Playing with Jillian

 We headed to Bettendorf today to pick up our oldest and decided to make it a family day trip.  We went to the family museum and let me say this momma LOVED this place!  It is high on my list of must do more than once in our area.  It was fabulous.  The fact that Jillian actually played for four hours just sweetens how amazing this place is because today was the first day that I feel like my girl had a typical experience.  She had no fear..that is right absolutely no fear of anything.  She signed scared once when we were getting out of the car, but that is it.  She never said she was scared the rest of the day..not even once!  She went right into the gallery area with Daddy and instantly began exploring!  She played and she played and she played. She laughed and ran and played and conquered every inch of this place.  I feel like I say often when trying to write about Jill that I have no words, but today I feel that way once again.  I simply never, ever dreamed that this sweet treasure would accomplish so much.  As I walked beside her today in each of the learning modules and watched her playing like her typical peers, I could hardly keep from bawling my eyes out remembering the 15 pound 25 month old I once held praying she would just survive.  This girl is something extraordinary.

 She loves water and so it is no surprise that she was instantly drawn to this water table.  She spent a lot of happy time here exploring the gadgets, wheels, and pipes. 

 She even went in the tunnel so that she could pop up and stand in the middle.

 She also enjoyed playing in the grocery store.  She actually played here.  She got a cart just like her sister did and began filling it up with groceries.

 Then, she got in line and unloaded her groceries and paid the little girl behind the counter.  I could hardly snap this shot because of my blurry vision.  She even used her voice to name the pretend vegetables in the produce section just like she does at the real store.

 Then, she and Anna went to the corn factory where they worked to put the corn on the conveyor belt.  Jillian did it all.  See how she is taking turns with Anna and putting the corn in?  Incredible!

 There was more water play outside!  We ate our lunch out here picnic style and Jillian loved playing in this area.

 She wore all the dress up clothes in each of the modules happily and she was so cute!  This is the space ship in the Dora area!  She enjoyed it all.

 Look at her using the watering can to "water" the flowers.

She picked flowers, went through a maze, used some balls for  science exploration, played in the barn, played house, played in a pirate ship,  interacted with a leaf mat, and don't forget all the water!  There was so much more too, but I have already included too many pictures.  Truly, this was one special day and I am thrilled to have been able to spend it with my sweet, sweet treasure!  There are just so many mountain top moments as I parent her that it never grows old being with her!  I am feeling blessed indeed tonight to have this little lady home and that I get to call her mine!

(Anna Mei had a great time too!  She was adorable and loved playing in the pizza kitchen and grocery store best.  I will post her pictures soon.)