On Thursday, I took Kahlia to the doctor because she had a cold, and we saw her tugging on her right ear on Wednesday. Though she had no fever, and wasn't even fussy, we knew she had an ear infection, at least in her right ear. I was at the ESD office bright and early Thurs. morning ready to get Kahlia fitted for hearing aids. But, because she had an infection, he was not able to do the fitting. Pretty much, every time she gets a cold, she gets an ear infection. I'm just grateful she doesn't spike a fever, and doesn't even get fussy. The poor thing is probably so used to chronic pain, an ear infection hardly even bothers her!! Anyway, while at her appt., we had her weighed - she is now 20.1 lbs!!! :-) She is no longer in the teens for weight - yea!! :-) She was 16.1 lbs when we got her, so she has gained exactly 4 lbs - 20% of her weight!!! :-) I was SO surprised since her appetite has been almost nothing the past couple of weeks - she has been practically living on Pediasure drinks - so glad she likes those!!! That is an answer to prayer that somehow, even in the midst of not eating, she is gaining weight - as slight as it is - it is still a gain!! :-) We finished her Giardia medication yesterday - 14 days of antibiotics - we will wait 1 week, then retest her - I sure hope it's gone, or they will have to resort to some really heavy duty medication - which I don't want to have to do MORE antibiotics!!!!

The other big news of the family is Makenna getting her ears pierced yesterday - she was SO excited!! :-) We've gone 3 other times over the past 2 years, and she has chickened out every time. This time she conquered her fear and "just did it"!!! :-) I've always been of the thinking that I don't care when my girls get their ears pierced, as long as it is THEIR decision - that's why I never pierced their ears as babies - I just want it to be something that they want themselves - and she finally decided to face the fear and get it over with - immediately after it was done before I even paid, she whispered to me, "I wish I would have done that a long time ago!"...silly girl - fun times...

HUGE news in the Roberts house! Ok - not really big news - but pretty exciting stuff for all of us! Kahlia was in the middle of the kitchen floor - and managed to stand herself up with out holding onto anything!!! :-) She only stood for a couple of seconds before falling back down - but she totally got up all by herself!!! I could not believe it when I saw it. She's SO close to being able to walk -the stength is there in her legs - just not the balance. Very exciting stuff!! :-)

We are 8 days into our 14 days of antibiotics for Kahlia's Giardia. She has A LOT of diahrrea these days, and she seems to sleep a lot and not eat very much. We are looking forward to her being parasite free - for the first time in her life. I can't even imagine the havoc her little body has endured these past couple of years. Even so, she's doing great - can't really complain - she loves life and is genuinely happy - can't really ask for anything more!! :-)

We enjoyed Brendon's second basketball game tonight. He's really fun to watch - he's quite the little athlete!! He's quick on his feet, hustles great, dribbles the ball down the court awesome - now if we can just get those consistent baskets! His team won by 2 points tonight - made for a great game.

After wondering for weeks if Kahlia was truly parasite free, we finally retested her yesterday - after first testing positive last June for giardia - she tood strong medication for 7 days, but were told we could not retest for 6 months. Today, before hearing from her doctor, I got a call from the Coos County health department about a case of giardia in our home. So here we go - round 2 of medication - we are doubling the dose - going for 14 days instead of 7 - then retesting 1 week later. In some ways - it was good to hear that she had it - because it explains possibly why she has not been growing and gaining weight like I thought she should be. We need to get this parasite taken care of once and for all - so she can have EVERY chance to thrive!!!

Kahlia started swimming lessons on Monday - her first time ever in a pool - she LOVED it! :-) Makenna had already taught her to blow bubbles in the bathtub, but she had fun showing everyone her new skill! She wasn't at all afraid of the water, and enjoyed her time. She didn't use her legs as much as I would have liked her to, so we're working on that, hoping that will help with her core strength for walking!!