December Adventures!

So, we've had a busy month already, and I don't want to leave you waiting in suspense any longer than necessary. I know you have all been waiting, watching, and checking the blog daily to see if I would get my Christmas miracle again this year. Last year, the miracle I was wishing for was to be home for Christmas. Not only were we home in time for Christmas, but we were home in time for Thanksgiving. So, in my mind, God has set the bar pretty high for this year. This year's wish / dream / goal / miracle was for Addie to be independently mobile. Well. ..wait for it. ..wait. ..it's not quite Christmas yet. ..

. ...wait. ..

. ..

She's crawling!!!! By herself!! With no prompting or help from me! AND (because she's a rock star and an overachiever, always) this happened the same week she learned to pull up on the couch! AND (because she's quite simply Addie) she also became incredibly proficient at cruising along the couch that very same week, too! For the last 3 weeks, she has had her PT and OT's heads spinning with all of her ginormous strides. ..a month ago, she was just a sitter with no desire to move and too much fear to try. Now, our sweet, strong little girl is on the move! The million dollar question (only in my mind) has been which would she do first, walk or crawl. Well, she's practically learning to do them at the exact same time, but crawling did win by a nose.

I have to tell you that it has been nothing short of amazing to see the changes in her this last month and a half. She has grown over an inch, gained 2.5 pounds (more than she weighed at 1.5 months old!), and she has gone from being totally sedentary to always on the go. It's been a little mind boggling, and I'm constantly battling between playing with her newfound skills (I wonder if she will follow me if I leave her at our bathroom door, walk through the bedroom and wait for her in the hallway? Why yes, yes, she will! Slow and steady, but she will do it. ..unless there is a sock or an outlet (safely plugged!) along the way that distracts her.) and being caught off guard by it (I go to put laundry in the closet. I come out of said closet. My daughter isn't where I left her. ..oh! That's right! She can move now. ..did I plug all the outlets?! (I did after crawling around like a toddler myself for 30 minutes one day!)).

I LOVE this stage, and so does she! I wish I could capture the looks of pure joy, excitement and pride on her face when she does something on her own for the first time. ..there is no better moment, ever. Those smiles and looks of amazement make every single tear we've cried, every struggle and stretch and day after day of worrying if she would ever be able to crawl or walk and every single sleepless night worth it and so much more.

The funny thing is, she is scared of the hardwood floors! We spend most of our day on the hairball infested red rug in the living room, which is a good sized play space. I didn't realize that this could be a problem until I realized she panicked if I sat her down in the middle of the kitchen on the wood floor. So, we've been working on it, and she's doing better. We spend lots of time now crawling to the edge of the red rug, reaching out and patting it (it makes a really fun "slap" sound if you pat it hard enough, and she LOVES that). It's really cute, and I secretly like that she is confined to her fuzzy red island unless I carry her with me or put her in her walker. She may not be where I left her if I run to the kitchen really fast, but she won't have left her island. I know these days are numbered, and it's really not like I can leave her unattended because as soon as I walk away, she's crawling to something to pull up on, and she's not steady enough yet to pull up and cruise without a spotter.

I remember in September / October starting to really dream about her starting to crawl / walk / move on her own and thinking that would be the best Christmas present for this year, not just for me but for Addie, too. She wanted it, and I wanted it for her. In the last month and a half, the transformation has been nothing short of miraculous. My still child who couldn't get in and out of a sitting position on her own, couldn't stand on her own, and was relegated to a life of staying in whatever place or position we put her in is suddenly moving in and out of a sit like she's done it her entire life, pulling up and getting it on the first try, turning, twisting, and, of course, crawling. If you've only been around "average, every day" kids, you just can't grasp how HUGE these tiny things are. ..I'm amazed every time I see a friend's several months younger child doing all of these things so easily. They're so soft!!! I've lived with a stiff child for so long, I don't realize that others aren't that way, too. It's nothing against those kids or Addie. ..it's just hard to understand how much harder these seemingly simple acts have been so hard for her to master unless you understand the stiffness that has plagued her joints and muscles. Every day, though, she's getting better, stronger, more flexible. The more she moves, the better it gets.

I knew in my heart this was possible, and I knew that even if it wasn't in time for Christmas, Addie would crawl and eventually walk. .. but I can't tell you how overjoyed I am that my miracle arrived early again this year. Addie is every bit as happy as I imagined she would be now that has figured out this whole "mobility thing". .. and my mommy heart can sleep better this holiday season knowing that nothing is impossible where God and this sweet angel are concerned.

Here are a few pictures trying to capture the moments of joy. ..I have video's that I'm trying to figure out how to upload that are amazing, tearful, beautiful, hysterical (she talks / fusses / chatters nonstop when she's working hard to do something challenging. ..you have to laugh. ..). I will try to post!

Here we go. ..

 

Hi, Mom!! Look what I can do!

 

Go to the dishwasher, here I am, standing, waiting on you!

 

So big!

 

She's leaning back, not standing totally on her own, but look how big she looks in her jeans!!!!

 

**Eye mom disclaimer - all of these are taken at the end of the day, just before bed, hence no eye patch. She's a little more active / daring once the patch comes off, so that's when I've caught these moments. We're still patching approximately 9 hours / day. .. but it's working!!