Long Overdue Update

Life has been flying by but I'm loving every minute of it. I will update on Octavia but first, I want to share some exciting news! I'm happy to say that because of me, my mom, and my advocacy, my mom is in the process of adopting a 15-year-old girl with Down syndrome! She has submitted her dossier and is anxiously awaiting travel dates for her first trip. You can follow her journey at http://lifealteringeffects.blogspot.com/. 

June marked 18 months since Octavia came home! It meant our fourth post placement was due, here some highlights I mentioned on our post adoption report:

Since last July, Octavia has participated in weekly early intervention through Early On services offered by our local school district. Since she is now 2 1/2, she is able to enroll in the school district's special education preschool program and her first day is next week! Octavia is incredibly social and I am hoping that she loves school as much as I did when I was a child.

A picture of us from the local Down syndrome association's 3/21 party.

Since Octavia's tear duct surgery in October, the issue got worse in her left eye and she had surgery to correct the issue again in May. During this surgery, they placed a stent into the tear duct to help it drain properly. The stent has since been removed and the surgery seems to have been successful. We will follow up with her ophthalmologist in January to check in and make sure everything still looks good.

After her stent was put in. No more tears!

In February, we took a trip to the cardiologist and he said that everything looks good. He did not perform an EKG but will perform one at her next appointment. In 2 years! She does not have to go back for TWO years! So exciting!

When it comes to speech, she's continually learning more words and sounds. She has 40+ words in her vocabulary but is selective as to when she wants to use some. A few words that she uses on a regular basis include hug, bye, hi, more, and done. She also knows the signs for "more" and "done" and will use them appropriately. Even though most of her words are one syllable, she does say "Where is it?", "Who is it?" and "What is it?" on a regular basis.

She loves to read.

We are currently working on potty training (slowly but surely), fine motor skills, language development, and self care.

Easter!

Octavia eats well. Her favorite foods are chicken, pasta/potatoes, and cheese. She also likes ice cream! She does well with trying new foods and isn't a very picky eater.

Her first ice cream cone!