Hazel Jean

There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.  When she was good she was very very good, but when she was bad she was Horrid!

Okay so this picture doesn't really show the curl in the middle of her forehead, but this poem pretty much sums up my Hazel.  Can I go to bed now? 

Oh alright - let's begin.  First of all, her middle name isn't Jean ..... yet.  I REALLY wanted to give her the middle name Jean after my mother but a lot of people did not agree with me.  My husband told me that I could make the decision so what did I do?  I did what everyone else wanted and NOT me.  (That is pretty much a personality trait ingrained in me and I don't know how to get rid of it..)  Ever since the first day I have called her Hazel Jean and wished I had named her that.  In fact, if you ask her what her name is she will even say Hazel Jean.  She doesn't even know that is not actually her legal name.  So, I have had on my list for a few years to have her name changed but I have been a little busy and have never gotten around to it.  Last year I told my husband that is all I wanted for Mother's day this year so let's see if he remembers (or reads the blog :)  She was named after my husband's grandma Hazel who passed away before he was born (or very close to it).  She was a sweet and stunningly beautiful woman from what we have heard about her from her sweet, beautiful daughter Barbara (Hazel's Grandma).

Moving on.  Hazel is so smart and so full of personality it kills me.  I really can't even comprehend how she can be so tiny and so young and have so much personality already - it doesn't seem possible.  She has been this way from the beginning.  Hazel was speaking in sentences by about 13 months.  Instead of crying for me to get her out of bed in the morning she would say "Mama, get me out".  She has been a talker ever since then and has impeccable articulation.  She never really had that period where only I could understand her. 

She has been through a lot in a short time and I think that is why I give into her many "treat" requests out of guilt.  Dumb - I know.  Anyways, she was only a few weeks old when Wyatt was officially diagnosed.  Her entire life has been centered around treating her brothers.  She was on the GFCF diet for the first two years of life and then onto the Specific Carbohydrate Diet.  (She has been all over the place lately but because of the sugar obsession she is going back on the diet with the boys..)  She has helped me train over 20 behavioral therapists.  She trained herself just from watching us and you will sometimes find her saying "Wy Wy - eat food.  No, Eat food" Until he runs over and obeys her.  It is quite a sight.  She has watched Wyatt go into a room with one-on-one attention and all the coolest toys you can imagine for 40 hours a week since the day she was born.   She has endured many doctors appointments with her brothers and has been on supplements since the beginning.  

She has not had the typical childhood.  Who knows what that is anymore anyways?  As a family we aren't able to travel barely at all.  We don't go out to eat.  We really don't have any playdates.  The kids weren't aloud until recently to set foot outside for fear of Wyatt running away and never returning.  The house has been locked down like a prison for years.  She has watched her brothers get a lot of attention and special treatment (even though I have tried my best to make things equal). Children with special needs need more constant care than typical kids so I have tried, but always wish I could give her more one-on-one time.   After all of this guess what she said the other day?  (I think I may have already posted it..)  Someone asked her if she was going to be a model when she grew up and she said, in a stern voice:  "No - I am going to be a mama". 

Hazel is a tough little girl.  She plays with her brothers very well.  She gets tackled, knocked down and has been bitten a couple of times.  She plays star wars, battles, Legos, tickle monster as well as girly things like pretend cooking, dolls, etc.  She LOVES to have her fingernails painted and loves princess stuff.  She is a very well rounded little girl. 

Here is something funny about haze.  She doesn't seem to really get scared easily (besides of bugs once in awhile or other random things) We went to see the movie "Soul Surfer" the other day (which I need to post about because it was AMAZING and I cried about 50 times...)  and there is a part where the girl's arm gets bitten off by a shark.  Now it doesn't really show it graphically, but after it happens the girl is bleeding badly, taken to the hospital, etc and it is very dramatic.  My sweet Brody gets very scared and was very upset and had to be taken out for a few minutes (even though I warned him about what would be happening in the movie and he still said he wanted to go)  But as I looked over at my tiny little three year old girl, she was glued to the screen.  At one point I saw her do that thing where you cover your eyes with one hand but you are still peeking through the fingers?  But she pretty much watched the whole thing. 

This brings me to one of my all time favorite Hazel stories.  She LOVES spider man.  It has died down now, but she used to want to watch it all the time - even at age 2.   She watched all three of them and would tell us which one she wanted like "I want the one with the sand monster", etc.  Anyways, Brody liked to watch with her but he got a lot more nervous and scared that she did.  Here is the good part:  At the beginning of the 1st movie Brody is SO afraid of the part where it shows the spider bite Peter Parker on the hand.  He is so scared that he can't watch.  So what does he do?  He (a 6 year old boy) says to Hazel (a 2 year old girl)  "Hazel tell me when it is over" as he is running out of the room.  Hazel watches intently without batting an eye and then yells "It's over Brody!"  How is that for cute?  She does this on multiple scary parts on multiple movies for her big brother.

She really is like the poem says "very very good"  She helps me, she doesn't run away (unless she is mimicking her brother...), she has always been able to tell me what she wants, communicate with me and can understand what I say to her.  Those are great things all around but extra great in my house.  She is fun to play with, she loves to help me cook food all day for her brothers and she loves for me to read her stories each night.

However, sometimes - she can be like the poem says.... Horrid!  Okay, maybe not that bad but she LOVES when I tell her this poem and asks for it all the time and I tell her it is about her :)  My mom always said it to me when I was little and I have never forgotten it.  Hazel has had a hard time lately I think with the move, etc.  She had to leave her favorite preschool teacher in the world and all of her friends.  She had to leave her Papa and her Mimi (grandma) at home.  She had to leave all of her toys behind, etc.  I think she has just had a hard time adjusting and also is wanting attention because she has had more tantrums and behavior problems than ever before.  She is still not very bad but I guess just compared to what she usually is,  it seems bad.  She cries a lot, wants us to hold her all the time, falls asleep on the golf cart everyday.  She stays up late and won't go to bed and she gets up early and wakes me up.  She doesn't want to eat anything but candy and treats.  I tell her she has to eat first and she freaks out!  She finally eats and then says she is full and wants candy.  So she has one little treat and then she is starving and wants more food.  I swear the last three hours of the night are spent giving her and Brody snacks and it was NEVER like that at home.  Not sure what is going on. 

So, we keep telling her that all the treats are going away and she has to be on the same diet as her brothers and she says ok, but I know she won't like it.  We try to keep her mostly on it but then I give in for a treat and tell her not to tell Brody.  What is the first thing she does?  "Brody - I got an M&M"  etc.  She is definitely a little tease. 

By the time Hazel is a Mama she will probably have seen everything there is too see and will be so experienced and ready to take care of her own babies.  She is a very special little girl who loves her family and brothers very much.

The other day she said to me with the happiest face:  "Mom- Wyatt smiled at me!  He loves me"  I think for the first time in her life she is feeling a connection between her and her sweet brother and she was SO happy about it.  I can't wait for the three of them to be talking, playing and laughing all together as best friends. 

So - I don't really know where this post was going - really nowhere.  But it was fun to remember and share fun things about my sweet little girl.  I don't know what I would do without my little Haze - even when she is Horrid. :)

WE LOVE YOU HAZEL JEAN!

Me and my buddy on the Way home from church Sunday.  She insisted on pulling her glasses down for the photo.