Explosion

Calleigh has had a language explosion in the last week. I mean she just says everything all of a sudden. It's amazing to hear and makes me so happy. She used to never repeat words when you said them and now suddenly she repeats EVERYTHING. I am so thrilled I cannot tell you. In some weird way I am just as excited or more excited than I was when Cormac started talking. In my heart way down deep I knew Cormac was going to be fine. I knew he would talk. I knew from his first reaction to his implants it would take lots of hard work but he would succeed.

With Calleigh things have been so unpredictable. It seems every time we took a step forward we took two steps back. We never knew what to expect. We still do not know what to expect. A link was never established between the many health concerns she was born with. (Click on the link to Calleigh's story above) No syndrome could be found which is great but also because we don't know the cause you can't predict the future. The not knowing has been a struggle for me. I would much prefer to know what the problem is and come up with a solution.

Cognitively it has always been apparent she understands everything. She has never seemed any different in her comprehension than anyone her age. That said, she was so delayed in meeting her big milestones. (sitting, crawling, walking, running, talking). We waited for 18 months before she could crawl. It took until 26 months for her to walk. Now, I can officially say she is running. She might look like she had a few too many cocktails now and then but she is running.

Her personality might be the cutest I have ever witnessed. She is funny. She is silly. She gets mad quickly. She laughs from way down deep. She kisses me at least 500 times a day. I am NOT exaggerating. She walks up and kisses my legs, arms, hands..whatever..with a big kiss noise. She is loving. She has temper tantrums.. She loves to color. I cannot even say she loves music because it is more than that. Her reaction to music is too cute for words. She dances all day long. Her dimples are humongous. Just like Colin when she smiles her whole face changes. They both have something about them when they smile. I swear their eyes twinkle. There is no way on earth you could ever stay upset with her once she smiles.

She cannot say her own name without it being followed by a squeal of delight. I hope she always loves her name the way she loves it now. She loves her brothers but gets aggravated with Ciaran when he won't leave her alone. She bops him on the head when she has had enough. Yes, I know she shouldn't hit him but when she does it I crack up because I would bop him on the head if he was in y face as much as he is in her face.

While I can't predict the future I am feeling pretty confident Calleigh's future is going to be typical of other kids her age. We still have the heart issue lingering in the future but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, I am going to rejoice in all the accomplishments she has made and continue to challenge her to keep moving forward.