Addison is kicking ass. The shunt surgery, despite the shock and frustrations with the care team has been a tremendous success. 

Addison continues to be more and more exploratory with her mouth! She has said mama over and over and now when she cries, she says mama! Yesterday morning, when she woke up, I leaned over her bed and said "hi" and she responded hi back! I said good morning, and her mouth made the right motions of good morning, but the sound that came out didn't match what she was trying to say. She is less and less averse to us suctioning her. She even opens her mouth and lets us do it sometimes. Yesterday in speech, she SUCKED out of her favorite pouch. Speech just increased her sessions from 60-90 minutes. PT is continuing to do the same!!! 

She cries when I leave the hospital now. It is absolutely awful and amazing at the same time. This and everything else tells us that she knows exactly what is going on, and while this is a hard thing to accept, it's a good thing, because she. is. recovering!!!!!! 

So many parents have reached out to me telling me they've had dreams of Addison or that their kids are wanting to see her or are asking about her and missing her. This enforces what we are seeing in front of us. She is back "online" and isn't just recovering, she's healing and is becoming spiritually connected with everyone again. Speaking of which, yesterday, I had a somatic practioner that I've been working with for years come by. She let me know that Addison was hesitant to reenter her body after the accident, because it hurt and was so impactful. She looked her dead in the eyes and asked her if she wanted her to help her get back in her body, and Addison nodded yes. If anyone has been listening to the Telepathy Tapes, there is an episode that I JUST listened to last week in Season 1 where a speech therapist is working with an autistic child and she sees a golden orb above him. He telepathically communicates to her that that is his spirit body and that she is going to help him get it back in his physically body. This woman had never previously been able to communciate this way or see anything like this. She told him she didn't know how to help him do that, and he communicated that he was going to instruct her how. I could not believe my practioner was telling me the same thing about Addison after I had just listened to this episode. We're using strong physical touch to help her little spirit become fully embodied again. 

Physically, she went on her belly for the first time since the accident on Sunday without screaming. She was so focused and was weight bearing in both arms while laying on her belly. A friend of a friend drove a wheelchair in from Dallas last week, and it fits Addison perfectly, so we're using that one now, and she is having to support her head now and is doing an amazing job at it. When she starts to slouch in her chair, we give her torso a little feedback, and she is able to adjust herself. She is sitting up every day in PT mostly unassisted, just with occasional feedback to help her body find its place in space. She often overcorrects, but we are working on that. We got her fitted a few weeks ago for some custom braces for her legs to help her with standing and walking, and she was standing upright today beautifully. She continues to hit the wheelchair button to exit our wing of the hospital every morning. She is pulling suction toys off mirrors and holding toothbrushes and markers. Her hands have gotten so much stronger! She continues to interract with nurses - smilings - sometimes cooing - sometimes waving. And of course, belly laughs galore every time Andrew is in her presence. 

We are in discussion with general surgery about getting a G tube put in. I hate hate hate surgery in all circumstances, but we believe it will help her continued to make good strides. The nurse from the surgery team who walked us through the surgery and showed us the tube was so great, and seeing how small the tube was gave me a lot more comfort. It's not what I want for her, but ha, none of this is. Not loving the choicepoints these days, but we are hopeful that this will bring more comfort to her and expedite her ability to speak and eat. 

We will know more today, but we were also told to expect our discharge date to be pushed back. I am anticipating 2-3 weeks, which puts us in mid to late August at the hospital. If you had asked me four weeks ago, I would have lost my mind. Today, I think it's for the best, and I am mostly in acceptance of this. 

Days are truly flying. At the hospital our days are filled with therapies, talking with doctors and working with her in between therapies on additional ways to get her recovered. When at home, we're going on with life as usual - laundry, cleaning, bathing with and playing with Andrew, etc. It's true what they say, life goes on. 

I am starting to make decisions and look into options for special needs preK options, outpatient, etc. I cannot believe this is our reality. It is truly surreal. When I stop and think about it, I am brought to tears, but when I am with Addison, I am so freaking pumped and motivated by her resilience and progress, I feel like I could take on the world. Two oppositional things coexisting has always been a weird line to straddle. We were supposed to be heading to Florida this Saturday to spend the next week on the beach and then take the kids to Disney. I am so sad, because I know Addison would have loved every minute of it, BUT Kyle said she was humming Frozen songs last night, and gosh damn I love that girl, and the fact that she can still hum is everything to me. 

Please pray for peace for all of us, especially Addison. Please pray for Addison to feel comfortable and have no fear aruound being in her body. Pray for  the G tube surgery, as it is likely to happen at this point. Pray for no complications. Pray that the surgery would expedite her progress, recovery and healing. Pray for her little body as it is doing so much hard work. Pray for her rest and recovery. Pray for her neural pathways. Pray for sanity as we remain at the hospital for longer than anticipated. Pray for ease in navigating the administrative side of all the decisions that are upcoming surrounding medical bills, therapies, special needs programs, etc. Pray for overwhelm to cease. Pray for small simple steps each day. Pray for our parents, as they are bearing this burden with us and helping us so much. Pray for her providers, and that they would remain focused and clear minded, even though we are improving. Pray that in spite of progress, that we do not lose sight of what is important. Thank you to everyone who continues to show up in ways big and small. We are eternally grateful.