Sunday, October 11, 2009

Happy 4th Birthday...

Four years ago today, at 1:13pm, my sweet Charlotte Sophia was born. She was named Charlotte after Brandon's father. I was due on his birthday...what are the odds??? She was nicknamed Sophie by her big sister, Haley, and the name has stuck ever since.

It has been an incredible four years. It has had more twist and turns than I ever could have imagined.

She is an amazing little girl. With more strength and determination than I could ever muster up. Trust me...she has tested it out on me many times and won!!!

I love her with all of my heart. Her smile lights up my world. Her meltdowns crush me.

It is hard parenting a special needs child. Harder than I could ever imagine. But the rewards are greater than I could have ever dreamt of.

She continues to make strides developmentally. She gallops everywhere she goes. So adorable. She could only be going 5 feet but she will gallop to get there. It's fun for her. Something new.

Her new words are "air conditioner" and "watching you". After her surgery, sudden noises would scare her. The sound of the air conditioner coming on or the toilet flushing or the very faint beep at the end of the cycle on the washer or the automatic ice machine in the refrigerator. When she hears these noises, she gets a panic look on her face and jumps into the closest lap. It is getting better, as she is starting to understand what these noises are.

She will repeat a lot of words you ask her to except "I want" or "more ____". I will start going through the list of words she knows and she will repeat them. Does not hesitate. And then I ask her to say "I want". Complete silence. Does not even attempt to say it. I will even try to break it down by asking her to repeat just "I" or "want" by itself...refuses. But she has spontaneously put two separate words together. She does say two word combos like "air conditioner" or "watching you" or "thank you" or "all done". But these words are always said together. So what I am referring to is two separate words that make sense but not something I always say together. Like "mommy happy". I have no idea where she got that from. Just said it to me one day. She also said "I good" after getting in trouble at school one day. These are HUGE breakthroughs. I am so proud of her. I have no doubt that her language will continue to get stronger with time.

I love you my sweet baby girl. Happy 4th Birthday.































17 comments:

Krissy said...

Happy Birthday sweet Sophie!

Sinead said...

Happy birthday. I'm glad to hear how well she is doing. The words will come.

Lisa said...

Happy birthday Sophie! You can tell by those pictures she has a big personality! I love the hairdo too...can't wait until Julia's can look more like that. :)

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, girlfriend!! You are looking sooooo grown up.

Love,
Aunt Barbie

Jackson's Blog said...

Happy 4th Birthday Sophie! I know this next year is going to have so many good things in store for you!

Sophie looks fantastic! Love the hair...too cute! So happy to hear all that she is doing...it's amazing!

MJStump said...

Happy Birthday Sweet Sophie!

It is so wonderful to see how far you have come in the short time I have known of your story. You are a truly amazing little girl with lots of spunk :)

Amazing how they can melt our hearts and take us to the limits...all part of being a mom to an extraordinary little girl!

Celebrating Sophie and wishing for many more smiles and happy moments :)

Holli said...

Happy Birthday, Sophie!!

Wishing you lots and lots of great new milestones this year! :)

blogzilly said...

Happy Birthday Sophie...you've come a long, long way!

Danielle said...

bawling here...

XOXO

...danielle

Adesta said...

OMG!! Happy birthday Sophie!!!

My middle daughter was born on the 10th!! And even more weird...her name is Haylee!!

So glad that things are coming along for Sophie. She's doing wonderful! And she is absolutely adorable!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday sweet Sophie!! Hugs to you from Hawaii!!!

Love,
Sheila and Trevor

Colby said...

Thank you, Elaine, for inviting us to Sophie's party!!! LOVED the photos....She looks SO GREAT!!!

Colby has one coming up this month....25!!!! I can't take it!!!!

Cyndi

Pink Daisy Photography said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Tara & Aidan said...

Happy Birthday Sophie!!!

Helen said...

Looks like Sophie had quite the day! What a cutie. Special blessings to her on this day.

Lori said...

Happy Birthday big girl!

xo Nora and Lori

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Sophie. Love seeing the "light" in your eyes! I hope you had a wonderful day!