Peyton Changes Every Day!

November 1, 2010

Last Monday morning, Peyton woke up with her usual smile on her face and told me she wanted her diaper changed and then wouldn't let me take her jammies off or put them back on, so this is how she spent the first part of the morning.  You will notice her finds for the morning - a few of her bowls, a stainless steel lid from her kitchen, and her buttpaste!  She's such a silly little girl!

Above: Telling me, "No" after dropping something

Below: Peyton being silly for the camera!

Below: Telling me, "No!" again.  

Daddy has this effect on Peyton.  This has become a common sight!  This photo was taken around 7:00 Monday evening after I finished doing hair for the night.  She kept telling him she was ready for bed and finally gave in and just fell asleep on his lap.  I was so sad I didn't get to say goodnight to her, but we put her into bed, kissed her and tucked her in.  She slept all night long!  

November 2, 2010

Ready for preschool!  

Last Tuesday, I had Ashley for the day.  She has afternoon kindergarten, so she got to go to the school with me to pick Peyton up.  We went to lunch together, and then I took her to school.  I also picked her up after school, and these pictures were taken when we got back to the house.  Ashley and Peyton were having an after-school snack.  They decided on some lunch meat (chicken) and sat in the chair together to eat it.  At first, Peyton wanted Ashley to feed her.  It was so cute, and Ashley was so good to her.  They also kept drinking water.  I think I refilled each of them 2 or 3 times.  Sheesh!  

November 3, 2010

I think preschool has really taken a lot out of poor little Peyton.  The first couple weeks of school, she kept getting up anywhere between 4:00 am and 4:30 am.  This photo was taken a little after 4:00 am last Wednesday morning.  Darren happened to wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom (because he's an old man now and wakes up 2-3 times/night) and thought he heard her.  Sure enough!  He found her curled up in the dining room sleeping.  Poor little thing!  She must have gotten out of bed to look for us and gave up on her search before she found us, resolving herself to sleeping on the floor! 

 Playin around before preschool last Wednesday!  Such a happy little baby!

Preschool, by the way, is going great!  She has been making progress and is starting to hold her attention in class longer and is doing better at participating in the activities the other kids are doing.  She brings home a new project each day, and I just love seeing what she comes home with in her backpack!  The teachers are really great about telling me how she did each day and what they did each day since Peyton has no way of expressing that to me.  

Last week, she still cried each day when I dropped her off, but she's always SO happy when I come to pick her up!

She was on the move, so I couldn't get a great picture of her, but they have Peyton bundled up and ready to go every day when I pick her up from preschool.  I just love how her backpack is bigger than she is!  We were on our way to the car, and she was about to stop and make me take the backpack and requested that I take her coat and my coat off.

November 4, 2010

Last Thursday, Peyton didn't go to preschool because we had appointments at Children's Hospital with audiology and speech.  The audiologist we met with is the same one we happened to talk to when we first received Peyton's file, and we really liked her, so we were happy that we finally got to meet her in person.  She went over the different devices and talked about what we could expect after surgery.  We also met a really incredible lady who was implanted as an adult and was able to share her experience with us.  Her story was so interesting, and we loved hearing her perspective.  She doesn't regret her decision to receive a cochlear implant, and we really enjoyed discussing her journey of discovering a world of hearing.

After audiology, we had a couple of hours to kill before our meeting with speech, so we ate lunch in the cafeteria and walked the grounds.  As we were walking, we saw a lady and her little girl walking the grounds as well and noticed that the little girl had bilateral cochlear implants, and she was kind enough to stop and talk with us for a bit.  We found out her surgery was done by the same surgeon who will be doing Peyton's surgery, and we were encouraged by her progress and got to see her scars and device.  She also shared with us how she was pleased with their decision to give their daughter the gift of hearing, and she is doing really well.  She says her little girl would wear her external device to bed if her mom would allow it - that's how much she enjoys her hearing world!

Our meeting with speech went well.  We answered a lot of questions and got some tips on things we can be doing at home right now like giving Peyton simple instructions to follow like, "Time for a bath," "Time to go to school," "Time to eat," etc. in addition to a few exercises like placing Peyton's hand on our throats and saying "Ahhhhhhh...." and "Mmmmmmm" and then placing her hand on her throat to see if she would feel the vibration and mimic the sound, which she did!  We practice every day now.  We are also practicing blowing, which is kind of half blowing and half spitting, but it's progress, and it's just so cute!  We need to catch it on video soon!

November 5, 2010

 Last Friday, Peyton was dying to go outside, so before Darren left for work, we all went outside.  We walked to the end of the street and back...

 ...And then Peyton wanted to ride her tricycle.  Look how happy it made her!

The weather was still so nice last week, so Peyton and I were outside again on Friday afternoon.  We played in the driveway, took a walk, took a ride in the wagon, socialized with the neighbors, and ended up at the park.  On our way home from the park, daddy just happened to be approaching our street on his way home from work at the same time we were approaching in the wagon.  She had been rubbing her eyes and trying to stay awake, but the minute she saw daddy and the car, her eyes widened, she smiled, and she couldn't get to him fast enough!  Our neighbor, Phyllis, was with us, and she pulled Peyton out of the wagon and handed her to Darren.  She was so flippin excited to get into the car with daddy, she could hardly stand it!  I didn't have my good camera with me, so the picture of them in the car is not the best, but you can still see how happy she was to climb into the car and drive up the street with her daddy!  

After they drove around the cul-de-sac and then played in the driveway for a bit, I got a call from Darren telling me to come out and catch this photo!  She discovered the sunroof, but as soon as I came out, she asked for a drink, so I wasn't able to capture the huge smile on her face.

  

November 6, 2010

Last Saturday, Peyton spent almost the entire day with her daddy.  I took a photography class downtown and was gone from 9:00 - 3:00.  The above photo was taken before I left.  She already had her cup of stuff for the day and was ready to go!  She cried when she found out she wasn't going with me.  Darren took her to our neighbor's last flag football game, and then they all went out to lunch together.  Then, they came back to the house and hung out.  Darren said they had a really good day together. 

When I got home, this is what Peyton was doing - sleeping - AGAIN - in daddy's arms!  Darren, what are you doing to our daughter?  You must have some special voodoo!  

Peyton's First Halloween!

Peyton was "Dorothy" from the Wizard of Oz.  We tried to pick something that wasn't plush and that would feel the most like a real article of clothing.  Since she wasn't a fan of it against her skin on Saturday, I tried putting a shirt and leggings on with it, and she did much better.

Harry, Shawna, and "the girls," Ashley and Brooke, came over to help us celebrate Peyton's first Halloween.  We had dinner at our house and trick-or-treated in our neighborhood.  We had so much fun, and the weather was great!

Above: Harry with Peyton and Brooke

Below: Peyton with Brooke, Ashley and Mandy (standing behind - she is Shawna's niece from Arizona)

First House!  Dave and HyonJu's!  Harry carried Peyton and got his work-out in.  She wanted him to carry her until the last few houses, when she finally reached out for me and wanted me to carry her, laying her head on my shoulder in between houses.  Her little halloween treat bag was HEAVY!  And she would NOT let it go!  Harry tried to carry it for her a few times, but she locked her elbow and wouldn't let him take it away.  When she'd get down to get candy, she'd take the candy with the same hand she was carrying her bag in and would fanagle dropping it into the bag so she didn't have to let go of his hand and did the same thing with me later.  She really enjoyed herself and knew that this magic bag got her "stuff" when she went to the door!  At nearly every house, she waved bye bye and said thank you in sign language!  What a good girl.  We were so impressed with how well she did. 

While Harry carried Peyton, Darren was pulling Brooke in the wagon; Ashley and Mandy ran as fast as they could to the next house; and Shawna and I were on picture and camcorder duty!  Everyone had a task! 

 Happy Family on Halloween Night - 2010!

Above: Brooke, Peyton, and Ashley

What a fun and memorable evening!  After everyone left, we put Peyton's pj's on and went next door, where our neighbors were wrapping up the annual hanging-out in their driveway with the outdoor patio heater and visited with the last-standing people until it was time to take Peyton inside and put her to bed.  

I really, really enjoyed Halloween this year, and I'm not a big Halloween fan, but it was a beautiful fall day; football was on in the background all day; I made yummy food; my baby girl was happy; and we were able to share it all with some of our best friends in the world.  I'd say it was a good day!

Below: Darren, Mandy, Karen, Ashley, Harry, Shawna with Brooke and Peyton in the front

Father of the Year - NOT!!!

Peyton has this thing where she collects and gathers things - from toys to things she swipes from the kitchen or from the bathroom while I'm getting ready - and then those become the "things" she plays with for the rest of the day, relocating them from place to place.  Here are today's finds.  She decided she wanted to pile everything on our bed because I was in there folding some laundry.  It took her about 4 trips, but she stacked it all near the edge of the bed and then didn't quite know how she was going to play with everything because she could barely shove everything onto the edge of the mattress.  So, being the innovative mom I am, I brought her stool from the kitchen and placed it by the bed so she could climb up.  You should have seen the smile on her face!  She was so excited!  She immediately climbed up onto the bed and played there with all of her things for a while!  I was in the kitchen, and a while later, she came walking in with a grin on her face!  She had peed up her back - I still don't get how that happens, but whatever - we changed her diaper and put on some dry leggings, and then I needed to hand her off to Darren so I could go to the grocery store to get a few things. 

 This is the happy, smiling baby I left with daddy...

When I returned from the store, I couldn't see Darren or Peyton, but I could tell that Darren was in the family room.  I asked how it went, and he said it went good!  They played with her things on the bed for a while, and then she sat with him for a bit, playing with her things on the end table, and just a few minutes before I got home, she wandered off to play by herself. 

The house was a little too quiet, so I wondered where she was and what she was doing.  As soon as I turned my head to start down the hall to investigate, this is what I found...a sleeping baby.  Poor thing was so tired, she somehow fell asleep in the middle of the hallway with her stroller!  I hollered to Darren, "You have got to come see this!"  He was like, "Okay," thinking that it was another one of my moments where I couldn't believe how cute it was that she was just being her, and then he saw what I saw and immediately said, "Honey, I swear...she has only been gone from my sight for maybe 5 or 6 minutes," as if I were thinking he just let her do her own thing the entire time I was gone and didn't bother to check on her.  It was pretty hilarious, and it melted my heart.  Poor baby was so tired, she just fell asleep on the hard floor in the middle of play!  We joked that this little escapade would not earn him any "Father of the Year" awards!

Daddy picked her up and took her to our bed and snuggled with her for a while.  She clearly needed a nap, so we let her sleep for a while.  After about an hour, we tried to wake her up, but she was dead asleep.  It took us another half-hour to get her to wake up, but when she woke up, she was in the best mood!  She now knows how to sign cereal and gets her bowl and spoon out of her drawer, signs cereal and points to the pantry, and then points to the refrigerator so I know where to find the milk!  That's what she wanted as soon as she woke up, and she was so excited to get what she was asking for; unfortunately, she wasn't interested in eating it.  I think she just likes to see if we'll do things for her that she asks us to do.  Funny little girl!  An hour later, however, she ate about a dozen shrimp.  She really likes it!

 Doesn't she just melt your heart?!

Peyton Attends Her First Birthday Party!

Keira turned 5 on Saturday, and Peyton was invited to attend.  How fun!  Because her birthday is so close to Halloween, it was also a costume party, so we attempted Peyton's costume for the first time.  She wasn't a fan, but she tolerated it for the party!  Here she is, just as happy as can be because Rich, Keira's dad, let her have his camera for a few minutes.  Notice how she knows exactly what to do with it?  And would you look at that smile on her face?!!

 Keira's cousin was also dressed up as Dorothy - pictured here - along with Keira's big sister, Annie.

Peyton even let Annie take her to the park with the rest of the kids!  Here she is seeing me on her way back, wanting me to take her, but I was glad she wanted to go play without me for a bit, and Annie was loving it because she was babysitting the other night when we came over for dinner, so she didn't get to see her then.

Above: Cece and Keira - silly girl!  I love this picture though!

Below: Peyton sliding with Annie.  I love that she had so much fun!

The weather has been so incredibly beautiful here!  I had Peyton in a short-sleeved shirt with a sweater as a back-up, but it was so nice, she really didn't need it!  She and I met Nancy for lunch and then decided to go with our neighbors to have pizza and then attended a local Christian high school football game.  Peyton had so much fun.  She just loves being on the go and really enjoys being outside.

This is Peyton wanting to give me knuckles, and she kept blowing kisses and waving bye by to me when Darren first got home because I was standing in the neighbor's driveway visiting, and Darren drove up to say hi.  She immediately wanted to be in the car with him and waved bye bye to me!  That made daddy feel so good, even though he knew she was just using him to get something she wanted.  It was still really cute!

 Mommy and Peyton at the game - wow, I look rough!  I've also been nursing a fever blister.  Nice, right?

 Peyton even let Fred hold her for a minute during the game.

Peyton and daddy at the game.  Daddy just loves his little girl!  He says he could just watch her all day, and he does so with the happiest smile on his face. 

Peyton and I left early so that I could put her to bed, and she was asleep before we even left the parking lot.  She had her head on my shoulder all the way to the car.  Below, you'll see how cute her toes were positioned on the cup holder inside of the car.  I just love her little toes!  They are so cute, I could eat them up!