Climbing That Mountain Together!

Alayna is all smiles lately! Okay, maybe at times she isn't. This little outfit was from the Whisman family.
Sticking my tongue out! And yes, we are an Iowa Hawkeye family if you were wondering.

Just a swinging! She loves this swing. I don't want her to grow out of it.
She is cutting more teeth and always has a hand or fingers in her mouth.
This little outfit is from Grandma Diana and Lexi gave her the shoes for Christmas. They finally fit (size 2)
Most of the time Douglas can get Alayna to smile. She loves watching him. I think it's because he is still little and just silly. He says he wants her as a tractor partner and someday he's going to be big enough to give her a ride on the tractor. I believe him!

Eating an orange for the first time. Made her pucker a little!
She sucked that orange down to nothing. She loved it.
Lexi helps feed her a strawberry for the first time. She liked it too! I was just worried about being allergic, but she was fine.
She liked the strawberry, it was just more messy.
I have to post of picture of Lexi in her uniform. I'm so proud of her. Yesterday, Rocket Fire played a team that gave them a challenge. They were down by 1 run and it was the last "at-bat." Lexi was up and her team had 2 outs. She got two strikes. Uh, oh! But, she hit a double and knocked two of her teammates in from 2nd and 3rd and won the game. Way to go Lexi and way to go Rocket Fire!

Since Alayna has been off of phenobarbital, she has been showing her "true colors." She is much more emotional and expressive about her feelings. Which is a wonderful thing. When she's happy you know it and her smile still melts my heart. However, when she isn't happy you'll definitely know it too. Lately, it has been challenging to get her settled during some of her moments of anger, tiredness, or maybe teething pain. Sometimes there is absolutely nothing we can do to make her happy and it is nearly impossible to figure out what it bothering her. The best intervention is still the swing. It's tough though when we aren't home. So, I have been known to resort to a sucker. I'm going to buy a bag of dum-dums at Walmart the next visit. It's all about whatever works! The other night on the way home from Lexi's tumbling Alayna was crying and had been nearly the entire time. I caught myself with my hands over my ears a few times and I'm not joking. It was so cute because Douglas turned to her and said in the calmest voice, "Alayna, use your words!" He wanted her to stop crying so badly and just tell us what was wrong. Someday she will.

I'm still learning what the best accommodations are for her at the ball diamonds. She hasn't been liking the stroller lately and would rather just lay on a blanket on the grass. Yesterday, I used a huge golf umbrella to provide shade and she went to sleep. I actually got to watch most of one entire game with only a few interruptions from the boys! I think next I'm going to take the Pack-n-Play so she can lay out flat and put a blanket over the top. We'll see how that goes. It's tough sometimes, knowing that with a typical developing child I could just take her for a short walk, bribe her with some cheerios or fruit puffs and give her a sippy cup as forms of distraction. I would have more options to keep her busy. I just want to be able to watch my oldest daughter play her softball games. I'm human, I'm allowed to feel this way, and yes, I think it is normal to have these little selfish thoughts sneak up on me.

Alayna is moving around the floor more and also in her crib. She somehow rolls and scootches all different ways. She has also been sleeping more on her stomach/side instead of flat on her back. Alayna continues to grab at toys and shows more interest in them everyday. Her hands and arms are becoming more cooperative together. Dana was playing with her the other day and he tickled his nose to hers. She reached up and grabbed his face with both hands. Of course, Daddy melted and she once again captured his heart. It's these little things that mean so much to us. They are things we never would have thought about with our other 3 children because they just happened.

This Wednesday, Alayna has her year evaluation through Early Intervention. Her PT, developmental therapist, and speech therapist will all be doing an assessment and writing reports. We have a meeting scheduled for late afternoon and her therapists, Early Intervention coordinator, and Dana and I will be present. It's like an IEP meeting if you are familiar with that term. We'll review what goals Alayna has met and set new ones. Alayna continues to go to Comprehensive Rehab two time a week, but that isn't connected to Early Intervention. That is just additional therapy that we decided she needed on our own. I'm going to request for more therapy through EI and hopefully they'll approve it. I'd like to have Alayna going to the Children's Therapy Center at least once a week. I believe she needs it and again, I'm one of those people who thinks that there isn't such a thing as "too much therapy."

Alayna has really been enjoying fruit in her mesh feeder. We try to use it about 3-4 times a week. She has had peaches, bananas, oranges, strawberries, and mixed fruit in it and eats each one. Now, when I say "eat" I mean she does tons of sucking on it. Some of the fruit comes out through the holes, but most of it stays inside the bag to prevent choking. And she continues to eat about 1/3-1/2 a jar of stage 2 baby foods in the evening. There are nights though that we skip this all together because of either the mood she is in, timing, or that she hasn't drank her formula completely. It doesn't take much to fill her up. We've switched formulas to the Members Mark brand sold at Sam's stores. It is much cheaper and so far she is doing fine on it.

Sometimes things happen in our lives that makes us challenge our faith and create doubt. Trust me, with Alayna, this has happened. However, God tells us that he is here for us and will never fail us. I'm a believer and I continually pray to God to give me strength to get through each day. One day at a time. He sets mountains before us to climb. I am climbing this mountain and there's no stopping me. And so is Alayna. We will have our rough spots and our set backs, but someday we are going to reach the top together and shout from the peak. You'll see!