Today is Lizzie’s birthday and she is now seven-years-old.  I made a list of Lizzie’s progress, and I think I will do one of these lists every year on her birthday so that we can see the progress she’s made.

Lizzie can:

Crawl, Sit-up, Roll

Smile, giggle, and interact with people – and toys

Pull to a tall kneel

Pull to stand

Lizzie can not:

Walk independently

Talk (except for the occasional – not necessarily purposeful “Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma, Ma)

Use the bathroom

This year Lizzie started:

Walking in a walker at school (this is something that is continued being worked on, and hopefully will lead to one day independent walking)

Removing her pants when dirty (hopefully a pre-cursor to being able to use the bathroom) and (hopefully before she strips in public) along with every other article of clothing

Getting better at handling foods and liquids by mouth (no more than a few tea spoons, but more than tastes)

This year Lizzie had trouble with:

Breakthrough seizures

A repetitive g-tube infection

This year Lizzie received:

2 new diagnoses : scoliosis and hip dysplasia

1 new seizure medicine : Keppra (which brings the total to three with Phenobarbital and Trileptal)

a hip surgery

and a back brace