Brooke is Special Because...

• she loves our class
• she has a party at her house
• she has a little sister
• she is very tall
• she brings Mrs. Piktel to class (Mrs. Piktel is Brooke's aide - and I love how Brooke is bringing her, not the other way around ;-). )
• she is wearing lots of green
• she has long blond hair
• she likes St. Patrick's Day
• she smiles at us
• she makes us laugh
• she likes to swim in the pool
• and an extra special note from Mrs. Hugel & Mrs. Piktel - she is such an inspiration and a blessing to all of us!

What a special treat to find in Brooke's backpack today. These are from the book that everyone worked on at school yesterday. Thank you so much to Mrs. Hugel and her PM kindergarten class and Mrs. Schoenhoffer and Mrs. Piktel - this project really means the world to us! Brooke loves it and we will always treasure it!

Thanks Everyone!!

Yesterday was the official "Rett Syndrome Awareness Day" in the Olmsted Falls schools! Sherry Davis, one of the family/consumer science teachers at the high school, and her students did a wonderful job of helping to promote awareness. The theme centered around shamrocks and the slogan "don't rely on luck for a cure" - pretty catchy, huh? Teachers were asked to hang shamrocks in their doors and students could put their names on paper shamrocks that were hung in the lunchroom. And they gave Brooke this cool little shirt to wear. One of the biology teachers had their students research Rett Syndrome.

And it didn't stop at the high school. At Brooke's school - her teacher hung the biggest letters ever across her windows that can be seen from the front of the school with the IRSF website and the other students worked on little "Brooke is special because________" projects.

I'm sure there was more going on that I don't even know about yet - but it was wonderful to see everyone come together like that! We are very lucky to live in such a supportive community!!

A big thanks to everyone that participated!!!

Happy Birthday Peanut!!

Six years ago I was probably still sleeping (or at least wishing I was sleeping) at Fairview General Hospital. It was day seven of my stay and I was bloated to probably twice my normal size! It wasn't long from now that our doctor came in and told us to make any calls we needed - they were going to have to do a c-section in about an hour. A strange combination of relief and fear followed. How would you do? You were about to be born into this world nearly 8 weeks early. We had time to get the steriod shots in to help your lungs develop so we just had to hope they were able to do their job.

There were lots of stories from that day but the sound of your crying right after you were born was without a doubt the best miracle I could have hoped for. Lungs were functioning just fine. I only saw you for a few fleeting seconds, all wrapped up. I just remember your pudgy little cheeks sticking out of the bundle and being so shocked that you even had pudgy little cheeks - didn't expect you would have developed those yet. The next few weeks you went about proving what a tough and strong little girl you were going to be. Breathing all on your own, eating like a champ, no problem!

Oh and how did you get the nickname peanut? Well you really kind of looked like the Planter's Peanut when you were born. A head and a belly with skinny little arms and legs and big, big feet!!