Little Lucia: Soldier Scout

"You've probably been told this but Scout is going to be an extraordinary young woman." Naturally as her mom and dad we think she already is...but she is just the wee age of 6 months so I wasn't really sure what she was talking about. Marsha, mother-in-law to Darren O'donnell, Jason's best friend since middle school continued on. "As a teacher I have seen a common denominator with certain kids." She went on to say that there would be students in her class that would be compassionate, and a certain level of understanding for others and would just seem different, in a good way. She would later find out that they had a sibling with special needs. "The common denominator of these extraordinary students was having a sibling with special needs." Marsha had been a high school teacher for 35 years. Hearing those words, thinking about our Scout, our Lu, our Scout with our Lu, just warmed my soul. Of course having Scout was a gift to Lucia, to us, but thinking about it as Lu being a gift to Scout...something I had not thought about much lately.
Scout turned 6 months old yesterday-December 4th, sharing a half birthday with International PKS awareness day- pretty cool! PKS Day is 12/4 due to the duplication (making 4 instead of 2) of the short arm of the 12th chromosome.
Although Scout is only 6 months old, we can not imagine our life without our "Soldier Scout". She is strong, so smiley, always looking for a mission, always checking things out... "Soldier Scout's a marchin"we like to say... She came into our lives and it's been like having a first child all over again. Lu is our rare bird, lady of leisure. Scout is our smiley soldier, a little go-getter. She moves, she eats, she cries, she reaches and holds and plays with toys. She tries to grab anything and everything she can and put it in her mouth. She sits in the orange high chair that intended for Lu but didn't really work out for Lu. She looks into our eyes, she follows and tracks, and laughs and smiles... Jason and I often feel out of our comfort zone with Scout, in a good way no doubt, just different.

first supper!

morning cuddles in bed

Right after Scout was born a good friend stopped by our house. Taryn Wilson, a most thoughtful friend, ran up to our front door and dropped off a gift. I didn't even get to thank her in person that night because she took off so quickly so she "wouldn't disturb our new family"-you come in next time Taryn! I opened up the door and saw a beautiful bouquet of tulips. Next to the vase of tulips was a bottle of red wine. I opened up the card and it read something like this...
"You have your Holland and now you have your Italy too."A bunch of tulips for Holland and an Italian bottle of wine for Italy...Wow. Awesome Taryn.
We love our journeys, as different and challenging as they may be we are enjoying each and every day with our girls. The bigger our Lu gets the more she seem to be the little sister. The bigger our Scout gets the more miraculous she seems. We already think Scout is extraordinary, of course. And as our family grows, the more we will realize even more how it all goes back to a girl named Lu. A girl named Lu that has touched us in a ways that are indescribably extraordinary. Thank you Colleen and Darren for hosting a great gathering the day after Thanksgiving. I felt so much love that afternoon-with Lu, with Scout, with new baby Evelyn and all the long time friends, like family. Thank you family on both sides for a great Thanksgiving Day!
It was a very thankful Thanksgiving week. And thank you God for our girls, our extraordinary Lu AND Scout!