Rub a Dub Dub

These were too cute not to post - squeaky clean!

Christmas Cleanup

I know it's slightly after the holidays (and well into Spring) but I meant to post these awhile ago. My Dad came out to visit with us. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

First Steps!!!

It happened. Last Sunday afternoon we had some friends over and Zoe let go of the ottoman, took 2 steps then fell into my arms. It happened so fast and we were all talking so I was the only one who saw it. The next day, Zoe was walking under her ladder and decided to go in a 'ladder-less' direction. She took 2 steps away from the ladder towards Jeff and tripped on his leg. Her balance is improving, her confidence is building and her desire to move upright in open space is growing.

I want to send out props to Jeff. He has worked so hard to encourage Zoe with the ladder. Originally she had no desire to walk underneath and every attempt was a gut-wrenching battle. With much perseverance and creativity, he has made it into a series of games that are fun for her. As a result, her balance and coordination is much better, she now walks 20+ lengths per day without any assistance from Jeff and for fun, sometimes she turns on the rungs, tilts her head back and walks backwards. She invented this all by herself and it's pretty funny to see her version of the moonwalk. Way to go Zoe!

Christmas Winner!

Having an almost 2 year old is lots of fun on Christmas. Thank you to everyone for the lovely gifts. Enjoy the video of Zoe's favorite new toy (thanks Uncle T and Aunt Virgey!) Love, Z Parents

Christmas Holiday

The cards are out the door so you should be receiving them shortly. Looking back on this entire year - wow! How far we have traveled. I wanted to share with my family and friends who have helped us along this journey, thank you for being a part of our experience. We are blessed to have walked the path with you. The coming year is filled with blessings unknown. Zoe continues to teach and amaze us in what things are possible with faith and action. We wish all of you blessings of health and prosperity in the New Year and much love from all our hearts!

Love, Z parents

Thanksgiving

We pulled off the full on Thanksgiving feast. We had Jeff's cousins Danny and Kristin as well as their brood over for turkey day. We bought the turkey fully cooked (it was predictably dry by the time it was served, but I had copious amounts of gravy to counteract). Our fabulous feast included stuffed mushrooms, crackers & cheese, veggies and dip, mini quiches, turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, asparagus, salad, escarole meatball soup, whipped carrots and parsnips and cranberry dressing. Dessert was apple betty and fruit salad. Everything was delicious and we all hung out at the park the next day. Nobody gorged themselves though a few had naps afterwards and games of Taboo went into the evening. All in all a fun family time!

Update on Zoe's Program

This is the update everyone's been asking for. We survived another trip to Philadelphia and Zoe has a brand new program for us to execute. Here are some of the highlights of her accomplishments:

Weight gain: 4.5 pounds (goal 5 pounds, previous 6 months gained only 1 pound)
Chest growth: 125% of normal
Head circumference growth: 125% of normal

While we were in Philly, Zoe decided to pull herself to standing and let go - several times for several seconds (5+ sec.). Her balance has improved, her creeping/crawling is lightning fast when she wants to motor but more often she prefers to cruise along furniture. Independent walking is getting closer and closer.

Zoe has become more and more vocal and is more consistently responding yes or no to our questions and comments. We will be focusing a lot on her reading program to make sure the print size is comfortable for her and that the content is where her interests lie. We will be resuming the Intelligence cards but it will be based on choices Zoe makes so I have to figure out how I can manage that process and we will be beginning more advanced math with her.

We'll be starting a new respiratory program with her to help Zoe take deeper breaths. This will be in addition to the 40 masks we do with her every day. We are reintroducing patterning and we're continuing with the Overhead Ladder program. She'll still have a marathon day of creeping and there were only minor changes to the nutrition program (we're still doing a 4 day rotation of a diet that eliminates the 10 most common allergens).

All in all, we're very pleased with the progress Zoe has made and the new program addresses exactly what we wanted to focus on. We have no idea how we'll get it all done, but we'll move forward and do our best.

The 3 main focus points are her breathing, walking and reading. And that's exactly our priorities as well.

Every has been asking how they can help and the best way for now will be with the Intelligence cards but I will have to give assignments for the categories and they'll have to be completed within a week. If you are interested in joining or continuing on the Intel team, just let me know and I'll figure out what changes need to be made.

We've been so thankful for everyone's support. We could not do this without all the help from such wonderful friends and family. We love you all very much!

Halloween catchup

Now I'm trying to catch up on my updates. Don't want to carry over last year's business into next year. Halloween was quite fun. Zoe really enjoyed dressing up in her costume - she was a lioness, and quite fierce! We did not go trick or treating since she does not eat candy. She did however attack the cat which was hilarious. Dan and Steph came over to check out the clawed killer and we had loads of fun. Enjoy the pics - and gggrrrrrr! She's a maneater!

New Zoe's Meow Cards!

I know, I know - I'm sooooo behind on updating the blog but it's been a whirlwind (when is it not?). In the next day or so, I PROMISE I will post all the exciting updates from Halloween to Thanksgiving as well as report on our last revisit to the Institutes.
For now, just wanted to promote my fabulous friend Laura who designed 15 new sets of Zoe's Meow notecards (above) - which make perfect stocking stuffers or for yourself if you're running low on thank you notes. The link is above at the top right of the blog or you can call her directly on (888) 246-2004.
For those who do not know about how Zoe's Meow cards got started, my amazing friend Laura wanted to do something special to help Zoe. She originally created 2 sets of greeting cards with contributions from some artistic friends and when the cards are sold, she sends us all the profits to help offset the costs of Zoe's Intensive Therapy Program (which is expensive, extensive and virtually uncovered by insurance).
Laura also designed our Christmas cards which are about to be sent out - so stay tuned to a mailbox near you! If you EVER need something designed or printed, big job or small, her work is outstanding and her commitment to customer satisfaction is unmatched. Please consider using her company and tell her it's because I recommended her. Love - Z Parents

Big Hair, Big Lips, Still Cute

For everyone who helped write books for Zoe - thank you so much! I'm still catching up to get all of them done. We're working on Zoe's progress report (66 pages of fun plus video!) so if we haven't responded recently, sorry... we'll be done in a few more days and I can catch up on emails, calls, etc.
I don't know what was going on in these pictures but they were kindof fun. You know her parents grew up in New Jersey due to the 'Great Big Hair' and you can tell she's a Southern California gal because that other pic looks like she got collagen lip injections (she doesn't look very pleased with the results either!) and the last one is just cute.
She's cruising everywhere and is very, very close to standing independently. The medullary ramp program helps develop her balance and that's the only thing that's keeping her from graduating to a bi-ped like the rest of us. Soon, soon... stay tuned.
Love, Z Parents

Recent pics - brain booting down

I don't have any great inspiring update. I'm pretty darn tired now. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to add some blog posts. Here are some recent pics to enjoy. Love, Z Parents

S.O.S. on Homemade Books

I'm so far behind on Zoe's reading program. I did the math - in order to catch up before we return to the Institutes, I need to make around 4 books per day. That is not possible for me to do. The Intelligence team is an enormous help with teaching Zoe through pictures but the reading program takes precedence so I must concentrate my efforts. I have to draft 'stories' that are about 6 sentences long. If any of you are interested in volunteering or know someone who might be, I'd be most grateful. I'll write the stories on posterboard and find the pics. All I ask is help in drafting the content. I have samples I'd be happy to share. Here's a picture of one I completed. Contact me directly for details and please say a prayer that I can make a dent in this task. Reading is the cornerstone for Zoe's intellectual development program. A good case can be made that any child will go far if they have a love of reading. I'll do my best and pray for a miracle!

Economic Discourse

I'm in a posting kind of mood so I thought I'd attempt some humor and add a few gratuitous pics for fun. Enjoy!

Hey kids - there's big problems on Wall St!










Have you heard what's going on?










We should come up with a plan...



Think very carefully, this is important.



Hey! The lawmakers decided to use $700 billion tax dollars to solve the problem - what do you think?

Size doesn't matter

Last weekend, Jeff's cousin Jason and his family were in town for vacation. They have an adorable 3 month old little boy, Kai. Now, the last time we took Zoe to the Institutes, I was a little stressed because Zoe was a bit light in the weight department (are we even related?). I know she is predisposed to being underweight but she was looking too thin even with that in mind. Last May, she tipped the scales at 14 pounds at 15 months old and nothing to spare. We set a goal for her to be 19 pounds for her next visit - a pretty aggressive goal considering her progress to date; that's another 5 pounds in 6 months but we made significant changes to her diet. You can imagine the celebration when we took Zoe to the pediatrician's at 18 months old and she clocked in at 17 pounds, 13 ounces. That's almost 4 pounds in 4 months - unbelievable success!.....Then her little cousin Kai rolls in. Three months old and Kai, the little Michelin baby is 16 pounds! My jaw just dropped - size is so relative.

The Magic of Masking, the Music of Laughter

"Who is that masked baby?" One of the most important elements of Zoe's program is her respiratory masking. We place a small plastic mask over her mouth and nose many times each day (ideally, 45 times) for 30-45 seconds. The concept is similar to breathing into a paper bag for someone who is hyperventilating.

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Rebreathing carbon dioxide (for short, safe periods) has many, many benefits for Zoe. It forces her to take bigger breaths during the time her air is restricted and therefore, increases her lung capacity. The carbon dioxide also dilates her blood vessels which after the mask is removed, allows her to get more oxygen to her brain.

The intended outcomes for doing this are - greater endurance, more robust immunity, stronger voice, better chewing/swallowing, increased mental clarity/capacity. The list goes on and on.

When Zoe was younger, her laugh was silent. We would tickle her or do something funny and she'd give this wide open mouth smile and her eyes would shut tight with joy. She was full of laughter but no sound would erupt. You know when you laugh so hard you can't get your breath and your stomach hurts and only tears come out? That's what it was like for her.

Now she laughs out loud all the time and shrieks with delight. And if laughter is the best medicine, certainly hearing a child's laugh is healing at its best. Hope you enjoy hearing a little of her laughter - it's not her loudest laugh but it's the most recent on video (and ignore the annoying Mom voice on film). Hahaha - keep laughing!