Happy 8th Birthday, Juli...

My punkin horsie turns 8 years old today!  My how you have grown.  Does anyone remember when you when you looked like this? 

3 days old

And now you look like this!

So much has happened to you this year, where do we start?

 Towards the end of the summer, you dislocated your knee.  You have one of the highest pain tolerances that I know of, so when you start to scream, I know that something bad has happened.  Seeing your kneecap on the outside of your leg was one of the weirdest and more frightening things that we have experienced with you.  Fortunately, it popped right back into place, but it still involved a trip to urgent care, several visits to see Dr. Bueche (a fantastic pediatric orthopedist, by the way), some time in an immobilizer, several months of PT and kinisiotape, and a trip to visit Dr. Gaebler at the RIC who we were due to visit anyway.  Unfortunately, due to your low muscle tone, you are destined to easily dislocate from now on, and you experienced a dislocation at school last week.

You started 2nd grade this year and it has been a bit of a struggle for you.  In January they started getting you even more help for reading and now you are almost to grade level, we are so proud of you!  In February you started getting some outside help with math, and we have seen your math skills improving as well.  This summer you have to do the extended school year, and while you were upset at first to find out you had to go, when given the option to ride the bus or be driven by me, you chose the bus because, "Mom, I never get to the ride bus!"  You still want to be a nurse, and your teachers have said that you always volunteer to take the sick kid down to the nurses office at school.

You love your brother so much and while at times he gets annoyed with you always wanting to be around him, he loves you so very much.  Last week when the nurse called me to tell me you had dislocated your knee, you didn't want me to come and get you, instead you just wanted your brother to give you a hug.  So, the nurse brought you up to his class in the wheelchair and Noah came out and happily gave you a hug.  

You love your daddy so much and he makes sure that every year when Chick-Fil-A does "Daddy-Daughter" Night that the 2 of you go to it.  He also makes sure that the two of you always go to the school dance every year, because you look forward to it so much.  

This year, for your birthday, you asked if you could get your ears pierced.  Your dad and I had been talking about it for a while and we knew we couldn't take you anywhere that used a piercing gun because of your sensory issues.  So, we took you to the piercer who had done my daith piercings (yes, we took her to a tattoo and piercing parlor).  That was the best decision.  Barron took good care of you, letting you take your time picking out your new earrings.  Then he explained what he was going to do and showed you how he made sure everything was clean.  While you cried for a minute, your ears didn't swell or turn red afterward.  You said your ears didn't even hurt once he was done with the needle.  We were so proud of you!

Happy Birthday, Juliana Rose!  We love you so very much!

Our Fashionista