Well this is WAY overdue!

Hello friends, family, countrymen,

We have been terribly remiss in updating this blog, and for that we are truly sorry. All is well, and I'll provide a fairly good update below. As a family, things are great. Daniel is traveling to Sweden for business for a couple weeks each month, Kim is enjoying cooking, reading and playing with Evelyn, and Evelyn is enjoying all her various playtimes and therapies. Rocky is enjoying licking the dishes while the dishwasher gets loaded. Here's the Evelyn lowdown:

September:
Evs had a good month; therapies were in full swing, the weather was beautiful, and Evelyn seemed to be moving to a new level - of alertness, learning, progress - altogether just a good, fun month.

October:
More fun and learning. Evelyn absolutely LOVES aquatic therapy, and socializing at CVI during her mom and me music group. She started eating more and more by mouth, and made an absolutely adorable Bumblebee for Halloween. Evelyn also attended the annual Scottish Highland Games at Stone Mountain with mom, dad, and OJ the Great (aka - greatgrandmother Jean Forester). She really enjoyed displaying her Forester pride, watching the log throwers, and listening to all the bagpipe music.

November:
Sweet Evelyn got a bad cold, which went into her eyes, and then her sinuses, and ears. Lather, rinse, repeat. Basically when it hit her eyes she got some clogged oil glands which then became irritated and required surgery (in December) to clear up. Even with antibiotics those darned eyes were harboring the infection, so November was not a happy month for miss Evs. She absolutely had lots of good moments - therapies, Gymboree, Music class, a visit from Grandpa Mike, Thanksgiving... but the sinus infection and eye infection lingered for most of the month.

December:
Hooray for the right antibiotic! (Did I mention we went through two that she was allergic to? It is simultaneously amusing and worrying to watch your child turn red in a matter of hours.) At any rate, Evelyn had surgery to clean up her eyes, and got a good shot of Penicillin for the sinus infection. By Christmas she was back on track.

Just before Christmas Grandpa Mike visited again and he and Daniel built a track and support system for a special suit. This suit (like a super-strong onesie with straps coming up from the shoulders) allows Evelyn to be in an upright position while having the track and supports hold most of her weight for her. "CC" and I designed the suit (based on a very expensive similar piece of equipment seen elsewhere) and CC sewed it together. This has been an awesome addition to our playroom - Evelyn can explore independently in a very natural position. In just a few short sessions in her little suit she has been reaching for toys, turning herself around to get to toys, and moving her feet (again to get the toys!). Our hope is that this suit will encourage not just independent play, but walking as well.

Here are a few skills Evelyn has started to display in the last few months:
1. Evelyn is eating a good 80% of her calories by mouth. Drinking is progressing more slowly, but she does do some drinking at all meals and is doing well using an open cup.
2. Evelyn is learning to approximate the sound 'Ah' - she will easily imitate the mouth shape, and has recently started to 'squeeze out the sound'. It's tough for her to get the actual sound out, but it is so cute to see her twist, open her mouth wide, and vocalize - and then of course smile at her mommy or daddy with pride.
3. Evelyn is starting to make choices using switches and her vision. She will either push a button or look at a preferred item to choose what activity, song, food, etc she wants. This is a very new skill, but she's shown a lot of promise doing the same thing with computer games, so we expect that transferring it to daily life should be successful.
4. Evelyn is bearing weight! She received a new stander in October, and while in or out of it she is willing, able and enjoys supporting her own weight. Coordinating her head, neck, torso AND legs all at the same time is a challenge, so she still gets assistance in staying upright - but she LOVES it.

I have to say, and I think Daniel would agree, that we love Evelyn more every day. She is such an amazing little lady, and we are really enjoying getting to know her. It is so neat to watch her grow up - her opinions, preferences, moods and personality are all emerging so clearly, and it is fascinating to watch her learn something new, or respond to something with obvious comprehension.

Well, that's about it for now. There are lots of new pictures available at http://picasaweb.google.com/dforester

Thank you, as always, for your continued interest and support.
We love you guys!