Sights & Sounds of Spring and Some Randomness....

There are a few given sights that Spring as arrived...

Spring blooms all around....

Warm weather clothes that show off chubby legs and arms...

 Spending hours outside and the fresh air causing a certain little girl to fall asleep anywhere and everywhere...

 Spring storms that leave beautiful rainbows and talk of pots of gold and treasure...

Skinned up knees and bruises all over the boys....

 (I decided to NOT include the pics of the runny noses and random tissues found through the house as a result to all the spring blooms and allergies :-)

We have been enjoying the weather.  The kids are having fun playing with their friends in the neighborhood.  There has been lots of bike riding, impromptu basketball games, walking, games full of imaginary characters and adventures, digging, exploring, soccer practices, and loads of landscaping work.  It has been making bedtimes difficult, lots of dirty laundry, a house full of chaos and some exhausted parents!  I love spring!  We all seem happier...we are enjoying the extra fresh air, extra friendly chats, and the sunshine.

I have neglected the blog recently...I've been in a funk (I'm now through it, but it lasted a little bit).  I think there was so much emotion with Hailey's birthday, her party, her follow-up cardio appointment, her EI evaluation, and her assessment at the Down syndrome clinic that I emotionally crashed after it all.  Hailey apparently did too...or it could be a growth spurt...or teething...who knows what hers was.  I was bummed...depressed.  Hailey had about 5-7 days were she wasn't herself.  She wasn't really that fussy...she was a little high maintenance but not sobbing.  More whiny than anything.  She stopped crawling on all 4s....she wasn't pulling to stand...she did absolutely NOTHING for her therapist...she basically sat staring at L for an hour.  I would read blogs of Hailey's other 1 yr old friends and they all were doing so much.  I know I shouldn't compare but it is impossible NOT to!  I was frustrated and sad and then started to worry.  I started to do the standard "I'm not doing enough"..."I'm missing something" routine that we all do from time to time.

I'm not sure what started the funk, but I did let it spiral faster and more than I should.  I know that all children learn at different rates, that children hit plateaus (everyone has a bad day or two)...I just let it get the best of me this time.  Fortunately, it was a short funk for both of us.  Like a light switch, Hailey is back to her old spunky, sometimes almost rotten little self!  She is back to 4 point crawling (as long as the item of desire is about 3 feet away...anything longer than that she army crawls because she can get there faster)...she is pulling to stand again...she has started saying "ni-ni-ni-ni" when it is close to nap time or when we are putting her to sleep at night...we have finally found a sippy cup that she will "attempt" to drink out of (avent 360) and not yell at us when we bring it to her...she has finally learned to release a toy or object when handing it to us.  Therapy this week went so much better than last week.  We actually got her to climb a few stairs (which she generally refuses).  Oh, and other big news....we now have a tooth!!!!

 I thought I would share a few pics of the cookie monster this week.  Brayden attempted to eat cookies and not share with his little sister.  As you can imagine, Little Miss Boss, would have none of that!

Ahhh...I succeeded!

Tired little boy with his new blanket and pillow from Mamaw.

 We are looking forward to a weekend filled with Easter egg hunts and soccer games.