Things to do with Emily on a rainy day...

   I think this is a problem most mothers of toddlers face. What to do with a toddler that has a LOT of energy when you can't go outside because its raining and miserable? For the parent of a Sanfilippo child, figuring  this one out will have you spinning in circles (well your head anyway). So I've come up with a list of things that you can do with your child.  Let us begin!

1. Pick up! This game has been a child hood favorite for ages it seems. Only now, you, the parent get to play too!! Our kids are all too willing to volunteer our time picking up the following items: Pots and pans out of the cupboard. Silverware out of the drawers. Tubs of toys out of organizers. You know the best part? You don't get to play just once, it is an all day event!!
2. Hand print art. As they wanting look outside and wait for a break in the weather, grimy little paws make some interesting figures on window panes. It's up to you to figure out what they are intended to be. 
3. Organize This! This game will allow you to try, try again to find just the right way to get clothes back into a dresser drawer for the 5th time! Our little dears will tell you if you have it right or not. Get it wrong and you will know in 10 minutes or less. When you walk back in and find them all over the floor yet again :) 
4. NO! Not Again! Just as soon as you vacuum the floor of those long desired (or so you thought) Cheerios, your child will amuse you with the opportunity to try your hand at Cheese its. Personally I think this game should be called "How Good is Your Vacuum Cleaner?" 
5. You put what, where? You just have to love this one. Your child will excite you again and again with his or her ability to find out just what can go down a toilet bowl. Socks? Check. Bath tub toy? Check. Disposable diaper? YOU LOSE!! Guess What? That leads us to a new game called, "What's the plumbers number?" 

I hope this lovely selection will get you through part or most of your day. Everyone gets to participate and it really is a true family event. You may notice however, that some outside friends and family, while proclaiming their love for your children, refuse to come over for a couple of hours to play your family games, even if they are paid to do so!! Oh well. Better luck on a sunny day. 

Helping after game #4

Now!! Go play!! 

Celebrate the small things...

I had to back up just a bit with what I had intended to do with this blog.. Being new, I'm entitled to move things around a bit. My first main goal still stays the same. To keep my family in touch with what is going on in our life, and to help people such as myself to realize that MPS isn't as bad as it can seem. I mean it is as far as diagnosis goes, you can't change that. But I found myself with images of burying my daughter and planning a funeral and every other horror that every mother could make her self sick over. But you know what? Low and behold, after the sting of it went away, Emily was still here!! We are just learning to make some adjustments. May was a month for adjustments and small celebrations. 

    Last month, we did a few upgrades. Nothing big, but much better for Emily, that is for sure.  Alicia had a bigger carseat for Emily that she wasn't using anymore because her kids are wheelchair bound onw. So, we traded out Emilys cheap small booster carseat for an awesome bigger, much cozier one. She loves it. I also got her a Special Tomatoe EIO stroller. MAN, that thing has so much room in it. She actually looks comfortavble and not cramped up. Before we just had an umbrella stroller, so ya.. big difference. 

    With those little treats for her, it seems as though she rewarded me for her happiness. May brought several little accomplishments for little Miss Emily. The biggest one? She learned to ride her tricycle! Because of the issues with coordination, there are not many kids that figure out how to ride one. The pedaling part just doesn't register with them. Personally, I think she was watching the kids at school. You can watch her watch kids, and later she will try to figure out how to duplicate it later. I'm just so pleased as peaches that she figured it out! Now we can go for walks and stuff!! 

        It seems when she figures things out, we have a whole string of little accomplishments. She is trying to say play, and she is trying to sign it. Every few times she will say "want play" in her Emily verbage. 

   Another thing we did was draw a circle. Again, not huge but when you ask her to make a circle, it's a circle! We even get one dot for an eye. Our goal in EI is to make a face with a circle, two eyes and a smile. We are half way there!! 

   Now she is able to tell me which Barney episode she wants, and she wont settle for another one. She knows what she wants, and that is fine by me. At least it's not the same one over and over, lol she picks and chooses. The last little accomplishment is a summersault. She tries and tries but that buddah belly of hers and her backs refusal to bend at all (nothing wrong with her, she's just a chubby toddler) makes it kind of a mess. But she's getting it!! Now she's actually trying to stand on her head thanks to her pappa. 

   And last, but not least, Love Quilts made Emily a quilt!! I can't wait to get it, it's purple with bunnies on it. You have to pick 3 different themes for the ladies to make a quilt with.. my picks were Purple, flowers with insects (ladybugs) and soft animals (bunnies). The very next day she wrote me back and said they had a purple quilt with bunnies on it. Of course I said yes!! I still think its a coincidence, she says no, because they do extras all the time. But come on.. purple AND Bunnies?  I'll post pictures when I get it <3