Test results are in

We got the results to Maya's microarray yesterday (a few weeks earlier than planned) and they were totally normal!

The microarray is a genetic test that analyzes the chromosomes to see if any sections are missing (deletions) or repeated (duplications). Microdeletions and duplications can cause many, many different genetic syndromes or disorders, so it's great to hear that everything was normal!

Dave and I were pretty surprised that nothing turned up, since this test casts a wide net looking for issues, and we are happily celebrating the good news.

Please resist the urge to ask "What now?" Within the past yearish, we've gone through so many tests and challenges that it's just nice to dwell in good news, rather than already start looking ahead to which tests could come next.

Now we're just planning to focus on working towards goals (our current goal is pulling up to stand) and pushing her development as best as we can.

I'm sadly looking at my last week working at KIPP (only 3 days left). This week summer school ends, we're looking forward to a vacation in August, and then I'll be working with Maya at home (and working from home as well).

Recent Happenings

Lots of exciting stuff going on with us. Maya outgrew her bathtub:

Guys? Really? This is ridiculous.

I've been gardening. These pics were taken 2ish weeks ago, the plants are way bigger now and yesterday we got our first red tomato!!!

Oodles of basil plants, inside & outside:

Habanero & Jalapeno peppers---they're being attacked by aphids, so I don't know if we'll get any peppers:

Lettuces & Spinach:

Windowsill herb garden:

Tomato plant:

First basil harvest:


Mommy & Maya went to KIPP's 8th grade advancement ceremony:

Maya did a Father's Day craft:

We read books:

And go back to doctor's appointments:

(Maya is having a genetic test called a microarray done. The geneticists still feel like some genetic issue has caused Maya's delays and the test will search for microdeletions or duplications which could have caused a syndrome. Results due in 2ish months.)

We celebrated the 4th of July with a yummy cookout in NJ:

Where Maya enjoyed watermelon and chocolate:

We are getting ready to have a big change in September. For the first time in 8 years, I'm not going to be returning to the classroom. I have super mixed feelings about it, but we've decided that it would be best if I'm home with Maya. It will make it easier to schedule appointments and therapies, and give me more hands-on time to work with her. At the same time, I'm going to miss my KIPP family, and hopefully Maya and I will visit all the time.

I'm not going to take the year off entirely, instead I'm going to be working from home with a grad school that's affiliated with KIPP and TFA, among other schools. I'll be helping to evaluate first year teachers via videos, which is web-based and can be done any time, day or night. So I needed to create a home office, and Dave and I bought a desk at IKEA. Now, I love putting crap together (Really. It's very satisfying to build stuff.) . . . but this was intense! It came in 2 boxes that looked like this:

It had this many parts:

After a few hours of work it looked like this:


Finally, all done:



It's normal to have left over parts, right?




We're rearranging our 3rd bedroom to make it more workable with the new desk, and we're back to work (for summer school, which I'm working at but not teaching) tomorrow!