Looking back over this past month, I feel it was packed with excitement. Suri seems to have grown leaps and bounds and much of it I feel I can attribute to the change in her daycare as well as to Occupational Therapy and therapeutic listening. I feel like I have a new little girl; one who is rested and happy. I didn't realize the effect our day to day routine had on me until it recently changed. This is the first month that I do not feel rushed int he mornings, that I do not worry throughout the day, that Suri and I were able to do things together after work other than rush home to take a tubbie, read a book and go to bed... thanks to having Sui at Mary Beth's house, we have actually seen more of Mommy's friends in this past month than we have in a long time. Suri and I have been able to enjoy dinner with friends after work on more than one occasion this past month as she is no longer exhausted after daycare any longer. Its really been nice not to feel rushed (which I never knew is what I felt until I no longer felt it...). If this change had this much of an effect on me, I can only image the sense of relief Suri also feels. Life as we know it has been awesome this past month!
Suri's personality continues to blossom. She is talking up a storm and it is so entertaining to watch her facial expressions as she tries to formulate sentences. Her vocabulary has practically tripled this past month (and I was worried that removing her from daycare was going to set her back, when in actuality, just the opposite has seemed to happen). Tecoah is the topic of a majority of her speech. She walks around the house talking to her constantly. Tecoah is pretty much the first thing she says when she wakes up in the morning (aside from "Suri want applesauce... Mommy go get it") ha. Thankfully Tecoah is extremely tolerant of Suri as her touches to her are not always "gentle". Sager has re joined our family this month Suri is thrilled to now have 2 doggies again : ) Suri now knows her full name and when she says it, it sounds something like " Suri Rose Hickens" She can say "Hickson" alone but when she pairs it with Suri Rose, the Hickson turns into Hickens! She cracks me up. She also is very proud of the fact that she knows Grandpa's name is Mike. She now likes to say Pa Paw Mike... and every now and then she will throw in a Hickens on the end of Mike! She also now knows that Mommy's name is Shannon. It sounds so funny to me when she says my name : ) Luckily, she still prefers to call me Mommy... whhew! She enjoy's when I tell her people's "full" names. She takes pride in trying to repeat what I say and Im continually amazed with Suri's memory. She doesn't forget anything! I hope her memory remains this active during her school years as if it does, she's guaranteed to be a straight "A" student! (no pressure Suri Rose.. wink wink..!)
As I have mentioned in earlier blog posts, Suri began Occupational Therapy which has implemented a technique called therapeutic listening. This is a proven technique to assist children with Sensory Integration needs and has done wonders for helping Suri with her behavior. She seems so much more organized and focused. I still question where we would be today without it as It is still difficult for me to believe that listening to altered music for 30 minutes 2 x per day can have this astounding effect on a child. Maybe it was just a phase... maybe it is her new daycare... who knows. But we are going to keep doing what we are doing as life is pretty darn good these days!
One of the things Suri and I have been struggling with this month is sleep; or lack there of... Suri has been waking up in the middle of the night pretty much every night this past month. At first I attributed it to beginning the therapeutic listening as the night waking pretty much started when the music therapy began. I then thought, maybe it's the change in daycare. It's difficult to tell as both are changes she has experienced this past month and Suri has always been somewhat sensitive to change. She has gone from waking up for a 3 hour stretch in the middle of the night to now just waking up, fussing, coming into my bed and then falling back asleep. It is odd as she wakes at exactly the same time each morning (between 1am and 1:10am)... I'm thankful that the 3 hour stretches have decreased to only brief awakenings but I am still concerned that it is lasting this long. I pray this is only a phase and that she is able to return to sleeping through the nights soon.
Suri continues her swimming lessons on Friday mornings and is doing really well with her teacher Mrs. Jennifer. She has mastered floating on her back, jumping in and turning around to swim to the wall, and holding her breath for an extended amount of time under water. I didn't know if we would keep going this long but since she seems to really enjoy it and is continuing to make progress, I hope we can continue to for a while longer. Hopefully she won't have any more swimmers ear setbacks, as that was no fun for her.
Suri now weighs 35lbs and is moving her way into size 4 toddler clothes. I can't believe how fast this little girl grows! I look at shirts that are size 24 months and think how tiny they look! To know that is the size she could be right now due to her age, makes me wish so badly that I could rewind time! 4 toddler... holy cow Suri, slow down! She is definitely my tall little girl and not only is she tall, but her features are so mature as well. Everyone tells me how much older she looks, almost as if I am not telling them the truth when I tell them her age. ha Along side her upcoming graduation into 4t clothes, comes the need to buy size 9 shoes! I have a feeling this winter may even call for a size 9.5 by the time we are through with it. Suri started the spring with a size 6 and is entering the fall in a size 9! Goodness gracious! Slow down!
Suri has a few new favorite songs and I think she is absolutely hilarious when she tries to sing them...
first is Dirks Bentlys 5150, next is Luke Bryan's Drunk on You (Girl you make my speakers go Boom Boom) and the newest is Little Bigtown's Pontoon (out here in the open, mmmmm motorboatin'). She takes her pick as to her favorite song of the moment is and absolutely shrieks with joy when she hears one of them play on the radio! This girl is too funny. Her Grandma Diane would have partnered right beside her in song pics. Im sure she would have loved all 3 of them too as they all have catchy lyrics!
Along side her country music fav's are the all time children's classics of Where is Thumb kin, ABC's and Old Mac Donald had a Farm.
As for Suri's favorite TV shows, there are none really... I don't think she has watched a single show on the iPad this whole month. She's too busy to sit and watch a show in it's entirety. I guess by us not having a television in our home is reflective in her "movie watching" attention span... or lack there of... ha. No worries though, she does love to play Preschool Monkey Lunchbox as well as play other apps that have music and puzzles. She has pretty much mastered the iPad's buttons. She can maneuver her way through new applications like she has already read the instructions! Kids these days....
Suri's Independence is admirable. She is able to do so many things on her own (or with very minimal Mommy assistance). She feeds Tecoah every morning and evening. She even plans the sequence of what she needs. First, she gets Tecoah's bowl and takes it over to the table, she then gets her step stool to reach the dog food container and she twists the lid open until it comes off, then she giver her 1 1scoop of food. If for some reason she only is able to scoop 1/2 scoop instead of a full scoop, she knows to give her one more! Sometimes she need a bit of assistance with the scooping part but for the most part she is good to go solo! She is also able to reach the water spout on the refrigerator door and when stepping on her step stool, she is able to fill her cup with water! She loves doing this and as long as she has an appropriate cup, she is very successful in getting her own water! Suri knows where her snack cabinet is. Each night, I refill her snack items so they are available to her when she looks for them. Suri has a little 1/4 cup scoop that she knows she is to use when she gets pretzels or goldfish crackers. She takes the snacks to her little table and scoops out one scoop into her bowl. The only part she sometimes needs my help with is opening the lid to the container. Suri knows to get a towel and wipe up if she happens to spill on the floor or color on the table (or on Tecoah or on the sofa...) She definitely gets an A for Independence this month! Now, if I could only get this A for Independence in the above areas channeled toward picking up toys, life would be GRAND!! Suri's least favorite thing to do is pick up her toys! I can sing the clean up song until I'm blue in the face and she still skips away leaving me to clean up HER toys alone!
Suri loves to help in the kitchen and cracking eggs is a highlight for her! She's getting pretty good at it too! She helps unload the dishwasher and tells me what each utensil is as she hands it to me. She knows where the soap goes in the dishwasher and loves to refill it! Suri has also realized that if she opens the door to the dishwasher, it makes a good step stool to the counter top... wrong (but pretty creative!) She is no longer sad to see her lovey go into the wash. She now eagerly drops into the wash even more frequently than once a week if she sees an opportunity! Retrieving it from the dryer is always a happy event and she looks adorable as she stands grinning from ear to ear hugging her fresh, warm lovey!
It has been a fun month indeed Suri Rose! You are growing too quickly for words and with each new day, you continue to turn my world upside down. I can't imagine my life without you. Happy 23 months dolly! I love you very much!!
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