Baby Kaylin/Christmas Break

 We made it! Kaylin's leg is healed enough that she doesn't have to wear her splint anymore! These two pictures were taken yesterday when we got home. She was giddy when they removed it at the Doctor's office. I think the best way to describe this experience was when an older patient in the waiting room said, " She is too young to be here." I agree! 8 1/2 months old is far too little to be breaking bones. The first thing I did was put Kaylin in her Christmas jammies. Her splint was too big for her to fit into most of her clothes. I had to get creative with what she wore. It's so nice to put her regular clothes on. She is excited to be able to wiggle and kick both legs. The splint was SUPER frustrating. It was supposed to be more comfortable for her and adjustable. The problem was that she dragged her leg around the house causing it to constantly be adjusting and moving. I'm not sure how much support it actually gave her. Mark and I had to rewrap it almost daily. We gave her a bath on Sunday and saw that her whole heel was a big blister for the constant rubbing. She would panic if it was on too tight and it would come off if it was too loose. It was so frustrating!! The first 2 weeks were horrendous for our sweet girl. She was sick and in pain. She really perked up after that and handled the last few weeks very well. I'm so sorry that she had to go through this and am so relieved that this part is over. Her bone will continue to heal and we will return to the orthopedic office in three months for a final xray to make sure it is healed.

                                   Everyone getting in on the Kaylin love!

 Here is Kaylin using my jammies as her blanket as she fell asleep in my arms. She has become our late night buddy as she stays up til about 11. She has gotten used to her White Collar/ice cream nights.

 Here is Kaylin finally wearing her Christmas dress since she missed a few weeks of church. She had to wear a leg warmer on her good leg since we couldn't get her into tights.

 Kaylin loves chasing Peaches. She never quite knows what to do when she catches the bunny but it's pretty cute. These pictures were taken a few days after Christmas when Peaches was still little and her ears stuck out like airplane wings.

 Kaylin smiling for her Daddy!

 Lukey was sick over Christmas break. He is super cute and snuggly when he is sick.

 These two played lots and lots of ponies over Christmas break! I love that they are best buds. Sean had a rough evening last night and was actually really mean to Claire. He hurt her feelings and made her cry. When everything calmed down he voluntarily apologized to her and she forgave him. I couldn't ask for two more loving kids.

Claire has fallen in love with her bunny! Sean has nicknamed her Bun Bun. He likes to follow her around and take videos of her with my phone. Claire can handle Peaches all by herself and is awesome and getting her food and water. Peaches likes to snuggle in Claire's arm. She is seriously the best pet for our family. This picture was taken last night and you can see how her ears have flopped over. She is grown a bit in the last few weeks. Mark and I love watching Claire and her bunny.

Sean's 5th birthday weekend

 As a new 5 year old Sean has declared himself a big boy and wants to be treated as such. He decided that he had outgrown his toddler bed and was ready for a big kid bed like Claire's. He is thrilled with his Avenger's blanket and sheets. This bedroom originally had two toddler beds in it when we moved in. It is strange to see big beds in it. It's hard to believe that we have two kids over the age of 5!

 We decided to have a friends birthday party for Sean. Here he is in his full snow suit including headlamp to go out into the cold and snow to deliver his Avenger invitations. These January birthdays are quirky.

 We invited 4 super nice boys from the neighborhood.

 We kept things simple and calm to help make it a successful party for Sean.
After pin the S on Superman we opened presents and ate chocolate cupcakes.

 The highlight was trying to break open the Spider Man pinata!

 Having a party for Sean was important to me. I was anxious to let him have a social activity for friends to come and see that Sean is a cool kid just like them. I sat and wiped away tears watching him be so happy and interactive with his friends. I am so grateful for our neighbors that support us and help Sean be successful. This party was a huge success for my special guy.

 Crazy Daddy stayed up late on Sunday night making this fun superhero cake for Sean's birthday on Monday the 13th.

 Sean was pleased!

Here he is modeling his new big boy clothes from Grandma and Grandpa Luke.

 A new big boy coat. Seriously the other morning he sat down to eat his cereal with his standard plastic blue spoon. I heard him say to himself, "I'm a big boy! I don't eat with little spoons anymore." He got himself a regular spoon and ate his breakfast.

 Grandma and Grandpa Hamblin came to celebrate Sean and Grandpa's joint birthday. Sean was super silly and interactive with his birthday buddy.

 Grandpa giving Sean a hard time after Sean blew out ALL of the candles on both cakes.

 He will always be my special buddy

 Sean's 4 day birthday extravaganza continued to Tuesday when he had his birthday celebrated at school. Mark made a third set of cupcakes. He crawled into bed Monday night and told me he is never baking again! Sean got to sit in the teachers chair and pass out cupcakes to everyone. They made him a card and played duck, duck goose. Sean was especially excited to have his little brother Luke sitting at the table with him. He made sure Luke was comfortable in his classroom. It was really sweet.

When we began our autism journey almost 3 years ago everyone told us how important early intervention was from ages 3-5. There were a few very long years for our family but it's hard to fully comprehend how far Sean has come. He has exceeded all of our expectations for him. He is happy and social and is one of the best communicators I know! It's hard to believe that my little baby Sean is 5. I am happy to be to this point and excited to see what happens this year as he finishes Giant Steps moves forward with Kindergarten.