Well, what is new in Leah's life lately?? Lots of things! And thankfully nothing really SB-related is going on. That's always good news. July ended up with a lot going on and moved in a very busy August. Leah and I came back from our trip to visit my family on Wednesday and we just barely missed seeing Ty at the airport... literally, by about 2 hours. He came home on Friday from a work trip and then we had friends in town over the weekend. Leah's little boyfriend, Westin and his parents came down from North Dakota. Westin is just a couple months younger than Leah and he also has SB, and he is just about the cutest little boy there is. We had another family over Saturday night for a cook-out whose daughter, just a few months older than Leah, also has SB. What a great weekend for us to spend with our friends. It's really nice to be able to compare notes and ask each other questions about our kids' care and doctors and what works and what doesn't. We've been really fortunate to have a great little community here. While I love talking to other parents, I also really love that Leah is around her own people. It will be important for her to learn from them as well and find others to relate to who are just like her.
Then I had just a day to repack my suitcase and headed down to Wichita, Kansas, on Tuesday. I work with a sales team and we had our annual meeting there this year. Last year was great as our meeting was in Minneapolis and I wasn't ready to leave my 9-month old baby for 4 days. 4 days is a long time, especially when our mornings started at 7:30 and most nights were until at least 9:30. Boy was I tired at the end of the week! I know I should enjoy my time away, but I didn't sleep well and missed her like crazy. I think she missed me too because she would not let me put her down all day. Daddy did a great job taking care of everything around the house while I was gone. She had a great time with him and they were both alive when I came home... which was really my only expectation. Laundry? probably not. Cooking dinner? not really. Alive and breating? check.
What else is new with Leah? Well, she turned 21 months old on Saturday. Wow, just a few more months until her 2nd birthday. Her little personality has really come through. She is hilarious. It's really fun to see that she has a sense of humor. She has several words, mama, dada, baby, bye-bye, doggy/monkey/donkey/ducky/kitty is all the same word, and she says minn-ahhh for kitty, which is just about the cutest thing. She also says her own name, la-la, and she can say Izzy, the dog next door. Then there are still a few signs in the mix, like more, please, milk, all done, and thank you. I was surprised today when we were working on colors and she knows a few of them. That certainly isn't my doing and I'm glad she is learning something at school!
Speaking of school, we had a moment of panic yesterday because we were still on the waiting list for the fall. When we enrolled Leah back in June, they told us that they were full in September but they would put us on the waiting list. That was fine because we really needed her to go somewhere new and we were hopeful that a spot would open up for her. I talked to an enrollment coordinator yesterday and she said that Leah was still on the list, and that we should start looking for other options. The only way Leah would get in would be if another child left the program. Of course we got very nervous. We don't want her to leave and we also would have a short period of time to find something else. Ty talked to one of her teachers yesterday to ask about how the waiting list works, and she and another teacher talked with the enrollment coordinator to let them know how much they really wanted Leah to stay. That meant a lot to us and just goes to show how much they love her like we do. Thankfully we got the call this morning that they found room for her! Seeing what she's been able to learn and the way they love her reinforces for me what an amazing place this is. This is the absolute best place for her.
Now the busiest part of our summer is over. We just have to get through the last couple weeks of our home renovation. What started as a 5-week project has turned into 9, though we knew going into it that it would probably take longer. We'll both be glad when it's over so we can have our garage and driveway back to normal. I also cannot wait to see everything finished. We did a few must-do items, like new roof, siding and a few windows. We also did some cosmetic updates like new lights, painting and stonework. Our 80-year old house was looking a bit worn and this will set us up to be here for a long time.
Our next big event is a wedding. My brother is getting married in a few weeks, and Leah is the flower girl. I'm not sure how she'll do with it and there's a big question whether she'll actually make it down the aisle or not. She's getting really good in her wheelchair, so I'm thinking about bribery... just need to figure out what will be incentive enough to roll through the church in front of 300 strangers. I'll keep you posted!
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