It was bound to happen...

...it was just a matter of time.  The honeymoon is over.

The daily notes that come home with Alexis have changed.  They used to say things like:  Alexis is so sweet!  She loves the Puppy song, followed me around all day and even said "I love you".

But lately they sound more like:  Alexis has been telling us "no" a lot and doesn't follow instructions.

Yesterday's note was a first: 

Girlfriend has copped a 'tude.  And it's not because she has a verbal delay.  It isn't because she has Down syndrome.  It's because she's 3.  The terrible two's were easy.  The thunderous three's make me need my own time out.





The tears started falling yesterday when I wouldn't play the music she wanted in the car.

For the record, there are still positive notes that come home in her backpack.  I'm grateful to the teachers for not letting her get away with things.  She isn't allowed to break rules that the other students are expected to follow.  I'm sure there will be people who think she doesn't know better, but she knows exactly what she's doing.




The crying continued.  Full on fit.


Even though she's quite the little stinker at times, she's growing and learning like crazy.

She's been having lots of success with potty training lately.  Last weekend was big:  she jumped.  This is huge folks!  She's understood the motion of jumping and has been able to jump on her mattress and on the trampoline in PT when she's holding on to something.  But for the first time, she actually jumped on the floor and cleared it...maybe only by millimeters, but she cleared it.


And later that same day she figured out how to turn a doorknob and open doors.  We are in serious trouble here.  Any minute she will figure out how to run.  Lord help us.




Cried herself to sleep.  Finally.

Exhaustion.




Happy.

Last week was incredible.  My cousin was getting married in Washington state, and so while my children stayed at our home with my mom-and-dad-in-law, 8 of us flew to Washington for the wedding.  I'd never been there before, and as much as I love some of the places to which I've traveled, I don't ever remember leaving a place and thinking, "I could soooo live there."  I was able to shop in quaint towns, run with my uncle and brother on amazing trails, take a ferry to Lummi island, and explore Mount Baker with my husband, brother, and dad. Holy hilltop.  It was astounding.

Jason, Brent, and me.

Husband and me.  Reflected.

Husband.  Reflecting.

My mamma and me in the quaint little town of Fairhaven. 

The wedding was beautiful.  I've never been to a wedding that was so perfectly suited to a couple.  It was held outdoors in a garden, and the weather was sunny and 70, All. Week. Long.  I'm going back there some day.  Even my big tough husband got teary eyed at one point.  It was right after he tasted the scallops. 

L-R: cousin, cousin groom, new cousin-in-love, and her sister.



The dessert table made me tear up a bit.  My cousin made the wedding cake.  She had to ship supplies to Washington and baked it in our rental house.  She made me the official taste tester.  It's a dirty job...

As wonderful as it was, a week away from my littles was a long time.  I'm so grateful that my in-laws could stay at our house with them.  I think they grew while I was away (my kids, not my in-laws).  Alexis seems older.

I'm now officially a minivan mom.  I'm not proud of this, but Lex loves it.  She can get in her seat herself.  How'd she get so tall?

She also got new glasses.  This is her third prescription and those lenses just keep getting thicker.  We've had them adjusted twice already, but that tiny nose just can't seem to keep those heavy lenses up. 

Alexis is continuing to have a great time in her early childhood class which is Mon-Thurs mornings.  She gets PT, OT, and speech at school and also receives outpatient OT and PT on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.  She's on a waiting list for speech.  Add to that her Friday Parents Day Out class, and it's a full schedule.  I worry about over scheduling, but she just loves it!  If she didn't still need a nap every day, I'd probably do more since she is learning so much, and is happy to go to any of these activities.

Alexis is very verbal.  She can list many nouns, puts some words together, but her complete sentences are limited to "I want..."  So today, I about fell over when she was sitting on the couch, flipping through her new Elmo book, looked up at me and said, clear as day, "I. Am. Happy."

And then I wept.  I am happy too.


I'm even happy when you get into the permanent markers and make yourself look like Hitler.

She's learning.

Today I sneezed and Alexis promptly responded with "Bless You!", something I haven't consciously taught her.  It made me feel better about the fact that Alexis now occasionally says, "Oh crap."

Later, I heard her call for help.  I found this: