Addy-isms

Just wanted to share some of my random pictures of Adalynn.  She’s pretty cute, if I do say so myself…

Two days old- this was always one of my favorite shirts of Piper’s.  I brought this little preemie onesie and a newborn one to the hospital; I really hoped she’d fit into this one, if just for a day.  I’m guessing we’ll get a little more use out of it…

One of the “signature” characteristics of kids with Ds is a toe gap.  Piper does NOT have one.  She doesn’t have long enough toes to have one, lol.  Addy, however, does, and it makes me giggle…  And also?  Look at this midline action…

We laugh that she has a very expressive face.  She seems to be very contemplative and spends a lot of time trying to figure things out.  This usually results in some serious forehead wrinkles.  This is her “oh my gosh, what is going on in my world???” face, don’t you think?

This day, her thinking time was devoted to trying to figure out what the heck that bump between her eyes was.  Then, to make it worse, every time I flashed the camera, she’d try to focus on the little red light, which made the crossing even worse…  She has, thankfully, gotten much less able (and apt) to play with her eyes the last few days. 

I, admittedly, only have Piper to compare to, but I was pretty impressed by the little munchkin holding up her head so well.  She also rolled over.  Twice.  Must be the power of the forehead wrinkles…

I think she’s going to be an outside girl, just like her sister.

New Trike

When you turn two, you get to have big kid toys.  And learn big kid things.  Like riding a tricycle!  Piper got one for her birthday.

It’s really cool- you can steer from the push bar and the kid can either pedal or rest their feet on a platform instead.  It also comes with a detachable support so that you can put a littler one in and you wouldn’t have to worry about them falling sideways, but we didn’t put that part on. 

At our last visit with the PT at Children’s, Pat had recommended this model because it’s one of the smallest tricycles on the market that’s easily available.  She said that the school she consults with in Saudi Arabia for kids with special needs (btw- how cool is that???) has bought lots of them over the last few years, but that they’re just becoming available here in the US.  We happened to buy this for Piper after Christmas at Costco (surprised?). 

Unfortunately, despite it’s smallness, Piper’s still about 6” away from touching the pedals at the farthest part.  Sooo, it’ll be a while before we can work on trike riding.  But, in the meantime, it’s sure a more fun, big kid way to go for a walk!   

First, she had to help put it together.  With real tools.  Yup, that’s her wielding a screwdriver. 

And then, as it started coming together, she knew what the back bucket had to be for.  She ran away and came back, squealing, with her baby doll.  Good thing she fits perfectly.

She couldn’t wait to get on, so she had to give it a feel before it was even done.  And then she and Daddy walked down the block before everyone else came over for cake.  It passed the test drive!

My hope was that I could put Piper in here and Addy in the Baby Bjorn for walks to the park this summer.  Addy, however, has a few pounds to gain before she can be packed that way, sooo we’ll see how many non-stroller walks the three of us take.  But when Daddy’s home, it works just fine!

Her posture tells a story of physical exertion.  Don’t let her fool you.  She sat there as Luke walked up and down the street.  My child who has the energy of a steam engine had to use the handle bars as a prop.  But the real reason I like this picture?  I have no idea what’s up with the kid’s hair…

Addy Comes Home!

This little munchkin is one week old today!

We got sprung from the hospital on Wednesday.  I can’t believe how easy it was.  There were, essentially, no hoops to jump through, which was a huge difference from when we were trying to spring Piper from the NICU.  I’m totally loving this how-the-other-side-lives thing.

…even if she came home in preemie clothes that are too big…

Going home was obviously more exciting for us than it was her.  Can’t you sense her enthusiasm??? 

You have to check this out:

Piper’s on top, Addy on the bottom.  Piper weighed just a couple ounces less than Addy when they both came home.  I think Addy’s skin is a little darker, but not much, and their hair even looks about the same.  Piper, however, thought much less of the car seat…

Piper has done FABULOUSLY with Adalynn.  It’s been all gentle loving…

…kisses…

…and checking-in.

Still working on getting some cute pictures of both girls together; neither one is particularly “into” the idea just yet… 

Adalynn Jayne

…is here!

We went to the hospital early Sunday morning and got hooked up to the monitors where we caught her decelling pretty hard.  She came back up on her own, and relatively quickly, but it was enough for us to be admitted immediately.  We kept waiting to see if she started handling labor better, but she just never did.  We decided that the chance of us making it all the way through delivery was pretty poor, so we went ahead with a cesarean.  I’m a little bummed, but it’s not what matters! 

…and you know what?  A cesarean that’s NOT under general anesthesia is just not so bad!  Not fun by any means, but way better! 

Anyway, before 9 am, we had our little girl!

Meet Addy- 5 lbs, 13 oz and 18” long.  She is a PEANUT!

Piper came to see her last night- she kept signing “mommy baby”, and once she realized what was going on, she got pretty excited.  She did really good being gentle with Addy, but not so good at being gentle with me…  It may be a loooong couple weeks.  Not that I blame her- how’s she supposed to know?

Veeeery cautious.  And curious.  I love Piper’s hand on my arm- she was trembling with excitement.

Brave enough to get a little closer…

Pointing out all of her body parts.  Her nose was particularly cute and poke-able. 

Finding it really funny that she could tickle her feet.  You should hear the sound effects that come along with tickle fingers.

I love this picture because they’re locking eyes with each other.  So sweet!

I’m pretty sure that she’d forgiven me, at least for a minute, for leaving her that morning in a hurry.  We’ll see tomorrow when she comes back, lol…

…and for the record?  No, she did not have a name until this morning… 

One of each, please!

Dogs are absolutely one of Piper’s favorite things.  She can spot a dog (or a picture of a dog, or something that looks like it could be a dog) from 100 yards.  Usually way before I do.

Another of her favorite things are babies.  She can also spot a baby, stroller, or car seat from obscene distances.  Half the time she starts having a conniption, and I don’t believe her.  Silly me- you’d think I’d know better by now. 

So what do you get when you combine her two faves? 

The puppy store, of course.

Nana decided that Piper needed to see all the puppies.  There’s a local shop here that sells dogs from breeders (think puppy consignment- no puppy mill dogs, so we don’t feel bad about going, in case you were wondering- although this time they had an array of very ODD combinations- did you know there’s something called a Chuweenie?  How about a Chug?  Seriously- these have GOT to stop…), and we’ve been talking about taking Piper for a while now.  Problem is that they’re only open a couple days a week, and we never think about it on one of those days.

So today was the day. 

Piper was in seventh heaven.  The only thing that would have made it better is if they ALL (ie Piper AND the several dozen puppies) had free-range of the entire store.  Of course that would have been Piper’s preference- not mine (or the store owner’s…)

She just ran around in circles through the little shop pointing and saying “OOOO” as loudly (and quickly) as she could.  She didn’t particularly care for the little yippy puppies, but fuzzy seemed to be a big hit.  We picked up a couple and let her get really close- she did great being gentle and soft with them. 

I’m sure that Luke would NOT approve of our adventure.  He doesn’t like unsupervised visits to places like this.  Especially when I’m hormonal and in the baby mindset, lol.  Our dog Duncan, after all, is the product of a “let’s just go and look” visit. 

NOT that he can say much- I distinctly remember him INSISTING that the checkbook stay in the car when we came home with Maggie, too.  Marines aren’t supposed to be softies for cute little puppies.  That obviously worked out well for us…

Duck Lake

Since my OB is just a few blocks away from Central Park here in Denver, after my appointment last week, we decided it’d be a good time to go for a picnic and let Piper see all the weird birds that are there.  Central Park and Duck Lake are right next to the Denver Zoo, so there are lots of bizarre duck-ish birds that reside in the big lake.  And lots and lots of geese that enjoy pestering park-goers for their lunch.  Add in a really fun (new, and different) playground, and Piper was thrilled!

She really did want to go chase all the geese, but we were a little nervous of one coming and nipping her (they are just about as tall as her, as weird as that may seem for a two-year-old).  So we finally got her to play in the playground instead.  She LOVED watching all the bigger kids, and wanted to do just what they were doing. 

She had to do lots and lots of steps (it was a GREAT place for her to practice walking up the stairs by herself instead of climbing them).

I think it was about the first time that she experienced heights.  The highest point was probably 12-14 feet off the ground, and she wasn’t really sure what to think of it.  She did great, just decided that maybe she’d figure out how to get back down. 

I think she used 800 different modes of transportation on all the different surfaces- but it did NOT slow her down.  I’m sure I looked a little silly chasing after this little squirt with my 9-month pregnant belly.  Cute, I’m sure <<insert sarcastic, rolling eyes here…>>

I am SO excited for her to actually get to USE the parks this summer.  Last year, she experienced them, but didn’t get their full effect.  This year is going to be so much fun!!!

Piper’s Birthday Party!

We celebrated Piper’s birthday with her grandparents and aunts and uncles on Friday.  She kept looking at the cake on the counter doing her “mmm” face; I’m pretty sure she figured that since it was her birthday, she really shouldn’t have to share her cake.  Or wait to eat it, for that matter. 

By the time everyone got here that night, she was ready to go!  She was so excited prior to Go Time that I failed to get a great picture of her in her way cute birthday outfit.  Some things just never work out the way you intend…  So, these’ll suffice, I s’pose.

After presents, she finally got to eat her cake.  She. couldn’t. wait.  I had to keep her from pulling handfulls off.  Fortunately, she loved everyone singing at her (although I’m sure that she had no idea why), and was distracted long enough so that we all could have some.  Not that I blame her; I’m pretty sure that I could polish off an angel food cake all by myself, too.  But I won’t admit to that…

And, much to my surprise, she ACTUALLY BLEW OUT HER OWN CANDLE!!!  I really didn’t think she’d do it (that purposeful air movement is a big hurdle right now…), but she acted like she knew JUST what to do. 

She was one pooped pup after all the excitement.  Being two is tough stuff. 

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Today is Piper’s second birthday.

Holy moly- can it be?

Two years ago, we met the tiniest person we’ve ever seen.  Cutest, too, but that kind of goes without saying (she is our kid, after all). 

There was so much unknown.  Worry.  Nervousness and trepidation.

If we had only known how she’d grow and change…  How WE’D grow and change…

2 weeks

6 months

1 year

18 months

2 years

…all of the fear of the unknown has changed into awe. 

She’s put up with more in the past two years than is her fair share.  She’s been up against more odds.  She’s faced so much.

And yet, here she is- our little two-year-old who never ceases to amaze us, never stops laughing, never stops making us laugh, and is continually growing, maturing, and learning. 

She’s our little munchkin, our sunshine, and our ornery little stinker. 

She’s our little girl, and we are so so lucky!

RUNNING through the sprinkler!

This was Piper’s experience last year with the sprinkler.

But this year, this year, she’s really big enough to PLAY in the sprinkler!  I’m so excited!

We went garage sale-ing on Friday (got a Little Tikes police car Cozy Coupe- can’t wait to show you what I have planned for it, a whole big bag of Little People, a Weebles castle, with all the weebles, a Leap Frog activity table, keyboard kickboard for the new little one, a drum, a xylophone, a wooden two-step stool for Piper at the bathroom sink, and a fishing pole game- all for $19!!!), and by the time we got home, we were roasty.  I got the new police car out of the van and took Piper up and down the street for a few minutes before Luke got home from work.  When he got home, he turned on the sprinkler for a few minutes- Piper was intrigued with the outside shower (she kept signing “bath”), so I took off her pants and let her go play. 

She got realllly close…

…and didn’t really seem to mind.  After some coaxing from Daddy, she decided that maybe she could go play in them.

She laughed.  At first.  For 3.2 seconds.

…and then she realized she was chilly.  And wet.  And she wasn’t sure if it was actually fun or not.  So she stopped in the middle of the grass, and got upset that she was still getting wet.  I thought for a minute that Luke was going to have to go out there and rescue her (because you know that running after the kid through the sprinkler is a Daddy’s job- I think it’s in a manual somewhere), but she turned around and came back on her own.  Crying.

She made sure that Dad knew she didn’t approve of his coaxing.  Crusties were quite abundant for a while.

…as were veeeeery silly piggies.