Summer's a Comin'

Yesterday we started the day slow. It was supposed to be a clean/play around the house sort of lazy day. Then I got a call from a friend who was looking for someone to join her and her kids at the beach. It didn't take much convincing! We were sunscreamed (sunscreened) and at the beach between 10:30 and 11. I figured we would play for an hour or two and then go home to rest because Ayden Jane had a birthday party to go to at 3. Well, we left the beach about 2. I figured we could go late or skip the party... We came home and had bit to eat and Ayden Jane was ready to hit the party. Okay, I figured we'd go, and just stay a few minutes 'til AJ started to melt down. We left the party at 5:30!! And that was under protest!!

After we came home we had some supper and went for a walk. I put her bike in the wagon to walk down to the 'smooth road'. AJ pulled the wagon most of the way, rode her bike a good amount (3/4 of a mile?) and then sprinted down the road so far I had to send Mckenna after her on her roller blades! She did not finally give in to sleep until 9 pm. I love it that she has so much energy, but it is going to be one long summer if I have to provide that much activity every day!!!

I have to say, the birthday party was interesting for me. A couple of HUGE accomplishments. First of all, I had some great conversations with the other mom's. I know a few and have chatted PWS with them early in the year. I was nervous then and had no idea if the way I planned to handle snacks, parties, friendships, school, even life for AJ at that point was going to work. I had the chance to talk to several mom's who were previously unaware of Ayden Jane's diagnosis. They had heard their children talk about AJ, had seen her in class... and had NO idea there was anything different about her. Now that is a compliment! They had heard of 'allergies' that AJ has or something like that so I filled them in. I have to say they are amazing! It is not really grand conversation to listen to me drone on about PWS but they were so genuinely interested in her. It strikes me how different it is now to talk of PWS. I used to feel the need to tell people to keep AJ safe or something like that. I guess out of my own fears. It almost panicked me in the past if people felt she did not seem any different because I just knew (or so I felt) that one wrong move from a well meaning but unknowing adult would somehow make her explode or ruin all we had worked so hard for. Sounds silly now, but I imagine some of you know exactly the feeling I had. Yesterday, it was different. I had no panic, no desperation. Just great conversation.

The second amazing thing at the party was AJ. She had to be exhausted, but she did not melt down at all. She was not terribly interested in jumping in the baby pools... but, of course, had been at the beach for hours before hand. She got on the swings and pumped her little heart out though. The amazing part comes in the food category. There were a couple of tables of food, none of which Ayden Jane could eat. Just as you would expect at a kids birthday party, all crackers, chips, gold fish... and 2 birthday cakes. Ayden Jane did not even look twice at the table. She came and asked me for nuts, she knows I always have something for her, and I gave her a little bowl of pistachios I had in the back pack. She climbed up in a chair and ate them while everyone else had cake, ice cream and ice cream cones. She was thrilled with a bit of diet coke and then went and played some more. More than I could have ever dreamed!!

Now for a few funny AJ stories. She loves the flowers we planted. She has been soooo patient waiting for them to grow. She went out front the other day and a minute or two later I went out to check on her. She was sitting next to the flower sprouts. I asked her what she was doing and she told me, "I just watching my flowers grow. It a little frustrating."

Today, I had quite the argument with AJ. She was again, out front playing with Sadie, watering her flowers.... Next thing I know she comes in and is getting Mckenna to take off her shirt. I was not really paying attention and just sort of assumed that she had gotten wet watering the flowers. I then 'tuned in' and realized that AJ had no pants on! I asked her where they were and she told me they were in the front yard. When I went out, sure enough, not outside by the house, but way out in the front yard were her shoes, pants and underwear. I told her she could not go outside with no clothes on. She informed me that she wanted to jump in the sprinkler and did not want her clothes to get wet. I told her she could play in her 'big girls' and shirt or her bathing suit but she had to have something on. She protested greatly that she did not want to get those things wet because they did not feel good wet. She just wanted to go nakey! I knew better than to cave on this one or we would be spending the entire summer that way! It would get a little embarrassing at church and the grocery store...