Evie the Extraordinary and Her Mommy: The Journey As We Go

It's official! My new children's book, "The Polka-Dotted Penguin" has launched today!  How fitting that my labor of love launches on Labor Day. The writing of the book and putting all the parts together took about a year. It was definitely a pandemic-worthy project.  I wrote this book because I wanted more books available for sharing with Evie's class for World Down Syndrome Day on 3-21 and for Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October. I'm happy to release my new book just in time for October! My hope is that this book will be used as a tool to start conversations with children about how to treat others who may look or act differently than they do. It's all about inclusion and celebrating differences.  This book is perfect for ages 4-9, or any ages who love penguins, or really anyone who loves Evie! Here's how to order: Barnes and Noble (Hardcover): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/.../the-polka.../1140115530 Amazon (Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle) : ...

Evie just got her second pair of SMO's!  (If you missed our post about her first pair, and don't know what SMO's are, click here .)  I feel a little mom guilt because I didn't keep up with her appointments at the orthotics clinic.  I felt like I could tell when she outgrew the SMO's.  I was wrong.  By the time we went back, she had outgrown her SMO's by about 2 cm, which is a lot if your feet are the size of a large avocado.  If you're interested, this time she got a princess print. Rocking the walker around the neighborhood  Evie's own solution for taking a break from walking Now that summer is here, Evie's foot needs are a little different. SMO's are really hot and make your feet sweaty.  I've found that we need mesh socks and ventilated shoes.  Here are Evie's tried and true recs for the summer SMO fashion statement: Can't forget the Hello Kitty shoes.  Thankfully, she hasn't decided to make it a project ...

Evie's been trying out some new products. We thought we'd share and maybe someone else will benefit from them too! We are learning that the weight of food on a child's tongue is very important as they learn to swallow with low muscle tone.  Evie has made some big strides in eating as we gave up on trying to get her to drink yucky formula (in her opinion) and gave her all the Siggi's full milk fat yogurt that she wants (nice creamy weight).  She eats the ones with 4% milk fat, with some purees mixed in.  In the world of g-tube weaning, it's all about getting as much fat in a healthy diet so the child will still gain weight and not need a g-tube. Evie at a Chinese restaurant sitting like a big girl in a high chair! Our new favorite product is the Travelmate Mini. It solved the dilemma of the Early Intervention shuttle requiring a car seat to take her to play group. You can attach the car seat to the dolly, and then strap the toddler in their convertible ca...