The Month of May in Southern Illinois...

We started off the month of May with a lively Cinco De Mayo party at the Olsen household.  We even received a special visit from Senorita Loco Lauren...or more like Senor Lip Fuzz, per her picture above!  Wish we could claim responsibility for Lauren's festiveness; however, we have to give credit to our friends, the Noorlanders (plus Bec's sister Amanda).  They surprised us by each coming dressed with a sombrero and a sweet mustache to the party.  Definitely the most festive family at the party...nay, on the block...actually, they probably topped any other family in the entire city of Belleville, IL.

Next came strawberry season 'round these parts.  Lucky for us, we have two family farms not 5 minutes from our front door step that allow patrons to come and "pick their own".  So we took Baby Lauren strawberry picking in her best farmer overalls!  The ground was a bit muddy from the seasonal rains, so she was half carried/half crawled around the patch to get the delicious strawberries.  At this farm they let you eat whatever you'd like while you pick strawberries, so Lauren and Nate were in hog-heaven filling their bellies to capacity.  Lauren was definitely a hot-mess by the end of the pickin', but it sure was fun to witness and the strawberries were absolutely delicious!

Then came baseball season for the local farm team, the Gateway Grizzlies.  We got to go to a game with a couple families from church and it was a riot!  Not a bad seat in the house and Lauren got to people watch to her little hearts content (her second favorite activity behind "reading" books!)  The Grizzlies mascot did make his rounds and we were in the front two rows next to the home teams dugout, so we saw him more than once.  Meaning Lauren had the chance to freak-out more than once!  There was something about this mascot that terrified her, so she would practically run up Nate's shoulder or abdomen trying to get farther away from him.  As Lauren's mom, I'm sad to admit that it was a pretty hilarious spectacle to witness!

And during all these fun May activities, we kept up with Lauren's weekly PT.  She's doing absolutely great, minus what her physical therapist refers to as "her complete disregard for personal safetly".  Meaning, Lauren will go face-first when trying to get down from elevated objects, just assuming someone will catch her or help her down.  Also, when doing her assisted walking, when going down stairs she doesn't look where she's stepping, but instead just bull-dozes ahead.  This will/does improve with age, but is the only thing that is noted during Lauren's PT these days - which is a WONDERFUL report card compared to what we were told could be her potential set-backs due to her HIE. Woohoo!!!

Now with all her mobility and confidence strengthening due to age and PT, we've found a new critter roaming the cabinets of our kitchen...