Five Months Home

If I thought I was in love before, month five has just etched Rebecca into my heart even deeper. I am so in love with her! She is absolutely the sweetest thing alive! I cringe anytime I hear people people say things like, "I don't care what the sex is as long as it's healthy" or "I am glad God blessed me with healthy children" (and if you have said those things,I'm not mad at you, but I whole heartedly disagree). Rebecca is a huge blessing to me because ALL children are blessings from God. God lavished His love on me by giving me this special needs child.

 This month Rebecca began playing with toys. She can transfer toys from one hand to the other, she seeks for lost toys with her hands and one of her most favorite things to play with is a wash cloth. A wash cloth? Yes, while lying on her back, she covers her face with it, gets really still then squeals with delight and throws it off. She does this over and over again. It really is cute! She also loves to fake cough and sneeze because we all make a big deal about it and she loves the attention.

 Rebecca's therapy appointments are going well. She hates therapy, but has already come so far and is learning and doing new things all the time. Some of the goals we have for her are:

Identify body parts: point to correct body part when asked "where is..." She has not done this yet, however she tries to say nose when we ask her where her nose is.

 Bang toys together: She will bang one toy into her other empty hand, but she hasn't banged two toys together.

 Learn to suck: children with cleft palates are unable to suck so they are given nipples that pour the milk/formula into their mouths. So, now that her palate is repaired we will begin giving her a bottle with a normal nipple on it. Hopefully soon we will be able to transition her to a sippy cup with a leak proof valve then onto a straw.

Mobility: her therapists and I are putting her into the crawling and standing positions, although she hates it, in order to build the muscles it takes to accomplish mobility.

I am very thankful for Rebecca's therapists. Every week they get just as excited as I do over her accomplishments. They have loved her and encouraged me. Please pray for them because Becca is not an easy patient, she cries and fights them most of the time. Please also pray for the goals I mentioned (there are many more, those were just a few) and that Rebecca would become a willing participant in therapy.