These kids just keep growing up. In a blink of an eye. I feel like I have something new I could report to you all nightly on this blog. But all that growing up keeps me busy.
You remember when I said, in this family we celebrate milestones regardless of timing? Also, there are some milestones that feel like a right of passage into parenthood. You know potty training, first day of school, tooth fairy visits, etc. We have a new thing to check off our list.
Brady rode her bike tonight WITHOUT training wheels.
This is a big deal for US.
A while back someone told me about balance bikes. When a kid learns to ride a bike, they need to learn how to pedal and balance. Most kids get a training wheel bikes (like Brady) and learn to pedal first, then balance. But if you get the kid a balance bike first, they learn to balance first and pedaling is a easy after thought. So we started Reese off on a balance bike and she is probably going to be riding a bike (w/o training wheels within the next month). Brady's bike had training wheels and Reese's balance bike was too small.
A neighbor friend suggested we take the training wheels AND pedals off Brady's bike, let her mess around with that, then just put the pedals back on. Well she only needed one week of that setup, and here she is. I know the bike is too little but we used that one for confidence. We plan to phase her up soon.
So, if you have a little one, I highly suggest you start with a balance bike and skip training wheels all together!
Elli is now 16 months old. She is every bit of 16 months old too. Her personality is really starting to show. So I thought I would give an update on my little ray of sunshine since it has been 4 months.
First off, she is ALMOST walking. She has taken her first step, back on September 9th. I was taking a video of her because she had just started standing independently. While filming, she happen to take her first step. Who actually catches a child's first step on film? This lady right here does ;)
I suggest you turn down your volume, I squeal really loud in the video.
She has taken up to 4 steps at one time, but that is not consistent yet. Once we can build her confidence, she will be off and toddling.
But she has not let the lack of upright mobility stop her from being a curious exploring 16 month old.
She loves to put of sunglasses. As soon as they are on, she looks at everyone in the room with the "aren't I fabulous" look. My response is always "Hollywood!" (Anyone remember the 80s movie "The Mannequin").
She is also really taken a liking to books in true Orthner Girl fashion. Currently her two favorite good night stories are "Goodnight Moon" and "The Dog Book"
She loves to be outside and playing in our yard or at parks.
You will often find her at the back door like this... Trying to figure out how to work that door knob. Tonight I told Brady to go outside and play and within seconds Elli was standing at the back door.
She is still a bigtime cuddler, giving some of the best hugs ever, and yes, she still loves to play with hair. All those hugs are by far my favorite benefit of Hypotonia.
I think besides outside time, she treasures playing with her big sisters most. She really thrives off their attention. She also is really showing a need to have things in order, like her oldest sister. She will always attempt to put her good night story back in the bookcase. Today the remote was left on the coffee table and she crawled with it to the stool that has a basket it is normally kept in. She pulled up on that stool remote in hand so that she could properly place it. Yes, she is taken, no, you can't borrow her.
She is also a trooper. We have to go to quite a few doctors, and she has become the queen of the waiting room! She takes the hours of driving to the hospitals and the hours of waiting to see the doctor for minutes like a champ. Love this girl!
Here is a couple more fun videos that show Elli being Elli.
Lastly, my big girl may not be walking but she is drinking out of an open cup regularly now. She wants to be just like her big sisters.
She is growing up right before my eyes. But I am okay with that, because I love seeing her grow up, such a fun journey to be on.
So as parents we fall in love with our screaming bundles of joy at first sight (most of the time; I am not judging those who let the jury deliberate for a day or two). Becoming a parent is a cosmic experience. You love those babies with more depth than you knew your heart had. And every time you have another kid, you find that your heart is way larger than you knew and can love deep and wide. We all know that though....
I am here to talk about falling in love with my child again.
The other day, I had the rare experience (especially lately with school in session) of sitting down with JUST Brady outside. Just me and her. No other kids that might possibly interrupt. Her looking into my eyes, and my looking into hers. We had a 5-10 minute conversation. But that was all I needed to fall in love. She was telling me a story about school, honestly I don't even remember what she really said. But I watched her, studied her, and learned about her all on a new level. She is different now, she is mature in a six year old kind of way, she is becoming a person; people. Then I looked back at her, all those words I was intently listening to went to a humming blur because I was struck by her awesomeness, her beauty and maturity. I was falling in love at that very moment. Yes, I loved her before, but this was a new love. A new love for her. I walked away from that conversation with her floating on a cloud because I was IN love.
Now this is why I love being a parent. I get to fall in love with the same little people over and over again. Subtle but powerful moments knock me off my feet on a regular basis. I take residence on cloud nine, because I am floating and in love all the time.
Tonight we went on a walk through our neighborhood and around base. These are the scenes on our mile walk. I was in my happy place. This is life at its finest.
Reese has always taken intriguing, breathtaking, beautiful closeups. She can be straight faced and tight lipped but I am struck by her beauty. Sometimes I feel vain when I say this since so many people say she looks just like me.
She told me that she was going to make a funny face.
Then I asked her to make another funny face.
Then she said she was going to make an even funnier funny face....guess what, she was right because I downright laughed out loud. I love this girl's sense of humor.
Now you can't see her face in this picture, but needs to be included. This was Karl's greeting from her when he got home from work! She LOVES her daddy!
Reese's recent drawing shocked both Karl and I. She drew Handy Manny and his tools from complete memory. There are little details there that I would have not picked up on if I wasn't looking right at the TV show myself. We have no Handy Manny toys and she wasn't in the room with the TV when she drew it so it was all in her head.
for comparison
And this is handy manny himself!
I know she is not the next Picasso, but hey she impressed her biggest fans, her mommy and daddy!
I always make a point to not rush life along nor to live in the past; enjoy the moment I am in and live life to its fullest. However, my mind is still in summer mode. My ADD is getting the best of me. But it is September and we are pressing on.
Here is a summary of Brady and Reese's first days of school.
Last week we got to meet Brady's teacher. I grabbed some pictures of her at the school since she rides the bus. Yep, new territory for us: public school and big yellow school bus.
This is her at her desk. I had the wrong lens on so you can't really see the background, but I promise there is a desk and classroom there.
September 3, 2013: Brady's first day of first grade.
I wake up to the sound of Elli vomiting at 3:30. My first sign that things were about to get a little crazy and that I would miss summer immensely. My emotions about sending my biggest baby to school were thrown out the 'I'm too tired to think' window. My gear was shifted to survival mode, but we were still driving.
6:00...Brady was pumped; Brady was up early; Brady was starting to get hyper; Brady COULD NOT WAIT!
We get to the bus stop early, in typical Orthner style. But within in minutes the bus stop was bumpin'. Yah, that is a third of the bus at one stop. I LOVE THIS NEIGHBORHOOD! As we were walking to the stop we stood at attention for the national anthem, all the kids stood and respected the colors of our wonderful nation, only at base housing.
No tears fell as I watched this. I was surprised too. But the mountain of vomit laundry at home distracted me.
Now take the picture above, turn Brady around, and turn the clock to eight hours later. Yea, I lost it then. I downright missed her. I swelled with pride when I saw her coming home. I have issues that a stranger gets to enjoy my Brady Boo all day long, but it is what is best for all of us.
That night she spoke of mechanics of her desk, the yumminess of the school lunch, the lack of recess, the intercom that can speak to her teacher. Not much said about her teacher, academics or new friends.
This is an excerpt from an email her teacher sent me.
"She is an absolute doll, by the way.So well behaved and a joy to spend the day with."
Yep, teacher's pet already. She has it to a science already.
_____________________________________________
Now Reese is a MWF preschooler so her first day was September 4, 2013.
Well, no vomit in the middle of the night, but I guess I was still off my game because I forgot to set my alarm. I would have set it for 5:30, but instead woke up to Elli's chattering at 6:35. We all needed to be out the door by 7:30. YIKES...Did I really sleep in on Reese's first day of school. Yep, mother of the year award was overnighted to me. So the morning was a lot of rushing. We did though, we got there on time, which in Orthner speak means we were 15 minutes early. But we pulled up the same time as one of Reese's good friends, so Reese had no first day jitters at all.
Side note: I keep looking at these pictures thinking 'did Reese grow two inches (in her legs) overnight?'
Reese had a blast. She talked of new rules, playing in the sand, HER hook for her bookbag, chasing a new friend with her BFF, and snack including juice but no water. Again no mention of her teachers or academics. But this is a 4 year old's world.
____________________________________________
Three cheers for my two students!
I miss these girls already. I miss the unscheduled summer days that allowed us to get dressed at 9:30. I miss their laughter throughout the day. I try to relish this time as they grow and learn at school. But, heck, those teachers best appreciate my kiddos.
This school year has me frazzled. Besides the forgetting of the alarm, I almost ran out of gas (noticed the light in the middle of thirty minutes of stand still traffic). Also, when eating my lunch, I look down half way through and realize I was using a plastic minnie mouse fork. I am off my game people. But I know I will catch up soon enough.
Here's to a wonderful school year, that soon enough I will appreciate.
