps with her calorie/nutrient intake.

Reese is sitting up by herself from laying position. She rolls everywhere and is getting up on hands and knees (position to crawl). Reese is getting stronger everyday and I know it won’t be too much longer before she is crawling! She is still receiving PT 3-4x’s a week, OT 1x a week and speech every other week.

Besides our daily routines we have been spending lots of time with my Grandmother. She was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer this year. Reese loves her Grandmother—she smiles and belly laughs at her every time we visit!