She Amazes Me

This little girl amazes me more every day.  There were many days that I have spent worrying about the delay in her communication skills.  But in the past few months her receptive language has just grown by leaps and bounds.  She is following more and more commands and showing us how much she understands every day.  Not only that, but her expressive language is growing too.  In the past few weeks she's started saying words like dog, ball, up, and down.  She's started signing things like down and music.  When we checked in to the hotel this week I took her to see the parrot, Lisa.  She pointed at it, said bird AND signed it.  Lisa said, "hello" to which Kennedy waved and said, "hi."  Talk about melting my heart.  Today in the pool, she signed her own version of "water."  It wasn't quite correct, but I knew what she was getting at.  I could not be more proud of this little girl.  She's using about 10 spoken words and 10 other signs, as well as several word approximations.  She's made some wonderful progress lately, and I'm starting to feel like there are probably a lot of words she can say, but is waiting for the right moment to surprise me with them!  So my new mission is to find a way to bring them out.  Maybe more vacations?

Speaking of vacation, this one is proving to be one of the best, and we're less than a week into it.  That's saying a lot, because it's no secret that we make vacations a big priority in this family.  Kennedy and Caleb are at such great ages for this one.  Kennedy is really understanding all of the special things she gets to see and do and Caleb is really in to exploring and taking it all in.  Yesterday we spent the day celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the birth center where Kennedy was born.  It was great to see the wonderful women who were a part of both kids' births and who provided so much support during our NICU stay and some of the more challenging and emotional times after Kennedy's birth.  We have spent time seeing old friends and enjoying the hotel on the beach (where we got married nearly 3 years ago.)  The last time we stayed at this hotel was Kennedy's first vacation.  The month before her heart surgery.  There were so many fears in my mind and it was definitely a bittersweet stay.  But, here we are, 20 months later, and she is running around like any other toddler.  We have all come so far in that time.  This hotel will always hold special memories for us, for so many reasons.  It was really neat watching Kennedy and Marlon run around the banquet room where our wedding reception was held. Tomorrow we head to Orlando to spend the week with family, and Mickey! We have made some wonderful memories this trip, and I've already taken over 1,000 photos.  I'll try not to overload the post, but just give you some of my favorites. (Thanks to Blogger, these are in random order.)

Playing in the sand, she had so much fun and could have kept going for hours!  

(Note to self. Or Grandma. We may need to invest in a sand box or table.)

Why did we have to move out of this state?

Mommy you are silly!

Kennedy takes her kisses very seriously.

Come here J, I'm going to kiss you whethher you want it or not.

We miss "Aunt Angie" so much!

And Andrea too!

Shaking her butt (and arms) to Bruno Mars and Black Eyed Peas.

Come here Caleb I want to kiss you!  (Or pinch you!)

Daddy, you are so funny!

Too much sun, partying, good food and dancing. I can't take anymore mom!

It doesn't get much cuter than this? I love these moments between them.

Someone missed swimming outside.

Bird!!!!!!

I don't care how tired I am, let's dance people!

I will shake my butt to any music any place!

My little leprechauns.  Or lucky charms.  Either way, they're cute.

There's never too many kisses when it comes to handing them out to her little brother.

Uh, Caleb? Can you come play instead of just picking up sand?

What do you mean you don't want a veggie stick?  You need to figure out this eating thing, bro.

Hey dad, check out the leaves. And the dirt. And the grass.

She doesn't love the pool or anything, right?

Who is kissing who, here?

Pre-bedtime giggles and songs.  Another melt my heart moment, where it hits me just how much these two are growing up.

Extra Attention

Every parents think their kid is the cutest kid in the world.  I get that.  But I'm pretty sure Kennedy's personality radiates an extra little bit of cuteness.  You know, that big huge toothy grin of hers?  The one she gives every single person that passes us in stores, theme parks, restaurants...just about anywhere.  She draws a lot of attention everywhere we go.  Do all these people realize that she has Down syndrome?  Maybe.  Maybe not. 

I feel pretty fortunate that all of the extra attention we get is positive.  All of our friends and family have accepted Kennedy for who she is, and her extra chromosome doesn't matter to them.  I feel so blessed to be able to say that.  Even strangers who recognize that she has Ds are always very positive about it.  Last week was my first real negative encounter that left me completely disgusted.  And in all honesty, I'm not sure if it was intended to come off like it did or if she was just uneducated and didn't know how to approach the subject.  I was standing in line at Busch Gardens and the lady behind me was looking at Caleb, who was in his stroller.  Kennedy was in my arms, getting ready to met Cookie Monster and Abby Cadabby.  The woman commented that her brother just had a baby "like that" and gestured towards Kennedy with a cringe.  I repled back with something like, "oh, a baby this wonderful and perfect???"  She simply responded saying she hadn't met him yet.  I ended the conversation there.  I wish I had said more.  But at the moment I was so stunned that I just couldn't.  Not to mention, in line with a lot of people around wasn't the place to give her a piece of my mind.  I refuse to let people like that ruin my day, but it was definitely a slap in the face to the reality that I will always have to advocate for Kennedy, and always have to experience cruel or uneducated people. 

On a more positive note, we are getting back to life as usual around here.  Kennedy had her first hotel stay since July 4th.  She was of course thrilled.  And although Caleb slept through much of his first getaway, he seemed to enjoy it as well!

Here are some photos from last week, and our quick weekend getaway! 

Caleb, you should wake up for the elephants, they're my favorite!

Mom! He's stealing my Cheerios.

Okay, you're cool.  I'll share if I can pet your nose.

 

Yay!!  Another hotel!!

 Mom, there's no time for photos.  Bring on the food.

Daddy, when we move can I have a splash zone in our yard?

One of these days I'll be able to run around here.  Or take more than a few steps.

 

 Come and get me daddy!

I hate when water sprays in my face.

 The dolphins are my favorite at Sea World.

Look daddy, see the dolphins?

My brother is sleeping again. He has no idea what he's missing.

I got to ride on the big fish that went up and down!  Twice!!

 

Kennedy had a busy week.  She only made it part way through Sea World.  

Vacation Wrap Up

Vacation was wonderful, though the weather was pretty depressing for more than half the trip.  Lots of rain, wind and clouds.  Clearly someone forgot that we live in the sunshine state.  Kennedy didn't know any better though and had a blast!  She's not such a huge fan of the beach, or maybe it was just the insane winds and unusually large waves.  Here's a few (okay - a lot) of pictures from our trip.  I took 480, so I'll do my best to narrow it down.  She just has such silly expressions! 

Pool time with daddy!

Do you think I can have something better than water?

Yes, this is exactly what I had in mind!

Look mom, I ate almost all my chicken!

I'm stuffed!  Let's go!

You people are so silly.

No mom, I don't like to sit and relax anymore.  Let me down!

I really wish you'd let me crawl, this is the last picture!

We're in a hotel, do you really think I'm going to bed?

Is that my breakfast???

 

 Pool time with mommy!

 Seriously? More water?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Enjoying my after dinner walk!

How come your eggs don't come out like this mom?

I'm done with lunch.  Can we go swimming now?

Um, dad. I don't know about this.

Why is all that water coming at me?

Can't we go to the pool?

This is much better!

How come our pool at home isn't like this?

Yeah, I'm going to get that!

Just wait a minute...

Is that my food? I'm hungry!

What do you mean it's not my cheeseburger???

This is ridiculous!

Really mom?

This is so fun, we need to come back more often.