Time in the Eyes of a 3 year old

So aside from Audry, contrary to popular belief, I do in fact have another little girl. Emery is 3 years old and SMA free. While most of our energy is spent on Audry and SMA. SMA effects every member of this family to include Emery. With that I decided to write a post about Nemo. I used to hate the nickname "Nemo". My sister gave it to her while we were deployed, it literally made my skin crawl every time I heard her say it. It wasn't until we came back on R&R that I took one look at her and she was indeed a Nemo. No, she wasn't named after the motion picture Finding Nemo. If I remember correctly it had to do with the way she talked. You'll have to ask Erin, she nicknamed her. None the less Nemo stuck.

Nemo is above the curve when it comes to brains. No idea which side of the family she gets it from, but she's wicked bright. At 3 years old she says things that make my eyebrows arch. We've been working on the whole sister has SMA thing. She tells her friends at school that Audry is sick, and her legs are broken. I love when someone calls Audry a baby, and big sister quickly corrects them that she is NOT a baby. Hell some days I need a reminder. It's hard being a single parent, but twice as hard when one child requires triple the amount of time, energy, and attention, as the other. Typical kids, and I use typical, not "normal", because being "not normal" is considered "abnormal". Seeing as how google defines abnormal as "Deviating from what is normal or usual, typically in a way that is undesirable " and neither of my girls are undesirable... where was I? Definatily lost my train of though. Go with it. Nemo is a bit of an attention seeker. She likes to be the center of attention and yet she still maintains the sisterly love. If Audry is getting too much attention Emery quickly reminds everyone that thats "my sister". She likes to explain how sister eats from a "straw" in her belly. She's all about educating from the 3 year old perspective.

Which brings me to the point of this post. I have many conversations with Emery and recently she's being recalling memories and attaching them with "yesterday" I wonder how much of this last year she really remembers. My only hope is that she's not damaged by the chaos that started on August 1, 2011. "Yesterday, we brought sister home from the hospital, cause she lived in your belly" We all know that was in 2010.  "Yesterday, I stayed at my aunties house and she let me have a binky." that was during her attempt to tell me she wasn't too old for a binky. Little does she know that yesterday was before she turned 3, and she is indeed to old for the binky. "Yesterday, I talked to my daddy." The sad truth is she hasn't spoken to him in over a month. Nor have I. "Yesterday, we went to the lake." All I can say is glad she is remembering happy memories. The lake day was a blast. Really, yesterday, she was at school playing with Bethany. Everything that has happened in her life was "yesterday" It really made me grateful that when we get older we develop a timeline. Lord knows if everyday was the day after diagnosis day, I'd be a hot blubbering mess 24/7. Diving in more with our conversations I also learned that today, and tomorrow, are the only things she really pieces together. I can tell her in a week, we are going to wet and wild, and everyday she will ask me. Until of course it's tomorrow and then she understands it.

 Mind you this is my oldest so I'm probably striking notes that have already been struck. It's crazy how a couple conversations can really get me thinking about the past, present, and future. I don't know what the future holds, I know whats in the past, and I can kinda recall what happened today. I am however going to embrace it. I am blessed with 2 bright beautiful daughters. Each bringing to the table a different kind of challenge. Emery struggles with Audry taking up so much time, and Audry struggles with SMA. All kids need love and attention. I've gotten a lot better with taking Nemo on "date days" Getting mani/pedi's or even going to walmart just the two of us. Good news is she's not keeping tally, cause everyday we did it yesterday ;)

"Embrace The Suck"