- She said goodbye to her tonsils. Surgery day was stressful because of the impending snow storm so we went to Denver a day early, but while we were there, they changed her surgery day/time several times. We made the best of it with a trip to the Children's Museum and lots of swimming in the hotel pool. The hardest part was waiting until 2 pm without any food or water. The whole time Indie kept saying "cookie" and signing "ice cream." Once we got to the hospital, she kinda gave up on eating and we cruised the halls for a while. Surgery was pretty breezy and she immediately ate a Popsicle Slushy when it was over. We stayed overnight in the hospital and she continued to down ice cream and applesauce. She graduated to real food the next day and ditched the pain meds by day 4 (I probably would have done pain medication for longer, but she put up such a battle, it didn't seem worth it.) It went so much better than I could have imagined and we can tell a huge difference with her breathing while she sleeps.
- She said goodbye to daytime diapers. I have known that I should potty train Indie for a while, but have been dreading it because potty training sucks and I figured it would suck even more with Down syndrome. Reality is, it has not been so terrible. After the first 3 days, I knew that she had more or less figured it out, but I was still helicoptering her big time. She was holding it for hours, refusing to go while on the potty, and having accidents. Meanwhile, I was getting more stressed every minute that she didn't go in the potty and refusing to give her any freedom. By day 5, I had reached my limit so I gave in, handed Indie a diaper, told her that she had won, had a mini breakdown, and backed off. Do you know what Indie did!? She held it for 2 more hours, walked over to the potty, sat down, and went. Well, she showed me! I took back the diaper, gave Indie some space, trusted her to hold it, and changed my expectations about the timeline. It has been a month in underwear and it is going pretty well. Indie usually has 0-1 accidents every day and I am so so proud of her!
- Girlfriend also got a new big girl bed! Indie has had a mattress on Milan's floor since we moved here. I knew it wasn't ideal, but didn't make her bedroom a priority since she just seemed to roll all around the floor anyway. I finally got around to it, and she's staying in her bed all night long, which has got to be more restful.
While I have been worried about Indie's safety during surgery and my sanity with these big girl milestones, she was ready before I was. Looking back, I wish I had done every one of these things sooner and hope that in the future my expectations will be better aligned with her capabilities. I'm learning, she's learning, and we are figuring this out together.
Also, did you know that blowing bubbles is a milestone? It is around here! Indie has been doing it for a couple months and it makes me proud every time.
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