This morning on the way to school, Rebecca asked me if we can go trick-or-treating this year when it is “light blue” outside, cue the anxiousness and dread leading up to Halloween.

It has been SO long since I have posted on this blog, and there have been so many changes. We moved from Middleboro to Freetown in April of 2024. We love our new home! It’s so nice living on a dead-end road with little traffic, with a pool that Rebecca LOVES to swim in (she’s a fish), a beautiful view, and plenty of room for Rebecca to do her flips, backbends, chin stands, and cartwheels. School here has been different for Rebecca with regards to some of her services, in comparison with Middleboro, but she is LOVING school this year, which makes me SO happy!! She has made two new friends at school so far this year, one named “Wynter”, and one named “Summer”, which I think is absolutely adorable! She is taking the school bus home in the afternoons and is really loving her independence!

Rebecca currently loves gymnastics, Acro dance, swimming, crafts, camping, fishing with her dad on the boat, and she’s a pretty decent shot with her compound bow! She loves her slime and Roblox as well!

Rebecca loves Acro so much, that she decided she’d try some different types of dance this year as well, those being Jazz and Hip-Hop. Her first Jazz class was this past Tuesday, and she was nervous, but also excited. Reagan and I watched as she tried her hardest to do the same things that all of the other girls were doing, but she was struggling, she was losing her balance while twirling, and wasn’t in sync with the rest of the group. There were two girls, about Rebecca’s age standing in front of Reagan and I, watching as well. The girls were talking about Rebecca, and how she didn’t know what she was doing. It was so hard listening to these girls, who had no idea the years of PT and the unbelievable amount of hard work that Rebecca has put in to get to where she is today. Unfortunately I think it’s at about this age where kids seem to notice differences more, and I worry about this for Rebecca. But she will go back, and try again next week.

Rebecca’s vision is good! She is night-blind now, and struggles at nighttime in unfamiliar areas. She also seems to miss stairs going down, and at times misses things in her periphery. But aside from those areas, she is doing great! She is not using her cane in school, and at night or in unfamiliar areas we offer her our hand/arm or her cane, and she almost always chooses our hand.

Rebecca hears very well with her cochlear implants. The only time she really struggles is in situations with a lot background noise, or when more than one person is speaking.

All in all, with everything that Rebecca has had thrown her way, she is doing AMAZING!! She is lightyears ahead of where I thought she would be when she was just a little baby with a horrible diagnosis. She has worked so hard, and has overcome so much. She is so strong, talented, smart, resilient and brave, and there are no words that can describe the pride I have when I look at her.