17...

That is the number of episodes Charlie Claire had today...currently March 30 seems like a lifetime away.  It seems so strange that at this point we can't WAIT for our baby to have MASSIVE brain surgery but we know in our hearts that this is what needs to be done in order for C to lead a "normal" life.  The infantile spasms are so detrimental to Charlie's development that if we don't stop them they will basically destroy her.

Amazingly enough, even though the day wasn't going so well I was actually able to get Charlie Claire to follow an object tonight!! C has gotten increasingly better the past couple weeks at focusing on objects and our faces that I knew it was only a matter of time before we could get her to track something.  It was such an overwhelming moment!! It is things like this that give us so much hope for after her surgery -- if she can do these things with all the seizure activity going on in her little brain imagine what will happen when that activity goes away!!

A few years ago for my bridal shower my Aunt Sally gave me a book called "May You Be Blessed." I read through the book when she first gave it to me but since then it has been sitting on my nightstand.  Last night I crawled into bed and the book caught my eye.  Here is a passage from the book that really made my night and helped me get my thoughts back on track...
"Life is an ongoing process, and most of us meet something at almost every turn we wish were different.  But just because something is not turning out the way we want, doesn't mean it won't.  And when we make up our minds that no matter what, we're going to see it as a blessing, then our minds start working overtime to prove us right.  Magical things tend to happen and that which we labeled as a blessing, more often than not, turns out to be one."

And just seeing these little faces makes us believe in magical things!