The First 1p36 Newsletter, Fun Pictures, and more....

Alayna is doing much better sitting on the floor and playing. She lasts a bit longer now before falling over!

Alayna tired and trying to find mom!

It was cute. Alayna was sitting so well that she even used her foot to kick the toy and get it to play. I had never seen her do this before. I was impressed because it took some balancing to do.

Alayna is now really good at finding her pacifier and putting it in her mouth. She even turns it around and passes it from one hand to the other in order to successfully get it in her mouth.

Alayna is starting to use her hands for more balancing and not relying on her little round bottom.

She still LOVES toys that light up and play music. This is her favorite V-tech book. I think she'll love these types of toys for a very long time.

Another V-Tech treasure that I found for $3 at a yard sale! And it is a book with more pages for her to turn. She loves it. It reads each page to her and will sing a song if she pushes the right button. I love it and it was a bargain!

So cute! What a sweet little face.

Okay, one issue we have to battle is her wanting to chew on all of her books. Everything still goes in the mouth. This one is fine because it's plastic. But we have a Disney Princess book that has teeth marks everywhere and I think she's even digested some cardboard from it! LOL.

Sleeping Issue

We continued to battle Alayna's sleep schedule back in July/August. She was waking up in the middle of the night or early morning very unsettled and unable to fall back asleep. It was getting frustrating and we tried everything. Well, let's just say......nearly everything. One thing we never considered was that she might be waking up due to hitting the sides of the crib or getting a leg stuck in between the slats and not being able to free herself. She normally falls asleep down on a palate of blankets in the living room near the television. It's just always been "her spot" to go to bed. Typically I would then carry her up to her room for the night. Well, one night we just decided to not move her and leave her there. I brought the monitor down to the living room so I could still hear her. We were desperate for a good nights sleep. And we were thrilled when she slept until 7:15 am the next morning! So, for now her bed has been on the living room floor and she has room to roll around without feeling confined. I know that sounds kind of cruel, but whatever it takes is our motto. And she's safe and warm.

IFSP Meeting - 6 Month EI Review

Next Monday we have Alayna's 6 month review through Early Intervention. We are meeting with her EI coordinator and therapists at the Children's Therapy Center. I am excited about this meeting particularly because we start talking about pre-school. Again, it is our hope to have Alayna attend SKIP (Special Kids In Preschool) in Moline, Illinois. And our hope is that she can be bused in to SKIP and brought home at times that are accomodating with everyone else's schedules in our very busy family! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it all works out. She can attend every day from 8:30am-2:30pm. That will be a long day for her, but I do think the benefits will far outweigh the downfalls. Plus, who knows, maybe she'll be extra exhausted and sleep even better! I will definitely post on how things go. In about a week and a half, we meet with the principal of one of our local elementary schools because he is the coordinator of the preschool program for the school district. He will probably be able to provide us with more information. The earliest Alayna would begin preschool is February 1st, 2010. That will be here before we know it!

Spongebob Squarepants!

I have to end the post on a funny note. My other three children watch Spongebob all of the time. If it isn't on at home, then a DVD is on in the van. It's either that or iCarly. Well, Alayna now recognizes the theme song to Spongebob. When it comes on, she instantly freezes and turns to watch the TV or listen to the music. She will wait until it is completely over and then resumes what she was doing. It cracks us up! I love that she recognizes songs. It's one good sign to learning!

1p36 Newsletter

As I've mentioned so many times, we have such a wonderful support group of 1p36 families from all over the world. We chat online on our yahoo support group website and most of us are on facebook too. I can not tell you how much this means to me. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have these people to go to. One of the group's goals was to start doing a newsletter. The first one just came out. Please check it out! The contributors did an amazing job. It's at http://www.1p36dsa.org/. Just click on "services." This is our new website for the group which is now called 1p36 Deletion Support & Awareness and is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping others.