The Year of Baby

NO! I am not making an announcement!

Trust me...

Have you ever watched "The Middle?"

If you haven't and you like my blog, or if you like me, you HAVE to watch it!!

Anyway, one of the main characters, 

Sue Heck always is so positive despite everything going wrong in her life... 

I love her! So she names her years so that it will be the best year ever, 

"This is the Year of Sue!"

Well, being as positive as I love to be, I am naming this Year of Baby!

Since I haven't really written much this year, I may have neglected to mention how much Baby is talking now. Starting about March of this year she started speaking in sentences!

Not as much grunting and pointing and indiscernible words, but actual sentences.

They were few and far between, but they were there.

Then toward the end of the school year she was talking even more and every body (friends and family) kept commenting in awe how much she was talking now.

I love hearing her little voice saying real words and saying, "Can I have a Pediasure, please," or "Say I'm sorry to me."

My favorite is hearing her sense of humor. A few months ago when she started talking more we were all in the van driving somewhere and someone in the car said, "I like (can't remember item)!" and someone replied with, "Me too!" Then, to our surprise, Baby piped up, "Me three!"

Ha ha ha ha!!

Marc and I looked at each other slightly astonished and proud and couldn't stop laughing at both the joke and our giddy happiness that our baby just told a joke! She told a joke in her own words! And it was funny!

Not only is Baby talking more, but she is starting to emerge from her solo career and is starting to play with others! I've especially enjoyed her budding friendship with my nephew who also has Fragile X Syndrome.

They both love and seek sensory input, so they are great playmates! (This is in Zac's back yard)

 She's also developed quite a saucy attitude along with her growth of vocabulary... not sure how I feel about that all the time, but I am grateful that I can see she can stand up for herself now. I just have to figure out how to help her tell the difference between standing up for herself and just being plain mean.

Pictured below she won't let her cousin, Jman color with her. She how she has her arm up in defense? Ya, we're gonna utilize that move when I teach her how to play basketball.

Baby is changing, growing and really becoming more than I initially thought she would be.

I hate to admit it, but I used to always think that she would be our lowest functioning out of our 3 kids. Now I wonder. She is showing so much personality, understanding and verbal expression that I have so much more of a brilliant future in my sights for her.

On the other side, I hate to get my hopes up. It's hard to hope for what might be too much. You kind of keep your expectations at a minimum---don't get me wrong---it's really more subconscious than something you actually decide to think. It just comes with years of struggle, heartache, and failure. Expecting less and rejoicing the mediocre becomes the normal. Oh, that sounds terrible, I don't mean it the way it's coming out. Nothing they do is mediocre to us. We really love to be excited and celebrate anything thing they do.

The other day I went out to draw on the sidewalk just because and Baby actually wanted to join me.

I was excited to have her there, but also insistent that she not draw on my spot.. you can see by the picture she tried to push that boundary as close as possible. Which, funny enough, it something I celebrated because she was understanding her will against mine and that was huge... anyway, here's what I drew:

I laughed when I got done because it kind of resembled me... Ha! 

But what I really want you to see is Baby's artwork:

She was so precise and calculated in how she was drawing this and even asked me for the black to do the eyelashes with!

I'm excited to have a partner while I chalk.

I might just have to designate her area with more definition... tee hee!

I'm so proud of her. She's such an artist and I find so 

much joy in seeing her talents and strengths shine.

And, yes, that is her walking Ranger, our dog... on our family walk through the neighborhood...with all three kids... and only one slight meltdown during the 2-minute walk... and that meltdown wasn't even from Baby...

It's going to be a great Year of Baby!