Milestones, crash of 2013, and patience

Harper has been busy. Kicking butt and taking names. She is growing up before my eyes. That is part of the reason I was so upset when my phone crashed. Along with the crash came tears because I lost some pictures of my precious girl.

Right before the epic crash of 2013, I emailed myself these.

Muffin face

Watch out Brewer. I'm going to get you with my mallet. 

Trying on glasses. Pray for me. H kept them on for about 2.2 seconds. 

Grandma O'Connell taught me how to put things "in." Even Sophie the giraffe can fit in the cookie jar. 

Sleeping on Daddy.

You can see there have been some milestones hit and some changes coming our way.

While my mom watched H on Monday she taught her how to put things "in." Or in Harper's world, shove everything you can into the small cookie jar that sings. You can imagine how upset she gets when the cookie jar is full but there is a naughty rattle sitting on the floor instead of in the cookie jar. Damn rattle.

Girlfriend has definitely found her sassy pants this week.

Insert picture of H being sassy. Oh wait, my phone crashed. Dang it. 

Harper had an appointment at the eye doctor earlier this week. It was quickly pointed out that Miss H is nearsighted (just like her mama) and needs glasses at a very young age as well (crap, just like me). Cue the wrestling of trying to pick out the appropriate frame.

I was actually trying to get a picture of the sample glasses while they were on Miss Sassy Pants, but the poor frames only stayed on her pretty face for about 4 seconds. Please pray for me my patience. I'm up for the battle. Bring it on new glasses!

The frames should arrive in about 2 weeks. Plenty of time for me to starting banking my patience away for the fights we are going to have.

Fingers crossed!

Growing Up Health guest post

In January I was asked to write a post for  Growing Up Healthy: A UW Health Kids Blog. I was honored to be asked and honored that the post has been so well received. You can read it here. 

Make sure you leave a comment and follow their great blog. Hopefully they will ask me to help again! 

Happy Sunday! 

Polar Plunge 2013

My last post resonated with a ton of you. Thank you for the emails and comments. I'm glad to know that I'm not alone in my feelings. It makes me feel like I'm a good mom. I appreciate every comment you leave.

Of course, whenever I post about my hatred of milestones, Harper hits a new one. She is signing more! I attribute this to me using it with her but really she caught on at school. And she hasn't looked back since!

Having this sign, ok well only one sign down, has made our life easier! I actually know when she wants more and I don't have to guess anymore! I'm trying to catch her on video doing this but I'm normally clapping at her with approval!

With Harper in mind, Andy and Uncle Jeffy did the Polar Plunge in Madison this weekend. This is clearly the dumbest thing the two of them have ever done (second is putting the dogs shock collar on) but it definitely was the sweetest.


Months ago these two got it in their heads that they would raise money for Special Olympics and jump in the freezing cold water. If that wasn't enough they decided to jump in as Bert and Ernie. Cue the incredibly scary costumes.

This was before we even left the house. And believe me, they were full of doubt. 

When we got there, we quickly realized that not only was the jumping into the freezing cold water in February going to suck but the waiting to jump into the water was also going to suck. Lucky for us, we were bundled up! 

Uncle Jeffy/Ernie

Andy/Bert

  

Waiting. 

More waiting and probably rethinking this idea. 

Harper was definitely not amused. She didn't make a peep. 

Apparently Jeff thought Andy was going to back out!

Cannonball! Notice the firefighter turning his head to avoid the splash! 

Done. And freezing. 

Thanks to all who donated toward the cause! Will there be a next year?! Only those two knuckleheads know the answer to that! 

Ramblings...

I know I've posted somewhat about this before but I've been thinking of this often but it's hard to explain. So here goes.....

I know Harper has Down syndrome. You know Harper has Down syndrome. But do strangers? Or do they just know there is something "wrong" with her? 

We can't leave the house without someone stopping to tell us that Harper "is the cutest baby they have ever seen!" Or "her eyes are so blue," "she's so tiny." "How old is she?" When I say she is almost 17 months, I sometimes get a look. A look that says, "hmmm, she's awfully tiny for her age. I wonder what her deal is." 

I always respond with a very kind THANK YOU and yes, she is a peanut for her age. That's it. But the voice inside my head is saying, "I can see you racking your brain to figure out what is wrong with my child." 

But I don't. Not yet anyway. I'm too nice of a person (on the outside). 

Harper had a therapy session at school on Friday and I had to leave the room. I couldn't take it. The therapist was having her do something that I didn't think she could do. I knew she was going to hit her head. Sure enough, she did. And she cried. And then I walked away. I know the therapist was pushing her to work harder. Hell, I do it too. But it was my breaking point for the day. Harper is the oldest in her classroom and all of her younger friends are getting ready to move to the Toddler room. It's not safe for H to move with. She isn't mobile enough. But I am anxious for that day to come. It means she is a real toddler. 

The last two weeks has had me shed too many tears comparing Harper's abilities to others abilities. I've posted about this before but it HAS TO STOP. I'm trying. Really I am. But it's not easy. At. All.


Good news.....I've been asked to do something awesome for an awesome company. Could I be any more vague?! More details to follow.

Happy weekend everyone!