Claire is 4!

Where does the time go?

Just yesterday, Claire was a baby! Today she's 4! Of course, she will always be our baby... What a few years it has been! Claire was by far the easiest baby of my three; but unfortunately has also had the most problems! We have been climbing a huge mountain with Claire for over two years now...We have covered a lot of ground, but still have a long ways to go. Claire was labeled "Developmentally Delayed" by a geneticist over a year ago, and our speech therapist labeled her with "Speech Apraxia" about 6 months ago. She has been attending a school this past year where she receives OT, PT, and speech; along with one on one tutoring 1 hour a day. This intense therapy and natural age progression has made a difference. When we moved to South Africa, almost a year ago, Claire was barely speaking and had a minimum of about 10 words that were understandable. Her speech therapist insists that her vocabulary now has caught up with her age, but the speech is still very delayed! Speech Apraxia is a motor planning disorder, of which there is no cure! Some children will overcome, and some will always have issues! I can clearly tell a difference in my baby girl, but know in my heart that we have a long way to go!

We are going to make a huge step this coming year with Claire and move her into a "normal" playschool, she will start with a facilitator who we will keep as long a s we need her. Her facilitator luckily is going to be her teacher, Natasha, that she has had all year...this hopefully will also help with the transition! Only God knows of Claire's plan, and I hope that He has great things planned for her! As a mom, your dream for your children is that they grow happy and healthy; and when something threatens that it is truly the hardest thing in the world!
Besides all of that, Claire can also be a typical little girl! She is very persistent and stubborn, sweet and loving, demanding and happy! Claire has the best memory, she remembers all details of most events! She may not be able to verbalize everything, but ask her to show you and she will mimic anything! Claire loves to ride bikes; she got a huge bike for her birthday and instantly pedaled away(with the assistance of training wheels); she also has started to become interested in princesses, loves any kind of outside activity, loves play dough, enjoys coloring, and the list goes on! Claire is a huge part of our family, and is loved by all! I think that the people that work with her would also say that she holds a very special place in your heart!
I hope that four brings good things for Claire and keeps her healthy and happy!

We had the house ready for our princess when she woke up...

Birthday clothes all ready for the 4 yr old!

And, of course we spoiled...

She even got to ride Cupcake...

By the way, all those "preparations" where washed away by the rain! The Royal Braii was canceled due to a constant unyielding rain. I chose not to have the party be an inside party(too many kids); the good thing was Claire never knew what she missed! So we just celebrated in our own way...with family!

This was the castle cake that took me forever to decorate for the party, between the rain and the wait it withered away...Oh Well!