I forgot to put this in the update entry, but Alison is now bottle free. She's been down to just one bottle before bed for several months. In the last couple of weeks she's been drinking milk from a cup a whole lot better, so I decided Monday was it. We were going to ditch the bottle and switch to a cup. She didn't even bat an eye. She's also drinking almost the whole 5 oz. that I put in it (same amount as she used to get in the bottle) without a fight, and I did not think she would. I thought she might drink half of it and planned to adjust accordingly, in anticipation of ditching the bedtime milk altogether. Guess I'll have to rethink that plan. :)
At any rate, on one hand I'm happy that we've finally gotten rid of the bottle. It means she's growing up. On the other hand I'm sad that we've finally gotten rid of the bottle, because it means she's growing up.
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
A Couple of Quick Updates
Since I can't remember any of the other things I thought I might want to write about, I'll just give a couple of updates.
Alison had her follow-up with the ped on Monday. He told us her posture has improved dramatically. Imagine that. I guess when you're not constantly fighting to maintain your balance, you can stand up straighter when you walk. Alison did things kind of backwards. Instead of learning to stand before she walked, she walked before she could stand (without support). At any rate, she was prounounced "doing wonderfully" and we were sent on our way.
I know the reason we take Alison to clinic is so that she can see a specialist because we don't expect her regular ped to have as much experience in dealing with SB, but gees, you'd think maybe he might brush up on some of the particulars when he knows he has a patient with SB. I know they told us at Vanderbilt that we would come away with more knowledge of SB than 99% of doctors in the country, but it's still kind of a weird experience. I was about a half step ahead of our RE throughout our treatment for infertility, due to the research I did beforehand, but that was more a case of he'd say we were going to try something different and I'd be able to tell him what it was going to be (and then he'd ask me how I knew that). This is a whole different ball game though. At least he'll be a little smarter about treating SB kids when/if the next one comes along.
And now a quick update on me. My original goal was to lose 30 pounds by my friend's wedding. I didn't quite make it. I only got down 25. Now, almost 2 weeks later, I'm down 27. Hopefully I'll get the last 3 off by the end of the month. I should have had no problem making it by my "deadline," but I know I slacked off quite a bit here and there. Actually, I didn't do any exercise other than walking with Alison last week, and even that was hit or miss. But I'm back on track now (I hope). I want to lose 50 pounds altogether and I'm hoping to have it all off by Alison's birthday, or Labor Day at the absolute latest.
Alison had her follow-up with the ped on Monday. He told us her posture has improved dramatically. Imagine that. I guess when you're not constantly fighting to maintain your balance, you can stand up straighter when you walk. Alison did things kind of backwards. Instead of learning to stand before she walked, she walked before she could stand (without support). At any rate, she was prounounced "doing wonderfully" and we were sent on our way.
I know the reason we take Alison to clinic is so that she can see a specialist because we don't expect her regular ped to have as much experience in dealing with SB, but gees, you'd think maybe he might brush up on some of the particulars when he knows he has a patient with SB. I know they told us at Vanderbilt that we would come away with more knowledge of SB than 99% of doctors in the country, but it's still kind of a weird experience. I was about a half step ahead of our RE throughout our treatment for infertility, due to the research I did beforehand, but that was more a case of he'd say we were going to try something different and I'd be able to tell him what it was going to be (and then he'd ask me how I knew that). This is a whole different ball game though. At least he'll be a little smarter about treating SB kids when/if the next one comes along.
And now a quick update on me. My original goal was to lose 30 pounds by my friend's wedding. I didn't quite make it. I only got down 25. Now, almost 2 weeks later, I'm down 27. Hopefully I'll get the last 3 off by the end of the month. I should have had no problem making it by my "deadline," but I know I slacked off quite a bit here and there. Actually, I didn't do any exercise other than walking with Alison last week, and even that was hit or miss. But I'm back on track now (I hope). I want to lose 50 pounds altogether and I'm hoping to have it all off by Alison's birthday, or Labor Day at the absolute latest.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Thunderstorms
We had some huge thunderstorms go through this afternoon. Unfortunately we really didn't need any more rain. Kevin had a double header in his softball league tonight and the games were flooded out for the second week in a row.
The storm held off until just before 4:00. That was nice because I didn't have to worry about it waking Alison up since normally gets up around then anyway. I was talking to my mom on the phone and she asked me if Alison was afraid of the thunder and I told her it didn't seem to bother her (especially now that she's off her meds). As if to prove that point, when I went in to get her up, we heard a big rumble of thunder and she thought it was a motorcycle. I guess there are advantages to living next to Harley afficionados.
It rained pretty hard for about another half an hour. Luckily we were not in the area with the 1 1/2 to 2 inch hail. Luckier still, we were not in the area where they suspect there was a tornado. I hope everyone there is ok.
As far as I'm concerned, the rain can take a break for a few days. My back yard needs some time to dry out!
The storm held off until just before 4:00. That was nice because I didn't have to worry about it waking Alison up since normally gets up around then anyway. I was talking to my mom on the phone and she asked me if Alison was afraid of the thunder and I told her it didn't seem to bother her (especially now that she's off her meds). As if to prove that point, when I went in to get her up, we heard a big rumble of thunder and she thought it was a motorcycle. I guess there are advantages to living next to Harley afficionados.
It rained pretty hard for about another half an hour. Luckily we were not in the area with the 1 1/2 to 2 inch hail. Luckier still, we were not in the area where they suspect there was a tornado. I hope everyone there is ok.
As far as I'm concerned, the rain can take a break for a few days. My back yard needs some time to dry out!
Sunday, May 16, 2004
Sunday Rumblings
I think my daughter is a budding bully. Today at church, I observed her snatching toys/books out of other kids hands and I also observed her trying to push a child down the slide because he wasn't getting out of her way fast enough. Is this normal toddler behavior? I hope so. If not, we've got some work to do.
Today after church, Alison walked up the stairs. Not by herself, mind you, but the whole way up comepletely on her feet. We've tried working on stairs here at home, but the only stairs we have are very tall. When standing on one step, the next one is at knee height on her. The steps at church are not so tall. She shocked the heck out of me, that's for sure.
After we got home from church, while Kevin was putting away the groceries and I was putting my shoes and Alison's diaper bag away, I noticed things were awfully quiet in the living room. I walked in to find Alison sitting on the couch, holding one of the remotes up to her ear as if it was a telephone. She was talking to Grandma. I suppose this means we don't need to worry about whether or not she's exhibiting imaginitive play -- not that we were worried about it in the first place, but if anyone asks we can tell them yes, she does.
My next door neighbor told Kevin that one of these Saturdays she's going to come over and basically kick us out of the house and take care of Alison for us so that we can do whatever we want. And she won't let us pay her. She says that getting to come over and play with Alison is payment enough. Alison will be thrilled....she loves Miss Melissa. The sad thing is I have no idea what I want to do with a whole day to ourselves.
Tomorrow we have to go to the ped's. It's a follow-up to her 18 month check-up. The doctor had some concerns then that we were to check out with Alison's SB doctor so he wants an update. He also wants to see how she's doing off her asthma medicine. Well, she's doing just fine, no wheezing, no coughing, and best of all, no freaking out at loud noises. He'll tell me she was just going through a phase, but I find it pretty coincidental that the phase started when she started the meds and ended when she got off them. She actually layed on the floor while I vacuumed around her the other day. She used to freak out if I even mentioned that I was going to vacuum. Her SB doctor told us she was fine. She doesn't walk "pretty," but a lot of kids don't walk pretty at this age. Her spine is fine. She wasn't standing without holding on to something yet because she has she has very mild Chiari malformation causing some immaturity in her brainstem. Tomorrow the ped will see that she's not so crooked when she walks anymore and she's getting pretty good at standing. I know he's just trying to do his best by her and that he's not an expert in spina bifida, but geesh, overreacting to everything that's outside the norm is not going to help things (and it's going to make the specialist think you're nuts).
Oh, I almost forgot. Alison can say her name now. I'm not sure she's really made the connection that it's her name, because if I ask her her name she says no. She doesn't say it perfectly....it sounds more like Ah-son...but it's a start.
Today after church, Alison walked up the stairs. Not by herself, mind you, but the whole way up comepletely on her feet. We've tried working on stairs here at home, but the only stairs we have are very tall. When standing on one step, the next one is at knee height on her. The steps at church are not so tall. She shocked the heck out of me, that's for sure.
After we got home from church, while Kevin was putting away the groceries and I was putting my shoes and Alison's diaper bag away, I noticed things were awfully quiet in the living room. I walked in to find Alison sitting on the couch, holding one of the remotes up to her ear as if it was a telephone. She was talking to Grandma. I suppose this means we don't need to worry about whether or not she's exhibiting imaginitive play -- not that we were worried about it in the first place, but if anyone asks we can tell them yes, she does.
My next door neighbor told Kevin that one of these Saturdays she's going to come over and basically kick us out of the house and take care of Alison for us so that we can do whatever we want. And she won't let us pay her. She says that getting to come over and play with Alison is payment enough. Alison will be thrilled....she loves Miss Melissa. The sad thing is I have no idea what I want to do with a whole day to ourselves.
Tomorrow we have to go to the ped's. It's a follow-up to her 18 month check-up. The doctor had some concerns then that we were to check out with Alison's SB doctor so he wants an update. He also wants to see how she's doing off her asthma medicine. Well, she's doing just fine, no wheezing, no coughing, and best of all, no freaking out at loud noises. He'll tell me she was just going through a phase, but I find it pretty coincidental that the phase started when she started the meds and ended when she got off them. She actually layed on the floor while I vacuumed around her the other day. She used to freak out if I even mentioned that I was going to vacuum. Her SB doctor told us she was fine. She doesn't walk "pretty," but a lot of kids don't walk pretty at this age. Her spine is fine. She wasn't standing without holding on to something yet because she has she has very mild Chiari malformation causing some immaturity in her brainstem. Tomorrow the ped will see that she's not so crooked when she walks anymore and she's getting pretty good at standing. I know he's just trying to do his best by her and that he's not an expert in spina bifida, but geesh, overreacting to everything that's outside the norm is not going to help things (and it's going to make the specialist think you're nuts).
Oh, I almost forgot. Alison can say her name now. I'm not sure she's really made the connection that it's her name, because if I ask her her name she says no. She doesn't say it perfectly....it sounds more like Ah-son...but it's a start.
Friday, May 14, 2004
A Story From Mother's Day
As I said in my previous entry, Kevin took us and my parents out to brunch Sunday morning. While we were eating, I commented that I thought Alison was doing a pretty good job behaving and my mom agreed with me. She said that she was behaving a lot better than the little boy behind the divider, who had a good three years on her. As I was sitting there thinking that was an interesting thing for my mom to say, my dad leaned over to her and said exactly what it was that I was thinking "That used to be your little boy."
My brother was, at times, a holy terror when he was little. I feel quite certain that if/when we have another baby, if it's a boy, we are really in for it. Heck, I think we're in for it even if we were to have a girl. Alison really has us spoiled because she's pretty good most of the time. I have no qualms about taking her almost anywhere. Despite everything, she's an overall happy kid and takes things in stride.
My brother was, at times, a holy terror when he was little. I feel quite certain that if/when we have another baby, if it's a boy, we are really in for it. Heck, I think we're in for it even if we were to have a girl. Alison really has us spoiled because she's pretty good most of the time. I have no qualms about taking her almost anywhere. Despite everything, she's an overall happy kid and takes things in stride.
Monday, May 10, 2004
Nancy's Wedding
One of my very best friends from college got married on Saturday. I am so happy for her. She spent 6 years dating/living with a guy who, while he was very nice, had no intention of making a formal commitment to her. She finally gave him an ultimatum: if they were not engaged when he moved back to northern Ohio, she was staying in Cincinnati. They didn't get engaged, and she stayed where she was. Enter Arn. I don't know him that well, having only met him on a couple of occasions, but he seems to be a really great guy (anyone who would willingly go to the first birthday party of his fiancee's friend's baby must be a decent guy, right?) and has really been a good influence on Nancy. A wind beneath her wings type of guy.
So the wedding was Saturday. It was an adults only affair, except for a select few children, mine being one of them. I was a little nervous because it was a Catholic ceremony, expected to last an hour, and I had no idea if we could keep Alison quiet for that long. We let her "run" around outside the Sanctuary until the last possible minute and then we went in. She was a little antsy at first, and a little loud, but we just stuffed goldfish crackers in her mouth every time she opened it and that took care of one problem. We got out crayons and paper and she spent most of the rest of the ceremomny, which mercifully only ended up being half an hour long, trying to get the crayons out of the crayon box. When is was all over and we were applauding the bride and groom, she clapped right along with us and cheered her little heart out. We got several compliments about how well behaved she was in church.
The ceremony was very nice. Nancy was beautiful, and so excited. And happy. Her dreams are finally coming true. She has always wanted marriage and a family.
Since the wedding ceremony wasn't until after evening mass, the reception didn't start unitl 8:00. We had fed Alison before the ceremony, so she was good to go. We were the ones who were starving by that point! Dinner was served at 8:30, and wouldn't you know, even though we were at table 6, we were the last table released to the buffet. Oh well. After dinner the traditional reception activities began. Except they weren't quite so traditional.
Nancy and Arn swing dance. Their first dance was actually a choreographed swing dance routine! It was so great. They really did a wonderful job. And the entertainment didn't stop there. Arn is a juggler. In addition to teaching Nancy to swing dance, he has also taught her how to juggle. They did one of the most incredible juggling routine I have ever seen. It was set to music and everything. They dimmed the lights and used lighted balls, three each to start with then Arn got up to 5, I think, then they stood together and juggled three between them, Arn using his left hand and Nancy her right. Then they switched to lighted clubs and did the typical things, includig tossing them to each other. They finished up by "twirling" some weighted flags on long strings. Nancy was really in her element here because she had been in the flag corp for both her high school and our college marching bands. All I can say is all wedding receptions we go to in the future will pale in comparison.
Throughout it all, Alison was really well behaved. I was really worried about that because she hadn't taken a nap at all. She spent a lot of time at the reception running around in the lobby with daddy. She loved the juggling. She had wanted so badly to get at those lighted balls when Nancy was trying to get everything set up.
One of my other friends, who I hadn't seen since Alison's surgery two years ago, her husband and her parents were there as well and marveled at how well Alison was doing. After my parents took Alison back to the hotel so she could go to bed, I realized I had not had a chance to get her over to see Nancy's mom. I was very upset with myself about that. She has been praying for her and keeping up with how she's doing through her website. She was supposed to come and see her at her birthday party last year, but she fell and, although she didn't know it at the time, broke her arm the day before. Fortunately, even though she didn't realize who she was at the time, she did see her while she was running around in the lobby.
I think we all had a nice time. I really am so happy for Nancy and Arn. I hope they have a wonderful life together.
So the wedding was Saturday. It was an adults only affair, except for a select few children, mine being one of them. I was a little nervous because it was a Catholic ceremony, expected to last an hour, and I had no idea if we could keep Alison quiet for that long. We let her "run" around outside the Sanctuary until the last possible minute and then we went in. She was a little antsy at first, and a little loud, but we just stuffed goldfish crackers in her mouth every time she opened it and that took care of one problem. We got out crayons and paper and she spent most of the rest of the ceremomny, which mercifully only ended up being half an hour long, trying to get the crayons out of the crayon box. When is was all over and we were applauding the bride and groom, she clapped right along with us and cheered her little heart out. We got several compliments about how well behaved she was in church.
The ceremony was very nice. Nancy was beautiful, and so excited. And happy. Her dreams are finally coming true. She has always wanted marriage and a family.
Since the wedding ceremony wasn't until after evening mass, the reception didn't start unitl 8:00. We had fed Alison before the ceremony, so she was good to go. We were the ones who were starving by that point! Dinner was served at 8:30, and wouldn't you know, even though we were at table 6, we were the last table released to the buffet. Oh well. After dinner the traditional reception activities began. Except they weren't quite so traditional.
Nancy and Arn swing dance. Their first dance was actually a choreographed swing dance routine! It was so great. They really did a wonderful job. And the entertainment didn't stop there. Arn is a juggler. In addition to teaching Nancy to swing dance, he has also taught her how to juggle. They did one of the most incredible juggling routine I have ever seen. It was set to music and everything. They dimmed the lights and used lighted balls, three each to start with then Arn got up to 5, I think, then they stood together and juggled three between them, Arn using his left hand and Nancy her right. Then they switched to lighted clubs and did the typical things, includig tossing them to each other. They finished up by "twirling" some weighted flags on long strings. Nancy was really in her element here because she had been in the flag corp for both her high school and our college marching bands. All I can say is all wedding receptions we go to in the future will pale in comparison.
Throughout it all, Alison was really well behaved. I was really worried about that because she hadn't taken a nap at all. She spent a lot of time at the reception running around in the lobby with daddy. She loved the juggling. She had wanted so badly to get at those lighted balls when Nancy was trying to get everything set up.
One of my other friends, who I hadn't seen since Alison's surgery two years ago, her husband and her parents were there as well and marveled at how well Alison was doing. After my parents took Alison back to the hotel so she could go to bed, I realized I had not had a chance to get her over to see Nancy's mom. I was very upset with myself about that. She has been praying for her and keeping up with how she's doing through her website. She was supposed to come and see her at her birthday party last year, but she fell and, although she didn't know it at the time, broke her arm the day before. Fortunately, even though she didn't realize who she was at the time, she did see her while she was running around in the lobby.
I think we all had a nice time. I really am so happy for Nancy and Arn. I hope they have a wonderful life together.
Thursday, May 6, 2004
Bikinis
On Tuesday Alison and I were shopping at Walmart. We were browsing through the baby/toddler section when we came across the swimsuits. They had some really cute ones. Even though the one I really liked was the bikini with the grass skirt, I searched the racks for a one piece instead. Why? I have no issues with bikinis for toddlers, in fact I think they're kind of cute. But I thought to myself that there was no way I could put Alison in a bikini. Someone might see her back. And her back is pretty ugly looking. She's got a nasty looking scar from where they did the closure, and she's got another one, which doesn't look quite as bad, from a skin graft to cover the flank incision that was necessary to give the surgeon enough skin to do the closure.
Kevin and I have talked about her back periodically. He will occasionally ask me what she's going to think about her scars when she gets older. There will probably be a time when she'll be very self-conscious about it. If that's the case, plastic surgery is an option we can explore. I'm hoping, though, that she'll just accept that's the way she is and not give it a second thought. That's why we want to try and treat her just like a regular kid as much as possible. And regular kids sometimes wear bikinis when they're little. So I bought it.
Kevin and I have talked about her back periodically. He will occasionally ask me what she's going to think about her scars when she gets older. There will probably be a time when she'll be very self-conscious about it. If that's the case, plastic surgery is an option we can explore. I'm hoping, though, that she'll just accept that's the way she is and not give it a second thought. That's why we want to try and treat her just like a regular kid as much as possible. And regular kids sometimes wear bikinis when they're little. So I bought it.
Wednesday, May 5, 2004
Shopping for Shoes
We're going to a wedding this weekend and while I don't have a problem wearing a dress that's a good 5 years old (see our Easter pictures below), I figured it would be a good idea to get a new pair of shoes to go with it, since the pair I used to wear with it are at least 11 years old, probably older. I have a nice pair of white shoes that could have been a possibility, but they just don't look quite right. How hard is it to run out and find a pair of pumps that would look halfway decent with this dress? Well, let's just say it probably would have been easier to find a new dress to wear with my white shoes.
Now, I know that in current fashion, pantyhose are out. I also know that the current trend in dressy footwear is a strappy, opened toed, sandal-type shoe. However, this body needs control top pantyhose and pantyhose with open toed shoes is quite possibly the mother of all fashion faux pas. That's how I found myself at our mall, wandering from store to store to store trying to find a shoe that was not only the right color, but that didn't look like something a senior citizen would be wearing. At 32 years old, I don't think I'm ready for the Hush Puppies and Naturalizers.
At the 5th store I went to, I found something that might work, but it was still a little on the frumpy side. I headed off to the only store I hadn't been to yet with little hope of finding anything. But there it was. A nice, ivory sling back....in my size....on sale! After walking around in them for a little while, checking them out in the mirror, looking at my watch and seeing that I had to be home in less than 25 minutes, I decided to take them.
I tried them on with my dress after I put Alison to bed. I think they're going to be all right. I was a little concerned about them being too tight Saturday night, but I figured my feet aren't going to be anymore swollen then than they were last night, so I'm not going to worry about it. Here's the funny thing....not only have I decreased my clothing size in my weightloss journey, I've also decreased my shoe size! Well, for these particular shoes anyway.
So that was my shoe shopping expedition. Next up, sandals for Alison. That's probably the only thing that will be more difficult than finding shoes for this wedding!
Now, I know that in current fashion, pantyhose are out. I also know that the current trend in dressy footwear is a strappy, opened toed, sandal-type shoe. However, this body needs control top pantyhose and pantyhose with open toed shoes is quite possibly the mother of all fashion faux pas. That's how I found myself at our mall, wandering from store to store to store trying to find a shoe that was not only the right color, but that didn't look like something a senior citizen would be wearing. At 32 years old, I don't think I'm ready for the Hush Puppies and Naturalizers.
At the 5th store I went to, I found something that might work, but it was still a little on the frumpy side. I headed off to the only store I hadn't been to yet with little hope of finding anything. But there it was. A nice, ivory sling back....in my size....on sale! After walking around in them for a little while, checking them out in the mirror, looking at my watch and seeing that I had to be home in less than 25 minutes, I decided to take them.
I tried them on with my dress after I put Alison to bed. I think they're going to be all right. I was a little concerned about them being too tight Saturday night, but I figured my feet aren't going to be anymore swollen then than they were last night, so I'm not going to worry about it. Here's the funny thing....not only have I decreased my clothing size in my weightloss journey, I've also decreased my shoe size! Well, for these particular shoes anyway.
So that was my shoe shopping expedition. Next up, sandals for Alison. That's probably the only thing that will be more difficult than finding shoes for this wedding!
Saturday, May 1, 2004
Bath Time
Bath time at our house is daddy's job. I don't like to do bath. I'm not sure exactly why, but I don't. It's not like it's all that hard....put Alison in the tub with some toys, let her play around a little, brush her teeth, soap her up and rinse her off, and wash her hair.
I guess hair washing is why I don't like doing bath. It shouldn't be such a big deal, but for some reason --my left-handedness maybe?-- I'm not coordinated enough to rinse the shampoo out without traumatizing my child. I have come up with an idea --ok, I stole someone else's idea-- on how to make it a little better. We went to Target last night, bought a little toy watering can and voila! Instant mini shower. :) I still have to be really careful about shampoo in the eyes because Alison puts her head down instead of tilting it back, but it's a definite improvement. Alison likes to use it to water the bath water.
I guess hair washing is why I don't like doing bath. It shouldn't be such a big deal, but for some reason --my left-handedness maybe?-- I'm not coordinated enough to rinse the shampoo out without traumatizing my child. I have come up with an idea --ok, I stole someone else's idea-- on how to make it a little better. We went to Target last night, bought a little toy watering can and voila! Instant mini shower. :) I still have to be really careful about shampoo in the eyes because Alison puts her head down instead of tilting it back, but it's a definite improvement. Alison likes to use it to water the bath water.
Saturday Night
It's the second night of "girls' weekend in." It's been pretty good so far, although Alison had me ready to pull my hair out earlier.
We did end up going to the Center for the Arts. We didn't go to the "Pearls" exhibit --I decided to wait until Kevin can go with us because I think he'd like it-- but we did go through the Hall of Ideas. They have a Foucault (is that even close to the right spelling?) pendulum between the gift shop and the entrance to the hall, and Alison was absolutely fascinated with it. She kept wanting to go back and see the "clock."
It's hard to describe just exactly what kind of exhibits they have here, but they are mostly science related. We didn't spend a whole lot of time looking at them, since they really aren't geared for a toddler, but Alison had a good time walking around. There are a couple of not-exactly-soundproofed rooms that deal with music. One talked about different types of music and played short clips of songs. We stayed in there for a few minutes and Alison really like some of what we heard. She couldn't have cared less for the commentary. The other room had a couple of different intruments in it....violin, recorder, trombone, some pipes from a pipe organ, and a xylophone. The xylophone was by far Alison's favorite. What's not to love about something that plays music when you beat on it with a stick? The pipes from the organ scared her. Actually, I think it was just whatever was providing the air for the pipes, because the trombone and the recorder didn't bother her and they worked on the same principle.....push a button and air starts blowing, then cover the holes, move the slide or move the air source around to make music.
I also discovered that Alison really did learn how to climb down stairs last weekend. Her grandma taught her how to get down the porch steps so we weren't constantly having to catch her before she walked off into thin air and fell down the steps. I don't know why, but I wasn't sure she would equate the porch steps with other kinds of steps. This morning, without me even saying a word, she stopped about two feet away from the stairs, got down on her hands and knees, turned around, crawled back to the edge and went down.
Tonight, after nap and our regular walk (here's where I want to whine about it being nearly 30 degrees colder than it was 2 days ago) we hit the mall for dinner at Ruby Tuesday. It's the first time I've taken her to a real sit-down restaurant by myself. Everything went fine. Alison colored on her menu a little, ate some peaches without a fight, was satisfied with a few fries while I de-breaded her chicken nuggets, and had finished most of her dinner before I even had a chance to start mine.
About a year ago, while we were out to dinner with my mom and my brother, my brother decided to give Alison a fry with ketchup to see if she would like it. She did not. The face she made was priceless. Tonight she kept grabbing for the ketchup bottle, so I put a little splotch on her plate and dipped a fry in it for her. Instead of taking a bite of the fry, she sucked the ketchup off and stuck the fry back in it. She ate most of the ketchup with the same fry.
After dinner we went out and walked around the mall a little bit. I was brave and did not bring the stroller in with me. Although there are a lot of people who don't approve of them, and think it makes children look like dogs, I have a harness for Alison. She's getting to the point where she wants to be down exploring and she doesn't like to hold my hand or have her hand held for very long. We went to Hallmark because I needed to get a couple of cards. Not exactly the best idea I've ever had. There's a lot of stuff to get into at Hallmark. I was able to buy my cards and get us out of the store without little fingers breaking anything.
The second bad idea of th evening was to make our way down to the rides. Alison's been to the mall enough --it's where we walk when the weather's bad-- to know that there's a choo choo there somewhere. So we went to see the choo choo. She didn't want to get in it, or any of the other rides, but, once there, she didn't want to leave it either!! We'd get going in the right direction for five or ten feet and the next thing I knew she was headed back to the choo choo. We finally got far enough away that she kept going in the right direction. The only challenge then was to keep from going into every store we passed.
We finally made it out of the mall and back home only to discover that Kevin called less than 10 minutes before we got here and we missed him. He's having a good time, I guess, and he'll be home around noon tomorrow. I think we'll survive until then. :)
We did end up going to the Center for the Arts. We didn't go to the "Pearls" exhibit --I decided to wait until Kevin can go with us because I think he'd like it-- but we did go through the Hall of Ideas. They have a Foucault (is that even close to the right spelling?) pendulum between the gift shop and the entrance to the hall, and Alison was absolutely fascinated with it. She kept wanting to go back and see the "clock."
It's hard to describe just exactly what kind of exhibits they have here, but they are mostly science related. We didn't spend a whole lot of time looking at them, since they really aren't geared for a toddler, but Alison had a good time walking around. There are a couple of not-exactly-soundproofed rooms that deal with music. One talked about different types of music and played short clips of songs. We stayed in there for a few minutes and Alison really like some of what we heard. She couldn't have cared less for the commentary. The other room had a couple of different intruments in it....violin, recorder, trombone, some pipes from a pipe organ, and a xylophone. The xylophone was by far Alison's favorite. What's not to love about something that plays music when you beat on it with a stick? The pipes from the organ scared her. Actually, I think it was just whatever was providing the air for the pipes, because the trombone and the recorder didn't bother her and they worked on the same principle.....push a button and air starts blowing, then cover the holes, move the slide or move the air source around to make music.
I also discovered that Alison really did learn how to climb down stairs last weekend. Her grandma taught her how to get down the porch steps so we weren't constantly having to catch her before she walked off into thin air and fell down the steps. I don't know why, but I wasn't sure she would equate the porch steps with other kinds of steps. This morning, without me even saying a word, she stopped about two feet away from the stairs, got down on her hands and knees, turned around, crawled back to the edge and went down.
Tonight, after nap and our regular walk (here's where I want to whine about it being nearly 30 degrees colder than it was 2 days ago) we hit the mall for dinner at Ruby Tuesday. It's the first time I've taken her to a real sit-down restaurant by myself. Everything went fine. Alison colored on her menu a little, ate some peaches without a fight, was satisfied with a few fries while I de-breaded her chicken nuggets, and had finished most of her dinner before I even had a chance to start mine.
About a year ago, while we were out to dinner with my mom and my brother, my brother decided to give Alison a fry with ketchup to see if she would like it. She did not. The face she made was priceless. Tonight she kept grabbing for the ketchup bottle, so I put a little splotch on her plate and dipped a fry in it for her. Instead of taking a bite of the fry, she sucked the ketchup off and stuck the fry back in it. She ate most of the ketchup with the same fry.
After dinner we went out and walked around the mall a little bit. I was brave and did not bring the stroller in with me. Although there are a lot of people who don't approve of them, and think it makes children look like dogs, I have a harness for Alison. She's getting to the point where she wants to be down exploring and she doesn't like to hold my hand or have her hand held for very long. We went to Hallmark because I needed to get a couple of cards. Not exactly the best idea I've ever had. There's a lot of stuff to get into at Hallmark. I was able to buy my cards and get us out of the store without little fingers breaking anything.
The second bad idea of th evening was to make our way down to the rides. Alison's been to the mall enough --it's where we walk when the weather's bad-- to know that there's a choo choo there somewhere. So we went to see the choo choo. She didn't want to get in it, or any of the other rides, but, once there, she didn't want to leave it either!! We'd get going in the right direction for five or ten feet and the next thing I knew she was headed back to the choo choo. We finally got far enough away that she kept going in the right direction. The only challenge then was to keep from going into every store we passed.
We finally made it out of the mall and back home only to discover that Kevin called less than 10 minutes before we got here and we missed him. He's having a good time, I guess, and he'll be home around noon tomorrow. I think we'll survive until then. :)
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