I love the way Gianna crinkles her nose up when she gives her biggest smiles 

GiGi at 8 months old

Gianna reached a new milestone on her 8 month old birthday today - she rolled over from both her back to her front from her front to her back!  Only bad part......I missed seeing it.  She accomplished her new trick at Kidz Club today but her nurse told me all about it play-by-play :-) Basically she enticed her to roll over by showing her a lighted toy.  Learning to roll over is actually one of her physical therapy goals - her therapist will be so surprised when she sees her next week!  This weekend I took her to a play group organized by the Spina Bifida Association.  She was the youngest child there, but it gave me a great opportunity to meet some other parents of children facing similar challenges.  We talked about everything from neurosurgeons and seizures to feeding issues and options for special needs preschools.  And I learned that I'm not the only one who's kept my little one in my bedroom at night LONG past outgrowing the bassinet! 

As thrilled as I am to be celebrating Gianna's 8 months of life, today was overwhelmingly a sad one.  All I can think about is that a family in Cincinnati lost their newborn son Korbin yesterday.  Although I've never met Korbin's parents or his sister, I've followed their family's story on the blog his mother started and have been so hopeful for him.  Like me, Korbin's mother Tonya found out at 20 weeks gestation that her baby had an encephalocele.  They had the MRI's, ultrasounds and a seemingly never-ending stream of tests.  As the pregnancy progressed, they found out that Korbin also had hydrocephalus, the encephalocele continued to grow and the rest of his body's growth wasn't keeping up with his gestational age.  Their story and journey was so similar to Gianna's all along the way and I just couldn't wait to see a picture posted of that precious baby boy when he was born.  But yesterday Tonya went into labor and delivered Korbin - his parents had only an hour to spend with him - having to say both hello and goodbye on his day of birth.  Tonight I have no words but to say how my heart is just absolutely aching for them.  May God hold Korbin's family closely and give them every bit of strength and comfort possible.