Such a big miracle, in such a little girl....

Wow, Two posts in one week! I think that's a record, but Brooklyn has given us many reasons to smile the past couple days. And to be honest like any almost 3 year olds, many reasons to not smile, but I won't get into that! So a few days ago my grandpa came over and was asking where Brooklyn's walker was. I told him that she doesn't use it to walk with every day yet, just during therapy or when I'm practicing with her. Well Brooklyn heard heard the word 'walker' and she turned to me and said, "mamma, I wanna walk" Well I was too lazy to go downstairs to get her walker so I said " you want to walk? are you sure?" The reason for my hesitation is because it usually takes a small army for that little girl to take a few steps. When her therapist comes it takes both of us to get her to walk. One of us pushing her legs forward, and supporting her hips, and someone helping Brooklyn push the walker, etc. So I figured if she really wanted it I would get it. So I brought it up and stood her up to it, and next thing I knew Brooklyn took about 7-8 solid steps across the room before I could even do anything about it!

Later that night when Jonny got home I told him the story and figured it was a one time thing, but we got out the video camera and stood her up and she walked the whole length of our family room before flopping down and said, "Dada. this kinda hard!" I am sure there will many more posts like this where I will say, no today she really walked. But this was the first of many firsts I guess! We have always hoped that this day would come, but we never knew what Brooklyn's abilities would be. We are constantly in awe of her strength. And so grateful for answered prayers.

On a smaller note but just as important......Brooklyn has been going poopy on the potty! This is something that we hoped she would be able to do when she was much older, but many adults with spina bifida, simply don't have the control, so it may never happen. I know we have a long road, but now I know it is possible. I just hoped that we could have her going on her own by the time she was in school so she wouldn't have to feel self-conscious about diapers, but hopefully by her progress and understanding (and feeling!) we can be done with diapers much sooner! It is amazing that she can even tell me when she has to go. Yay for small miracles!!!

Giving Thanks

We had such a fun Thanksgiving I'm sad it's over. For only the second time since being married, my whole family got together, so we took a trip to St. George. The car ride was a breeze since we have a DVD player and we let my mom and dad tag along in the car to entertain their favorite grandchild. Only it wasn't that far down the road that I heard my mom and dad argue with Brooklyn over what movie they should watch. Yes, mom. Brooklyn would love to watch Holes instead of Twelve Dancing Princesses!
We actually made it to Vegas for a day and I finally got to see Mamma Mia! It was good, but I honestly liked the movie so much that I think I compared the two a little too much. I totally owe my Aunt Christy for driving Brooklyn from Vegas to St. George while she screamed "I no yike this car!" so we could go to the play.
I also learned that I will never leave Brooklyn and go on another trip again because the repercussions from her just aren't worth it. All week long she thought we were leaving her and was a monster to anyone who wanted to.....forbid......hold her. When I went to the bathroom without notifying her first, she would be sobbing by the time I got out because she thought I left her again.
All in all it was so much fun and so worth the drive to be with my family. I wish we could have been two places at once, because this Thanksgiving especially, I know Jonny really wanted to be with his family too. We are very spoiled and have too many blessings to count.