To truly be "Thankful"

Surprisingly it is a hard thing to really grasp. I mean thankful. Not just a "thanks" which now a days has become somewhat desensitized. Automatic, if you will. When you are truly thankful or grateful, you feel it in every depth of your being and soul. 

I did not know the true form until she graced my life.

I actually use to hate Thanksgiving. Even when I was young. You may think that's strange, but at the same time, I'm sure you see it as, "if she has to hate a holiday, that one is ok".  From the time I can remember, it was always stressful, unmeaningful, stuffed to popping, can't wait for it to be over kind of day, that I never took anything away from. Sad that it took me until now to really see it's meaning. And it's all thanks to one special little lady ;)

Here's all that I am thankful for today:

-Em has acquired a handful of new skills around Thanksgiving. One you already know which was standing. But she has enlarged her vocabulary by quite a bit as well. I'm going to list the words and phrases she is now frequently using, starting with the most recent, which includes 4 new words in just 2 short weeks.

1. Look- points at things and says "Look!" or says "Look!" when she wants you to watch her

2. Duck- this one was completely out of the blue (well, almost), but it's not like we taught it to her or tried to get her to say it by any means. She just was sitting in the bath Thanksgiving morning and pointed to her toy duck and said clear as day, "duck". Steve was walking in at the time, so I asked, "did you hear that?" But no matter, because she did it again and even louder and more sure of herself!

3. Go- This comes from "1-2-3 GO!" Which is something I say frequently, so she says the "Go" when she wants something now (go figure) or before she puts the balls in the chute of her toy.

4. Hug- Obvious where she gets this one, and she has become quite the little hugging expert, I mean her hugs are like a great drug! :) But, she now says it when she holds her arms out to let you know she wants one.

So that ends the new ones, but I'm going to attempt to let you know the rest that she does know, and say frequently in the right context.

5. Dog- I do believe this was my first word and one that Em should have come quite accustomed to ;)

6. Uh-uh- Used for "no" but also says "no" too

7. Yeah- Of course for "yes"
8. I know- Used most often when you tell her she's cute ;)
9. Wus that- Meaning "what's that"

10. I love dada- Self explanatory

11. I love ya- Again, self explanatory, but my favorite thing she says

12. That- When she points to things she wants you to look at or what she wants. But now more often she says "Look" or "go"

13. More- Used more frequently with sign, but does say it occasionally as well.
14. Bye- More often uses the hand wave for both of these now
15. Hi- also hello

16. Dadda- For dad, but also says "Dad" as well.
17. Ow- Kinda funny because she never says it when someone normally would (ie: getting her shot, or blood drawn), she says it when getting her teeth brushed, her hair done, or any other routine thing she hates.

18. Mama- Sadly this word became extinct for awhile, but it is coming back :)

19. Uh-Oh- First word she ever uttered at 4 months old (see video at bottom), still cutest thing ever to hear her say it!

-So roughly it's a good 20+ words, and I'm sure there's more that I'm leaving out. So lots to be thankful for in the realm of a special needs 3 year old who we were told might not ever talk or walk, or blah, blah, blah BLAH!! Not to mention this little girl will be starting school soon!! In fact, she has her initial placement testing this Friday, which is nice for me because it's PTC and I'll be there for 12+ hours, so it will be nice to have her there with me for an hour or so.

-I am so thankful for my great husband, and the fact that he is back in my life. I love him so much! As well as the rest of our wonderful family and those friends close enough that we consider them family too.

And along the lines of friends, I am especially grateful to all those that love our little girl (even those that haven't met her!), which encompasses and mostly includes our Chromosome 18 family. I also did a guest post this week on the DIG blog again with this same theme. Which you can see by clicking the picture below, which is also now conveniently to the right of the blog so that you may link there from here anytime!

(Click here to see the post "The importance of a friend")

-We also helped with a very special project this week. Click here to see the Howe's blog post on their project. And here to see the article that was in the newspaper about it.

And by popular demand, here is Emarie saying "Uh-Oh" at 4 months old. If you haven't seen it yet, you really should and it is only about 30 seconds long :)

And just a few more pictures from our Thanksgiving. Funny thing is, the only human I got pictures of was Emarie. Go figure ;) But here she is playing with my cousin's great dane, Jasper

FYI they were hilarious together! This dog that could have swallowed my once terrified of dogs little girl!