Well, it's almost 3:30 in the morning and I just can't sleep. I'm so anxious about this trip to CA! I'm nervous about what I'll learn at the convention, and how I'll handle it. Will I be pleasantly surprised and reassured? Or, will I be even more worried about Abbi's future? PLUS, for now, all I can think about is leaving my two beautiful kids for almost a week!

I've never been away from the kids more than two days, one night! And, that was leaving them with their Daddy. So, the thought of both of us being gone from them this long has me worried. I totally trust my sisters, but I just can't help thinking about what might happen... I'm afraid of Charlie running off while they're at the beach and possibly getting in the water w/o them knowing! Or, how much sand Abbi is likely to eat? Actually, I know Charlie will miss us, but he loves his Aunt Veneicia and cousin Allison. He'll be too busy playing with Allison to miss us much! Plus, his Aunt Canessa will keep him entertained with stories and songs! But, what about Abbi? Yes, they've been around her since birth and basically know how difficult she can be at night. But, they've never had to care for her for six nights! Thank God she is sleeping well now. At least, for the most part! Tonight, she's been cranky and up twice so far! I think she's teething again. But, I worry how she'll do without us. She's such a mama's girl right now. I haven't even left yet, and I'm already missing the kids and thinking that I should try to fly back earlier! A few months ago, when Abbi wasn't sleeping more than 2 hours at a time and I was busy with work and stressed about Tim's job situation, a vacation without the kids sounded just right. Now, I'm not so sure...

We've totally had an awesome summer thus far. Abbi is doing great at her new PT/OT/Spch therapy. I'm glad we made the switch, and I increased her therapies to once a week for each. I figure when the insurance runs out we'll worry about it then! She's just making such progress! She had her yearly evaluation at the Williams Clinic in Cincinnatti. Dr. Lamphear was pleased with her progress; she's made 6-8 months progress in a ten month time span! I'll take that! She's starting to finally say a few words; and more importantly in my opinion, I'm beginning to think she understands a few of them! I've been really concerned about her speech, so I'm really happy that we've got her into therapy now. At her speech evaluation, they said her expressive language was mildly delayed, but as I suspected, her receptive language was moderately to severely delayed. I've really been concentrating on working with her in all aspects this summer and we've seen such improvements! She's saying at least 1-2 more words each week, she's finally got "Hi!" and "Bye,Bye!" down, and I think she's starting to understand nose, toes, and "NO!" She's definitely more independent! Today, she fed herself almost a bowl of carrots using her fork and spoon! She's also been standing independently for about 30 seconds or so several times a day. She's getting so strong and really starting to problem solve, like I can see her thinking and concentrating when she's climbing and playing at the local play area in the mall. Plus, she's finally improving her grasp, which was a concern of Dr. Lamphear's. She's able to grasp smaller objects and place them in and out of the bowl/containers. Okay, you get the picture! I'm just so proud of her!!! Sorry to go on about it so long...

As for Charlie Bear, he continues to grow up! He's starting to abandon his obsession for dinosaurs for a love of super heroes! Lately, he insists on wearing his Batman costume everywhere! He's loving the pool and hanging out with friends.
And, I think he's starting to interact more with Abbi. They're cute cuddled together watching Baby Einstein and laughting together at the same silly parts! Plus, he's actually jealous of all her therapies- he really thinks they're just indiviualized play time with really cool toys that he doesn't have!

Okay, I'm off to bed and I hope I get some sleep! We're arriving in CA via Las Vegas on Wednesday! I'm really looking forward to hopefully meeting you all! I might not post as often as I should, but I try to read up on everyone else every few days!

Safe travel to everyone!