HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY

My special girl is 4 today! She's nothing short of a miracle. Her due date was 9/11/01. Yes, THE 9/11. Hubby worked on Wall Street then. So by her arriving early, he wasn't in NYC that day and was able to be there for her birth. A few weeks before she was born we learned she was breech (upside down, legs first), so I opted for an in-hospital procedure called a "Version" where a prenatal specialist doctor and a nurse actually grabbed my baby externally through my tummy and turned her like the hands on a clock back around. Yeah, it was that painful. And more. But after that, the birth was a cakewalk! Not related to the Version, we would later learn she was born with moderately low lone and a brain anomaly. Her cerebellum (the part of the brain that controls balance & coordination) never fully developed in utero. So she's had developmental delays in motor planning and gross motor movement, with residual (but minor in comparison) delays in speech and fine motor.

She continues to make increadible progress. She's talking in full sentences now. For example, she loves the moon and always points it out. I told her maybe someday she'll go to the moon in a space shuttle and she said, "Ooooh, dat be wondabuh, mommy!". In addition to excelling in her special preK class, she's making great progress with her new physical therapist who's fantastic. Her latest and greatest accomplishment is what she refers to as the door game. She slowly pulls to stand using the door molding then gingerly opens the door, steps carefully in & around, and shuts the door. And vice versa. Pretty sophisticated stuff if you think about it, and it is quite a process for her.

But she's determined and tough. And she's 4 today!