One year ago in December she had just been given a walker by her physical therapist and was practicing walking with that. She was not taking any steps alone at all.
She was just starting to talk more and was a happy, easygoing little girl, who didn't really like to sleep.
By January though, she was starting to insist on having her own way in decisions involving clothing...
February came with a visit from my Mum and Adele took her first unassisted steps!
And discovered that she liked to make art...
In March she read books and rode on her tricycle for the first time.
Her legs were too short for the pedals but she did a great job balancing on there while I pushed her around.
In April she finally started earning her keep...
And in May lots of fun things happened!
Fiona and Adele started becoming friends who could do fun stuff together...
And Fiona taught Adele about the wonderful world of all things creepy crawly.
Adele practiced building with duplo and making more art...
And in the same day she learned how to walk across the wobbly bridge and walked all the way home from our local restaurant holding my hand (more videos here).
Adele also started speech therapy every two weeks to help her with some sounds she was having trouble with.
In June we enjoyed the warm summer days and Adele got over her fear of carousels. After this photo was taken ;-)
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In July we hung out with friends and family, and met cousin Virginia...
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And she generally exhausted herself with fun!
In August we went corn picking and Adele ate the freshest corn ever...
And became obsessed with hugging animals.
Both girls started at a wonderful new preschool that has 1/3 special needs kids and 2/3 regularly developing, so she can have some extra help where she needs it but also gets to hang out and do everything the other preschoolers are doing. So far she absolutely loves it, and is very happy there.
In September my parents visited and while they were here Adele figured out how to stand up in the middle of the floor. This has been (and still is) a big challenge for her.
We also all went to the zoo to visit the dinosaurs and in this video you can see how well she is doing with her (new, shiny, 4 wheel) walker, and the improvement in her speech!
In October she had a blast celebrating Halloween - decorating cookies, carving pumpkins and trick or treating with her cousins.
And of course we spent some time raking, throwing, and jumping in leaves.
Adele began to insist on walking longer distances without holding a hand or using her walker. On one occasion she just stopped and toddled off, leaving her walker behind. She has been doing this in bare feet too, which is tricky. Once she gets going she has a hard time stopping and she falls a lot but is undeterred. She still has a hard time getting up on her own but during the last week she's been getting up unassisted more and more when she doesn't have her braces on. Ben tells me that she managed to do this with her braces and shoes on for the first time yesterday so she's making great progress! Here's a video of her walking around in Best Buy.
As if that wasn't enough, October was the month that Adele was day-time potty trained!! We took a long weekend when the girls were off school for conferences and just went for it. The first day was messy but the rest of the weekend was awesome, and she has not looked back. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to be almost diaper free!!
November was another month of fun. In November she went from walking to dancing!
Here she is doing some dancing. The girls heard this song on the radio and loved it. They both sing along. Don't blame me :-/
At Thanksgiving dinner she graduated from the high chair to a big girl stool at Grandma's house. She hasn't fallen off yet :-)
And that brings us to December. So far she has had a birthday! We celebrated on Sunday with Ben's family and my friend Emily (who brought a delicious cake!).
She got a Dora doll and backpack from Grandma and Grandpa and a doll stroller from the Tennants, and the obvious next step was to put Zak the rat in the backpack and then take him for a ride...
Today she took cupcakes to school to share with her friends and then we picked up Daddy from work and went to the mall for some dinner and fun. Her favourite foods are rice and broccoli so we found somewhere that had those foods, menus you could colour on, and happy hour beers, and everyone was had a great time. The tropical paradise theme was just an added bonus.
After that the girls each chose one ride and we headed for the carousel and the Diego rescue bus.
And then home for cupcakes.
And that's it! A year of Adele. She has worked so hard this year and is doing so well. She is a lovely little girl who continues to be happy and smiley and although she has to work extra hard in many physical ways, she never gives up, she just keeps going. When she manages something new, or difficult she looks at us with a big smile on her face and Ben, Fiona and I cheer for her like crazy. She loves animals, both furry and buggy, and is very creative. She has also found her voice in the last year and talks much more in conversation, and in standing up to Fiona which is a good thing! She has opinions and she wants to share them. She cares about Fiona very much and sticks up for her and worries about her if she is upset. She is quick to share, and has a large, kind heart.
I re-discovered this song a few weeks ago and in the past it's been a nice song, but now when I hear it I can't help but think of Adele. So if you've made it this far, here you go :-)
We are so very lucky to have this sweet little love in our lives and could not be more proud of her. Happy 3rd Birthday Dell!
Now please stop waking up at night. Seriously. You're three now! You can do this!!
