Neigh-Neighs

Our neighbors have a couple of horses and our girls really wish that we had horses too.  I thought about it for a second, but they are so dang expensive.  And need a ton of time.  I'm not sure where we'll end up on the horse decision, but in the meantime, Dave bought the girls a 4-wheeler and motorcycle.  The motorcycle is still under repair (obviously haha), but the 4-wheeler has been a HUGE hit!  They ride around in circles until the gas runs out.  

Just looking at how much Indie loves this pretend horse and insists on eating with it really makes me want to blow thousands of dollars on an animal that we know very little about....

Big Girl

 April was such a big month for Indie:

• 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. 

Cora's Golden Birthday

This year was a special birthday for our Cora, turning 7 on May 7th!  I decorated the car and Cora got to fill it with her favorite people so she included Milan, Eden, and Jane, Haley, and Harper.  Together, we hit Chick-Fil-A for dinner, stopped at the pet store to love on some puppies, watched Ugly Dolls in the theater, overdosed on candy, and ended with presents and dipped cones at Dairy Queen.  I am so glad we got to celebrate this smart, spunky, easy-going, imaginative little lady! 

Final Spring Storms

Last week, winter came back with snow, icy roads, and super low visibility so we called our own Scott Family Snow Day.  (Turns out that it wasn't too bad in town, but oh well.)  I figured we might as well enjoy some of the season's final snow day outside and it's a good thing that Cora loved it so much because looks like there's another one on it's way......

Potty Training

Indie had a tonsillectomy a couple weeks ago.  After agonizing over her surgery for months, everything went better than I could have imagined.  I was on a bit of a high when I decided that I was potty training Indie and going to big girl undies cold turkey.  The first couple of days were rough, okay really rough.  We stayed on the wood floors, pushed fluids like crazy, rewarded dry underwear, and took a million potty breaks.  By day 3, I could tell that she was getting it and we even ventured out and about a few times without any accidents.  We have a few things to work on like initiating, undressing, and being more compliant about using the potty, but we have established a great foundation and there's no going back now! 

The Adventures of Indie and Bok-Bok

Indie's relationship with her chicken friends seems to be a bit one sided. Often times, the chickens want a bit of breathing room, but Indie seizes them, makes shushing sounds, and tells them "No no.  No go Bok-bok."  No worries, I'm sure they'll get used to Indie's loving embrace :).

Spring

Spring makes everyone happy, except for maybe the bok-boks that now have very little protection from their biggest fan.