Trolls

I knew having a blog meant that whatever pictures I posted could be seen by everyone and anyone.  I knew, in the back of my mind, that someone could even take my pictures and use them as their own, or take them and use them in a degrading, hurtful, hateful, ignorant way.  But I guess I never really thought anyone would be reading my blog, except those who know and love me and my family.

I was wrong.

Almost every day I check my blog and I check to see the "traffic" that is going to the blog.  Twice I have seen a "red flag", an out of place website.

cartoonmeme.com

A place where people can go and make a cartoon meme of themselves or use one of the memes that this website has made.  It is obvious that a lot of these photos have been stolen.  There is one in particular that is very disturbing.  A school photo of a young man that has been turned into about six memes, all degrading.

The person running this website has visited my blog, twice! I have looked on their website and haven't seen any pictures of Stella on there.  Perhaps no pictures of her were worthy of degradation.

But now I am on HIGH ALERT.

As much as I want to share our family's journey with others who are curious or who face a similar situation, I do not want Stella's face to be taken and degraded.

Belittled for looking "different", for having an extra chromosome.

I contacted a fellow blogger to get her advice. She gave me some good tips.  I will use these tips and hopefully that will help to protect my pictures.

It makes my heart hurt and my blood boil all at once knowing that there are these "trolls" out there.  Looking for someone to make fun of, to make themselves feel better about whatever is missing in their own lives.

No one deserves to be treated with such ignorance, hate and degradation.

All life is precious.  All life is worthy.

I will continue to show whoever reads my blog that our life ROCKS and that Stella is perfection just as she is.

And Now It's All Done

December 26th. Boxing Day here in Canada.  A day to go shopping for all the deals.  A day to begin to clean up from the Christmas craziness and mess.

Speaking of Christmas craziness:

On Christmas Eve Day Sophie and Stella began sneezing.

Uh Oh.

I told myself that it was just dust.

Then their noses started running.. a lot. A lot of snot was beginning to ooze out from their little nostrils.

I told myself it was just from the dust. Yes, my house was dusty (I dislike dusting, hence all the dust).

But as the day progressed, I knew in my heart of hearts that they were both getting colds.  I was crossing my fingers and hoping they would be mild colds.

Sadly I was wrong.

Sniff.

So Christmas Eve night there was VERY little sleep for Mickey and I.  Stella was affected the worst.  Her little nose was soooo plugged no amount of saline, and suction seemed to help clear her little nose so she could breath.

We were up with her hourly.

Then little miss 7 year old Olivia, was up at least 3 times due to the excitement of Christmas morning.

And last, but most certainly not least Sophie was up a few times due to a stuffy nose.

Christmas morning began with two exhausted parents, two very excited older kids and one sleeping (finally) 2 year old.

Olivia and Sophie got spoiled. They were so excited and Sophie kept hugging me and telling me "I love you mommy." So cute.

Once Stella woke up, and got adjusted to all the chaos, she enjoyed ripping open a few of her presents. However, the big hit with her was this blue plastic tube that I had put in her stocking.  She pretty much chewed on that thing all day.  If Sophie or Olivia tried to play with it, she would cry in protest.

Christmas Dinner was at the in laws house.  It was delicious!! Sophie watched TV, refused to eat and wiped her nose with her tongue or her hand throughout the evening.  Poor lil girl.  Olivia brought her Word Girl Doll, snacked on chips and ate almost all of her dinner.  Stella chewed on her new blue tube, walked around more then she crawled and ate/threw a little bit of food.  Not a bad dinner considering just how sick those two girls seemed to be.

Sadly last night was no better for sleep for lil miss Stella.  Her nose is just so plugged! She just couldn't catch a break and we couldn't seem to help her.

So today, Boxing Day was spent watching LOTS of TV for the kid-lets and drinking LOTS of coffee for me.

We did partake in some of those Boxing Day deals though. Well Mickey did.  Got us a new TV.

So, here we are, Boxing Day. I am sad Christmas is over, but like most, I am looking forward to getting back to a bit of normalcy again.

Olivia got a Word Girl Doll from Santa, the one main thing she REALLY wanted!

Sophie and her Horse from Santa.

Chewing on her blue tube at Grandma's house.

Not a happy camper, even after her nap.

Hey maybe tonight Stella will get a good night's sleep....so that I can get a good night's sleep....

This Week in Pictures

So this past week and weekend were super busy for our lil McG family. We moved, which I have no pictures of, well except for this one.

My "I greatly dislike moving" face.

Jackson Dodge had the annual kids Christmas party. Again sadly I dropped the ball on this one too. No pictures.

Non kid related; Mickey and I went to a Brett Michael's concert...and had the fantastic experience of going backstage and meeting him. For those of you who don't know who Brett Michaels is, he is the lead singer of Poison. To be honest, Mickey has loved Poison and Brett Michaels for a long time and I only kind of knew of him.  So meeting him was a way bigger experience for Mickey then for me.

Notice just how much bigger Mickey's grin is then mine. Yeah, he's pretty stoked.

On Monday we went to Sophie's preschool Christmas Concert.  They sang four songs and then we had hot chocolate afterwards.  It was so very cute!

Yesterday Stella and I spent a bit of time at the mall while the two older McG girls were in school.

Stella loves the water fountain.

Another week, and more moments to sigh, yell, frown, laugh, kiss and hug my lil McG girls.





Sophie super excited at her Christmas concert.













Thinking of young lives lost.

Yesterday we spent our day moving.  It was a long hard day.  I didn't watch the TV or go on Facebook. It wasn't until I got into bed and checked my phone that I read about the horrific mass murder at  Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton Connecticut

Immediately my mind went to my daughter Olivia.  She is 7.  She is feisty, expressive and can be extremely challenging sometimes.  But I got to hug her and kiss her and say goodnight to her last night, to tell her I love her.

20 parents did not get to do that last night.

20 parents got their kids ready for school, made their lunches, kissed them goodbye...and then never saw them again alive.  Their lives are forever changed because some man was mad and wanted to get "revenge".

So....he killed innocent little children, terrified and probably crying for their mommies.

I am at a loss. I don't understand and I can't fathom the evil in this man's heart.  To be able to do something like that.

Please, pray for these families, entirely and forever devastated, forever heartbroken.

Hug your children.

And if you believe in God, ask him to take care of all those new Angels and give some sort of comfort to the mommies and daddies who now have to figure out how to live without a piece of their heart.

Bouncy Castle Crazy!!!

This past Thursday was Sophie's preschool Christmas party. There were games, food, bouncy castles and even Santa was there!

It was pure and utter mayhem!! There were kids and parents everywhere!

I helped Stella crawl into the little kid bouncy castle and...she loved it with a capital L!! I pretty much spent the entire time there with her. She would crawl into the bouncy castle, throw herself around, bounce on her bum, and laugh. Then she'd crawl out of the bouncy castle and immediately want back in. Whew! Man, I was sweating! She was becoming obsessed. Seriously, every time I attempted to take her somewhere else she would cry, and try and wriggle free, and if I put her down she would beeline for the bouncy castle.

As the evening progressed things started to go downhill. Overstimulation + a tired two year old = a scratchy two year old. Yes, the talons came out. Every poor unsuspecting child that entered the bouncy castle was greeted with a grab or a scratch. That was our cue. So we gathered up our three little McG's and headed home.

A crazy, exhausting evening! But we do it for the McG girls as I know they love it...even if we don't always enjoy every moment.

But then I look at the pictures I took and I smile and all the sweat and exhaustion seems to be worth it.

Slow and Steady

Slow and Steady wins the race.  This is what I think about when I see Stella walking just a tiny bit more every day.  Instead of sitting on her bum to get over to the other chair, I see her let go, rotate her torso, move her legs and decide (all on her own) to walk over to the other chair. 

When she is sitting on the floor a couple of feet away from me and I say "Walk to mama", instead of smiling and crawling, she stands and walks; slowly, precisely, sometimes stopping to put her hands on the floor to regain her balance and then continuing on toddling towards me, arms up, gleeful smile on her face.

Olivia noticed how much she was walking tonight. "Wow Mom, she's walking so much now!"

Stella stands up with an intent look on her face, walks over to Olivia, grabs her hands and starts walking in a circle. You see, this past weekend Livi started playing "Ring around the Rosie" with her. So tonight she decided that she wanted to play that game over and over with her biggest sister.

And so she keeps learning, keeps surprising me, keeps keeping me on my toes. Slow and steady, slow and steady.

Picture Perfect Wednesday

Climbing up

Here are just a few pictures of Lil miss Stella and her "mad" climbing skills.



Up..



opening door



think I'll climb down now



Yeah, perhaps you should help mom



Mmmmm, nothing like a good tasting wall in the morning.



Stella has books in the Ottoman and this is how she gets to them.

Stella loves books.



Stella signing "hat"



Here are a few pictures from today at Stella's playgroup.



Minutes before going into playgroup. "I'm really not sure I wanna be here mom."



"K, now I'm REALLY sure I DON'T WANNA BE HERE!"



Walking out after playgroup.



Clearly she had a good time.



Check out my walking skillz, yo.

Another Road Trip to Cow Town

Today Mickey and I took Stella to Calgary (Cow Town as some people call it).  She had an eye appointment with an ophthalmologist.

The ride up was very uneventful. There was a snowfall warning in effect but we did not see much snow till we were almost near Calgary.  Stella sat in her car seat sucking on her suckie, cuddling her blanket and her feet while she wasted the hours (2 1/2 to be exact) away watching Dora.

When we got there we had 40 minutes before our appointment so we walked across the street to Wendy's for a nice healthy lunch.  Stella sat in the highchair provided by Wendy's (thank you Wendy) and took bites and threw (thankfully only some and not all) of her lunch on the floor.  She'd turn around every now and then to wave and say "Huuu" (hi for those of you that don't speak toddler).

Then with nice full, burpy bellies we waited to see the eye doc.

We saw her assistant first who asked us a few questions, one of which was "Is she Downs?".  (ugggghh) to which I replied "Yes, she HAS Down Syndrome."  She was a very nice woman even with her poorly worded question.

Then the doctor checked out her eyes.  She was short, to the point, but very nice and Stella responded well to her. 

Stella then had drops put in her eyes to dilate her pupils so the doc could examine her eyes more.

We sat in the waiting room for about 20 mins while we waited for the drops to take effect.

Stella Bella was quite tired by then and passed out on Mickey's lap only to be woken up 10 minutes later.  But what a good sport she was! No crying, no fussing.  She cooperated and even allowed the doctor to press this big eye machine thing against her face while Mickey held her arms down; all without a peep from her.  Really she is such a cooperative little girl....for now....

Her eyes are perfect.  She is farsighted like most young children so we will be back yearly for check ups.

And off we were again! The looonnngg trip back.

This time there was snow on the roads.  A sprinkling really.  That type of snow that is light and blows around everywhere.  Our visibility was greatly reduced but nothing to cause me too much stress.  Ok, I was a tad bit stressed which is why I am glad Mickey was driving and not me.

Because Stella didn't have any nap she was a tad bit crankier on the way back.  She was hysterically laughing for a while which I knew meant she was really tired.  But, wow! What a trooper!

A long day filled mostly with driving, but having such a patient, calm natured child made the trip a very enjoyable one!

Makes me almost look forward to our trip to the paediatric dentist in January!!

Almost......

Picture Perfect Day.

The post below was written exactly one week ago today and I am only now just getting around to publishing it.  I have been trying all week to download a really cute video that I have of Stella dancing, but I have had no luck in doing so. 

I have given up.

Enjoy the pics!


So I was planning on making Wednesdays a day for just posting photos of all or some of my McG girls.  However, I did not make my deadline and I am fearing that I will not make this deadline often, so I have decided to post just a picture blog one day during the week.  It will be any day I find time to do this.  So this week, Picture Perfect Day is Friday.  Here are some pictures from this week so far.  Ok, really most are just from yesterday.  But you get the idea.



Cuddles after a nap.

Such a busy bee, my Stella Bella is.

Cookies!

Using her fine motor skills to open up a package of goldfish crackers....

and to put on her sister's sock!

Yeah, I don't have many.  Next week I will make sure to have more! 

A Work in Progress

Am I doing Enough?

I ask myself this question at least once a month (ok, probably more).  I go through moments of panic where I feel so overwhelmed with all the "things" I need to be doing with Stella to help her to reach milestones and reach goals that we have set up for her. 

I am not alone in helping her.  She gets developemental aide. This means she has a very lovely woman come by twice a week to "play" with her.  They work on specific exercises to help her to reach the goals that we feel she needs to reach.  For example: standing against a wall, while reaching across her body for a toy. This is to strengthen her core.  A strong core assists with helping her to be able to walk.

Stella has a play group that she attends once a week also.  While there she uses her signs to communicate, interacts with other children and gets to practice her gross and fine motor skills.

And then there's me.  When I'm not busy juggling household chores, homework with Olivia playing with Sophie and spending quality time with each of my girls,  I play/work  with Stella. But I always feel so stretched and I feel like I just don't do enough with her.

I love each of my children individually for who they are.  They each learn differently and have reached milestones at different times.  Yet,there are times that I have to remind myself not to compare.  I'd say I do a really good job of NOT comparing.  But sometimes I fail. 

I am a part of quite a few Facebook groups for parents who have children with Down Syndrome.  Like all parents, we love to post pictures and announcements when our kids acheive big and not so big milestones.  I see pictures of children walking at 22 months, or read on a blog about how their child is 2 and can recognize letters and colours. 

And then I start to feel like I am not doing enough.  Stella  is doing none of those things.  I mean, she is starting to walk, but colours? Letters? Nope and nope.

I start to compare.  I forget all the things that she IS doing. 

At those times it seems as if Stella can read my mind, or perhaps my body language because usually a few days later she does something new as if to say "You are doing enough mommy. I AM learning...on my OWN timeline.  Accept it Mom".



I will learn on MY timeline mommy! Accept it!



She has started picking up more signs, plus putting together 2-3 signs more often!  She has started standing more often and taking steps all on her own with no prompting.

Yesterday she crawled over to me and said "Mmmm" while reaching for me.  Now if that's not the beginning sounds of her saying "Mommy", I don't know what is!!

We are all individuals. Stella is her own person.  I love her as she is, but I am human and I am weak and I break down at times and compare. Compare me to other moms, compare my kids to other kids. 

I am a work in progress too.



Just seeing her in this picture, so cute,  so perfect.  A reminder that I still have a lot of work to do on ME.



My Two Cents

"That is so retarded!"
"She makes me so mad. She's retarded, just retarded."

SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

Every time I hear someone use this word it feels like I have been slapped in the face.  My mind reels from the sting and I can't seem to think straight.  I want to run far, far away. I want to grab Stella, and Olivia and Sophie and place them in a bubble so that they may never be exposed to hearing that word being used in such a negative, demeaning and derogatory way!

Retard.

What does this word mean?

Here are some definitions


re·tard ¹  (r-tärd)

v. re·tard·ed, re·tard·ing, re·tards

v.tr.

To cause to move or proceed slowly; delay or impede.

v.intr.

To be delayed.

n.

1. A slowing down or hindering of progress; a delay.

In other words retard means to slow down.

But now it has become a slang word.  A word used to replace stupid, or idiot.

I know there are people out there who are tired of hearing about how hurtful and offencive using the r-word is.  They get all pissy and claim how tired they are of all the PC crap that they are constantly having to hear.  They claim freedom of expression. 

Here's the thing, why use a word that has such negative connotations? Why use a word that continues to encourage ignorance of those with developmental disabilities? Even if someone is using the r-word to describe their car, their sock, themselves;  it is still continuing the cycle of ignorance.

How about we all try and become more empathetic? Sure, we can use whatever words we want. But how about, we all try and think about how that word would make us feel if we were the ones with a disability?

I am all for freedom of expression, but not at the expense of another person.

How about we stop and take the time to think before we speak?  Let's all try and be mindful of what our words say about us and how those words affect people around us.  If we all tried every day to do that, perhaps words like retard would become a word of the past....

 

Please THINK before you speak. Thank you.

Pumpkin Patch Fiasco

Every year back when we lived in Victoria we would go to a local farm that had U-pick pumpkins and a corn maze, animal farm, hayride..the works.  It was a fun, fall family event.  I always looked forward to doing this every year.  So when we moved here to Medicine Hat, I was very sad when there were no local farms that had U-pick pumpkins.

Last year I found out that just a mere 2 hours away in Lethbridge, there was a farm that had U-pick pumpkins and all the other fun stuff that goes with it!  So last Sunday we decided ( and by "we" I mean me) to drive to this farm so that once again we could participate in a fun, fall family event.

From the get go Olivia was NOT on board with driving for 2 hours just to get some pumpkins.  She begrudgingly got in the car.  We have a DVD player in the car and the girls were happily watching Dora, so Olivia seemed fairly happy.

Movies + 2 hour car ride= quiet, fairly happy kidlets.

But then, the DVD player stopped working.

Crap.

The crying and fussing began.....just from Olivia.

"Turn around!  I want to go home!  Let's just buy some pumpkins from the store.  This is LAME!"

"Once we are there, you will have fun!  It's an adventure!"  I kept saying.

We got lost.  Yeah, I am not the best at navigating...

But the good news is that the DVD player started working! Yay!  Olivia still kept insisting that we just buy the pumpkins from the store.

Mickey figured out where to go.  We were driving out in the middle of farm country, on gravel roads.  Then Mickey said,  "Do you know their hours of operation?".

Hmmmmmm, nope.  Never even thought to check.

So I checked.  My heart sank.  They weren't open on Sunday's.

Double crap!!

After spending 2 hours (if not a tad more) in the car, Olivia fussing and crying and complaining for a good portion of the way, we now had to break it to the girls that the farm was closed.

Seriously, who closes on a Sunday during the Halloween Season????

Olivia was, as expected, the one who was the most upset.  At some point in the trip Sophie had started tuning out Olivia's outbursts so she seemed OK about the fact we were not going to get any pumpkins, or pet any animals.  And Stella, well poor child was exhausted and had fallen asleep.

This family day was definitely not turning out like I had envisioned.! No happy children petting goats, crawling in the mud and picking pumpkins.  Sigh.


To make it up to our girls we took them to McDonalds for lunch....and Toys R Us to buy a toy.  All three girls loved burning off some pent up energy at the play place in McDonalds.  Sophie and Livi enjoyed climbing up to the top and down the slide. Whilst Stella enjoyed going down the little kid slide, backwards face down while licking it.  But then a birthday party arrived and the play pace got really busy! Sophie started crying and was most upset as some "mean boys" kept knocking her over.  That was our cue to leave so we headed over to Toys R Us.

Man, that place is crazy!!  Soooooo many toys, so little time.

It took awhile but the girls finally picked out a toy.  Yeesh, it would have cost us less to go pick some pumpkins.

Tummies were full, kidlets were happy with their new toys, so off we headed back to "the Hat". We stopped for the train.  It was a very looooonnnnggg train. Then the train just stopped moving.

SOB!

We sat there for about 10 minutes or so.  I was starting to panic! I had no snacks left!  I only had one diaper! What if we are stuck here all night?

We kept seeing cars driving up on the side of the road and through the parking lot of the building that was beside the road.  We were desperate! The natives were getting restless! So we followed the other cars, jumped the curb and drove through the parking lot.

We did it! We were free! We took a few side roads and found the highway again.

Needless to say, we made it home.

Then just yesterday, we went to Superstore and bought pumpkins.....just like Olivia has been begging us to do all along.

Next year, we will try fall, family fun again.

Next year.



















There are positives to missing out on pumpkins...getting to ride a bike in the store!



Lil poser on our Toys R Us adventure.

Poor kid, passed out after a long car ride to nowhere.



The start of our adventure to a "closed" pumpkin patch.  Notice how Olivia does not look overly enthused.



Stella rockin in the BMW at Toys R Us.

The future

The future is bright!  There is so much to look forward to with all my girls.  But since this is Down Syndrome Awareness month I will focus on Stella, and what I look forward to with her.

Of course thinking of the future gets me scared some moments and some moments excited.  

I am excited to see Stella walk.  Yes!!  She has taken a few steps here and there and these few steps will become more and more with each passing day.  So on that note I am scared to think of her figuring out how to run and then run away from me.  

I am looking forward to the time when Stella is willing to try a few more types of food.  I mean

at some point bread, peaches, cheese, has to get a bit old. I suppose I am exaggerating a bit as there are other foods she will eat, but not on a consistent basis. So I look forward to when she starts eating a larger variety of food on a more consistent basis.

Stella knows about 30+ signs.  She says "Ha", for "Hi" and "Ya" for Yes.  She is a fabulous communicator for a child who is not using many words.  She is very good at letting us know what she wants, needs or doesn't want or need.  I am looking forward to hearing her say Mamma.  Sometimes I am scared about how she will communicate when she starts preschool next year if she is not speaking verbally.  But I then remind myself that one year can make a huge difference.  Plus her body language and sign language will help her to get her needs met....as long as her aides are watching and listening to her.

Friends.  Will Stella have friends?  When she's a teenager, will she be included in things like, going to the movies, sleep overs, parties.  My hope is that there will be some really awesome people in her life who will see her for who she is and not just see her "disabilities".  My brother in law is friends with a guy who has Down Syndrome. He is friends with him, not because he feels sorry for him, but because he truly likes him and enjoys his company.  I want that for Stella.

Stella's personality is starting to really develop.  At the moment she loves music.  If we are out in public and a stranger says "Hi" to her, she will look at them smile and then sign "spider".  This means that she wants this said person to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider."  If she is sad, a simple song will make her feel better.  As she gets older, I often wonder what genre of music will be her favourite.  Top 40,  a lil gangsta rap?  Or will she like a little bit of everything?

I love clothes.  I don't own a lot of clothes (my husband actually has more clothes than me.  True story), but I love them and I love to look good.  Will Stella follow in her momma's footsteps and enjoy a little retail therapy? Will she enjoy looking good and wearing fashionable clothes?  Or will she be like her big sister Olivia and despise any type of shopping expedition and prefer comfy clothes?

So many things to look forward to.  But at this exact moment, I am going stop thinking too much about the future and enjoy my lil bundle of energy right as she is right now.

Or perhaps she will be a technology wiz.

Celebrating Milestones

Every child, has milestones. The first smile, the first time they roll, sit up, laugh, walk, the list goes on.  Seeing my babies smile for the first time, roll for the first time, walk for the first time, has always been a happy and exciting moment.  It always made me feel proud and happy to see my children growing and learning.

After having Stella the way I look at milestones has changed dramatically.  It's the small things, the little milestones that I never even thought of as milestones before having a child who is differently abled.

Fine motor skills, gross motor skills, I am amazed by them!  Not sure what these skills are?  Fine motor skills entail the small, intricate things that your body can do, like picking up Cheerios with your pointer finger and thumb, picking your nose, writing, playing an instrument.  Gross motor skills are all the big movements that your body can do.  Crawling, walking, jumping, moshing in a mosh pit, "dropping it like it's hot" on the dance floor.

A few months ago, I was at a music class with both Sophie and Stella.  As the girls were singing and dancing, I was watching all the other little kids and smiling at how much fun they were having.  A little baby caught my eye.  She was probably 10 months old and was pulling herself up to stand.....against a WALL!

A wall, people! 

She had nothing to hang on to but the flat, smooth wall and yet there she was pulling herself to stand against it.....and she made it look easy!!!  My first thought, after feeling a pang of envy, was "now those are some good gross motor skills!"  The strength she had to have in her core and her legs to be able to pull her cute chubby little body up!  Before having Stella, those thoughts would have never crossed my mind.

Teeny tiny minuscule milestones that I never even considered a milestone a few years back are now celebrated with screams of delight!

For the longest time we worked with Stella to show her how to pick up a ball, move the ball with her arm, and then let go of the ball into an object (like a container or toy).  Not a big deal right? That should be easy. I have learnt that these movements are in fact very complex and can take some time to master.  So when Stella finally mastered it.......CE-LE-BRATE GOOD TIMES ...COME ON! (sing while you read this, makes it sound way better)  I was over the moon with excitement!  Who wouldn't be? After seeing your child, work on this movement over and over and over...to finally achieve that milestone...

Powerful.


Have you ever pointed your finger at someone, or something?  Yes??  It takes some serious fine motor skills to be able to bend three fingers, then have your thumb on top of one of these bent fingers.  But wait, you must then leave your index finger UP!!!  Not work for you, but for Stella, this took her a bit of time to figure out.  Now?  Well now she is a pointing genius!! She points at everything!

CE-LE-BRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON (don't forget to sing while you read!)

Two small, minuscule milestones have been HUGE, MASSIVE, THRILLING milestones for this here momma.



Putting a medicine dispenser into a coffee cup. Just working on her fine motor skills, no biggie.



The big milestone that I am quite honestly waiting on with baited breathe is seeing Stella take her first step, unassisted, all by herself.   Yes, of course I want to see her walk, but the first step, the most important step, this is what I am most looking forward to seeing.  Once this is accomplished, it will just be a matter of time before she is walking and then running away from me.

I can see that she is not far from this momentous event and when it happens I plan on singing (CE-LE-BRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON) and dancing and posting a video on facebook. 

But in the meantime I will enjoy her taking her time (even though sometimes I would reeeeaaally love it if she wouldn't) and cherish the adorable little leg, shuffle crawl thing that she does.



Stella's leg shuffle crawl. The fastest in the West!





PS. Usually it takes me about a week just to type up one blog post.  I type, retype, edit etc.. until I think it is perfect and then I pulish to my blog.  So I began this post last week.  Today while Stella's aide and I were chatting, lil miss Stella took THREE steps unassisted!! I cried, screamed (but forgot to sing!) and clapped with much excitement.  She took us both by surprise so sadly I did not get it on video.  But have no fear, once I capture her taking steps, you will see it for sure!!!