Gymnastics

Friday, 4-23-10

Today, Amy started her gymnastics lessons. Kurt & I wanted her to get involved in something and we both agreed that gymnastics would be a perfect activity for her to start and see how she likes it. I took gymnastics as a little girl and have fond memories of it.

The lesson started off a little rough - Amy didn't want to sit on the mat and didn't want to be away from me. So, we did our warm-ups together sitting in a chair. There were only two other little girls in the class, so it was nice to have a smaller class. Once the warm-up was completed, the girls got in line to do their "circle routine." Basically, going up on some mats, jumping down, hopping/jumping, walking on a balance beam, doing a somersault, swinging on a bar, etc. Amy participated in all of these and did wonderful! She was loving it, though still wanted me by her side, which was okay. The only disadvantage of me being with her was the difficulty in taking pictures! As she was swinging on the bar, I grabbed my camera and took a few quick pictures. Toward the end of the session, the girls went into the "big gym" and walked on the big balance beam and got on the trampoline. The instructor bounced the girls on the trampoline, though Amy didn't like it. The end of the session, Amy got a Mickey stamp on her leg and a lollipop! She was thrilled with the lollipop as well as the Mickey stamp. We had to call Daddy on our way home to tell him about the lollipop! Throughout the rest of the day, Amy kept looking at the Mickey stamp on her leg! She is already looking to go back next week!

Mickey stamp on her leg

Showing me her Mickey stamp on her leg (you also will probably notice the HUGE skinned knee on her other leg from falling yesterday on the driveway - ouch!)

Our Chatterbox

Wednesday, 4-21-10

Today, Amy was officially discharged from speech services!! She has come so far during the last nine months or so. I remember when we started the process, Amy was using so few words and was still “grunting” to communicate. Now, she is using three to four to five word phrases and is sometimes talking our ears off! It has been a long journey and there were a few bumps in the road, but I am so proud of the progress and hard work that Amy has done. We certainly saw Amy’s stubborn side at the start (with a few panicked flashes of what might be in store for us during the teen years!!), but she came around and did beautifully. She always enjoyed Ms. Jackie coming to play with her, though she didn’t always like when Ms. Jackie made her use her sounds. However, listening to her now, one would never know of her earlier struggles. It is amazing how her personality is beginning to show and shine as she is able to communicate more and more. Of course, along with the good comes those moments of…did my child really just say that? For example, telling the neighbors to “clean up” their garage as she was looking into it! We are thrilled with the progress and improvements. We also enjoyed Ms. Jackie and all the help and encouragement she provided!

Ms. Jackie & Amy:

Picnic Lunch

Tuesday, 4-20-10

Amy had her first picnic lunch today! It was such a beautiful morning and we spent a good portion of it playing at the park. When we got home, neither one of us really wanted to be inside so we decided to have a picnic in our backyard. Initially, we were on the grass, though the sun was pretty bright. So, Amy moved to her little picnic table in the shade. She was so excited to be eating outside!

Telling me, "no peas" - wasn't feeling the love of sugar snap peas today.

Quick Trip to New Albany

Thursday, 4-15-10

This week, Amy & I made a quick trip to visit Grandma & Granddad Murphy in New Albany. We left on Monday and returned Wednesday. Daddy wasn't able to join us though we talked to him while we were gone to let him know what we were doing.

We had told Amy that we would be going to visit Grandma & Granddad Murphy over the weekend and she kept asking when we were going. On Monday, when she woke up, I told her that we would be going to see them that day. She was so excited that it was the only thing she talked about all morning. She wanted to leave right then!! I could barely get her through lunch as she was getting quite insistent about leaving for Grandma & Granddad's house! So, we left a little earlier than planned. :)

Amy simply loves to play with Grandma & Granddad! During our visit, she would grab them by the finger and take them where she wanted to go! With Amy's help, Granddad put up the swing in the backyard so Amy was able to swing and swing! She loves to swing and would giggle and squeal in delight! She also got tickled, which added to the excitement of swinging!! :)

On Tuesday, Grandma was able to play hooky from school to enjoy the day with us. Originally, we planned on going to a petting zoo at a local orchard/winery. However, when we got there, we learned that the petting zoo didn't open until later this month. However, we were able to feed the fish and geese, which Amy loved! She would throw the food into the water and watch all of the fish go for the food, though typically the geese were faster! There were so many fish in the water and these fish were HUGE!! Amy enjoyed running around the deck and running into the grass. At one point, one of the geese was coming toward us rather insistently, apparently wanting more food. I think it caused me more anxiety than Amy, but we decided to go ahead and leave before any possible geese attacks!! We stopped by a local park before heading back to Grandma & Granddad's house.

That afternoon, Uncle Tim & Samantha came over to play and have dinner. I managed to get one picture of Samantha pushing Amy on the swing before Samantha knew I was taking her picture!! :)

During our visit, Amy enjoyed playing with Grandma's bracelets. Amy definitely loves to accessorize, putting as many bracelets as Grandma gave her on her arm. The first evening, Amy even had to wear one bracelet on each arm to bed!!

We had such a wonderful time playing and visiting. Thanks, Grandma & Granddad, for a wonderful visit!!

Getting tickled while swinging!

Feeding the fish & geese

These fish were huge!

Notice all of the bracelets on her arm!!

Notice that Amy is still wearing all of the bracelets!!

Amy loves to get cuddles from Grandma!

Easter 2010

April 2nd-4th, 2010

Since we would be out of town on Easter Sunday, the Easter bunny decided to visit Amy on Friday morning. He left her so many fun items that not everything fit in her Easter basket! :)When Amy went downstairs that morning, she was so excited to see that the Easter bunny had visited her, though he didn’t leave any bananas like Santa had (apparently the Easter bunny forgot to include the bananas!!). Amy seemed most excited about the Sesame Street books (very similar to the Mickey Mouse books that she got for Christmas from Grandma & Granddad Murphy that she LOVES), the sidewalk chalk, and the egg full of M&M’s. I simply love to see her excitement about these fun traditions!!

On Friday afternoon, we headed to New Albany to visit with Grandma & Granddad Murphy along with Tim and his family. Amy was excited to see everyone and had a fun time playing with toys and reading books. Amy found a little umbrella at their house, which she loved to play with while we were there. She would open the umbrella (or have someone else open it) and then put it over her head, looking so cute & adorable! We had an egg hunt before dinner, which Amy loved! She got so excited when she saw an egg. At one point, she dumped/tossed the eggs out of her basket, apparently so she could pick them up again! Amy received a Minnie Mouse doll from Grandma and Granddad Murphy in her Easter basket, which she is still carrying around with her along with a duck that quacks.

On Saturday afternoon, we headed to Jasper to visit with Grandma & Grandpa Meyer. Amy simply loved rocking on their rocking horse – the horse that Grandpa Meyer built for his oldest son, Bruce, who is now 55 years old!! Amy gave the horse a few hugs throughout our visit. We went to church on Sunday morning and Amy looked adorable in her Easter dress. She did so well during church! After lunch, we had another egg hunt with Grandma & Grandpa Meyer.

For some reason, Amy put her basket around her neck while she was searching for eggs!

When we returned home on Sunday, we had another egg hunt with Amy in our backyard. The Easter bunny left jelly beans in these eggs. Amy was delighted to hear the eggs rattle when she shook them. But she was even more excited when we opened them up to find jelly beans!! She enjoyed several jelly beans after our egg hunt sitting at her little picnic table. I simply love how Amy gets so excited about these little things. We even did another egg hunt the next morning for something to do, though Amy was clearly disappointed that there were no jelly beans in these eggs!!