Halloween is Fun!

Haley was excited to wear her Halloween costume today.  I let her wear it to school.  I didn't know if other kids in school would be wearing costumes, but her costume was a t-shirt and a hat.  If the teacher or assistant made her take off her hat she would just be wearing a pretty cool t-shirt.

I painted her nails Grinch Green too.

Her bus driver had to think a moment, but then she said "Dr. Suess's Grinch?"  

"Yes," I said.

"So we have a witch and The Grinch."

I said "Oh, that's cool."  I thought, "Good, Haley isn't the only one."

When she got off of the bus this afternoon the bus driver told me that she had a lot of fun today.  I don't know what she did, but she was bouncing off of that bus with a huge grin on her face.

I was hoping that this would be the year that Haley hands out candy.  Her Big Sis had told me that she was planning to go out to a Haunted House with some friends.  Her Big Sis has taken her Trick-or-Treating for the last several years.  I thought that if she wasn't home I could convince Haley that she needed to stay home and pass out candy.  

Haley's Big Sis decided not to go out.  

Her BFF came over and they were talking about costumes, so it seemed normal to Haley and she was ready to go.  I asked her sister if she was willing to take her out and she agreed.

I had a hard time getting Haley to focus on her dinner, she really wanted to go Trick-or-Treating.  Her sister didn't want to leave until it was dark.  We held her off for about twenty minutes and then Haley was going to go with or without her sister.  I got her shoes on and put a jacket under her t-shirt.  I went in to my stash of gift bags and got her a Christmas gift bag to carry for her candy collecting and they set out.

They were gone about forty minutes.  When they came back they went through their haul.

Haley's Big Sis mentioned that she thought we should go to their Fairy Godmother's house.  I agreed.  I needed to take BFF home anyway.  So we got shoes back on and got in the car.  Haley really loved seeing her Godparents, she really liked seeing their animals too.  They have a cat and a dog.  She got down on the floor with them and had a grand time.  Then we took BFF home.

When we got home as we were walking in to the house Haley declared "Halloween is fun!"

~ Haley's Mom

I am participating in 31 for 21 Blog Challenge this month. The challenge I have accepted is to blog every day in October to raise awareness for Down Syndrome. Learn more about Down Syndrome at the National Association of Down Syndrome.

The Hand Phone

My entire family is gathering for what is becoming our annual summer get together.  This year my Mom is "hosting" and we are all meeting up in Montana.

Haley found out that we were going to visit Grandma.  I don't remember if I told her or if her Dad did.  All I know is that she has been very excited to go.  She keeps talking about going to Grandma's house.  I have explained to her that we are actually going to be staying in a different house.  We are renting a cabin in Montana.  It will be within driving distance of Mom's house, but we are not staying there.  I don't think she gets it.

She likes to go to Grandma's house in Montana for several reasons.  Of course she loves to see her Grandma and she likes to see the trains that go by Grandma's house, but she also likes to see Grandma's cat Scooter.

She has been talking about Scooter.

She says "Grandma's house.  Scooter.  Awwww.  Cute"

The other day I heard her talking and walking through the house.  She came up behind me and offered me her Handphone.

Haley's Handphone is like her cell phone.  Haley does not have a cell phone.  She doesn't really talk on the phone at all.  She loves to listen to her Grandma and Grandpa when they talk to her Dad. She rarely joins the conversation, she just listens and giggles.

When she was small she used to hold her hand up to her face (not all the way to her ear) and talk.  She would talk to her "Fairy Godmother" and her cat and dog, to her Grandparents and sometimes to her Dad when he was out of town.  I loved the conversations she would have.  She would nod and laugh and say things like "Uh. Huh.  Right.  Good.  O.K.  Bye."

I haven't seen her use her Handphone much lately so I was a little surprised that she was holding her hand out to me and expecting me to talk.

I said "Who is it?

"Scooter."

I took the Handphone and held it up to my ear.

"Hi Scooter, how are you?...Yes, we are coming to see you.  Yes, Haley is really excited to see you too... Are you getting along with that baby?...Oh, good....OK, we will see you soon.  Bye."

I "handed" back her Handphone and she walked away.

Riding the Emotional Rollercoaster

It has been a crazy ride the last couple of days.  I think it might be the change in routine.  School was out last Tuesday and then we had a couple of nice sunny days that actually felt like summer, then she got to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Since we have been back it has been nice, but not really nice enough to swim.  She really wants to swim (and by that I mean splash in our kiddie pool.)

On Tuesday Haley had a meltdown.  I don't even remember what started it.  Her Big Sis had a girlfriend over for a sleepover on Monday night and although they were very quiet it always kind of messes Haley up when her sister has friends over.  I think that anything that is out of her normal routine is hard for Haley, which is why summer can be difficult in general. 

We had plans to visit a friend and I wanted Haley to eat her lunch so that we could go, but Haley didn't want to eat her lunch.  First of all I chose the wrong lunch and she threw herself onto the floor.  This reaction was bad enough when she was little, but now that she is 5'-3" it is awful, I am really worried that she will damage her knees.  Anyway, I made her something else for lunch and she wouldn't eat that either.  She threw herself on the floor again and started crying.  I didn't want to bribe her, but I was running out of options.  I had told her that we wanted to go soon so she needed to eat her lunch, but that didn't phase her.  So I brought out the big guns and told her where we were going.

What happened next was not a surprise to me.  It has happened before.  Mind you I was shocked the first time it happened, but after many times it is something I have come to expect. 

Haley was crying, seemingly inconsolable.  I had tried many things to calm her down to no avail, but when I told her where we were going she took a quick breath and said "Happy."  And then she giggled and she was ready to go.  She didn't eat anymore after that, which was my original goal.  She wanted to put her shoes on and get in the car.  We were going to visit one of her favorite people in the whole world, her "Fairy Godmother."

Haley and her Big Sis used to go to an in home daycare.  They really loved their daycare provider.  They missed her when I retired.  When the girls were baptized we asked her and her husband to be their Godparents.  Haley's Big Sis called her their Fairy Godmother.  We don't get to see her on a regular basis anymore, but when we do it is a big deal.  Of course while we were there Haley was an angel.

Yesterday I had to go to Costco and Fred Meyer.  Haley's Big Sis went to hang out with friends so Haley went with me.  She is really pretty good at the store in general, she does ask for things that she sees though just like other kids.  I let her have some things and I tell her no for others.  At Costco she saw a swimming suit that she liked.  I wasn't sure about the size, but I thought I could return it if it didn't fit. 

I didn't think about how Haley might feel about that.  As far as Haley was concerned if she was bringing it home it was hers.  When we got it home it just barely fit her.  I would have liked a little more growing room, but Haley didn't care.  I still needed to go to Fred Meyer so I told her if we found one there we would take this one back. 

Haley loves to shop.  As far as she is concerned if she likes something it should be hers, no matter if it fits or not.  Well, we tried on a couple of suits and they didn't fit her properly so we got a few groceries and went home.  Haley was already in a bad mood because we weren't bringing anything home for her.  Then we got home and she wanted to put on the swimming suit she did get.   To make a long story short, after many tears I gave in.  She put on the suit and I cut of the tags.  She didn't get to swim however, it just wasn't warm enough.  She wasn't happy about that either, but she did wear the suit for the rest of the day.

So I didn't blog yesterday.  I didn't have the energy and wasn't feeling it.  Maybe today will be better.