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Riley might be one the busiest toddlers I know. She is attending special needs preschool twice a week with her favorite teacher, Kathy Sayler. She loves being around the other kids and reading books--she can't get enough of looking at books and turning the pages. She still receives physical and occupational therapy weekly and also has two additional days of speech and oral motor therapy. She is making great strides in holding her own bottle and is working very hard on eating solid jar foods. Most exciting of all this past year, Riley's specialists have expressed their need to no longer see Riley, including her Neuro, GI, and Opthamologist. She now is only followed by her Audiologist, ENT, and her Orthopaedic staff at Shriners. She rolls all over the house and has been pushing up on her arms and knees. She has a standing frame and loves being able to see the world upright. We are also in the process of ordering a modified toilet seat so that we can begin potty training. Riley has showed several signs of readiness and we are apprehensive, but excited to try potty training with her. This upcoming year, our goals for Riley are varied but rigorous. We are working on her allowing solid feedings as well as self-feeding. She is also going to be fit with a hearing aid sometime this fall and we are working on ways to assist her expressive language, including a precursor to a communication board which allows her to point at icons to tell us what she wants to do or play with. It is, indeed, a very exciting time for Riley as we are beginning to see her real potential and are surprised by her intelligence every day. She is an independent young girl and is curious about the world around her. And she finally has hair! Rachel's second year has started off with high hopes but has been a confusing and frustrating time. We never cease to be amazed by her resilience and seeming patience in our struggle to maintain her health. Last winter, we were told that Rachel had a dislocated hip and in order to perform surgery, we would need to address her FTT (Failure to Thrive) diagnosis by having a feeding tube put in. We had the procedure in February and have experienced many problems with her tolerance for tube feeding. She began vomitting daily back in March and we had been trying to troubleshoot the exact cause of the problem. We had adjusted our feeding techniques various times, speed of feeding, amount, decompression, etc. We had her adenoids surgically removed to allow for ease of breathing as her breaths became more labored over time. Still, we have consistently seen huge amounts of phlegm interfere with her feedings, causing her to vomit. Recently, her GI doctor recommended a Nissen Fundoplication, a surgery which treats severe reflux and does not allow for the body to vomit or burp. We have felt that this does not address the main issue of phlegm secretions and have recently consulted with an Allergy/Immunologist who has confirmed that Rachel has severe allergies. We have been treating Rachel with meds accordingly and have noticed a profound difference with her feeding tolerance. Rachel still is followed by a battery of specialists and therapists and, along with her sister, receives weekly physical, occupational and speech/oral motor therapy. She is not able to attend preschool at the school site, however a teacher comes to our home weekly to work with Rachel. Eddy and I always say that Rachel is most times the calming influence in our home. She is a constant source of sweetness and patience and our home has been so blessed by her joining us. 
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