Hi Everyone,
Today is one year since my second heart surgery, January 31, 2020 and I want to let you all know that I am doing great!  THANK YOU to everyone who has been praying for me and asking about me.  Here's what has been going on since I last wrote.  (Sorry it has been so long since I was in touch!)

I got out of the hospital on February 10, last year.  Then on March 15, everyone in my family started staying at home ALL THE TIME!  Having everyone at home to hold me and talk to me and play with me and pray with me helped me so much while I recovered from my surgery.  I took my first steps on May 1st, when I was just 18 months old.  Rosie, my big sister, took her first steps when she was two, so I'm a little ahead of her ;-)  And at the beginning of August I started walking "full time."  No more scooting around for this little girl!  I'm ready to face the world.  Daddy keeps telling me he wants me to wear a "Fitbit" to see how many steps I take every day (he's pretty sure it's more than 10,000 steps), but he thinks that I would just suck on the Fitbit all day and that wouldn't be good for me.

In the summer, I saw my pediatrician, Dr. Bob and the doctors at the Sie Center for Down Syndrome at Children's Hospital and they couldn't believe how busy and active I was after having heart surgery!  I told them that there are too many fun things to play with around my house and in my back yard so I have to explore them ALL!  

Some of my favorite things to do are to open the drawer with the Tupperware in the kitchen and start throwing it all over the floor.  Mommy loves that!  Then I go over to the "tea party bin" and scatter the cups and saucers around.  And to top it off, I dump my shape sorter and some Duplos to make sure the kitchen floor looks like a minefield.  Sometimes it looks like Mommy is dancing when she steps around everything on the floor.  She's so pretty!  

Daddy loves it when I sit by the pile of rocks in the back yard and throw one after another into the grass.  He says finding the rocks is like looking for Easter eggs, so I'm going to keep doing it since he has so much fun finding them!  

I also love to play with ANYTHING that my family leave on the counters and I'm very good at climbing onto chairs, too, so I can get at everyone's desks to play with the keyboard, the mouse, their iPhones and whatever else I find.

I was on oxygen at night after my surgery but in June Dr. Ivy said I didn't need that any more, so my cheeks, which were a mess because of the tape to hold on my cannula, have now healed.  I've also had eye tests and hearing tests and those have looked great too, so other than my heart needing some help (thanks, Dr. Mitchell), I'm put together pretty well!  

My second birthday was on October 9 and in addition to having some cake and ice cream, I got to have a cardiology exam and see my cardiologist, Dr. Ivy, that day.  He  said that my heart looked great and he'll see me in six months (whatever a "month" is!)  

Mommy and Daddy say I'm a "Little Miracle," because I probably wouldn't be here to tell you about this today if it hadn't been for the amazing medical care I've received, the fact that someone invented a mechanical heart valve and my Coumadin medicine and because of all of the people like you who have prayed for me to be safe and healthy.  Thanks to all of you, and thank you, God.

Check out the YouTube link to see me "Showing My Stuff" earlier this month!

Thanks for keeping me in your prayers.

Love,
Charlotte