Our Weekend

Victoria had her first swim lesson on Saturday. She had a great time. It is a class for children with disabilities. There were about 6 kids total, and it was an hour long, so she got some great one on one time. I love that all of the kids in her class were younger than her by at least 4 years, and she didn't even notice. She just loves to be around other kids. She started a conversation with a girl in the locker room, who is an older sister to one of the kids in her class, but was still probably only 8. Victoria kept the conversation going on in the lobby with me. The girl sat down at a table by ours, and V said, "Don't you think she is beautiful?" And the girl told Victoria that she loved her glasses. V said, "thanks, I got them at January." The girl told her she got hers at Walmart. It made me giggle a little. I told the girl that Victoria got hers at Walmart too.

Then, Victoria got to stay for gym time for kids with disabilities. There were probably 10 kids in this class, with a wide variety of ages and disabilities. They did stretching and played basket and hockey. It was fun to watch the teachers always asking Victoria if she could dribble when she was walking/running. She could do it quite well, she just seemed to either forget or just not think it was that important.

Needless to say after two hours of exercise she was tired. I tried to tell her on the way home that if she took a nap that would be fine. Nope. She stayed up until midnight, and had one meltdown in the afternoon. I'm pretty sure with was escalated because she was so tired. She definitely had a rough time staying awake during church and Sunday School the next day also.

When Victoria first came to live with us, she was dead set on the food that she would eat. However, I always told her she had to try it first. I am getting bolder with the food that I put on the table. Our staple meals have been spaghetti, tacos, and pizza. She will now eat tuna casserole, broccoli chicken casserole, and others. (Sorry, I'm writing this at 6:30 in the morning and I've only had one cup of coffee. My memory isn't perfect yet. :) Long story short, she is getting a lot better at what she will eat. I made Shepherd's pie last night for Matt, she ate the meat out of it and the mashed potatoes with out complaining that she didn't like it, but it was clear she didn't. I told her I was proud of her for not complaining, and next time I made it, I would make something else for her and Micah.

Speaking of eating and Micah, my amazing eater is not so amazing anymore, at least not at eating. I know I should be thankful for almost 2 years of him eating whatever was put in front of him. Now all he asks for is hot dogs for dinner. But let me add, he will eat fruits all day, and still likes the veggie puree pouches. But I can't remember when he ate something for dinner that wasn't kid friendly. (I'm not sure this paragraph makes sense, but I'm not rewriting it, sorry.)

Happy Post ~ Micah

Not that the posts about Victoria aren't unhappy.

For the last month or so, Micah seems to be blooming into a new person. He has become a lot less whinny, sure he wants his Momma ALL the time, but his personality is much more calm. He has time out maybe once every couple of days. And is favorite line is, "Okay Momma." And, "thank you Momma." He still loves trucks, and he LOVES babies. We are surrounded by them at church, and he loves them. He talks about babies all the time. (No this is not a post to say we're pregnant. :) If he hears a baby cry, he says, "Sowwy Baby."

Some of my favorite new phrases he says.

Try again.

Oopsy Daisy

Too cold

Daddy funny/silly

night night Sister

Baby Hazel

When Micah was sick, I was holding him until he went to sleep, but most of the time I would just lay down in our bed with him, and he would sleep with us all night. After he was sick, he wouldn't go to sleep well at all. I happened to pull out one of the sleep books I read when he was a baby to give to a friend, and read that toddlers need to be told that you, the parent, are right down the hall and they are not alone. The first time I tried it, he fell asleep no problem. And has been falling asleep no problem ever since. Thank you book!

Victoria and Micah love each other very much and the two of them together make me smile everyday. I am very happy about the timing of our move to Arizona, since it will take Micah's mind off the fact that Victoria is moving in August. :)

Happy Birthday Victoria!

Victoria's 12th birthday was Saturday and it was a wonderful one. Her grandma and husband picked her up around 11 to take her to see The Lorax. Which was so nice, because Matt and I got to clean and decorate for her party. When she got home she opened her grandma's present, and then they left.

After that a couple of friends from church came over. Victoria loves her friends. This was the first time she's had a birthday party with friends and the first time she had friends over.

When we asked her what games she wanted to play on her birthday, she said Sorry. Who are we to say that Sorry is not a party game. So she got play Sorry with her friends. Then she made some vidoes, and got to show them Garfield and Friends on DVD. She had a smile on her face the entire day.

On a typical Saturday, we can usually only get Victoria to spend an hour total outside of her room unless we go somewhere. This includes meals. On her birthday she spent over 9 hours outside of her room. She even stayed out after her friends left.

When she was opening her presents, she kept saying, "this is the best Birthday ever." I don't think anyone in the room didn't have a huge smile on his/her face. It was awesome. She got Garfield cupcakes and vanilla ice cream.

It was one of the best days ever.

Victoria being funny

Without knowing it, I have been passing some silly phrases onto Victoria, and Micah for that matter. I guess I always tell her to show inanimate objects who's boss. So, she came out of her room a couple of days and said, "I tried to show my jacket who was boss, but I lost." I started laughing so hard. Just a little background, she sometimes has difficulties zipping jackets/sweatshirts and she has a peacoat that she has trouble getting the collar to lay down flat. I was so proud of her humor, because usually she just uses movie quotes when she is trying to be funny. I love seeing a little sarcasm come out in her. :)

Then, yesterday I received a package from my mom in the mail. She asked who it was from, and I said, "my mom." She asked what it was, and I said, "probably just some junk." (More background, my parents have been cleaning out there house, so I was guessing it was stuff I had left there in the past.) Her reply, "I thought your mom liked you." (so did I.)