Carefree. Happy. Peaceful. I love it.

So she got a Dora bike! She’s just a touch too small for the 12 inch bike – but that hasn’t stopped her from trying! She even told me she wanted to ride her bike to our favorite ice cream shop – which is NOT an easy ride (nor have I ever tried to do it with the kids). Anyway, I am thrilled she’s excited to become a bike rider – even if we live around a bunch of hills.

Another wonderful moment today (and there were many… to many to write) was watching her play with our family in the backyard. We don’t even have the complete deck up (and I’ll post a picture of the finished product when it’s done)… But Jordan danced on that deck and ran and played. She and Cameron spent more time in the backyard than we have all spring. Just think what it’ll be like once we have a full deck to enjoy the fun.

So… Here’s an example of Jordan’s joy… The deck is big and we’ll have a bunch of performance space for the kids to dance, sing and be silly.

When turning on a light she says: “I open the light.”
When turning off a light she says: “I close the light.”

When Randy was leaving for work yesterday she asked: “You got your bye-bye bag? You go to your car and go bye bye?”
Bye bye bag. I like that. I isn’t a computer bag anymore. It’s a bye bye bag.

While going upstairs with Cameron yesterday, Jordan started yelling: “Wait up you guys!”

This weekend, we went on a bike trip down the Katy Trail… It’s a pretty nice and easy trek even though it was hot outside. We were all biking while Jordan road around in the bike trailer. She did NOT like riding in trailer. She was feeling trapped and uninvolved. Her best tactic: Scream that she needed to go potty. We’d stop and offer her a chance to use the grass as a bathroom, but she was not interested. We finally had to turn around and find a bathroom. She actually used a public bathroom for the first time. But since that’s been a challenge and we’re planning a big road trip, I just bought a travel potty. I think it will make like a little easier. Anyway, after we turned around, she got to run around on the trail and she was just so dang happy (see picture).

We’re finally getting Jordan’s feet casted today for her shoe inserts. The previous fitting wasn’t done properly so we have to go through it again. This has been a really crazy delayed process and Jordan’s really enjoying life in shoes that don’t require socks. I’m expecting a pretty unhappy process when we bring the inserts back into her life. (There I go again – always so negative. Sorry about that.) The upside of taking her to the appointment, I get to leave work a little early and spend some time working out. I work an odd shift on Mondays and I did some Wii Fit yesterday afternoon while Jordan snacked and watched. As I tried a number of yoga poses, Jordan kept asking: “Whatchya doin’ Mom?” It’s very hard to hold a balancing pose when you’re getting the third degree!

The evening, we got to go to Cam’s first t-ball practice for the season. Last year’s practice was while I had to work, so this time around I get to meet the parents early. That was kind of nice. The most interesting moment: A little boy named Jordan (who happens to be 3) asked about Jordan’s arm. His mom started talking about his friend who has a little hand. I thought that was really exciting. Apparently there’s a little girl who has malformed fingers in his pre-school. Hooray! A new person to meet! The mom said she’d look to see if there’s a way to meet this little girl. Go team! The more friends, the merrier!

No seriously, we went on a hike on a local trail and walked to a nifty playground near a little lake. You could feel a sigh of relief everywhere you went. This has been an unpleasant winter.

Jordan was super happy to ride in the hiking backpack. Anytime you say the word “hike,” Miss Jordan gets super excited.

We even got to grill outside for dinner. That meant the kids got to just ramble around in the backyard, squish in the smooshy wet parts and enjoy chalk, baseballs, basketballs and even the wagon. It was simply a happy thing.

Jordan got so dirty that she had mud on her face down to her toes. (Yeah, she took her shoes off because she didn’t like having mud on her shoes.) The big moment of the day: Her yearlong strike on riding swings ended today! She asked to get on her swing and just giggled as I pushed her. I’m SO glad she’s willing to ride again! (There I go with exclamation points again)

Jordan really needed a nap after church.

After the kid naps, we (Cam, Jordan and I) went out to a state park just outside our town and went on a mega hike. Jordan was awesome as we trekked all over the place. She oooohed and ahhhed over the beautiful blue sky, danced along to my silly hiking songs and said she thought things were pretty when I asked. After a couple of hours of hiking, she and Cam had a blast eating ice cream and playing at a local playground. Jordan tried climbing up a rock wall and fell on her face. She’s pushing her limits. I’m proud of her for that — But it’s hard to step back and watch sometimes. I have a hard time knowing when I should jump in. I should let her take risks, but I don’t want to see her get seriously hurt. She did go down a couple of slides on my lap.

By the time we got home, she was EXHAUSTED. A little bit of food and she was done. The funny thing is how her going to be process is changing. She’s more demanding. She wants more books, more ways to delay the sleep process. I’m holding true to the bath, PJ’s, one book, lullaby, sleep process. No matter what, she cries for a minute when I leave the room. A minute is nothing… But for most of her life, she hasn’t cried at all. I’m sure it’s another sign she’s growing up… But man, I hate hearing her cry!

After today, I really think it’s possible.

She was pulling up onto just about anything: the fridge, the stove, the door, any type of chair, my leg, statues at the local garden where we spent hours playing today.

Jordan’s therapist also put new inserts into her shoes… Hopefully that is helping as well. The inserts have really helped her right foot. Without a shoe on, she holds that foot flat on the ground. It’s fantastic.

The hardest part in watching Jordan finally gain better skills in cruising along furniture and pulling up to stand at things is watching when she fails. Without that second hand, her leverage is tenuous at best… And that little arm can be very slippery. I watched her crash to the floor a lot today. And I can’t gasp in horror or cry out, or else she will lose it and give up trying. But I just want to pick her up each time and do it for her. But she has to learn. It’s really hard. But it thrills me to watch her have this problem. She really wants to stand up more. When I put her down, she holds her body into a standing position for a little time, or she chooses to stand at my legs. All of these little developments are a really big deal.

I took Jordan to the nearby fountain and garden this afternoon with her brother — she stood along all kinds of things — even tried to climb into the planter that is around the fountain. She almost did it, then sat down and clapped for herself. Plain cute.

The one thing I regret was not taking a camera along for the fun. I gave her a grocery-store boxed ice cream cone and it turned into a very big mess. I have yet to clean up the sticky stroller.

The day ended with Jordan seeming more like herself. I can’t see any teeth poking, but I may not be looking in the right place. I do know that she’s madly in love with her brother and the dogs… They make her giggle the most. And honestly, she could sit outside all day and giggle manically and say “dog” again and again and again. I have to get video of the laugh. She has two kinds: hysterical laughter (from tickles and outright silliness) or mischievous laugher (from seeing things she likes or doing something she’s proud of).

Oh and one other thing. Without her prosthetic, my girl climbed up 5 stairs all by herself. It’s cool and scary all at the same time.