After a great Christmas, we've been working on taking back our lives and our perspectives in 2016. Big Brother's diagnosis may be a big (ok, huge) part of our lives, but we will not let it steal the joy and true focus from our lives. We just savor every day with Big Brother and Little Sweetie and that's where we find our joy.
Little Sweetie's year has started off with lots of fun and family time too. We can't believe how big she already is and don't know how she'll be three later this year!
Little Sweetie is still enjoying doing Run Club with her Big Brother. We're so proud that she keeps working to be faster and stronger!
Another reason to cherish every day. We went and got "Milkshakes for Miles" to honor Miles, another Sanfilippo boy who had passed away. Every moment with those you love is precious.
In the spirit of making moments, we've been working to create more experiences together. From movie nights to game nights to picnics and football games, the most important thing has been to be together.
Popcorn during Toy Story movie night!
Breaking in the new Paw Patrol game during family game night!
Family picnic! It was so nice for Big Brother to have a day off of school to spend with us!
Daddy even got us tickets to cheer on the Texans! We have a peanut butter and jelly tailgate before the game and then actually made it through the first half of the game (that's pretty good for both kids during the sleep part of the afternoon). Unfortunately, we noticed that Little Sweetie didn't seem to be herself, so off to Urgent Care we went.
Drinking some juice at Urgent Care while waiting to have a suspected ear infection confirmed...it was.
Somebody doesn't feel well. She's so rarely sick, she doesn't know how to handle it! Thankfully, the antibiotics did their job and she was back to herself in a few days and ready for more adventures.
Back to smiles and a peek-a-boos a few days later!
I'm so lucky to get to spend each day with this girl...
Super Sweetie has definitely cast her spell on me! Love you, sweet girl!
Thank you for being everything you are to us!
Height and Weight
She's currently still hovering around 27 lbs. and just under 34 inches. We keep feeding her lots of full fat items and hoping something sticks!
Personality
Our happy and adventuresome girl, she always puts a smile on our faces. I really don't know what we would do without this rare of sunshine in our daily lives. She does like to get her own way, however, and has no qualms about telling us "no" or telling us what SHE wants and WHEN she wants it. The sass is also starting!
Developmental Milestones
Her language just continues to grow. As we have mentioned before, Big Brother's speech therapist thinks it is because she is just exposed to so many speech techniques from him that she just can't help but pick it up faster. She even asked a few "why" questions the other day, which is pretty big for a two year old!
She knows all of her colors, most of her letters and numbers (still can't get her to sing her ABC's yet; frankly, though, she doesn't seem to like to sing very much yet. She likes us to sing, but she's more of a talker.), and nearly all of her shapes. She's also a pro at puzzles! In an attempt to recapture our lives this year, we've reinstated "learning time" where we work with the kids on some set of developmental skills each day. So far she loves it!
Fun Tidbits
Lots of lovely little quirks and discoveries to report this month. First up, she has noticed that being in the bath for a long time leads to her getting "prickling" fingertips. It completely fascinates her and makes bath time even more fun! Also, while she is arguing about clothes less, she won't let us put a bow in her hair anymore (*sob*). With her hair being a bit wild but still a bit short with the curl, I have to say she's rocking the natural look well. But man, I miss those little bows!
Food is also a "fun" subject with her. She likes to pretend she's picky until we coerce her into a trying a bite of something that she then decides she likes, and has liked the entire time (she has to believe it is HER idea). Also, she has begun to insist on a "Daddy" (aka "big") fork for her breakfast and still loves her toast in the morning, except to longer toasted. One angry conversation when this developed actually went, "Momma, do NOT put my toast in the toaster! Get it out!" But she still enjoys her toast that isn't toasted with butter in the mornings. Although not more than her snack of pretzels that have to accompany us to Baby Boot Camp should I want to actually work out that day. It's quite a change having a snacker (Big Brother rarely snacked) and requires extra prep and planning on my part! But I'll bring any calories she wants if it means we'll get some meat on her bones!
Until next month,
LSM
Little Sweetie's Momma
