Hi~

I'm so sorry we've been out of touch for the past few months. We've been busy
with the new "addition" to our family and the holidays.

I've caught up on past posts and thought I would take a moment to give an
update.
As some of you know, we were concerned about AHC with the birth of our second
child and we know there is never a guarantee with the health of our children,
but, we definitely see a lot of differences between Lydia and Alaina -
especially in regards to muscle tone, overall strength, and appetite. Lydia is
now almost 4 months old and appears to be healthy in every way.

Alaina has taken very well to her new little sister. We only have to watch that
she doesn't smother Lydia with too many hugs and kisses! Alaina was an only
child for so long that there have been some instances where she is learning that
she now has to wait (until after we finish changing/feeding Lydia) for
something. During Alaina's bad episodes (i.e. when she has both sides down or
when she is not tolerating it well), we tend to hold her a lot and we need to
find a new strategy to help her deal with what is going on. I am hoping that as
she gets older that she will be able to better verbalize how she feels so we can
best deal with the episodes.
Over the past few months, her episodes have presented differently - she is
having more frequent episodes, but, with less intensity. Don't know if this is
because of the changes at home, or, if this is just how she is progressing with
AHC. She had one episode that lasted two weeks, but, it was mild and she was
still functioning at school and home. We are going to continue to monitor to
see if this will now be her pattern.

She is doing very well in Kindergarten! She has an aide that we love and a
wonderful teacher and special ed teacher...a really great team that communicate
with me on a daily basis on her progress, etc. Thanks so much to all of you
that responded to my posts in the summer on how to handle the situation with her
school....I am always so grateful to all of you that are willing to share your
experiences and ideas!

I have posted a couple of photos in Alaina's folder on the Yahoogroups site, if
you are interested. One is of Lydia's birth announcement and the other a family
photo from Thanksgiving.

We were so sorry to have missed the family conference in Boston over the past
summer and was wondering if there will be a conference this year?? Anyone know?
Lynn?

We think of our AHC friends often and hope that 2006 brings you much health,
wealth, and happiness!

Take care,
Jennifer (mom to Alaina, 4/7/00 and Lydia, 9/8/05)
jejeaja@...

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