Hailey Update & Missing her Brothers

There is a reason God gave me three children.  Having Hailey here by herself for the last week has been exhausting.  Not to mention she misses her brothers and has been a "tad" cranky.  It is easier to run errands with only one, but I do miss my boys!  All in all, Hailey has been good with the boys out of town (They've divided their time between their two sets of grandparents.  Getting lots of time outside, and plenty of time with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.) 

I don't think I realized how much Hailey has changed and how much she is growing up until now.  Life with three can be busy :-)  One day, I dropped Hailey off at the child care at the gym.  I was talking with one of the employees and was watching Hailey.  She picked up a doll and walked straight to the baby swing, put the baby in it and started swinging her.  She found another baby and put her in the rocking chair and started rocking it.  She tried putting a baby in the exersaucer.  All of this fascinated me because we don't have any baby gear in the house anymore (as Hailey outgrows it, it's out of here!).  She was quite motherly with the dolls. 

Babysitting is definitely not in her near future!

Taking her baby shopping!

She always waves "good-bye" before she tears through the house with her shopping cart!

Hailey has also made progress with gross motor.  She isn't running just yet, but her walk is quite fast (try chasing after her!) and she moves her arms faster than some people run!  It is such a funny sight.  She has gotten good at changes in elevations (uneven sidewalks), up and down slopes and boy, can that little girl climb!  She has started somersaulting but she scares me since we haven't had the neck xray for atlantoaxial instability (AAI) which affects the top two bones of the neck.  I try to keep her from doing them.  Playing outside and trying to keep up with the big kids seems to be paying off.  She even did great walking in her flip flops (shhhh....no one tell her PT Abby!)

She was obsessed with these shoes this weekend. 

She looks like a girl on a mission.

I think the biggest surprise this week has been her speech and understanding of things.  Most of the time when we ask her a yes-no question, she has appropriately answered the question and added a head nod or shake.  She called one of the neighborhood children by name without being prompted.  She said it crystal clear (I had witnesses!!).  I needed to do dishes last night and I asked her if she wanted me to find a show on TV for her, she answered "Doc".  I asked "Doc McStuffins?"  "yesssssss" was her reply.  She's only watched it a few times so I was surprised that she said the name!  She has been adding a little diva to her personality, too.  However, since she has always been motivated with jewelry (to reach and crawl), some would say she has always had it in her.  She's just started covering her face with her hands when she gets in trouble.  She also started rolling her eyes at me if she doesn't like my answer.  She picks up her diaper and throws it in the trash.  I can ask her to bring me something and she will (unless it involves bedtime or medicine).  She does like to argue and negotiate. 

Maybe if I smile really big, she won't notice I'm emptying the wipes.

I'll cover my face now, she won't see me that way.

Dancing at the Mexican restaurant

She was so happy to FaceTime the boys!

We are never short on smiles in this house.

Even telling me "no" comes with a lot of drama!

This time with just Hailey has been nice because I don't think I realized how far she has come in different areas.  I've gotten more sleep without a certain 6 year old sneaking in our room every other night.  I'm definitely looking forward to the boys coming home tomorrow.  Hailey needs her motivators (and playmates) back and  mom is ready for the chaos, chatter and extra hugs...(I can do without the extra messes though!)

She's Not My Cross

This week in church, our priest was on vacation so we had a guest priest fill in.  Conducting mass this week was a Monsignor from Ghana.  His english was perfect, but you definitely had to focus due to his accent.  He started out talking about people in his community asking why God didn't grant them what they asked for in their prayers.  He explained to them that when you make the decision to be a follower of Jesus you agree to share the burden of carrying the cross.

Everyone has their own cross to carry, everyone's is different.  One person's could be poor health, someone else's a disability, and another person's financial issues, etc.  This got me thinking.  I hope that people don't look at my daughter as my cross to carry.  It breaks my heart to think that some would view her as a burden.  We all have our ups and downs.  Some of our loads are heavier than others.  We all deal with our issues differently.  Some cave to the pressures and some rise up above them and come out on the other side stronger.  Some help others deal with their issues.

I've had difficult things happen to me in my life, my mom died at the young age of 25 shortly after I turned 5, I had a boyfriend pass away in high school, another friend died shortly after him, grandparents, aunts and uncles have passed away, a miscarriage, Hailey's unexpected Down syndrome diagnosis and her heart defect.  Each event difficult and challenging in their own way and each one changed me.  I'm not sure which one, if any of them, was my cross to carry.  Maybe it was the combination of them all.  I do know for certain though...Hailey is not my cross.  I hope others see that, too.  She is funny, sassy, frustrating, animated, active, mischievous, rotten, spoiled, beautiful, stubborn, and loving.

A burden...she is not.

I happened to catch her dancing to the TV.

Love this girl!

Summer Days

The boys are living it up this summer.  They are trying to squeeze every ounce out of their summer vacation.  They have been outside playing with friends every day.  They go outside after lunch and play until we make them come in to eat dinner (they sometimes go back outside after dinner).  They make an occasional trip inside for snacks and drinks for them and their friends.  I laugh at the "Play 60" commercials.  Our children in the neighborhood seem to be average at least 5 times the 60 recommended minutes of activity a day.  I love that they are playing outside and that they have friends to play with.  I have to admit though, I kind of miss them.  By the time they come in for the day, they eat, shower and fall asleep...more times than not on the couch :-)  I knew the boys were getting ready to head to visit their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins for a week, so I decided the only way to spend time with them was to take them out of the neighborhood for a few hours.  I picked them up from bible school and took them for lunch.  We spent the afternoon swimming and playing.  They were excited for the surprise and had a great time.  Yes, as soon as we got home, there was a knock at the door and they were gone again!  So happy for our neighborhood :-)

Little sister was happy to have her brothers to play with, too...she really misses them!  Not to mention, she LOVES the water and the waves!

Watching her walk and play in the water is so surreal.  Even a year ago, it was so hard to imagine her walking and playing like other children her age.  Waiting for milestones sometimes is difficult.  We get impatient, frustrated...it is so out of our control.  We have to wait and work.  Can I be honest though?  It makes these milestones so much sweeter.  I still sit back and watch her walk, watch her play.  Still in awe.  She has worked hard to get here, now I get to watch her enjoy it!

She even got to show off a little for Dad.

She prefers the waves on and likes to walk into them.

She loved playing with her big brothers.

I caught the boys dancing in the pool...they still don't know I saw them :-)

Hailey Meets Ben

I was so excited when fellow blogging mommy, Laura from Ben's Blessings messaged me that her and her two boys would be passing through our city this summer and would like to meet up with us.  We said it was a play date for Ben and Hailey, but I think it was just a play date for Laura and I. 

We met at a local park.  The same park that Hailey "loved" on Tuesday when we had therapy there.  Apparently, she woke up on the wrong side of her bed that morning.  She did not want to slide or cooperate.  It made for some comical pictures.  It definitely was not a love at first sight meeting :-)

We let them play on the playground for a little while and then we fed the ducks.  We abandoned that idea after about 10 minutes when we were approached by a couple of angry Canadian geese.  We threw them a few slices of bread and headed back to the playground.  Hailey then burned her hands on the slide stairs so we called it a day.  Both little ones were tired and Laura and the boys needed to get back on the road.

It was nice meeting up with them.  Ben and Hailey are so close in age that they are going through similar stages.  It makes for very easy conversation!  We are crossing our fingers that this might be an annual trip :-)

Now for the photobomb.... It is definitely an easy task to get to two year olds to stand still at the same time in the same spot.  Maybe we will have better luck next year!!

I'm just going to hang out here.

Maybe I can hide in this tube.

My big brother made me do it.

Oh, help me...she found me in the tube!

I'm going to get away while she isn't looking.

Shhhh, mom...I don't think she noticed I left!

No one tell where I'm at!

Hailey trying to figure out where Ben went.

Mom, Ben keeps running away from me!

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I have him trapped now.

Darn, he is getting away!

They appear to be attempting to chat until it happens.....

The attack!  Followed by a few tears and a scolding.

Luckily there was a women with bubbles near by.....it saved the day!

And a random water fountain.

Ben then tries to run away.

The big boys feeding the ducks while Ben inspects the drain.

One last attempt at a photo together and Ben will have no part of it!