Hope:10 months!

Hope had a big day today--she's 10 months old, it's Valentine's Day, she saw the neurosurgeon, and she got glasses!

Now she and Rose match.

Fortunately, Carver has a dress code at school so he doesn't dress like this all the time--

But Hope sure thinks he's entertaining.


The report from the neurosurgeon was very good. After a bad appointment in December, when Hope's head circumference was really large and the doctor pretty much assured me we'd be doing shunt surgery in the spring, today was welcome relief. Her head circumference is back down to the 90-95th percentile range, and she is still showing none of the signs of hydropcephalus. In fact, when the eye doctor examined her last week, he said that her optic nerve is showing absolutely no sign of increased pressure in her head. But he did put her in the glasses for farsightedness. The plan right now is to do an MRI in about two months and see what that shows as far as her ventricle size is concerned.

Physically, she continues to progress at a steady rate. While she still hates being on her tummy, she is learning to move around from a sitting position, and I'm still hopeful that she'll crawl in a few more months. She is very interactive--she laughs now, and plays games (like drop-the-toy-off-the-highchair-to-see-Rose-laugh) and babbles up a storm. We feel like she's even trying to imitate the sounds that we make, which is really amazing. Up next in the physical therapy queue is starting some baby sign language with her. We have been doing the PT for almost 6 months now, which means that next week she'll have an official review by the physcial therapist to evaluate where she is developmentally. It will be interesting to see what that says. While I continue to be somewhat frustrated with some of the doctors we have, the physical therapists have been wonderful, and their visits every week are fun and encouraging.

Hope is such a sweet blessing to us. It is a joy to care for her and watch her grow. She is evidence of the goodness of God in our lives, and we love her dearly.