6 months at home!

Today Flower has been home with us for 6 months! I can hardly believe how fast the time flies. I'm still amazed at how well she has done and how kind she has been to us in keeping things easy. Don't get me wrong, she has displayed her challenging moments, but I don't think they were any more severe than most kids I know. We still haven't left her with a babysitter. We decided we'd discuss her progress, and ours, at the 6 month point. Although she did spend several unplanned hours away from both of us for the first time the other day. I spontaneously bought a VW bus at 11 pm one night and flew out the next morning to go get it and drive it home. KG worked all night and needed to sleep so she went to the zoo with my sister. She did really well and, since I was a state away, and KG was sleeping, so did we. ;) She loves to help with things around the house like unloading the dishwasher and cooking. She helps me with laundry every week. She pretty much talks in sentences now and we can almost always understand her. For the times that we cannot, she amazes us with her ability to make us understand. For example, she came running to me with a cut on her finger. I couldn't understand her response when I asked her how she got it. She went over and patted her hand on the wall and said, "wall cut finger". Another example of her ability to use word association is when she was sitting with daddy listening to some music on the computer. Apparently she was thirsty and was asking for some water. KG was not understanding the way she was saying water and he told her that he didn't understand. She looked at him for a second and then said, " milk, drink, water!". She loves to dance and has great rhythm. I can hardly wait to sign her up for dance! She knows opposites and will say, "please TV on" when she wants to watch something and "please TV off" when she's had enough. Whenever you give her food that is hot she says, "not hot" and begins to blow on it to cool it down. Every time you turn a lot on or off she has to proclaim, "light on" and "light off". She'll also say, "Flower up" or "Flower down" when she wants up or down. She is very polite, almost always saying please and constantly saying thank you! She can count to 7 and loves to do the ABC's in sign language. She LOVES to sing and can be found singing all day long. The two songs she breaks into most often are 'Wheels on the bus' and 'Three little monkeys swinging from a tree'. She loves to dress herself and picks some very interesting combinations at times but we let her have her freedom, except when she wants to go out in public in her swimming suit. She still mimics everything she hears. She can spot a plane or helicopter anywhere! She loves to give compliments, saying 'pretty dress' or 'pretty shirt' when she likes what you're wearing. She's definitely strong willed which I'm thrilled with because I know she won't be pushed around and taken advantage of. Just yesterday she started the oh so fun term "why?". Whenever we ask her to do something or when we answer one of her questions. She is also at the age of being afraid of everything. I'm really struggling to be patient with the fact that everything is going to 'gitchyou!' as she goes running! That is how she says 'get you' and is what she says at the slightest noise, piece of anything on the floor, or anything unexpected. Hopefully this phase will pass quickly. She is really into saying "watch mom" and then doing some fabulous trick that she wants praises for doing. She also praises herself saying, "good job" when she knows she's done something right like counting or saying her colors. She loves to say her prayers herself now which consist of a lot of silence, some mumbling, an audible Jesus and loud amen! It's very cute. She also has a difficult time going to bed if she hasn't given us both a squeeze and a kiss. She loves wearing her hair in 'popypails' as she calls them and usually insists on two so that she can pull or bounce them. She is very independent saying, "Flower do it" which is nice except when we're in a hurry. Although I must admit she has forced us to slow down and really appreciate the little things! In an attempt to bypass the whiny stage, we'd teach her how to ask for help when she's frustrated. Just this week we're seeing that our efforts are paying off. She now calms down before coming to us and then says, "help please". Once in a while she'll even specify what she needs help with. She loves to spot the sun and the moon and says "bye, bye moon" when she can't see it anymore. I feel like we are really settling in and love to look back to when I thought we were settled in at 3 months. It makes me very excited to see where we'll be at the year mark. It's hard to imagine that the bliss could increase. We just love her to pieces!
Here are photos from every week since we've been home so that you can see just how much she has changed!
Week 1 days 2 and 6

Week 2 days 2, 3, 6 and 7


Week 3 days 2 and 3

Week 4 days 2 and 6

Week 5 days 1 and 4

Week 6 days 1 and 3

Week 7 days 1 and 2

Week 8 days 1 and 2

Week 9 days 3 and 4

Week 10 days 1 and 7

Week 11 days 2 and 3

Week 12 days 1 and 2

Week 13 days 1 and 7

Week 14 days 1 and 7

Week 15 days 5 and 6

Week 16 days 2 and 5

Week 17 days 1 and 2

Week 18 days 3 and 5

week 19 days 1 and 2

Week 19 day 3 and Week 20 day 1

week 20 days 3 and 5

week 21 day 1

week 22 day 1

Week 23 days 1 and 3

week 24 day 1 and Week 25 day 3

Week 25 day 4 and Week 26 day 1

Week 26 days 2 and 5