MY VERY OWN "HAPINNESS TONIC"

Emma never ceases to amaze me.
Actually, she very often blows me away. She is my source of energy, hapinness and complete freedom of the soul.
Her mind is constantly looking for stimulus. Her imagination has no limits. And if I play along with it, its brings me such pleasure.
This morning, while waiting for the bus, we were signing "The wheels on the bus". After signing a verse or 2, I started to say: The......Emma would add "cheesies", then we'd sign the cheesies on the bus go CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH. The....Emma said BURT (from Sesame Street), then we'd sing The Burt on the bus go HA-HA-HA. Then she said ERNIE, we'd sing The Ernie on the bus go CHI-CHI-CHI, with our hands in front of our mouth (just like the caracter). Then I'd say The.....she said cat, The cat on the bus go Meow, Meow, Meow. And the dog, then came the letters of the alphabet: The W on the bus go Wa, Wa, Wa. And so on...
The way she embarks on these games is awesome. I really get into it with her and it completely takes away anything else from my mind.
Aren't I lucky to have my very own, unique, live-in therapist?
I hope Emma keeps this aspect of her personality as she grows. I certainly will do my very darn best to preserve her bubbliness. I can see us signing together when I am 65 and Emma is 26!!!

ARTHUR MILLER AND THE MISSING ACT

After writing my post about: An amazing soul, I went browsing on my friends' blogs. Amy brought to my attention an article in Vanity Fair, about Arthur Miller having a 4th child…Daniel, who has Down Syndrome. (find it on the web: Arthur Miller and the missing act)

I’ve always told myself I would not pass judgments on other people’s decisions… The content of this article made me think, think hard.

Even though I tried hard to imagine the context some 40 years ago, it was not easy for me to find compassion and understanding. But I succeeded; I will not pass judgment.

But stories like that do make me sad. I am sad for all the missed tiny moments people like Mr. Miller denied himself, and his son.

All I can think about is : If only they had known…. The joys, the warmth, the lessons my daughter enriches me with, Mr. Miller and his wife would have held on to Daniel as their most pecious gift...

AN AMAZING SOUL

Later on, you will see where this is leading to...
Emma is now 6 1/2 years old. She still wears diapers. The inside of her legs look like elephant skin. Also, in the back, she has this sore that just won't go away. Doctors have given us about 4 different kinds of ointment. Those bad spots just don't go away. So Emma and I apply "cream" on a daily basis.
This week was quite busy for everyone. I am back to work after 4 years of being at home, Amy started high school and Emma is now in grade one and goes to school every day. All week, I could tell this daily schooling was quite tiring for her. She whined a lot, was less patient, and went to be much earlier...
Today, Emma and I were "outside" in our p.j.'s at 7:30. Then I did a bit of cooking and baking, took her back outside for another little while. Then I had to attack the pile of dishes, and later on, start the 3 loads of laundry that were waiting for my attention. Through it all Emma was whinning: "Mommy, outside. Mommyyyyyyyyyy, outside". While I was washing the dishes, she brought her little bench right beside me, got up on it and tugged at my arm: "Mommy, outside, Mommyyyyy, outside, MOMMYYYYYYYY OUTSIDE". God, how much more patience can I extract from way within myself?
That whinning lasted until about noon. Then, my friend who had a mastectomy only 10 days ago, showed up. She asked if I could change her bandages. Of course I would. We ripped the old stuff away. Her incision is quite large and still stitched with staples. Emma was still going on about going outside. I showed her my friend's wound and told her look,
" " has a booboo. Emma looked and took off....
While I was cleaning the wound, Emma came back with her "butt cream" and said : " ", for you, cream".
After feeling on the verge of having no patience left at all whatsover, here is my little girl, offering relief to our friend who has a booboo. We both went: "Ahhhh, Emma, that's so nice, thank you very much!!!" Of course, we had to pretend to apply the cream before putting the new bandage on. Emma even helped pulling the part that you peel while leaving the see through tape on.
Moments like that always make me think about those people who believe our lives have lost some of its "glitter" when Emma joined our family. How wrong are they? If only they knew...

MY BEAUTIFUL AMY ON WINSTON

Today, was Amy's last horse show of the season. She did well on her beloved horse.
Amy is now attending High School. I am so proud of her. She has met and introduced herself to all of the special need teenagers who go to her school.

So far, she has had a 5 minute late notice (because she wheeled Catherine, who has cerebral palsy, who had a sore back that day, to her class!). She also met 2 guys who have Down Syndrome. They were trying to squeeze Catherine's wheelchair through a narrow doorway. Amy offered to help, but just guided the front of the chair while letting the guys push. I love you, Amy, you have a great soul!!!

WAITING FOR THE BUS

EMMA AND I HAD SO MUCH FUN WAITING FOR THE BUS!!!
ISN'T SHE A CUTIE???

A DAY OF SHOPPING

For those who don't already know Emma, let me tell you that she is a very bubbly, busy girl. She's got personality. She is playful, energetic, ALWAYS ON THE GO.
When in large buildings, Emma usually gets OVERSTIMULATED. I must admit she has somewhat slowed down in the last year. But people who meet us still tell me, Wow, she is busy... I wonder why???
While on vacation, walking in a restaurant, Emma was really loud. You have to understand, we've been in the car for many, many hours. As I took her to the bathroom for a quazillion diaper change, I told her we were going to have supper and that we should be QUIET. She behaved so wonderfully throughout the whole meal, I thought I was on to someting...
Back home, I decided that Emma and I would go on outings more and more often. So while Amy and her boyfriend Jesse had their day full with piling wood than go-karting with Carl, as a reward, I set out with Emma to do the school supply shopping...
First stop, the school supplies store. She sat in the cart the whole time. I was offering her choices as to which pencil sharpener she wanted, BLUE or RED. She said red. Okay. Then, said blue. I turned around, got the 2 colors again and asked her one more time which one she wanted, she said blue, so blue it was. And so on. She chose pencils, erasers, even binders for her sister!
So far so good... We were now headed to my favorite Thrift shop, a place I haven't been to in quite a while. We were going to look for clothes for Emma.
Again, she sat in the cart the whole time. I was amazed at how nice the clothes were for children. So I kept putting stuff in our cart until it was quite full. Emma would sometimes put stuff in too. And I was putting it back as best as I could.
Then I thought she should at least try on the pants because Emma is a bit bulky at the waist. Don't get me wrong. She is far from being fat. It's just that she is short and that makes it hard to choose the right size in pants. I had sizes from 6 to 10...
We entered the change room, with the cart, and set out to try on at least the pants. One, two, three, four, and, so on... Emma kept on trying pieces. She was looking at herself in the miror and was saying either NICE, CUTE, or BEAUTIFUL. And if I told her she looked beautiful, she would tell me THANK YOU. So we kept on trying, and trying. I felt that at any moment she would have enough, any child would. I was kneeling the whole time. I was sweating from being restrained to such a small area. But hey, we had a thing going on, I wasn't about to stop.
I simply could not believe it. She tried everything there was in that cart. At one point, I saw a jean jacket I knew I had not chosen. She must have put it in the cart. So she tried it on too. WoW, she looked so grown up. Of course we had to buy it. And we only discarded 3 items...
Emma has learned a new word: SHOPPING.
Believe it or not, we bought 14 shirts, 8 pants, 3 p.j.'s, 1 dress, 1 skirt, l jean jacket, 1 hoodie, 1 pair of shoes and, yes, a Halloween costume! Emma had tried on at least 33 pieces of clothing!!!
The whole experience cost me 120.00$ Back at home, my husband thought I had gone mad. Hey, how much clothes would she have gotten at a regular store??? I cleaned her dresser and threw out all the stained stuff. Yes, Emma is ready for school. And, yes, I shall go out with my girl more often. We had so much fun. There was no chasing her around, there was no noodle flops on the floor, there was no yelling or whinning. Hey, she even said the whole alphabet to a staff member.
Yes, Emma, we shall go SHOPPING again togerther, soon...And thank you for such a fun day!!!

OUR SUMMER VACATION

We're back from beautiful P.E.I. Our one week trip was just awesome. First of all, travelling with Emma is simply a joy. Just keep the chocolate milk flowing and Emma is happy; mom too, as long as we stop often enough to change diapers... We had music for everyone. From Arlo Gutrie to Willie Nelson. From "Bad to the bone" to "Puff, the magic Dragon". From Queen to Raffi, it was a long musical drive.
First thing we did on the Island was head to the Joy Riders, therapeutic Riding Stable. Emma was treated like a queen. She enjoyed a beautiful ride on the P.E.I. red earth. It was very special for me that Emma too, also had plans of her own. Carl went deep sea fishing. Amy and Jesse went kayaking, go karting, trail riding. I enjoyed browsing in the numerous craft shops.

We all enjoyed the ocean, especially Emma. She loved watching the waves rolling in, yelled GO as they arrived close to her and jumped over or through them. Emma also rode at a "regular stable" while big sis and her boyfriend were on a trail...On our last evening on the Island, Amy and Jesse babysat Emma so Carl and I could have a nice seafood supper on a terrasse by the ocean. LIFE IS GOOD!!!

Coming back, we slowly drove through New Brunswick. We visited a few attractions, bought sea food, drove along the scenic shoreline. The plan was to make it to Quebec by suppertime, and, find a motel. Plans often do not become reality. By 8:00 p.m., we reached the first City in Quebec. There was not one room available. We had supper and kept going to the next town. NO VACANCY. The the next town. NO VACANCY. Somewhere along the way, Carl said we were wasting precious time looking for a hotel. If we kept going, we'd be home by 5:oo the next morning... Whoa, I said. Surely, we'll find something. NO VACANCY. Emma fell asleep at around 11:30 p.m. Every time we stopped, she would wake up and say something like: "Bathing suit, the beach" and go back to bed. We laughed so much. Once, she woke up and said her favorite swear word: J-C. I could not believe what I was hearing.!!!

My husband is always right. We were home by 5:00. I had stayed awake the whole time for fear he would fall asleep. He would not let me drive. My fear now was that Emma had slept enough and would want to stay up. Oh God, what would I do? But no, I changed a quazillion diaper and took her with me in my bed and we slept a blissful 4 hours!!!
Before we left, a lot of people were asking me what I was planning for myself during our vacation, and for me, the happiness my family brings to me is all I really need. The interaction with Amy's boyfriend and Carl. Everyone's sense of humor. Hum, my snoring, even though I still say it is Carl who snores, Amy's WHITE legs at the beach, Emma's Hi, my name is Emma to each and every stranger she met. Every moment was a joy!!!