Twenty Three Months = Joy-Filled Life

April brought with it spring, warmer weather, and lots of fun adventures.  This is our 23 month update, and I'm happy to report that I don't have an updated height and weight because we haven't had any follow up appointments this month! We have only had our usual therapy appointments 4 times each week with a few adventures mixed in here and there. We're moving into birthday month, which is always a fun combo of exciting, overwhelming and crazy emotions. Our angel is turning TWO this month!!!!  While I try to wrap my head around that fact, let's catch up on the last two months. We have had a few adventures, and the highlights include Addie's first zoo trip and Harper Grace's birthday party. 

With warmer weather here, we ventured to the zoo with a few friends for the first time! Jenny and Greer Roberts were our gracious, energetic and knowledgeable tour guides - and I am thrilled to report that Addie and I both had a great time! I was a little nervous since Addie isn't a huge fan of the wind / heat / noise that comes from being outdoors, and it was her first time riding in her new carseat (forward facing - so big!!!!). She, however, LOVED it. Granted, she wasn't interested in the animals at all and I carried her while pushing the stroller the first half of our visit after the interstate noise threatened to overwhelm her when we got out of the car, but all in all, she did so incredibly well. She was more intrigued by the people milling around and the trees than Tank the elephant or the adorable monkeys and chimps playing. I guess the people and trees are as new to her as the animals right now, and in her defense, some of the people did look a little strange / interesting. 

My favorite part was sitting down to lunch with my friends and their sweet girls (all together with our sweet daughters for the first time, ever!!) while the giraffes lumbered around their habitat in the distance. I was impressed. Addie was not. Ha! Addie lasted about 2.5 hours, and I was really, really proud of her. Addie even snacked on a few Cheetos and had a few sips of water with the rest of us.. .I was one proud mama. I have to admit that enjoying lunch with giraffes walking in the background was incredibly novel and fun for me. I think the zoo may be even more fun as an adult. ..I was so fascinated with the animals! We are officially zoo members, so we anticipate being regulars this summer / fall. It's definitely our new favorite place.

Very intent on her adventure!

Harper Grace's birthday party was our last April adventure, and I can't even begin to tell you what a blessing and what pure joy it is to spend time with her family and with the Harmon family. It's always so special when we get together with our girls! I know it's officially spring when Harper's birthday rolls around, and that makes me doubly happy. Harper's party last year was our first official post-NICU, just for fun outting as a family, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. This year, it was no less special because it is the perfect time to reflect on how far our girls have come in the last year. They are all doing so incredibly well, and to say that I am proud of them and their parents would be the greatest understatement ever. Milly was twirling in her beautiful green dress, squeaky shoes squeaking away! Harper Grace was running, crawling, and charming her way around the room! Addie was cruising around and even munched on a chip, a Triscuit and a cookie! 

They are all getting so big. ..it's so incredibly bittersweet. We have all fought so hard to get them to this point. ..but our babies aren't babies anymore! They're big, beautiful, amazing (stubborn!) little girls.. .they haven't just survived, they have conquered everything that has come their way with a zest for life that you don't often see. I remember begging God for Addie to have just one good moment when we were in the NICU. ..her life was nothing but pain, struggle and discomfort for so long and yet she kept fighting.. .and now that life is so much better, it's obvious that she just loves life. She doesn't care that she has to wear an eye patch or that she's not walking as easily as the other girls just yet. ..she's literally just happy to be here, and so am I. The lessons this girl has taught me. .. Harper and Milly have that same joyful look on their faces every time I see them, too. We all laughed at how stubborn / determined / obstinate / and yes, frustrating, they can be at times. That spirit has kept them here, so even though it can make us crazy when they refuse to be distracted from a goal (sometimes it's the tv remote, sometimes it's  our cell phones, sometimes it's an ink pen. ..), we have to smile and applaud that spirit. *happy sigh* I can't begin to tell you how much I love these three girls. ..how is it possible that they're all turning TWO?!

The Girls Now - SO BIG!!

Oh the Difference a Year Makes!

(PS Addie hates things on her head then and now - haha!)

Here is the run down of info for Addie at 23 months:

Weight:  Still 22.6ish pounds from what I can tell on our scale here at the house. ..

Height:  I'm not sure. ..but she may have just gone through another mini-growth spurt since she slept most of last weekend away and wasn't sick.

PT/OT:  We finally got a pair of inserts that fit! I'm telling you, orthotics are not for the faint of heart! Addie's PT is happy with how she walks in them, so we're going this route for the time being. She walks really well with them in, but she may still need braces again later on to try to realign the bones in her lower legs. Addie is taking more and more voluntary steps on her own! She even tries to run / walk really fast when she gets excited, which results in a lot of laughter and a tumble right now. It's precious. ..the look on her face when she's doing it on her own is priceless. She smiles so big she glows! I wish I could bottle up the sheer joy we both feel when she's walking on her own and save it for always. Just a few months ago, she couldn't crawl and was totally immobile. ..now she's a speed crawler and is an expert walker when she can hold one hand and is getting the hang of walking on her own. Her new project is climbing up onto the couch. It's still a little high for her to get onto without a hand up, so we have a system. She lifts her leg up like she's stepping, which is my cue to cup my hands and give her a boost. It's precious, and she won't need my help for long. The funny part of that is that she now things she can reach anything by walking up to it and lifting her foot up for me to give her a boost. Great example, she loves the twisty thing that makes the blinds open. So, of course, she walks up to the window lifts a leg onto an invisible step, and then looks back at me like, "What are you waiting for?! Can't you see I need to reach that thing that is 3 feet over my head?? Help a girl out!" It's just precious and hysterical, and I need to catch a picture of it.

Speech:  We haven't added many new signs since last month, but Addie is starting to build on her vocalizations. Her "Mama", "Dada", "Daddy" and "A - ddie" are getting much clearer. She can now sign "stop" and "open" pretty appropriately. She LOVES vanilla ice cream! She prefers the ice cream in McDonalds McFlurries when I have one, but she enjoyed a normal-ish toddler sized portion of vanilla bean out of the carton tonight! She keeps coming back for more like a little open mouthed pigeon. I melt, and of course she can have all of the ice cream she wants! Tonight, she also took actual bites out of a slice of pizza! She didn't swallow it (sorry, gross, but she scrapes all solid foods back out of her mouth. ..this is apparently a phase and a positive step, so if you want to see us this summer, you will get to see lots of slobber, half chewed food. ..I apologize in advance!), but simply taking bites and coming back for more of the taste of anything is a huge deal in our world. Hooray for Little Caesars' Hot & Ready $5 pizza! I swear I was going to be the healthy mom before all of this. ..now, I don't care if it's junk, if she will eat it, I'm thrilled.. .

Eyes:  Still patching 8 - 10 hours / day. She's back to tolerating her patch again! Woohoo for more sanity at the Humphreys' house! :)

Hearing Aids:  Also going MUCH better this month! She's wearing her right one basically all day every day, and her left one is in at least half the day if not more. I'm SO proud of her!!!

This month Addie loves:  Moving, moving, moving! Always moving! She loves to chase and be chased, to go for walks in her stroller, explore outside (huge deal!!!!) but not the grass, to go with me to check the mail and to brush her teeth, and she loves vanilla ice cream. She is not fond of wearing dresses - they get in the way of crawling effectively - and we've made a game out of trying to keep bows in her hair. She loves to hide anything that will fit under our couch. She scoots it under there, then lays on the floor, booty in the air, trying to reach it. If you get it out for her, she flings it back under. ..15 minutes later, she's still crying out for whatever it is and your back is sore. ..but it's adorable! She also likes to hide magnets, hair bows, etc. in the crack between the freezer drawer and the refrigerator doors.  Another fun activity is putting the food cover in the microwave, slamming the door shut and pretending to push the buttons. Addie LOVES music. ..She loves to bee bop her hand to any tune, and it's sometimes the only way to get her attention when she's focused in on some other activity you want her to walk away from. I can't say that she has rhythm because she moves her hand at the same pace for Silent Night and Knee Deep by Zac Brown Band, but she tries and that's all that matters! She's also in the habit of W-sitting, which we're trying to break. I get why she does it, it's convenient to back into from a crawl, but it's so bad for the muscles I've been stretching for the last 18 months...so that's a new project! All in all. ..this is such a fun age!!! I didn't think it was possible, but I honestly fall more in love with her every single day. She's absolutely amazing.

Prayer Requests:

• Praise - we've made it through RSV / flu season!!!!!!!!!!!
• That Addie's eye continues to improve and for wisdom and direction as we approach a possible surgery this summer. 
• That we're doing the right thing moving out of the braces and into using inserts for the time being.
• As spring approaches, we'll start to venture out more. Please pray for us as out of the house activities are pretty foreign and will take some adjusting to for us as parents and for Addie. We're excited to get out and figure out a new normal, but I know it will be an adjustment.

Here are a few more picture:

Addie and her zoo friends! Thanks for being our guide, G!

Hiding things between the fridge and freezer..

I can do it by myself, Mama!

This is her new funny face! I love how expressive she is!

Daddy stealing kisses at Harper's party ...I LOVE the look on her face!

This is how she looks when she's walking by herself 95% of the time - sheer joy combined with excitement!

She's laughing her sweet little chuckle in this picture. ..I hope she's always this filled with joy.

Are you sure I can't keep her little forever??