Two years ago, Addy taught me that “typical” doesn’t mean a whole lot. “Typical” comes with it’s own battles, it’s own turmoil, it’s own adventures.
“Typical” comes with ambulance rides, ER visits, and frustrations.
“Typical” comes with work, celebrations, and pride for milestones.
“Typical” comes with lots of joy, lots of love, and lots to enjoy!
It’s no real secret that Addy has been a pretty difficult child. She still doesn’t sleep. She gets extremely frustrated. She’s very hard on herself when she can’t do what she wants to do.
And, for crying out loud, she’s the only reason we’ve had to call 911- twice.
But Adalynn is one awesome kid. She grasps concepts that are way beyond her years. Her ability to take one idea and transfer it to another situation is uncanny. She learns very quickly- often when I don’t see it happening. She can solve almost any problem if given enough time. It’s almost become a game for ME- I try to think of things that will take her longer than five minutes to figure out. Let me tell you- it’s not easy to find!
She’s unbelievably compassionate. I’m finding that my (or Piper’s. Or Luke’s.) bad days give her bad days. She can tell when someone is unhappy; she will make sure that we know that there’s a baby crying when we’re out. She’ll even be sure to tell the baby’s mommy that the baby is crying when we’re out (I’m sure she appreciates that, by the way…) But she knows no one better than she knows Piper. I’m still convinced that they have their own version of twin-speak or ESP or something- I swear they speak without making a sound. Addy idolizes Piper. She’s always excited to go to “Piper’s school!” and yells “Piper! We’re coming!” on our walks there every morning to pick her up.
She’s a gross motor rock star. She still does gymnastics every week and loves it. She asks to go “jumping!” at least once a day. She also insists on wearing her “soup” (“suit”, in case you didn’t know…) which is difficult- I just haven’t been able to find a leotard for her 22 pound frame. So, she insists on gets to wear a swimsuit to class. Hey, it works, right? She’s mastered swinging on the rings, can “skin the cat” holding on to my fingers, walks on the balance beams, and loves to play on the bars. She needs that outlet- being in motion really seems to help her attitude. I feel like we have fewer meltdowns when she’s going to the gym regularly. And besides that, she gets some exposure to an organized learning environment. She has to listen and take directions from the teachers, wait her turn, and follow a routine. She does a really great job!
Addy talks. All. the. time. She mimics pretty much everything we say. She answers all of our questions, but if she doesn’t know the answer, she just repeats what we’ve said. It’s actually kind of funny. Oddly enough, it’s been a little difficult to get used to having a child who uses their voice to get what they want. Even if that means yelling loudly at the store…
Yup, Adalynn keeps us hopping! But her great big bear hugs, sweet kisses, and crinkle nose when she laughs keeps us going. She’s an Oscar-winning dramatic, wrapped in a stand-up comedian, wrapped in a pint-sized love bug.
Happy Birthday to my littlest munchkin! Now- can we please have fewer ambulance rides this year???
