Right back at it ....

Monday came far too quickly. I was dreading getting back to routine after break but as the day wore on I realized that I do operate best with structure and order. However, having said that, I equally enjoyed having all the kids home. The late, late nights. Sitting up talking, playing games, watching our favorite shows. Staying in our jammies most of the day. Seriously, our average night found Mark and I in bed around 12:30am with a few 1am and 2am's sprinkled in there as well. Those times are insane. I am a late nighter but too many strung all together and it will catch up to me. I set my alarm for 6am to head out for a jog this morning. At 6:45 I was still hitting silent. So much for that run. Boys are back at school. Jess back to work. Danny and Caitlin and sweet Charlotte back in San Diego. Taylor is home until Sunday though, which will be nice. Zoey so loves the activity and buzz around here and I swear, this child of mine grows totally bored with me, in no time at all, but as soon as new blood walks in the room, she is just so animated and engaging.

Zoey had vision and speech today. Both sessions she worked really hard at, for pretty much the entire hour. Both therapists she absolutely adores. Smiles, waves, hugs and lots of love to spread around. Her speech therapist stopped by on Saturday to drop off an evaluation form. She left a new list of Zoey's signs with a note that read, "Do you realize that Zoey's signs have double since November. From 15 -30?" Wow. That is all I can say, wow. This child is amazing and to think that we, or some around here say it was only I, ever doubted that she would ever be able to communicate and express her needs to us. 30 signs blows my mind. Her therapist left a new set of goals. Two of which she has already met. In two days: "help and pig." Now, her signs aren't all necessarily easy to read by strangers but in the end, it is us, her family and the circle of caregivers and therapists, that we most hope she will be able to communicate with and to. Here is a little video. Zoey loves music and it is one of our biggest tools for therapy. As you watch the video, you may notice her eyes that float to the left, or her ridged legs and arms, those movements are all associated with her brain injury. Involuntary reflexes due to the damage to her brain and her central nervous system. Most of Zoey's challenges, at this point, all circle back to her stroke. Be it in her motor planning or her physical limitations but we see daily, not the limitations but the possibilities. Mark and I revisited the MRI of her brain shortly after birth. I was not there. Mark viewed it with the neonatologist. He told me something that I had never heard him say before. He said that he dropped to his knees when he saw the MRI picture. He said, in his mind, something he never, ever voiced to me, that after seeing the huge white matter, nearly half of her right hemisphere, he thought that more then likely, she would not be capable of much. I heard him say that. We looked at each other and we cried. Just for a moment because in the next breath we looked at Zoey, sitting on his lap, smiling up at her daddy, looking concerning at me, as she was very aware that I was crying, and we both said, look at her, look at her now, she is so alright. She is our miracle girl. (don't forget to pause the blog music at the bottom)