Library

Here's Veronica, taking a break during a music parade last week at the Library. We really enjoy this story hour that we go to, and Veronica is leaning on Mike in this picture, and BOY are these girls going to miss him when he goes back to work next week. It's so much easier with two of us, we can 'get down', which is Maria's thing, but Veronica asked about it today, too. I'm trying to tell them that there's not going to be so much getting down once Daddy goes back to work, but it's not really taking, I bet.

Veronica had speech today, what can I say? She did just great, her sentences are long and involved and except for some pronunciation issues, which are typical for her age, she's just fine. That sentence is so much more exciting to me than it seems just sitting there on the page.

Now that I have another little baby, I have been thinking so much about when Veronica was a little wee thing. She was so screamy and cranky, and I was so worried about her. I sort of have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when it comes to infants. Anthony was such a rough, rough baby and he turned out to have autism and I worry the whole time now, when I am pregnant and then when I have a little tiny baby who is screaming at me all day that it's the same thing all over again. It's a terrible feeling, to worry like that and even though I try not to, I can't. So I think about when Veronica was so little and screamy and then when she was bigger and not so screamy but still pretty crabby and then just poof! one day she got so sweet and turned into the Veevsy Voo that we all know and love.

But then she wasn't talking and I started to get worried again, I was glad to call First Steps and just find out whatever we had to and get to work on fixing whatever the problem was. I was so relieved when she did so well at the evaluation, but poorly enough that she felt like she needed services.

We have lucked out so much with her therapist, AND even with the therapist that took over when our Kristin went on Maternity Leave. She played a big part in Veronica's success, as did my mom. Stacie, the interim therapist, had a better, more objective look at what was happening with Maria running the show during her therapy, and she's the one who said "this is hard with this other one talking all the time, no WONDER Veronica isn't!". Then my mom took Maria every week so Veronica could have true one-on-one therapy and I think that made all the difference. Now Maria has been with Mike every week for the last six weeks and starting next week, we'll be all together again. But Veronica really knows who she is and she knows that this is HER speech therapy and she'll be just fine.

So. In short, Veronica's fine, and even though she had a rough start, she is doing great, thanks to her speech therapist, her interim speech therapist and my Mom. It takes a village, I guess!

Teenager

Whenever the lie on the floor like this, they look so much older than they are, right? Veronica was putting on her shoes today and I said 'do you want help?' and she said, 'I put on my own shoes. I a big girl!'. !! That's a lot of words, right? She is doing so great. We have her evaluation for speech therapy next month and I can only imagine that they're going to say that she doesn't qualify for more therapy, so that's wonderful, right? I'm so happy and proud of her.

Pensive Bumblebee

She was so cute for her first official trick or treating. Lord, my LORD, she was slow. We only went to like six houses because it was insane how slow she was moving. I had the baby in the sling and I STILL ended up carrying her for most of it. We wanted to trick or treat and hand out candy, as Mike was with Anthony at swimming, so we had to move it along. She was cute and she loves opening candy, even though she only really enjoys Kit Kats.

2.5

Next week - well, the week after that, she'll be two and a half years old! Go, Veronica, Go! At two and a half, she talks a lot. She sings a lot, she loves Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Broadway Baby. Of course, she really beats the heck out of them, I don't know if you'd know that's what she was singing if you weren't her mother. Her teacher told me that next month they're going to start doing little interviews with them for their "Tot Talk" feature, won't that be fun? We'll know her favorite things and people. Her teacher also told me how smart Veronica was, she said that she was quiet but she didn't miss a trick. It's so nice to hear, I am so hopeful that her speech therapy has done her well, but I'm sometimes afraid that I am in DENIAL because I'm so in love with her. Because I want her to be okay, I might be MAKING her okay in my MIND. But it's NOT just in my mind, I have PROFESSIONALS telling me she's okay too, so that's nice. She is funny, she and Maria get along - well, I was going to say they get along really well and it's not exactly true. They fight over every little thing but they also share a lot too and usually sleep together. This picture is from this morning, Mike was getting ready to take them to ballet. Veronica will be able to start soon, just a few months. Maria will be sad, she tells her every week 'YOU CAN'T GO, VEEVSY. YOU TOO LITTLE, JUST I CAN GO BALLET'. How we'll love it when Veronica can tell her to STICK IT and let her know that SHE IS GOING TOOOOOO. MEEEE TOOOO, she'll say, that's one of her favorite phrases. She's good with the baby, she loves her a lot. Today I raked leaves and she helped me put them in the bag. She's a good, sweet girl. It means more now to me than ever, because she was a rotten newborn and Felicity is shaping up to be rotten and fussy, so I'm glad to be reminded that it doesn't last forever.

Big Sister

It's hard to believe, right? Veronica is going to be a big sister. VERONICA! Our little baby! She is sitting next to me right now, glued to my side as she has been for the last month, singing "Broadway Baby". LORD she is cute and just leaping, vocabulary and talking wise. This was her first two day week at school and it went super great. I think it was her first week, now I'm feeling like I talked about it but I can't check. Veronica is hanging off my right arm, which makes it difficult to type but impossible to click away and check, so I will just go with what I remember, which is nothing these days.

She is very particular about the clothes that she wears in a way that of course Anthony has never been, and Maria wasn't, at this age, but I'm sure from here on in, she will just pick up what Maria does. She doesn't seem to be interested AT ALL in the potty but I assume it will come. Maybe we will be able to make some progress at school, maybe not. I am withholding all judgment until after I come home with the baby.

Two Days

Veronica has started to go to preschool on Mondays, too, as of this week.  I just have to say - everyone loves this child!  Maria was going on and ON this morning about how SHE was going to school but 'not you, Veevsy!'.  I said, um, Veronica IS going to go now on Mondays, you can both go and then we'll forget Veronica and we'll do something just Mommy and Maria.  Maria INSISTS on saying we 'forgot' Veevsy if she has to leave at 12 and Veronica doesn't leave until 2 and I have just given in on it.  Once Maria gets a hold of a phrase, forget it.  Trust me, it's easier to make strangers think I have forgotten Veronica than to fight her on it.

Aaaaanyway, back to V, it's her blog.  So I took her to her classroom today and she was thrilled.  She never even says goodbye or anything.  When we 'remembered' Veronica at 2:00, we went back and the teacher, her name is Judy, sort of had her head tilted to one side, smiling, talking about her.  She said "oh, this is going to be so good for her!  There are only three other kids and this is where we can really get to know them".  She sort of sighed, like we all do when we talk about sweet Veronica Lucy.  Then I picked her up and we said goodbye.  We were walking down the hall and she was hugging me and hugging me, crawling up me closer and closer like she does.  I said "did you have a good day at school?" and she said "yes!".  I said, "I missed you Veevsy, did you miss me?" and she said, right in my ear, "I missed you too, Mama".  Hoo boy.  I am kind of crying thinking about it.  She is so sweet and now she combines this sweetness with WORDS like 'missed' and 'mama' and it's so, so sweet and cute.  Like her!

Language Explosion

Veronica's speech therapist wrote on her note last week that "Veronica is having a language explosion!", which is incredibly exciting to me. Poor Veronica, I feel like a lot of the things I waited for with Anthony at first are coming true with her. "Language explosion!" is something you hear about a lot with speech therapy, or at least I do, and let's face it - I may never get one from Anthony, not in the way I *thought* I would. The way I thought it would go, at the beginning, is the way it is actually going with Veronica, and even THAT feels like a long time. Veronica's speech therapist also said "jeez, if she keeps going this way, I won't even be seeing her much longer". THAT sort of killed me, too, because it has been such a great experience. She really loves Veronica and Veronica loves her and it's nice to be in a room where everyone is succeeding, even if I'm not directly involved, ha!

She is doing so well in school, I just love it - some of the kids in her class are maybe a little weepier or needier and I just told Mike tonight, because of that, I never get to talk to her teachers, but I am FINE with that. This morning I took her in and her teacher, Judy said "Veronica!" and Veronica jumped out of my arms and into hers and never looked back. Then when I went to get her, she was all warm and sweet from a nap and she was super excited to see me and that was cute, too. She is really getting to be her own person and I love it.

We went for a walk tonight and my sweet LORD she is slow! But we had a good time, we made it all the way around the block with no stroller and I just had to carry her a little. She and Maria held hands quite a bit of the way, which is nice. If she and Maria could have a relationship with each other like I have with my sister, it would be great for them - beyond great, it would be the best gift ever. It would make it worth it that they are so close in age and that they fight a lot and can be super noisy and crazy. And who wouldn't want MARIA as a sister? I never have to worry about anyone giving Veevsy Voo any guff, anyway. There's that!