Christmas 2011

Another year and another visit from Santa.The girls had their photo taken with Santa twice this year once together and the other with their new cousin Sienna. We also had a secret santa picnic with some of Amelia's friends from school. The girls were up early and they first wanted to see if Santa and his reindeer had eaten the treats left for them. Of course they weren't disappointed. Then time for them to open their presents. As usual Amelia is straight in there where as Jayda is a little more hesitant. They both had many presents under the tree but neither of them saw the black sheet in the lounge covering something else. When they took the sheet off and saw the new bikes for them they jumped straight on. It has taken Jayda about a week to get the hang of it and she loves it.

This year was the first time that we had Christmas lunch by ourselves,with the family getting together for dinner. We decided to keep it simple with a BBQ lunch and salad knowing what was coming for dinner.LOL. More presents were to be opened at Auntie Mel and Uncle Shannon's and we were quite surprised the girls stayed up as long as they did.

Jayda's progress

2011 was another big year for Jayda but not as hectic as the previous. Our main focus was Jayda's speech therapy. At the beginning of 2011 Jayda presented with a severe delay in expressive language skills but with age appropriate comprehension and understanding skills. As parents we knew Jayda had excellent comprehension quite beyond her years yet she was getting so frustrated at not getting it out verbally. Now Jayda uses many 2 and 3 word phrases,her vocabulary has really increased,she is counting and copying. We know all children develop at different times,but we know through the PHACE literature that speech and developmental delays happen and she will continue with her speech therapy. Jayda is a very bright and happy girl. She loves playing with her big sister(most of the time),swimming at the beach and riding her bike.

This year she will also start her laser therapy. Her Hemangioma has remained quite stable after being off Propranolol and is going through it's natural regression. There are days still that it becomes very noticeable and the weather and her mood pay a large part in this. As Jayda is also part of the PHACE Syndrome Registry we were recently sent the PHACE Syndrome Handbook, A guide for parents and physicians. It is great little book but the biggest surprise was a Happy Holidays photo from the authors of the book.

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Easter 2011

Easter egg hunting

Good Friday at Araluen Botanical Gardens

Another year, another easter and not much really changes. Both girls were up early and could not wait to start their easter egg hunt.The easter bunny had hid the eggs all over the yard this year and by the end their hunt their baskets were very full. This year for Good Friday we went to Araluen Botanical Gardens for our family get together. It was the first time we had gone and the scenery was absolutley beautiful.We walked along the terraced gardens which are very old and played along the streams and lake. The easter weekend was all in all a lovely time.

By the stream

Clowning around

Sitting on a tree seat

Jayda's 2nd Birthday!

Opening presents

Caterpillar cake and insect cupcakes

Apologies for the lateness of these posts.On the 17th of April Jayda celebrated her second birthday.It was a quite day as family members were coming in the afternoon.Jayda opened her presents from Mum,Dad and Amelia in the morning,Jayda wanted a princess doll and was not dissapointed when she got two.We had a sausage sizzle in the afternoon with all the family and Tiff made a wonderfull cake that was in a caterpillar shape as well as cupcakes.It was a fantastic day with Jayda staying up very late as she didn't want to miss anything.

Aunty Mel and Jayda

The Birthday girl

Dermatology Appointment

Jayda had a Dermatology appointment this week,which for us was exciting as it has been a year since our last one.We were even happier that she saw her regular Dr and not someone unfamiliar with her condition.Dr Halbert was extremely pleased with the involution of Jayda's Hemangioma and was quite happy to start laser therapy soon but was also happy to wait another year to see if even more involution happens.It was decided to wait a year and then start laser therapy under G.A. Jayda will need about two or three of these followed maybe by a couple of touch ups.The plan is to have as much done before Jayda starts kindy and lessen any potential bullying.

Jayda goes to Speech Therapy

After a recommendation from the Neurologist,it was decided Jayda should have a speech assessment.Jayda's expressive and receptive language skills were assessed and supplemented by clinical observations including video taping Jayda playing with her Dad.The key findings were that Jayda presented with a severe delay in expressive language skills and has age appropriate comprehension and understanding skills.Jayda was offered group therapy that provides strategies for us to support her development of language skills and so far we have done four sessions with two more to follow..We start the sessions with singing and signing a hello song to each child that is followed by play time.We then learn a new strategy,play a game and sing a goodbye song.Jayda really enjoys her therapy and is trying a new word every week.If there has not been much improvement we will sit down with her therapist and work on the next strategy.