Happy Halloween from Never Land!

Peter Pan and Tinkerbell would like to wish everyone a very happy Halloween!

This picture on the bottom cracks me up because Shelby is making the same face as the pumpkin. :)

Choosing pumpkins

Helping Shelby choose one:

Required photo-op:

No more pictures mommy! Can we just get these?

To be carved later on this week....

Duke visit last week

My mom and I took Shelby (and Harding) back to Duke last Thursday for her 1 month post-surgery appointment with Dr. Grant. We started the day with a CT scan which they attempted to do without sedation. That was a no-go. Shelby is still extremely afraid of being "messed with" (or even looked at) by people who resemble doctors or nurses since her recent hospital experience, despite the excellent staff at Duke going above and beyond the call of duty to win her over. After sedation, things went pretty smoothly though. Shelby was extremely sweet coming out of sedation--blowing kisses and saying "meow", "I love", and shouting "hooray" repeatedly.

We headed up to the Children's Hospital clinic after the brain scan to meet with Dr. Grant and get the results. Her brain looks good--the ventricles have returned to their usual size, (for Shelby anyway)--proof that the shunt is essential. I am so thankful that there is such a device and that we have excellent neurosurgeons to take care of business when a new one is needed! We go back to Durham in 6 months for another scan (this time an MRI) and check-up with Dr. G.

One more thing--Shelby is participating in a study at Duke about stem cell therapy and hydrocephalus. She'll be part of the control group of course (since we unfortunately didn't find out about Shelby's hydrocephalus in time to save her cord blood), but I'm glad that we can help with this important research that could benefit babies diagnosed with hydrocephalus in the future.

Thanks to my mom for driving down and back with us to Duke....I enjoyed the company and couldn't have done such a long day without her! And thanks to my sweet cousin Katy who has class at Duke on Thursdays and came by to hang out with us (and entertain the kids) in the waiting room....always good to see her!

Fall Splendor in WNC

It is flat out breathtaking here this time of year. Need proof? Check out these pictures taken at our land last weekend. One day we'll have a house with this view! I don't know who said this originally, but it rings true for me, "If you're lucky enough to live in the mountains, you're lucky enough!"

Harding took this picture of Trip and me, not bad!

Wooly Worm Festival - Banner Elk, NC

Last weekend we went to Banner Elk with the Gillilands for the Wooly Worm Festival, wondering what the heck to expect...it was interesting and the kids had a great time. We met up with MoMo and Bop at the festival and they were kind enough to purchase a wooly worm for Harding.
 

Aubrey, Shelby, Harding and Derek all bundled up and cooperating.

Posing here was the only thing that didn't have a price tag. The boys were happy to oblige.

Bop, Daddy and Momo help Harding pick out his Wooly Worm.

Here is where the worm races take place...they have to crawl up a string. Entering was 5 dollars, so we decided to have our own race later (for free).

Yikes...Festival Guy

Julie and I with the Wooly Worm Mascot

 Harding named his wooly worm "Super Speedy".  Derek named his "Captain America". When we got home later, Harding and Derek raced their wooly worms and then released them to the wild. Of course each boy thought their wooly worm was the winner...Harding is still talking about how Super Speedy really won. Although the adults were not huge fans of the festival, it was a beautiful weekend to drive through the mountains with friends--the leaves were at their peak and the Gillilands are always fun to be with.

H's performance

Our sweet boy singing LOUDLY with some of his classmates last Sunday. Have a listen, you can't miss Harding's voice. Trip and I were very proud of him.

Recent antics

I just can't help it....I think my kids are hilarious and adorable! If you are one of the seven people who read this blog, I'm assuming you think they're pretty funny and cute too.....(BeBe, MoMo, Nana, Grandpa Kinnaird, Granny and Papa Gene, and Nana)...

Shelby loves cell phones, but we won't buy her one because we think an iPad is ample technology for a two year old. Unphased, she has turned her foot into a phone. Flexible and creative! She puts her foot to her ear and says "Heh-yo".

Here's a sneak peek of Halloween. Harding was so excited when his Peter Pan costume came in the mail this week, but visibly disappointed that he couldn't fly when he tried it on. Luckily Daddy was there to help him out.

OT and PT this week...

Shelby's therapy sessions this week have been a study in opposites. I left work early on Tuesday to pick Shelby up from daycare in order to take her home for PT with Beth. Shelby fussed and cried and screamed the entire time and virtually nothing was accomplished. Although she did do some standing. I was incredibly frustrated Tuesday evening....these sessions are not free, and leaving work early is hard, so for the entire session to not be worthwhile because Shelby was grumpy did not sit well.

This may be the only time in the entire 45 minutes when she wasn't crying.

Today I was nervous because we had OT with Adam this afternoon, and I didn't want a repeat of Tuesday. Thankfully, she did great and showed off some crawling skills for Adam. He also worked with her on using both hands to hold and drink a cup.

Usually she gets mad when people "help" her, but today the princess was tolerant.

Using lefty on the iPad while Harding eats his afternoon snack.

Adam tried to get her to climb up the stairs to get a toy, but she wasn't sure.

After Adam left, I looked over and Shelby was climbing the stairs on her own....the little stinker! Not sure how I feel about this, we may be in trouble!

There she goes! Thank goodness we had a productive therapy session today. I think that Tuesday was just a fluke....everyone has bad days from time to time....

She crawls!

My mom watched Shelby when her school was closed on Friday and followed her around with the camera to get this video of her crawling...so exciting!

Appt. Week and Crawling

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We spent last week making up appointments we had missed back when Shelby was having her shunt replaced. On Monday we went to the orthopedist to check on her hip dysplasia. There was no change in the angles measurements of her hips from her last xrays in May. Our plan is to stay the course. Shelby will still wear the rhino cruiser brace at night. Dr. Hooker is hoping that when Shelby is up and walking and doing more weight bearing, that the mild dysplasia will correct itself. If not, then surgery will be considered. Honestly, Shelby's hips are the least of our worries at this point in time, so we're fine with the current plan.

We went to see Dr. Bachinsky (ophthalmologist) on Thursday. Shelby did great on her test with the orthoptist and her vision was measured at 20/180. It was neat to see the difference in her cognitive ability this time around. Sally would say, "Can you point to the stripes on the card?", and Shelby would! It made me feel like the test was a bit more accurate, althought Sally and Dr. Bachinsky said that Shelby's vision could be better than she tested. I had been worried that there was further damage done to the optic nerve because of the shunt malfunction. Dr. Bachinsky got a good look at it, and thank God that was not the case! Finally, Dr. Bachinsky gave us a prescription for glasses to fill if we want to. Shelby is far sighted, so they could possibly help her see better. We'll probably try them out, because we want to help her vision as much as we can, but honestly, I don't think she'll keep them on her head.

One more thing, Shelby has started crawling! A week and a half ago, Trip looked over and the little stinker was crawling upright on her arms like it was nothing at all. We couldn't believe it. Anyway, she has been doing that more and more and we are tickled to death. The weight bearing (especially on her left hand/arm) is so good for her! We are trying to get some issues straightened out with our insurance company so that we can increase Shelby's OT and PT and begin another round of constraint therapy soon.

Open House at Shelby's school Thursday night.