Took a ride in my wagon today with my teddy bear from Amber and Kevin...have to get that photo :) and played with my doll. Love my books, toy phone from Uncle David and Aunt Lina and clothes too! It was nice to see my neighbors, Miss JoAnna, Mr Tim, Miss Cathy, Danny, Colleen, Jason and Sophia too! Auntie Di came over afterwards and I got to show her my toys!
Really enjoying being two! (Grandma got sick and couldn't come, but I hope I can see her really soon!) |
Two years...went by fast!
I have been thinking of this letter for a while now, trying to think of what to write. I talk to many moms of preemies and hearing about their children sometimes makes me wonder where we might be in a year, two or three...I could sit and ponder and probably give you a list of the "can'ts" that we have in our lives from day to day, but I have learned how very hard that is and if I only focus on the "can'ts", I will miss the "cans". Even the little ones, the ones that other moms and dads can fling like its an everyday occurance. For me, those "cans" are the accomplishments that help me wake up every morning ready to see what new little thing Anna will show me. So I decided to write a list of cans, the ones that over the past year have been blessings to us. I might miss some, but in writing them, I will acknowledge how far she has come. I do not do too many goals, that is for the therapists to assume. I do hope Anna will be off her bottle some time this year. I hope she will learn to go to the potty maybe in the next year or year and a half. Maybe before she is 5 she will move into her own room and sleep in her own bed. But as I have also learned with Anna, this is her life and she is doing it how she needs to do it, and we are just watching her amazed and inspired.
In the past year (not in any particular order), Anna has:
learned to walk
taken off her shoes and socks
gotten used to a stroller
said mama and dada
learned 15 ASL hand signs
begun to talk and continues new words
gained 5 pounds
grown 4 inches
learned to stack blocks (16 high)
learned to throw a ball
learned to climb stairs
gone down a slide
walked in the ocean
played in the sand
given hugs
drank from a cup
sat in the grass
knocked on doors
turned pages of a book
waves bye bye
said hello on her phone
picked flowers
submerged herself in water
eaten ice cubes
played in the snow
moved to a front carseat
climbed a ladder
sat in a box of rice or beans
played with cool whip
giggled hysterically at the TV
played peek a boo
and hide and seek
gone to a pumpkin patch
has peed in the potty
played with play dough
worn hats
colored with crayons
learned to run
gone on a swing
fed ducks at the pond
So many of these are normal and don't get much of a reaction I am sure...but for Anna, they have taken a little more time and patience and so for her, they were celebrated with much enthusiasm!
In the past year (not in any particular order), Anna has:
learned to walk
taken off her shoes and socks
gotten used to a stroller
said mama and dada
learned 15 ASL hand signs
begun to talk and continues new words
gained 5 pounds
grown 4 inches
learned to stack blocks (16 high)
learned to throw a ball
learned to climb stairs
gone down a slide
walked in the ocean
played in the sand
given hugs
drank from a cup
sat in the grass
knocked on doors
turned pages of a book
waves bye bye
said hello on her phone
picked flowers
submerged herself in water
eaten ice cubes
played in the snow
moved to a front carseat
climbed a ladder
sat in a box of rice or beans
played with cool whip
giggled hysterically at the TV
played peek a boo
and hide and seek
gone to a pumpkin patch
has peed in the potty
played with play dough
worn hats
colored with crayons
learned to run
gone on a swing
fed ducks at the pond
So many of these are normal and don't get much of a reaction I am sure...but for Anna, they have taken a little more time and patience and so for her, they were celebrated with much enthusiasm!