8 months old

And growing strong. Alex is making up for lost time in the hospital and learning new things everyday. She is becoming more aware of her hands, her surroundings, and her voice. She's making new sounds and we have the most interesting conversations with her lately. I gave her a bath the other night and she talked the entire bath and then some. She loves to play around with mommy and daddy and does the cutest things. Her new thing is to throw her hands in the air. Daddy tells her "I'm gonna get you" and she raises both hands, closes her eyes and waits for him to tickle her. I'm not sure who gets more excited, mommy and daddy or Alex :)

It's oddly a quiet week for us and Alex has no appointments. We have the spina bifida clinic coming up in about a month along with another sleep study and a visit to the Children's Pulmonary clinic. Alex's appointments have been scheduled a few weeks out as sometimes after a surgery involving the spine, the body can go into a state called spinal shock. It can take a couple of months to return to a new baseline.

Our baby girl has been spending lots of time on her tummy, in her bumbo chair and doing different exercises to improve her neck strength and trunk control. She also started back to daycare this week and we are working on getting in-home OT and PT set up again. Guess we manage to stay busy one way or another. We are ok with that and thank God for all of our blessings.

Love to all,
The Diffees