Gianna: 11 Months Old



GiGi at 11 months old



Three Little Indians in Gatlinburg - Gianna's first vacation

Photos by Zoombug



Angelo's first day of Pre School



D's first day of First Grade

Although the weather still feels like summer, school started last week, heralding the official end of summer and beginning of fall.  As D and Angelo head off to their new classes, Gianna also has new beginnings this month.  She has an upcoming assessment with the visually impared pre-school services, and she is beginning speech therapy for her swallowing.  My goal is for her to be able to have some cake on her birthday.  G began to clap last week, which I absolutely love!  When she claps, she looks right at us and smiles, as if to say, "did you see what I just did!?!"

Decisions: To See or Not to See

Gianna went back to the opthalmologist last week to get an update on whether the glasses and patching are helping her eyes.  The great news is there is improvement in her right eye!  The downside is that the opthalmologist is recommending that she still needs surgery on both eyes before age 2 so that she doesn’t lose vision in the weaker eye, develops her depth perception properly, etc. So we're facing a dilemma.... The issue is that there is some new evidence that 2 or more general anesthesia exposures in children less than 4 years old is linked to possible developmental disabilities, cognitive issues, attention problems, etc.  (See SmartTots initiative for more information.)  Gianna has already had general anesthesia on three different occasions, so we are really hesitant to have her exposed again at an early age if the surgery could be put off until later.  We're getting as much medical advice as possible and praying that we're armed with enough information to make the right decision for her. 

Miracle Baby

Thank you so much Aseel for this beautiful slideshow of Gianna!!  Putting pictures to music is always guaranteed to make me cry, and this was no exception.  These lyrics are so perfect.

Gianna's Little Hero Slideshow

Tell me what did I do right

To deserve such wonder in my life?

When you smile, my heart turns inside out

And your tender love is all I can think about

You're so beautiful, so irresistible

You're my miracle baby

You're so wonderful, it's undeniable

You're my miracle baby

Heaven must have heard my prayers

and delivered me an angel so fair

when you look the clouds have to run and hide

you're the sun and the moon in this heart of mine

You sure do shine

You're so beautiful, so irresistible

You're my miracle baby

You're so wonderful, it's undeniable

You're my miracle baby

When you smile, my heart turns inside out

And I never knew what love was until now

You're so beautiful, and it's incredible

You're my miracle baby

You're so wonderful, so sweet and lovable

Every inch my miracle baby

Oh you're sensational

So sweet and lovable

Yeah, it's down right undeniable baby

You're my miracle baby

Here's the family slide show she put together for us.  The boys love watching this!

Littlest Hero

Gianna was recently fortunate to be chosen to participate in a project called "Inspiration Through Art/Littlest Hero's Project".  This incredible volunteer organization is made up of a network of professional photographers who donate their time and talent to take pictures of children with medical challenges.  Here's the way they describe their mission:

Our mission is to help provide and capture memories for families who are dealing with hectic schedules due to having a child with a serious illness or life altering disability. We are here to offer emotional support through the beauty and expression art has to offer, as a way of healing and coping. We understand that in the midst of being thrown a diagnosis and having to switch from a “normal” life to a life that is totally different, and often scary, things like getting photos taken is sometimes a huge challenge and is one of the last things families are thinking about. But when everything is done, and either the child has reached the end of their battle, or has proven the odds against it, many wish they had more time to stop, and capture the journey that they lived through for so long.  The organization was founded by an amazing young woman named Felicia Reinheart - (when she was 16 years old!) - in order to provide inspiration and hope to others.  Their website features the beautiful pictures and stories of "little heros" around the world. 

I received the notice a few weeks ago that Gianna was selected to be in the program.  We were so excited to have this opportunity.  We were given a list of photographers affiliated with the program in our area - I knew as soon as I saw the Zoombug website, that this was the one for us!  The photographer, Aseel, is so kind and talented.  She volunteered her time to spend a Sunday afternoon at our home - patiently taking photo after photo of Gianna, capturing her smiles, her sweetness, and her curiosity.

So enough words - here's a link to the preview pictures Aseel sent me this week:
Gianna's Preview Pictures

And she even went way "above and beyond" - offering to take family pictures as well.  Here's the family preview pics Aseel sent:  Family Preview Pictures  I love the way she was able to really show the personalities of all the kids!  This time together as a family taking pictures will be one of my very favorite memories of Gianna's first summer.