Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey

Ok, so I've been hearing some complaints about my pacifier use, so I'm here to clear some things up:

1. I love my Monkey and my Hootie (my pacifier and owl puppet)
2. They've been with me through thick & thin since I was just a little peanut.  Lets be real here, Hootie  has been my rock, my shoulder to cry on (literally), and Monkey, well, he's there when life just plain sucks (pun intended).
  But most important of all..
3. If I give them up then that means the parents have won the battle!! And I'm not ready for that to happen just yet..

There was an intervention, and I can tell that Mama and Daddy are really working hard to stick to their guns on this one.  I've been bribed, I've been reasoned with, I've been threatened (I can hear them plotting to cut off the paci part! Don't think I haven't!)  - oh yeah, they're pulling out all the stops! But it ain't workin'.  I've perfected the art of getting my way (especially with Dad)!

Here's the thing, I'm 19 months old and I still have a 'paci', 'bink', 'wubby' or whatever you want to call it (and chances are you did too at some point in your life!).  It's not like I have a problem or anything. There's no monkey on my back here.  I mean, I could stop anytime I wanted to..
What? No, I'm not sweating just thinking about it...I can..get by without them...You know..I, uh...I just don't feel like it right now...yeah..yeah, that's it..

Oh jeez!  Who am I kidding?!  I CANT SURVIVE WITHOUT THEM!!!!!
Whoo, okay..breath...uh, hold on a minute..I gotta go find Hootie and Monkey...
       

       

Here are a few shots of us just hanging, looking at the trucks and hugging                                       

Okay, so I guess you'll just have to stay tuned on my progress with this situation..

In Other News:

• I had my first real big cold and it was the pits, except for the night that Mama and I watched Ratatouille at 3 in the morning (she didn't think that was so much fun)
• I started walking up a storm last month and I haven't looked back!  I walk everywhere, including trying to walk down our cement front 2 steps.  I made it past the 1st one, but that 2nd one got me.  I got a big scrape by my eye and a bump on my head - again, not so much fun!
• I love to say, "1,2,3 - GO!" and run across the kitchen
• I love to count and the number 8 is my very favorite (I even find it in books and on signs!)
• I am very polite and have been saying 'thank you' for a while, but now I say, "thank you, welcome!"
• On the flip side, I've also learned to say, "stop!" when someone is doing something I don't like (such as wiping off my face or doing anything that interferes with my playing)
• I am learning to go potty and I like to sit on my Elmo potty - fully clothed..I guess I am not really ready yet..
• I am now such a busy girl that I don't have time to use people's full names.  Mama and Daddy are now just Mom and Dad.  Papa and Nana are Pop (sometimes Pops) and Nan.
• It was Daddy's birthday recently and I was in charge of decorations.  So, naturally, I got Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck! I mean, you really can't go wrong with those two.  Let me just say, it was the best decorated birthday for a grown man ever!  
• My MI cousins came to visit me at my new house earlier this month and we had so much fun! I can't wait to see them again soon.
• Next week I will see my Kansas City cousins and then we get to go on a trip to OH to spend Thanksgiving there with family.  It's going to be so much fun!
• My Grammy is going to come visit me in December!
• I love the holidays!  I can't wait for Christmas music and decorating and snow and the Thanksgiving Day parade.  Oh, it's all going to be so magical!  Mom and Dad have been telling me about this guy Santa who brings me presents - I just can't wait for that dude to show up! 

Also, I'm happy to say that I've been helping The OIF with their 50,000 Lives, One Unbreakable Spirit Campaign.  The goal is to raise $10M in 4 years to help 50,000 people living with OI and fund 40,000 hours of research to one day find a cure.  If you're looking to give a charitable donation to a very worthy cause please consider this one.
Have you checked out The OIF's website lately?  If you would like to be added to their eNews listserv just go to www.oif.org and click subscribe on the left.  They have tons of great information and OI news each month.  

You can also subscribe to my blog by entering your email in the upper right hand corner, that way you'll never miss a post.  And feel free to forward on to anyone who would be interested in hearing from a witty little gal who seems to always greet life with a smile. 

Well, another month behind us and so much fun stuff to come!  I'm wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving and many new adventures to you!

xoxo, 
Maggie Shae  

Another Visit to Children's, and More..

Wow, November has really flown by!
Let me fill you in on all of the wonderful adventures that I've had these past few weeks...

Happy Birthday Daddy!
My Daddy had his birthday on the 19th.  My Mama and I walked up to a cute little cafe and bakery called Bittersweet and spent way too much on cute little tarts and cakes for him, but it was well worth it for that special guy.  Then Nana and Papa came to visit and we all went to one of my Daddy's favorite places...A Scottish Pub!  My Mama and Daddy say that they just want me to be cultured, so they like to take me to all different places.  I guess they were teaching me about Scottish tradition.  One thing I learned: those Scots sure do enjoy their beverages!
Later on I went to Nana and Papa's house while Mama and Daddy went out to celebrate with friends.  I had a great time that night!  It was a great birthday..and I hope my Daddy had fun too ;)

Thanksgiving
It was my first Thanksgiving, and this is what I learned: Thanksgiving rocks!  Play, stuff your face and have a dance party with your family? Awesome!
Mama, Daddy and I made the road trip to Gramma's house and I did a great job in the car.  I was so excited to see Gramma!  The next day we cooked (well, let's be real here, Gramma cooked) all that delicious food and then everyone came over.  I had so much fun watching my cousins..they are so crazy!  We played and played and it was a very fun time.  Then finally we ate.  All that time spent cooking the food and it didn't take us very long to eat it!  Before I knew it we were all done, and then the real party started!  We moved the coffee table and played a funny dancing game.  Everyone got into it.  Well, everyone but Daddy..what a pooper!  I don't know what he was so afraid of, everyone knows that Mama, Aunt Brandy and Gramma don't have a problem making fools out of themselves!  But I guess Daddy needed a little warming up because at the end everyone was dancing!
Anyhow, my first Thanksgiving was a real hoot.

A Special Visitor                                                                                                                                A special visitor came to see us.  It was Melissa from the OI Foundation.  She was in town and met us for dinner at a very special place called Mrs. Murphy and Sons Irish Bistro.  It is one of Mama and Daddy's favorite places because it's where they got married, back when I was just a glimmer in their eye...as they like to say.It was so nice for us all to meet Melissa, and Mama and Daddy were very excited about it.  The OI Foundation has really helped us learn more about OI, and they help support us as we continue to raise funds and awareness for programs and research to one day find a cure.  Melissa and everyone she works with are so helpful and encouraging while we learn how to do all of these new things.  It feels very special to know that there are many people out there helping us along the way, and we were glad she took time out to spend it with us.  Thanks Melissa!  

A Visit to Children's

I had a check-up at Children's.  I go see the Genetics and Ortho teams at the Skeletal Dysplasia clinic there every few months.  Mama and I took a train ride downtown and then we walked along the busy street to get to the new hospital.  We used to go to the one closer to home and we would drive or walk, but they built a brand new hospital right smack in the middle of The Magnificent Mile, so we met Daddy there for our appointment.  And it sure was magnificent!  I couldn't get enough of all that was going on around me as we walked there.  And when we arrived I was real excited to see Daddy!

We see two very good doctors there, and they sat with us and answered all of Mama and Daddy's questions....every. single. one. of. them!

Mama and Daddy told me that at one time they weren't sure if they liked going to this hospital because some pretty scary things happened to me, and them, when they first brought me there.  But I think they have changed their minds because each time they meet with the doctors they seem to like it more and more. 

(I think it helps that each time we go we seem to get better and better news!)

And here it is:

They say I look great!  (And I could've told you that!)

They say that my ribs don't look thin, as was told to Mama and Daddy in the beginning when this all started.  They also said that there is no compression fracture in my spine as well (or any issues with my spine to be exact), as was originally told to us in the beginning. Which gave my Mama and Daddy a great big sigh of relief!  What great news!! 

The doctors said that because I seem to be meeting my developmental milestones and growing and getting stronger that this is a very good sign for my future.  We thought that, but it's always good to get reassurance about these kinds of things!  Especially from 'the professionals'!
You see, OI is not black and white.  It is very, very, very gray.  The spectrum of characteristics is very, very broad, even in people with the same "type".  The good thing is that they say I seem to be much more intermediate than severe (which is what they originally thought I was) and they continue to say that they don't think I need treatment, for now.  And that's good for me because I get enough needle pokes as it is at the pediatrician..hmpf!!  Also, they said they don't need to see me again for 6 months (instead of 3, as they were seeing me before) since I seem to be doing so good - yay me!

I still need to be treated with care because the likelihood of me breaking something at some point in my life is greater than most, but all-in-all they were very pleased with how I'm doing.  And so are we!  

I also think it may have something to do with my special Guardian Grampa watching over me. 

What a great way to end a great month...

December, here I come!

And here are some pictures from Thanksgiving:

   

I miss my Michigan family and hope to see you soon!