Ahhhhh! The smell of the country, apple pie, cider doughnuts and crisp breezes. Yes, it’s our annual Labor Day visit to Hacklebarney Cider Mill (www.njcidermill.com)and Alstede Farms (http://www.alstedefarms.com/) in Chester, NJ.
Highly recommended, but don’t tell too many people. It’s our little piece of secret heaven stashed away in Morris County.
After crawling to her toys, Josephine revels in the joy of playing with her car. She loves these Disney/Pixar Cars movie cars. Can’t get enough.
Josephine is starting to cognitively associate a sound and movement to an object.
Keep an ear out for “beep beep” at :14 and “vroom vroom” at :17. You may need to turn the volume to hear, but it’s there!
This little gal is determined to get her toys and musters up all she can to crawl across the floor to get them.
This is a great milestone because Josephine is able to get there without any assistance.
Way to go, Principessa!
I am happy to post that my love for dessert has been passed along to Josephine!
Watch how she tears into her birthday cake…a gal after my own heart.
We love you from the proudest parents in the world! You always amaze us!
When a typical child hits milestones, the parents are proud and excited.
When a child with special needs hits those same milestones, the pride, excitement and rejoicing are heightened 12 times! 100 times! “To infinity and beyond!”
Toddler-hood has taken over the Senek household! Mischief, messiness, dog food stealing. I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT! I never imagined baby proofing would be so welcomed in our house.
I think these pictures speak for themselves.
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Ah, the life of a mother! Makes me want to pull out my hair sometimes…
Only this time, my daughter has done it for me. And it’s her own hair.
While visiting in Ohio for a high school reunion, I received news that my Great Uncle George passed away. So our plans changed and The Sheldons returned to New Jersey without us gals. That’s when the trouble began…
It seems continuity and familiarity are a rather big deal to a rather small little girl. Josephine was all out of sorts and wasn’t comfortable with her surroundings for a longer period of time than expected. She loves visiting Grammy and Grampy, but she didn’t have HER toys, HER room, HER bed, HER house and it was all too much for her to handle.
The result: hair pulling. Large amounts of hair pulling. One clump here, one clump there. One day, Josephine had pulled out as many as 5 clumps. The picture below shows the end result of Josephine’s new do.
Great idea for an 80’s party or if you want to be Rhianna for Halloween. Otherwise, our girl looked like a cancer patient going through chemo. Very scary to see and hard to take.
Josephine had never had a hair cut and I was so excited about the idea of flowing locks of beauty to brush daily and tie up in cute bows and clips.
Let me tell you…you quickly realize what really matters in life when something like this becomes a concern. What’s more important? Pretty hair or the safety and well-being of your child? You would be surprised to hear my answer. I was actually struggling with what to do.
I didn’t mind cutting Josephine’s hair, but I didn’t like that I no longer had the choice to do or not to do. Below is Josephine’s new style.
Cute, yes. What I wanted for her, no. But what I want doesn’t matter. It just doesn’t. Josephine’s safety and happiness matter.
I can live with that.
On our way to Ohio, we stopped at McDonalds (August 2010)
We are en route to Ohio–stopped at McDonalds and thought I’d write about Josephine’s latest love…hair pulling (only on the right side). It didn’t seem like an issue until the last week and a half when the hair on the left side of her head was noticeably thicker. I would offer her my hair, but (being mostly bald) she isn’t able to get a grip:)
She seems to do this mostly when she’s frustrated–and probably not able to truly communicate her emotions. So, whenever she does it, we try to acknowledge that she’s frustrated. Not sure if this is just a phase or if it will (hopefully not) develop into a lasting habit.
I type this post with excitement in my heart and tears in my eyes.
Our little girl CRAWLED for the first time today!
As you will see and hear below, it’s not the typical first timer crawl – it has crying and frustration and anger – and I couldn’t love it more.
Josephine was starting her PT session and Lana wanted to tape her back with Kinesio tape (which helps give more input so Josephine can sit straight up instead of sitting back on her sacrum bone – http://www.kinesiotaping.com/physiological-effects.php).
Apparently, Josephine was not thrilled with that idea and wanted Mama instead.
She got into quadruped and spontaneously started to crawl toward me. Both Lana and I were speechless. Hand went over my mouth and tears ran down my cheeks. Our little girl crawled 2 feet!
This video is a few minutes after that event I will vividly remember forever. It’s days like today that make me happy to have Josephine home with me and not in day care.
What more can a mom ask for…WATCH!
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