May 19

And we've made it to May, just one month away from summer and all its adventures!  How is the school year almost done???

This was a fun month though!  We started it off with lots of visitors!  Mamaw, Papaw, Aunt D, Uncle C, and J came into town for Big Brother's First Communion.  A great time was had with our family and Little Sweetie and J especially had an awesome time together.  

     

The weather was great, so we loved hanging out outside (and surprising Aunt D with the working water cannons)!

The Cypress Hill biker gang!

Ready to race...

...and they're off!

     

These two hooligans couldn't have more fun together if they tried!

Cousin movie night!

Taking pictures with Mamaw!

     

Ready to celebrate Big Brother's First Communion!

Celebrating Big Brother with friends and family!

We also kept busy this month being active...very active!  Little Sweetie decided to join Swim Team this year!

After becoming an IronKid again, she decided to tackle her next competitive sport...swimming!

          

First practice!  She quickly moved up to the advanced Nemo (little kid) lane.

     

Working on her starts!

     

 

First meet selfies!

 

Ready for her first race!

    

Pre-race strategy with her teammates!

     

Post-race!  We are so proud of her!  She swam the 25 meter freestyle and the 25 meter backstroke.  Is there a lot of room for improvement?  Did she stop multiple times to look for us?  Was she the last one to finish?  All yes, BUT what impressed me most was that she NEVER even thought about quitting.  She's in it for her, to learn to do something new and to improve herself.  We couldn't be more proud.

Although I am pretty sure that she and L are in talks to do baseball together next year so she can add yet another sport!

If we aren't busy with sports, than maybe we're cooking.  Or at preschool.  Or raising awareness about a rare genetic disease.  You never know with us...we're just always on the go!

Little Sweetie decided to cook a full dinner for us.  She chose the main course, side dish, and drink recipes out of her cookbook and then decided to make cookies for dessert from our cookie press!

     

Sauteeing carrots and making the cookies!

        

The finished products...delicious!

She's also been doing so well at pre-school!  I am so glad she started her school career at her "Teddy Bear School."  She's learned so much and made lovely friends.  What a great experience!

Some of her artwork!

Watching these 3 beautiful friends warms my heart.  So glad they have each other!

 

End of year program!

My new favorite picture of her.  Golden pigtails flying.  I love her so much.

And yes, May also means Purple Week, our big push for Sanfilippo Syndrome Awareness.  It's a crazy week for us, as we have nearly an event a day, and it has so much focus on her brother.  However, Little Sweetie took it in stride and was a big help and very supportive.  I hope one day she understands why we do the advocacy we do.  

Beautiful friends supporting Little Sweetie on MPS Awareness Day by wearing their purple!

Being the official WILLPower awareness ambassador to My Gym!

Helping Momma spread awareness during our Spirit Night at Chipotle!

     

She received a darling purple kitty from another MPS family this week as well, for being such an awesome sister to her brother.  She promptly fell in love with it and named it WILLPower Purple Kitty.  

Even though we were super busy during Purple Week, I did manage to carve out some special time for us to remind her how special she is and how much we love and appreciate her.  Sometimes you just need an ice cream date and some individualized attention.  Love you, little girl!

Height and Weight

Coming in this month at 38.8 pounds and up to 40.75 inches!

Personality

We're really seen an increase in her understanding of empathy and her demonstration of kindness.  She has started calling her big brother her "baby brother", but it's because she is beginning to understand our family's shared responsibility for caring for him.  She is beginning to view herself as a helper and a caretaker seeing that development of empathy is beautiful.

Developmental Milestones

  

Doing some fine motor and creativity work at the Children's Museum by decorating and painting a mosaic heart!  




Her independent math skills continue to grow!  Very proud of her reasoning!





Getting a mani/pedi may seem like a treat and not a developmental skill, but I am still in awe of how she has control of her body and attention to sit still and allow her nails to be painted.  Her patience is pretty remarkable for her age.

Fun Tidbits

Up until recently, Little Sweetie hasn't been entirely tolerate of our dog, Chesney.  She doesn't like him licking her or laying on her toys or blankets.  But currently she's being so loving to him and it's wonderful to see.  Chesney is getting up there in years and we don't know how much longer he'll be with us, but to see her develop into a caring and responsible pet owner is a joy.

We got to sneak one weekday family lunch in this month after Bubby's port flush...next month there will be a lot more as both of these crazies will be out of school!  Eeeek!  


Until next month, 

LSM

Little Sweetie's Momma