NiNi's baptism!

What a blessing to have my entire family together this past weekend!! My brother, sister-in-law, and niece came up from Corona, and my parents, sister, and niece came from Redding, and my aunt came from Crescent City...it was the first time we've all been together since Paige's confirmation last May, and the first time the "Corona Crew" had seen NiNi. We had NiNi baptized at my church in Fair Oaks. Tammy and Paige are NiNi's godparents. It was a very nice service. Joe, Jamie, and Hannah bought NiNi's baptism dress, it was just GORGEOUS!! She was so good during the service, also; even let the pastor walk around carrying her to show her to the congregation! :-) It was very special to spend the weekend together. Everyone spoiled my sweet baby girl, she had presents galore all weekend! So many pretty things, so many loving thoughts and prayers attached to them. The most special of all was one of the presents from Paige. While we were in China, she had a wall hanging made that has both "Olivia" and "Liu Ni" written in Chinese characters. It is gorgeous, a keepsake that we will treasure for years to come.

This past week brought yet another change to a year of big changes. My "special" relationship of nearly 1 year ended abruptly. It was an unpleasant surprise for me, especially 4 days before my family was coming. The only positive thing I can say is that at least NiNi is young enough that she will never remember him. She was REALLY attached to him, and he worked to maintain his "favorite" status with her. She had a special smile for him, just lit up when he was around. This isn't the first time he has pulled the rug out from under me, but it is definitely the last. He has now become yet another person to abandon my precious child, like she hasn't been through ENOUGH for her first 13 months of life!

On a positive note, NiNi is making amazing progress with all of her therapies. Physical Therapy is the toughest, but it is also where she is the most delayed. She has "tactile defensiveness" also, which means she is resistant to new textures, including foods. She shows almost NO interest in people food; she now takes a mixture of veggies and cereal twice a day, and I add fruit to it because she doesn't like sweet foods. She still only takes 4-5 oz. of formula at a time, so she wants to eat every 3-4 hours around the clock. O.T. is working with her on the food stuff, as well as working to improve fine motor skills and integrate the P.T. skills with it. Child life is mostly play therapy, and mental/emotional/communication stuff. She LOVES that hour, there are all kinds of fun learning toys! :-) It is delightful to watch her develop physically and mentally, she is quite a little person!!

I have started therapy with someone I really click with. She is also an RN, and Christian, so she understands my perspective. I am hoping that the nightmares and anxiety will begin to dissipate soon, and she is helping me to sort through some stuff.