What's been going on, you might ask??? Well - for starters - Pipsqueak is going to be an Auntie :) Yes - you heard right :) The Big Sissy and her Prince Charming are expecting a baby this summer :) Everyone is so excited - especially Littlest Dude :) He sure does love babies! Mr. Hollywood was making college decisions from the five he was accepted to - and finally has :) We are happy because he chose one of the closest ones :) Biggest Sissy and the Doctor are doing well - but still living out of state - so we don't get to see too much of them, and we miss them! They will be coming out to visit here soon - so that will be awesome :) The Princess has been busy with HS and dating and playing soccer indoors and out. The Rocket Scientist is still on his church mission in Ukraine - we will be excited to have him home in the fall :) Littlest Dude had some pretty significant surgery a few weeks ago, so we are still in recovery mode from that - but all is going well :)
But, you don't really care about the rest of us - so onto for my update on our Pipsqueak :) She has been with us for 21 months now! We are getting so close to our two year anniversary of our gotcha day :) Pipsqueak is doing so well :) She loves her preschool, has some good friends that she plays and interacts well with, and is speaking more clearly every day :) She loves to play pretend, dress up, play with her babies, play with her little people, have impromptu dance parties with her older siblings, play outside, ride her bike, swim, and do learning activities :) She sleeps well, is still a picky eater, and loves her family. She is partial to cats and loves to tease our dog :)
Academically she is really coming along. She knows most of her alphabet letters and numbers 1-10. She is getting better at counting 1-10, although she seems to miss 8, quite often :) She is even starting to know the sounds the letters make, as well :) We are working on simple AB patterns, number recognition, name recognition, fine motor skills - cutting, pincer grasp, stringing small beads, buttoning and putting her coat on independently :) She can use utensils and drink both out of an open cup and through a straw :) Her oral motor skills are great and she is starting to ask questions a lot more, and sometimes answer herself :) She is putting 2-4 words together in phrases, and can often be found making her dolls talk to each other :) She has good imaginative play skills, and loves to play kitchen :) Gross motor wise she is almost jumping with two feet together - she has the idea, but it's hard to make both those two feet jump at the same time :) She is pro at climbing and running :) I even have to pick up my pace now when she runs - her legs are getting longer and she is getting faster :)
Attachment and bonding wise - things are going well :) She still has some anxieties in new places - especially big public ones - but with every experience it gets better and better :) She is well attached to us, and I totally credit her earlier attachments to therapists and caregivers and just her amazing little trusting self with the success. Attachment is a lifelong process - so we will continue to work on it - and there are things that still trigger attachment regressions in her and we just work through those as they come. I think there will probably always be some of these in her life - but they don't take nearly as long to work through as they did in the beginning. She knows we are here for her and when she is worried - we continue to reassure her and reinforce that :) She is one amazing little girl, that we are so blessed to have in our family :)
Playdoh fun :)
Soccer with Grandpa!!!
Cheering Princess on at her soccer game :)
Swimming with Daddy!
So much joy!!!
She loves kitties :)
Doubly blessed by these two!!!
Loving spring :)
Working on letters :)
Playing baby dolls AND kitchen :)
Celebrating World Down Syndrome Day :) That little something extra makes our Pipsqueak Extra-ordinary!!!
Adoption has been such a blessing to our family - could it be for yours too? You don't have to adopt to make a difference - you can advocate for a child on reecesrainbow.org to be adopted, you can donate to a family in process, you can be a foster parent, Big Brother or Sister mentor, you can donate to a waiting child or sponsor an orphan through an orphan outreach program. You can host an orphan in your home for a few weeks in the summer or at Christmas. Or - you can step out in faith and ask the Lord what his plans are for you :) I know that we are so grateful that we were led to this amazing, smart, capable, joyful, fun-loving, kind, gentle, awesome little girl :) Maybe there is a child out there just waiting for you to ask :)
Happy 21 months home, sweet girl!!!!
