Wednesday, February 24, 2010

It Was Once Danna Day 2010!

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Our sweet little ray of sunshine…..complete with her favorite toy zebra (she carries either the zebra, the giraffe or a rubber ducky around with her everywhere, everyday, all day…..even the boys know not to mess with Beaner’s favorite toys because there’s hell to pay if they do).

Danna Day 2010 came and went. But then again, I think everyday is Danna Day as far as our little princess is concerned. To read last year’s “Danna Day 2009”, click on the link. Danna Lynn got to come home from the NICU on January 23, 2008. She was born at 1 pound, 10 ounces and 12.25 inches at 4:40 p.m. on November 19, 2007. She was seriously about the size of a big can of soup. TEENY! Danna is still our little peanut, but she has grown up so much since then. She’s still not on the growth charts for weight, but she finally made it on there for height at our January checkup. She makes us marvel every day at just how far she’s come in 2 years….

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Danna has had the idea in her head that she is calling the shots since she was conceived. We delivered at the 31 week mark (November 19)because Danna had IUGR (intra-uterine growth restriction). We joked at the time that she was just ready to get out and start showing everyone who the boss was. Not only did she determine the day they were all born, she determined the day we got to go back home from Phoenix to Wichita. She has continued to “call the shots” since then.

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Now let me tell all of you this: Danna has so many strengths at this point in her little life, but there are some weaknesses too. Much to Danna’s grandmothers’ dismay, our little Beaner has some downfalls. If Grammy or Budda were writing this post, no one would know that she is prone to some of the same faults as other people. We want to make sure that her shortcomings are documented, though, so when she is big enough to read back on all of this she will know that she ISN’T as perfect as she thinks she is (even when daddy and her bubbys try their hardest to make her think that).

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Mama’s learned to leave the hair-trimming to Aunt Donna…..even if it was just to get her bangs out of her eyes!

Danna’s strengths:

Our little Banana is probably the easiest toddler to take care of in the history of the world. Danna makes it so easy on everyone that sometimes people forget that she is here. Moni and I have both caught ourselves calling our kids “the boys.” The boys all have such strong, outgoing personalities that little Danna gets overshadowed sometimes. It is so nice, though, not having to worry about ONE of the four getting into trouble. Danna’s most mischievous thing that she does is turn the lights on in the kitchen during “wind down” time at bedtime…..well, that and trying to be sneaky while throwing unwanted food under the table.

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Danna is the most easy going of the kids. She really doesn’t get too shook up about very much. Perhaps this trait comes from the beginning of her life outside the NICU. Danna came from the only room she had ever known in her life (NICU at Phoenix Children’s Hospital at Banner Good Samaritan) to a crazy, hectic apartment all a-flutter with the busyness that goes along with packing to go home, to an airplane, and finally to an even more crazy house that has been being prepared for her homecoming, in a matter of two days from start to finish. I know if I went through something like that when I was first born, I would probably go into shock. Danna really handled it very well, and she continues to handle new things (transition to sippy cups, using utensils, always having a ton of people around, sometimes nobody around, etc.) wonderfully.

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Danna’s always been a big fan of making faces at herself in front of a mirror. She cracks herself up!

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Miss Independent…..doesn’t like her hand to be held or to be lead around by others.

Little Beaner is incredibly independent. She is a tough little nugget that can accomplish her goals if she wants. If she wants to say a word, she will. If she wants to watch TV, she will turn it on. If she wants to read a book, she will find one, open it and read it (in the cutest gibberish language ever spoken). If she wants to go downstairs with the boys, she goes.

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All of this being said, she only does it if she WANTS to. She isn’t like our little monkey boys that will do any trick on command just to see someone smile or produce a clap from them. If she wants to do something she will, but only when she is ready. I think this trait will eventually be one of our favorites as parents, but we do get frustrated with it sometimes right now.

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I have NO IDEA where the obstinacy comes from….ahem…her mama….ahem!

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….ahem….AND her daddy…..ahem!

One of mama’s favorite Danna traits is her tough head. And that does not mean her stubbornness! This little girl seems unaffected by physical pain (thumps, spankings, being knocked over by the boys, catching her head on the corner of a table….nothin’), which comes in handy when we have to de-knot her rat’s nest that has taken residence at the back of her head. It’s bad. However, it has improved somewhat since Aunt Donna trimmed it up a bit. Holy Lord, that girl can rock a frollet (mix between an afro and a mullet) and we have to douse it in detangler spray and go to town on it with the brush. We use to tease her when she’d get up in the mornings or from a nap about how she was our little Don King princess.

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♪ I’m too sexy for my hair, too sexy for my hair, too sexy, yeaaaah! ♪

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♫ I’m too sexy for my frollet, too sexy for my frollet, too sexy, yeaaaaah! ♫

Danna’s weaknesses (yes she has them):

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She used to just throw her hands up in the air when she got mad. Now she’s upgraded to balling up her fists and throwing her head back as well. It’s an impressive technique, really.

Danna is incredibly independent. Sound familiar? As I stated numerous times earlier, she can do anything she wants, IF she wants. Sometimes, our little Danna seems afraid of change. She is so much like her daddy in this that it is scary. Some days, she doesn’t want to do anything except for read books or watch TV. The boys always seem to be willing to try new things, but like I said before, Danna only does it when she wants. Haven’t I said this all like five times already? At the suggestion of our speech therapist, we’ve started working with her more on her sensory perception issues. Minor little changes in how we interact with her seem to be making a HUGE difference already and we see our little flower bud blooming more and more every day.

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Danna seems to be our magnet for runny noses. If someone says “runny nose,” Danna will get one that night. This is in no way Danna’s fault, but she seems to have a constant snotty nose. What is amazing about this is the fact that that seems to be the only thing she gets. She never really runs fevers, she has never really been a big puker, she has avoided diarrhea for the most part, and she always seems to scathe by with a cough and sniffles when the rest of the house has been wiped out with a nasty cold virus. But the little girl is a constant snot pool! This makes it hard to keep her face clean, but trust me when I say that she has no problems staying beautiful.

19 month appointment

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Our little Danna also has quite the temper. She really does believe in her mind that she rules the roost. If something pisses her off, she screams, and screams, and screams. It is so rare when she loses her temper that it is kind of funny. Just today, I was in the kitchen making lunch and one of the boys made her mad and she started screaming. She came into the kitchen looked at me while she was screaming as if to say, “DAD! I AM NOT HAPPY! DON’T YOU SEE THIS? FIX IT! NOW!” I know I am not a nice dad, but it was funny.

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As we’ve mentioned before, Danna almost always has a death grip on her favorite toys (the zebra, giraffe or rubber ducky). They are requirements to help get us through each day. If she starts crying and we aren’t in the room to see what happened, 9 times out of 10 we just holler for one of her brothers to give Danna her toy back. Not that her bubbys pick on her….just the opposite, actually. They treat their sissy so well and will randomly walk up to her just to give her a kiss. I hope they are always as loving to Danna, because it makes me smile to see it now.

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But back to the toy thing. We’re not sure why she’s become so attached to these items. They are all cheap, hard plastic animals and not the normal soft fluffiness that princesses tend to prefer. We’ve TRIED offering her baby dolls and teddy bears, but to no avail. I guess it all goes back to Danna wanting what she wants!

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Christmas morning brought Danna a new mini-doll. Sadly, Pius was more interested in it than she was.

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Again with the zebra…couldn’t leave it inside!

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The duck makes daily appearances at the table for meals and snacks, too.

Our little Danna is so hard to describe because she is a princess, thinks it, acts like it, but doesn’t really need any of us to validate it for her. She just knows and doesn’t want or care if anybody is around to tell her. She is in her own little kingdom and sometimes she graces us enough to let us in.

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She is so funny and words can not begin to describe how proud we are of her. She has fought so many battles since the day she was born and she continues to win the battles. We know she is going to be successful at whatever she tries to do. Beaner stay independent, and continue to let everyone around you see how wonderful you are. We love you so much!

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Love,

Daddy, Mommy, and your loving bubbys

(most of the time) Pi-Pi, Fo-Fo, and Wainer

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14 comments:

Anonymous said...

She's my favorite. And going to be so protected by her brothers.
It's always worth the wait. Thanks for the post.
God Bless,
UT

Anonymous said...

Great post for a beautiful girl!


Stacy

The Cochran Crew said...

Precious!!! She's so friggin cute just like her mommy and a-hem, her daddy too! Yes, Billy Joe, I just called you cute!!! Love you Graf Crazies!!!

Anonymous said...

so sweet! What an adorable little girl!
Lana

jag said...

The top pic blew me away! I can't even believe what a big girl she is! I remember the feather headband shot like it was yesterday! What a wonderful little lady you have!

Stephanie said...

She is such a pretty girl!!
I love every little detail you put into these posts..makes it almost ok that they are so late! lol

Check out my latest post..thought of all you quad mommas! ;)

Hilary said...

That was so great! LOVED all the pictures...the last too are precious but the crazy hair ones cracked me up :)

EMO said...

She is such a cutie!!!

Shelia said...

Look at all that beautiful hair... even the "frollet" photos (too funny!). Watch out Mom & Dad, that little girl is going to be a heartbreaker. She's so pretty!

Anonymous said...

Awesome pictures, but of course they would be with such a beautiful little princess. I don't care what your Dad says Miss Danna you are perfect to me. I love you. Grandma Vicki

Anonymous said...

Awesome pictures, but of course they would be with such a beautiful little princess. I don't care what your Dad says Miss Danna you are perfect to me. I love you. Grandma Vicki

Anonymous said...

Awwww, she is so precious! I just kept checking for 'her day' post and finally it got posted! Well worth the wait. Good show for our little princess!
Love you all! Budda

Anonymous said...

THANK-YOU Billy and Monica!! I've enjoyed all of them. I can't tell you how happy it makes me. They are all so beautiful. You are so special to me. Love You all! Aunt Donna

Anonymous said...

Loved the picture of my blue-eyed baby girls!!!!
Budda