PHOTO RECAP AND HOW I MADE MY KID AWESOME

Lauren and I have been rocking the show together. About a month ago, my brother's fiance had invited me to come as part of her group to go wedding dress shopping and, on the morning that I was trying to get out of the door for that, Lauren was being incredibly difficult. She had a dirty diaper just as we were putting on shoes and then when I changed it, she didn't want clothes back on. Then she tried to run away to play with her toys, next none of her shoes was good enough, the pair she put on was unacceptable once she got outside and she sat down on the wet ground outside to pull them off, I wrestled her into her carseat and by that time I just wanted to scream. In the 20 minutes that it took to do all of that, we were fighting the whole time. She was upset, I was upset and we didn't really want to be around each other. Not my finest mom moment. 

Dress shopping was great and Chanel found a stunning dress that she will be breath taking in on her wedding day and I realized that one day I will be sharing that moment with Lauren as she finds a dress to marry someone as wonderful as her dad (or I will be locking her in her room regardless of how old she is or even if she still lives at our house). So I decided to change things. 

I don't want to fight with Lauren and I don't want to get stressed out. I can't change her, but I can change my approach and response to her. So I decided to stop raising my voice. It was a simple change but it forces me to get close to her, usually holding her in my arms, have her look at me and explain what we are doing, why we are doing it and what we will be doing next. And the past month has been a dream. She's not always an angel and she still tries to push the boundaries but by bringing her close and talking with her, she will usually change her behaviour quite willingly. Who is this child?! There are constantly things that we are working on with her behaviour as she grows and changes (no, Lauren, we do not want to see you at 6:15am and, no, Nemo and Dory aren't going to happen then either.. go back to bed) but this one change has been huge for her. It is amazing how the biggest impact on her behaviour was changing my behaviour. Being a mom is a tough job.

So we've had a great month together. Here are some shots of my crazy kid as she has explored and played her way to summer. 

She figured out how to work the hose. I've been drenched a few times since then.

Austin taught Lauren to drink from the hose. She got pretty good.

Enough said.

Morning cuddles with crazy morning hair. I usually just wrangle it back into a clip but Matt is so good at brushing it (something that I still find strangely endearing).

She was super excited about diaper change, obviously. Meanwhile, that scar is healing up pretty nicely. Where they had the big tubes for the ECMO machine there are still some more obvious areas but that can always be cleaned up when they go back in when she's around 10 or 11 to replace the pacemaker battery.

The dog also taught her to drink water from the squirt spouts on the side of her blow up pool. He is just a wealth of knowledge for her.

Lauren's most favourite cousin (who she asks for multiple times every day) moved away this month. I am dreading the first time I have to take Lauren swimming and Joy doesn't show up at the pool. I think I will have one heartbroken little girl on my hands.

Lauren's favourite past time: driving the car. 

Number of times I've had to call the tow company to have my car jump started because my lights have been turned on by a young driver: 2. 

Number of battery chargers that I now carry around in my car at all times; 1 (thanks, Dad!!)

Pretending to sleep with Oma after being decorated with Disney bandaids.

Enjoying a homemade popsicle (which now gets requested every time that I open the freezer)

Mommy and daughter movie and popcorn date (she watches Tinkerbell, I read a book, we eat popcorn and we cuddle. I love it!)

And we will say that these were all for her. She seemed to think they were, though, unbeknownst to her, she's been sharing.