2022 Update

It has been a few years since the last post so a little update. Payton has now lost several teeth we were
afraid it would freak her out, but she’s all about it. She loves her tooth fairy pillow she puts the tooth in
and magically gets a quarter. Telling her the Tooth Fairy won’t show until she’s in bed is also a bonus.
She’s now in 1st grade and loving it! She’s reading sentences and starting conversations; which we’ve
been on the edge of our seats waiting for. They are some of the most hart warming conversations you
could imagine while at the same time hilarious. Our once non-verbal little girl is verbally flourishing.
She’s also becoming Miss Independent as well which is a great thing, no matter how time consuming it
may be. Olivia and her are getting along more and more while playing. The sibling training we do
through Axis along with some patience has really paid off. For the last couple years we’ve dipped our
foot into the walks to raise awareness world. The walk always takes place in April; and so far I find it fun
to put on. It gets a little more organized each year. It’s also very heartwarming to see all the people
come out to support her. Her imagination along with a complete lack of fear are still very prevalent. She
loves to be with her peers. She played softball this past summer. She loved it. There were a few issues
with not understanding she couldn’t field every ball; and there was also some playing in the dirt rather
than paying attention. She is currently in basketball and loving it! We think she may have found her
sport. Her coaches are great and really patient with her. They play on a 6 or 7 foot basket; so she can
make baskets; but once it’s game time the action preoccupies her. She may become a rebounding
specialist. Step aside Dennis Rodman. She continues to amaze us every day. We took a trip to Disney
and this trip was way better as we were able to use the disability services. Well that, and she’s come a
long way developmentally since the first trip. We attended our first major league baseball game in St
Louis when the Cubs were in town on our way back from a family trip. To our surprise, she sat through
all 9 innings with no issues. She was as much into crowd watching as she was baseball; but who isn’t.
She’s continuing with ABA therapy at Axis, and we continue to see progress. She has went from 5 days a
week to 3 days a week to make sure she’s not overly tired for school; but she’s got the drive and energy
for whatever we throw at her. She’s a firecracker and we lover her more than she’ll ever know.