First Game

We had our first tball game tonight and it was great! MG freaked out a little at her first at bat. She got up there and hit the ball, but wouldn't run. So we went back to the dugout with her crying. But she decided right then that the next time she was going to run the bases - and she did!! She smacked that ball out of there and took off running! I had to run with her and got more exercise than I planned on, but that's OK!

The first time out on the field she took 3rd, but nothing came to her and she really just played in the dirt! She decided she wanted to hover around mid field with all the other girls, so we did! 2nd time on field she took 1st base and it was so fun for her! All the other little girls chased the ball and fought for it (which she wants NO part of!) then they threw it straight to her and only her (which is exactly what she wants!). She did great. She chased every ball thrown to her and threw it in to the coach (who happens to be Daddy!).

She was so proud of herself and her Daddy and I were so proud, too. Granny and Pap even came out to cheer her on and she loved that.

MG just spend 15 minutes giving her Mamaw a play-by-play of the game and it was hilarious! She told them about hitting it way far out there and getting a home run, running the bases and playing 1st. I love love love how proud she is of herself and how excited she is! It's just awesome!

My boss's little girl plays with us, too. As we were walking out she said "Beth I wish I had a camera when she hit that ball...the look on your face was pure pride...I would've taken your picture"! I felt pretty proud!!

TBall... Continued

Practice #2 was a little better and Practice #3 was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.!!! She did awesome and I was so proud. She was fascinated with the dirt - but who wouldn't be! It was our first time to practice on the infield so it was their first time to experience the fresh, new dirt! Ha! It was more than they could handle! MG spent a little bit at first building a very impressive dirt castle, complete with a flower in the middle and the white chalk sprinkled on top! I just left her alone and let her build. When it got to be her turn to bat, she got up there and acted silly a couple times. Acted like she had no idea how to hold or swing the bat! Jamey was just about to make her walk off and give someone else a turn. I walked up there and said "hit that ball"...and she did! Several times. She hit it further and harder than any other little girls on our team! Everyone was impressed! She fielded the ball and threw it back when it was her turn, hit the ball again and ran all the bases, then ran the bases with the other girls. Talk about proud...her Daddy and I were beside ourselves! It was so fun to see her step out of her shell and enjoy something! How she does at our first game Monday may be a different story!

Yucky Fingers *Update*

We have been finger sucking free since April 8!!! That is 16...yes, I said 16...days!!! WOO HOO!!!! Can you hear my shouts of joy!? I can't believe how smooth and easy it has gone (yes, I realize I probably just jinxed myself!). I don't really even paint the yucky stuff on anymore. Some nights I pretend to if she brings it up.

I really thought nights would be miserable, but they have been smooth, too. It's been almost scary-easy!

As for the hair-pulling, my gut feeling was right...when the finger sucking stopped, so did the hair pulling!!

I am seriously so relieved. I don't have this sick, worried feeling in the pit of my stomach all the time anymore. That hair pulling issue was going to be the death of my mental state!

Lots of prayer is what got us through!

TBall

So we signed MG up for TBall...not sure what we were thinking! Ha! We've had 2 practices so far. #1 was a total bomb! Last night's practice was a little better. I'm pretty certain she is going to freak out at the games and not do anything, but that's OK! She's just like I was as a kid.

She LOVES playing tball. Her favorite is to hit the ball. Everyday when we get home she wants to play in the backyard. We have to get out the Tee, lay out the bases and play ball! She has the best time! But when we get to practices and there's people standing all around, she freezes up and doesn't want to do anything. It's that social anxiety getting the best of her - and I remember feeling the exact same way as a kid. That's why soccer became my thing, it was a team sport, all eyes were never on me alone.

The first practice was a nightmare! Jamey is coaching and I'm organizing everything so we were pretty busy. She didn't want to do anything. She spent 95% of the night sitting on the fence in timeout/calm down mode/throwing a huge temper tantrum! She did forget herself for a minute when all the other kids started running the bases and took off running with one of our friends from church whose little girl is playing, too. But when they got to 2nd base and Jamey was there, she fell down in a meltdown again.

Last night was 1000 times better! I was so proud of her. I totally sympathize with her shyness, but it also irritates me because looking back now I can see all the things I missed out on because I was so shy. I don't want that for her! But I'm trying really hard to just be patient and not push, but encourage. It's so hard!!!

Last night she stood out in the field (with me, of course) with her glove on and watched the other girls go after the ball. She started after it a couple times, but as soon as someone else headed that way she came right back to me. But she was pouting because nothing came to her! But it was a humongous step forward just for her to be out there with the other kids! When it was her time to bat, she put her helmet on and was so excited. But she wouldn't do anything when she got up there so I made her move and let another little girl go. She was so upset and cried like her heart was broke so I gave her another chance. But she still just acted silly and wouldn't hit the ball. But had a meltdown when I made her turn be over. I sent her over to the fence to calm down and she did. Next came time to run the bases. All the other little girls ran and laughed and had a wonderful time. MG made it to 1st base with me then stopped and pouted the entire rest of the time! I just let her be. But when Jamey and I went to take the bases up (because practice was over - and she was still just standing there) she went into meltdown mode again because she wanted to run them. GRRRR!!! She's so frustrating sometimes!

We stayed a little bit after and watched some older girls play a real ballgame while she ate her snack. Her friend from church, Piper, hung out, too. She was her happy little self!

Here she is happy and having fun before everyone else got there!

Yucky Fingers

Yesterday we decided to bite the bullet and use the yucky stuff you paint on fingers to help MG stop sucking them. It wasn't getting better, she was sucking them more and more. We tried reward charts, little gifts, reminders, replacements...nothing else worked. I feel pretty certain that the hair pulling will stop when the finger sucking does, too, since they go hand-in-hand (literally!). I have read a couple articles relating the two so I'm hoping this will kill 2 birds with one stone.

Yesterday afternoon I sat MG down and talked to her about what we were going to do. I told her how I used to suck my thumb and Granny helped me quit so I could be a big girl and now she was going to get to be a big girl, too. I showed her the stuff I was going to paint on them and talked about how it would taste really yucky if she put either finger in her mouth. She was surprisingly calm about the whole thing. She gave me her fingers like a big girl and watched me paint the stuff on. She went the rest of the afternoon/evening with no troubles at all! I couldn't believe how grown-up she was about it. Made me super proud and really shocked!

Bedtime last night was a different story. She's been difficult at bedtime lately anyway, not having her fingers to settle her down did not help! She fussed, whined, cried, yelled, tossed and turned until 10pm or so. It was really frustrating, but really sad, too. My poor girl did not know how to settle herself down without those fingers. It was her ritual, her safety net, her comfort zone. I felt like the world's worst mom for taking that away from her! I just kept reminding myself that it was for the best...it was for her own good...it's what she needed...blah blah blah!

This morning I celebrated and cheered for her when she woke up. One thing I always want her to remember me for is being her biggest cheerleader! I asked her if we should put more stuff on there before school and she actually answered "yes"! So we did!

She had a really big day today. No fingers, no hair and she did it all while being in a new class at school...without her Granny!! Yay! That is HUGE! There were several teachers out today, so they moved some of mom's kiddos up to the preschool class where MG will be next year. Mom sent MG over and she did fantastic! She played, napped and ate lunch. Mom said she even told everyone bye when she left. I am so super duper ridiculously proud of my girl! It may not sound like much, but for a little girl who has always been with her mom or granny and refused to even look (seriously) at strangers, it's huge! I'm actually really excited for her to move up to a new class. I think it will be an amazing experience for her and I think it will help her grow so much.

Bedtime has been difficult tonight, but nothing compared to last night. I honestly can't tell if it's the no fingers or just her lovely 3 year old personality causing the problems tonight! There were several minutes of fake and forced "crying" and whining. But it's quiet now. She tried pulling her hair just to get a rise out of us...she's a smart little girl...too smart!

We shall see how this goes. I'm hoping and praying this is the solution we've been looking for.

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad (and still amazingly awesome)...Threes

You know the "Terrible Twos"? Well we are in the 3s and they are worse!! So much worse! Of course she's still amazing, silly, sweet, smart and the most wonderful blessing we've ever received, but wow! This season we're in is a tough one. Some days I wonder how we'll ever make it out alive! I feel like our day to day goal is to not lose it. We are in a constant power struggle. Being a hard-headed, strong-willed adult and raising a hard-headed, strong-willed 3 year old can be hard work! I'm always reminding her to be "my sweet Molly Grace". When I say that, she'll give me this fake, sugary sweet smile! Ha! She's something else.

I guess I should backtrack a little and catch up...

We made it almost 2 months without an ear infection! YAY! She just got over one. And it was a bad one. Luckily it didn't turn into MRSA, but it did come with a high fever and just a very sick little girl. We participated in a study at her ENT. She got all her office visits and medicine free of charge and we even get paid for each office visit we took her to. They approached us about participating because she was such a perfect candidate. Her yucky ears finally came in handy! Ha!

Spring Break came and went. That's when she was sick so we didn't do anything fun. But, the blessing was that I was able to be home with her the entire time she was sick. I didn't have to take her to my moms then wish I was with her all day! See, it's the little rays of sunshine you have to find! I got to spend 4 days snuggling and holding her.

The hair pulling issue surfaced again with the ear infection. It's pretty much gone again now that she's well. We're in the process of deciding if it's Trich. or Sensory Processing Disorder. Or if it's just something she'll outgrow. When she was 1 everyone told us not to worry. When she was 2 they told us she would grow out of it. Now that she's 3, I'm just not sure. I feel like it's time to be proactive. Even if it is something she will outgrow, I'd rather get her help she doesn't need than not get her help she does need.

She was screened for speech therapy last week. I have her evaluation conference this week. The therapist who did her screening said she is very intelligent. Her vocabulary and expressive language is on a 4-5 year old's level. Developmentally she was way above her age! Make a Momma proud to hear that! I'm mostly concerned about articulation with all her ear infections...we'll see what the experts say Thursday. Sometimes the downside to being a teacher is that you tend to over do it on the worrying about developmental delays!

MG is still princess-obsessed and very enthralled with getting married. Jamey and I have to get married in the living room several times a week! MG has told us over and over that she is going to marry Heath and she's going to kiss him! They are going to live with us and sleep in her room! My girl knows what she wants! Anytime she sees flowers she says she can use them when her and Heath get married.

TBall starts in 2 weeks! I can't wait to see how that turns out! I can see it going either direction...very good or very bad. There won't be an in-between! There never is. It's very black and white in our world these days. She will either have the time of her life or she will refuse to participate. She hates attention of any kind and can't stand the spotlight. My fear is that she will get up to bat and freeze up. I'm so afraid she's going to miss out of fun stuff because she's too shy. That breaks my heart for her.

Some fun things from MG's mouth lately:

"Thank you Mother Dear" "I so eh-sited" "What does that mean?" (leave it up to my kid not to just ask "why"!) "Are you happy, sad or mad?" "One time when I were a baby..." "Me and Daddy were in your belly" "Thank you berry much" "I love you berry berry much" "You are the best" "You are a good girl Momma" "Certainly" "I be done in 2 seconds" "Can I be nekkid?"