ENJOYING A SNOW DAY!

Alayna took a nice long nap today. It was a perfect day to catch some zzzz's. Too bad Mom couldn't!
She was smiling a lot today! Alayna really enjoys being talked to; especially playing peek-a-boo and saying "I'm going to get you!"

Patti told me that the therapists are trying to get her to grasp things, including her blanket. So, we've been working on playing peek-a-boo with it and she does pretty well. She thinks it's funny!
Peek!
Where did she go?
Peek! There she is!
Can you see my 3rd tooth on the bottom? I'm getting ready to get in about 3 more. Mom can see them at the surface about ready to pop through.

This is how Drake and Douglas spent the snow day at home! They were in heaven. And it was nice and quiet inside the house!!!!!
Laying on one of the big piles of snow. They were trying to make a snow fort.
The picture is kind of fuzzy, but they were eating snow! I hope they remembered never to eat yellow snow!
Here they are with shovels while Grandpa plows with the tractor. Douglas said he was mowing the snow! He had every play lawn mower out today!
This is how Alexis spent her snow day. Playing Webkinz! Whatelse is there to do?? She enjoys it and so does her cousin Audrey. They even played together online a few times today. I do admit, that it is kind of fun. I admit too that I help her earn money and play the games. Dana likes to give me a hard time.

We really enjoyed the day at home today. I thought I'd take a minute and share some photos of the kids. Unfortunately, we had to get about 10 inches of snow to have the day off, but we'll take it! The kids enjoyed themselves and I enjoyed just relaxing and also catching up on the typical household stuff that never goes away!

Alayna is doing such a good job playing peek-a-boo. I really think she is catching on to the concept of it pretty well. This is a new thing for her and I'm so proud of her. I've also been signing "Mom" to her tons lately and then taking her hand and making her sign it. It's cute, but it always makes her smile. I've been signing "milk" too. I need to brush up on a few more signs and introduce them soon too. The reassuring thing is that she has good hearing and can hear us say these words. It all plays a role in speech someday. It's known that speech is significantly delayed with our 1p36 children, but most do talk eventually. That first word will be priceless.

Today was supposed to be her 1 year check up with her pediatrician, but we cancelled due to the weather. I was not about to venture into East Moline. We had to reschedule and we couldn't get an appointment until February 22nd. Those appointments sure fill up fast. She seems to be over her cold from this past weekend. I think she is cutting more teeth because her gums are pretty inflamed. She continues to roll and is going from her tummy to her back more often. Her helmet does get in her way sometimes, but she is trying her best to work with it. She still doesn't go very far and right now I hate to put her on the floor too much because of it being so cold. We are still working on getting those upper body muscles stronger. I can't wait for the day that she really uses her arms and pushes her chest off of the ground. We also continue to work on strengthening her neck and sitting up.

Our life continues to be blessed with good things. Alayna continues to make me look at my life differently and I do a lot of reflecting. I'm so thankful for that. I'm sure you can all relate to a personal experience, like I can, where you were the one on the outside looking inside. Maybe you even felt like the door had been slammed in your face again. And sometimes that doesn't feel too good and you may feel alone or hurt. But ultimately, the hope is that your character sees you through and is strong enough to battle the storm. I hope that as Alayna's mom I instill that solid foundation of character in her that allows her to stand up for herself and be the person that she is. I want her to be able to weather any storm that comes her way. She may be uniquely different, but she deserves to be treated just like everyone else. Isn't it strange how some things come full circle?