Happy Birthday

We really cannot believe that Elizabeth is now 5 years old, 5 seems so old. The past couple of days prior to her birthday have been pretty emotional for me as I am reminded what hell we were going through 5 years ago. The past couple days I have been having these unexpected teary moments when I see a pregnant woman or when I look at Elizabeth and remember how far she has come. It was a pretty scary time going in to labour so early; we really did not know if we would ever be able to bring her home and what she would be like if she survived. I also became very sick while in labour as the medication used to stop labour caused heart damage. I quickly began having chest pain and difficulties breathing and for awhile I was pretty scared for my health. Poor Daddy did not know what to do he would run to see Elizabeth and then accompany me to all the testing I was going through.

Fast forward to today and we can say we are beyond blessed to have such a wonderful little girl who has overcome so many obstacles. The most amazing thing about Elizabeth is her personality; she is loving, caring, empathic, she never complains or tantrums and always thinks about others. She is so patient, through all the long appointments and therapy she never complains or resists, she works hard and does what is asked of her. She definitely is tenacious and can be quite mischievous when we see that twinkle in her eye we know she is is up to trouble. Elizabeth is so resilient, the numerous times she falls and crashes in day she always gets up, brushes herself off and keeps going.

Elizabeth has a love for all creatures, when she sees a spider she declares how cute he is and wants to keep him. She continues to love playing with her dinosaurs and loves learning more about them. She also has a girly side; she loves dresses and tights, loves playing My Little Pony, Little Pet Shop and is becoming fond of her dolls.

Elizabeth has celebrated many achievements this year; she is drawing some pretty recognizable things, she is printing most letters of the alphabet, her cutting is amazing, she is reading small words, counting to 30, counting objects to 10, she is getting herself dressed with minimal assistance, she is walking further, riding her adaptive bike, eating more foods, eating with utensils, she can walk distances, she is stepping up small curbs, she is initiating play with others and is playing more appropriately. I am sure I have missed many other accomplishments but this list is pretty impressive for us.

Elizabeth continues to have a very busy agenda but we attribute all that she does with her successes. Her typical agenda includes horseback riding, swimming, gymnastics, speech therapy, physiotherapy, yoga and all her homework that we work on at home. We also attribute her new physical gains with the CME Medek that she has done in the past, we are taking a break presently and will think about another block.

Elizabeth did not want a birthday party this year and instead chose to go to Great Wolf Lodge for a pre-birthday weekend. Her best friend Owen and his family came and the two of them did not separate for a moment while away. We did have a small family gathering tonight and Elizabeth helped decorate her pink polka dotted My Little Pony cake as that is how she wanted her birthday cake. Of course it would not be a birthday without Elizabeth getting sick so we spent the morning at the clinic getting her back on her puffers for her crappy chest and will continue with her puffers in hopes to keep the P-word away.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth, we love you very much, we are the luckiest parents.