Summer!

So much for my intention to blog more frequently! I can't believe it's been over three months since my last post. We've enjoyed a wonderful, busy summer.

Fatima graduated from elementary school, spent a week with her cousin here, had a week of theatre camp (in which she was a Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland), lazed around the neighborhood pool, watched more tv than usually allowed, played with friends, played Webkinz online and learned to Skype. Due to so many activities the girls had, plus fitting in Dollbaby's swimming lessons and nap time, we've only had a few staycation outings this summer. We went to the Natural History Museum, a local garden, and the Zoo. Fatima has also had a great time making new friends with the girls her age in our local Catholic homeschooling group, which we recently joined ... because we've decided to homeschool her. She and I are both looking forward to our time together and some fun learning! She also joined the Children's Latin Choir, which will perform at the cathedral this month and the Eucharistic Congress next month.

Kitty is now a rising (for the next two weeks) senior! Theatre remains her passion and she stays very busy with it. She worked as Assistant Stage Manager for a major production at a community theatre, was the Stage Manager for the high school summer stock production, is serving as Assistant Set Designer for a community theatre's fall production, signed on to operate lights for another fall production, and is the Set and Costume Designer for her school's fall production. Oh, and she just interviewed for what would be her first paid job - at another community theatre! It looks like they might ask her to Stage Manage one of their shows!! She's also been reading stacks of college scholarship books and websites. She spent a week at a great Catholic college taking classes in the morning and participating in fun activities in the afternoons/evenings. She liked it so much, if it were affordable, she would consider going there freshman year and then transferring to a technical theatre school! She's enjoyed time at the pool and with friends and she celebrated her birthday - three times (twice with friends, once with family). She'll be at an Apologetics Camp next week, then it's back to school.

Dollbaby continues to enthrall us! She is SO fun, sweet, and adorable! She is growing fast (33", 23.2#) and developing many new skills. Some of her milestones since the last post:

* four more teeth

* absolutely LOVES watermelon

* likes tacos, sugar snap peas, plums, pears, peaches...

* took six weeks of daily survival swimming lessons (she didn't like it, but she's safer for it)

* walks down stairs holding the railing

* loves to snuggle in the comfy chair before bed :-)

* pretty much calls all fruit "apple" and all pasta with red sauce "lasagne" (na-nagne)

* adds more words a day than I can keep track of now (some of the newer ones: boat, button, diaper, up, down, stairs, night-night, blueberry bar (you wouldn't recognize it,

but I do!), waffle, Happy Birthday, burp, hug, teeth, paper, tv, duck)

* she also talks up a storm in her own language :-)

* uses 2-3 word "sentences," sometimes a combination of sign language and speech (like "more cereal please")

* sits still longer to be read to (actually sat on my lap for half of The Cat in the Hat last week!)

* climbs!!!! climbed onto our tall bed, climbed on the humidifier to reach the dresser top, climbed onto my desk, climbed out of her crib... The phrase "her sisters never did that" is becoming all-too-common!

We've also enjoyed several visits from friends & family. Two of Dave's sisters came in May, with cousins in tow. Kathy came back in July with two of her girls and our niece and her daughter who live in Spain. Our nephew and his family came to visit a few weeks later. Fatima received a huge treat when her best friend from Florida, whom she hadn't seen in nearly four years, stayed overnight. Her family was traveling through on vacation and stopped over so she could spend ~ 23 hours with Fatima!

Dave's been extremely busy at work, putting in very long hours. He has been able to get some skiing time in, but not enough!

It seems as if most of my summer has been spent chauffeuring the girls to their various activities. I continue to go to the gym at 5am every weekday. My neurologist was pleased with my progress over the past four months. The muscles are slowly rebuilding. But, some of the nerves are still sluggish and some reflexes are still absent. So, while I'm happy and SO thankful for the improvements I've had, I'm still hoping he's wrong about the maximum recovery being at two years post-diagnosis, as that would only be four months from now. And, I still have considerably more recovery I want to achieve.

Here are some visual highlights from our summer:

at Fatima's elementary graduation

Kitty's birthday

at the Zoo

4th of July

after Fatima's Alice in Wonderland show

My birthday

Happy Mother's Day

Our day started the same as every Sunday – at 7:30am Mass. It was wonderful to sit all together again for the first time in well over a year. Usually Dollbaby & I are in the Nursing Mother's room and/or Narthex. But, we've been going to daily Mass occasionally, and she's been okay in the pew, so I decided to try. She was a little distracting, but overall, well-behaved for an 18mo. Dave helped celebrate the day by making breakfast, doing the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, mopping the floor, and taking care of the kids while I worked out and ran errands. The errand part was a typical Mom-moment. Kitty needed some fabric for school the next day. We had to go to three stores before we succeeded (who knew so many places still closed on Sundays – good for them). Then, I took her to the community theatre. Dave and Fatima went boating, while Dollbaby and I hung out together. Kitty and Fatima both created lovely artistic gifts for me...

  from Kitty

from Fatima

Last week was Fatima's spring chorus concert in which she had a few speaking parts and a short solo. Although Dave missed a good chunk of the concert having to remove a cranky Dollbaby from the room, he did get to hear the solo.

The 1^st Thursday fell on Cinco de Mayo this month, so I had a fiesta theme for Game Day. (Several ladies from my newcomer's group come over to play games once a month.) It was a fun reason to try a few new recipes, including cornbread dippers with a Monterey Jack queso, breakfast nacho casserole and mock strawberry margaritas. Fatima helped me make mini-cupcakes decorated with the Mexican flag colors. She made little Mexican flags on toothpicks for them. We had a great time feasting and playing Sequence and Rummikub.  When I Googled Cinco de Mayo to learn what it commemorates, I was quite surprised to discover it's celebrated throughout America and virtually ignored in Mexico!!  Guess any excuse for a party, right?!

I've started a Pro-Life Rosary group with some ladies on Tuesday mornings during May. I'm reading a Maeve Binchy novel, although with Dollbaby and other duties, it's taking much longer than it used to! I've been watching lots of movies, but none all the way through! The gym has this fantastic “movie room” with lots of cardio equipment and a giant movie screen. They play a different movie each day. So, I typically see about 50-65 minutes of it. It's funny, many of them are ones I'd never opt for at home, but they're perfect for working out, like Unstoppable, Transporter 3, various Bond flicks, etc.

Yesterday was the start of tech week for Kitty, to be followed by three weeks of shows. She's Assistant Stage Manager and Light Board Operator for the community theatre production. So, we pretty much won't see her until Memorial Day. I'm so thankful she has rides for the rest of the run!

New Dollbaby feats:

• Added a few more words including alligator. (She likes playing with Fatima's plastic alligator. Calls it an “ah-gay.”)
• Says a happy, lyrical “mmmm huh” for yes.
• Started a new noise – a truly irritating EE EE EE whine that sounds like a European ambulance siren.
• Last week, signed “socks” using her fists instead of fingers. Yesterday, used her fingers.
• Walked up three steps holding my hand and the railing (instead of crawling/climbing).
• Opened a door by herself.
• Fed herself yogurt with a spoon.
  
  My Three Sweet Girls
  
  
  I'll close with a little photo tribute to my Mom:
  
  1965 or 1966
  Dad, Mom, Anne, me, Bobby
  
   
• 1970?
  me, Patty, Mom, Bobby, Anne 

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a blessed Lent and that these 50 days of Easter will be Filled with Joy! The past six weeks have been teeming with activity and Lenten blessings. I'm now back in the habit of daily scripture reading, have completed many spring cleaning projects, and have a new exercise habit.

I saw the Neurologist for a follow up on March 16. My recovery from Guillain Barre Syndrome is not progressing as well as he would have expected. He did a new set of nerve conduction and EMG tests, which showed I still have some nerve abnormalities, resulting in continued weakness. He agreed to wait four months to do another Lumbar Puncture test to see how I progress with physical therapy and exercise. So, pretty much to avoid another long needle stuck in my back and the withdrawal of spinal fluids and possible complications, on the way home from the Neurologist's, I stopped at a gym for a tour. I started working out the next day and have been doing so faithfully six days a week for the past six weeks - usually at 5am! My physical therapist is pleased with my progress. And, I'm thrilled to feel the muscles rebuilding. Considering that 16 months ago I had great difficulty lifting a dry washcloth, pushing the buttons on the remote control, getting up and down, or walking, I praise God for my health! On days that I don't make it to the gym at 5am, I go when the childcare area is open. Dollbaby has grown used to it. The ladies tell me she especially likes to play with the kitchen and sit in the Little Tykes Coupe car and that she often follows the other children around or watches them play. Fatima comes with me a couple times a week (afternoon or weekend - not 5am!). She likes walking on the treadmill and swimming laps the best.

My Psalm Study group ended this week. It's been a great study, definitely my favorite of the Bible studies I've done! My Game Group still plays on first Thursdays and is lots of fun. The last few times, one of the games we played was Yhatzee, which most of us hadn't played in many, many years! As with friends in the past, the ladies were amazed that so many of our games are ones I've had since childhood. I don't know how my Mom managed to get us to keep all the pieces and supplies together!

Kitty has had an incredibly busy six weeks. She started off March attending two theatre conferences for a total of seven days. One was out-of-state, the other here. Both involved days packed with workshops and events from about 8am to midnight. At the regional event, she displayed her portfolio and reps from 35 colleges signed up to interview her! When she returned to school, she had to make up all the missed work, design the set for the spring musical, oversee its creation, and begin work (volunteer) as Assistant Stage Manager for a community theatre production. While that show is running, she'll start working (volunteer) on the show she's Stage Managing this summer. She also volunteer ushers at the performing arts center that hosts Broadway and other big name shows. Somehow, she still manages to fit in her homework, socializing, Facebook, and now League of Legends (a video game she recently got into).

Holy Week was our spring break. Kitty spent five days visiting two of her three top college choices. (She'll visit the other one in the fall.) She attended classes and theatre work days, saw a play, helped strike the set, met students, slept in the dorms, ate in the cafeteria, walked the campuses and area, etc. Fatima spent her spring break in Atlanta with her cousins - for the third year in a row. She so loves hanging out with them! Her aunt makes it extra special by planning fun activities. This year, they visited a monastery and had a picnic on the grounds, saw the new movie Rio in a dinner cinema, played at Bounce-a-Rama, and picked strawberries. Dave drove Fatima to his sister's and went on to spend the week on a business trip in Alabama. The two of them returned home on Holy Saturday. Dollbaby and I spent spring break hanging out at home, going to the gym, and transporting Kitty to/from her college visits. These pictures are from one of the colleges:

Other highlights from the past six weeks:

Dave's birthday -- I made another photobook for him :-) (only five more years to go to catch up!!) We had a family breakfast together to celebrate, as Fatima's party was that night and Kitty had a theatre conference all day/night.

Fatima's birthday party (postponed from February due to illness)

Dollbaby LOVED playing with the balloons,

which she called balls.

Spring Consignment Sales -- We found lots of great deals at the various sales.  Dollbaby let me try the outfits on her, then ran around the house, entertaining us with a Baby Fashion Show. She enjoyed the clapping and cheering we gave her. Fatima rated each outfit, holding up homemade score cards (all were 9s and 10s). She also presented Dollbaby with a "Fashion Show Winner" award certificate.

Neighborhood Easter Party -- Fatima was too old to participate this year, but volunteered at the face-painting station. This is as close as Dollbaby would get to the Easter Bunny:

Dollbaby's Latests:

* 18 mo, 19# 10 oz (<5th percentile), 31.5" (50th %tile), head 19" (90th %tile)

* vocabulary: 30+ words and 9 signs

* most endearing words: Mommy, Daddy (not just Mama and Dada) and her names for her sisters and herself

* most surprising words: Lasagne (nahn-nahn) - she loves her pasta! and mirror (mee-ah) - she loves looking at "mirror baby"

* most unusual word: mee-maw, which seems to be her word for nursing. Kitty figured out it's probably Mommy backwards. After she started saying gee-dah for doggy, we think she must be right!

* signs: more, please, thank you, shoes, bus, bird, sleepy, all done, and book/read

* gives the most wonderful, sweet, big squeeze hugs

Misc. Photos:

Dollbaby LOVES playing at the computer!

She loves taking walks - here she is with Dave on the nature trail.

her new favorite toy: plastic plates, bowls, cups

I had a few videos to share, but Blogger just will not upload them today :-(   So, I'll leave you with a few more photos from Easter:

 Our Lenten Tree - Fatima made

Left:  Ash Wednesday - bare
Right:  Easter - full from good deeds/acts of mercy

Spring!

Okay, so it's not really spring, yet. But, in spite of our cold month (and today and yesterday), I SO enjoyed the 70s and even 80s we've had the past week. I love seeing the signs of spring popping up: pink crab apple trees, purple wildflowers, red maple tree buds, yellow bushes, even the smelly white Bradford pear trees! Fatima wants to take walks every day. Dollbaby finally likes the swing, which makes the park more fun now. She started climbing on the jungle gym, which is fun, but tiring for Mama. It's been many, many years since I've had to climb on these things with a toddler!!!

We've been coping with lots of sickness the past five weeks. I was the first to succumb and have been sick the whole time, starting with a severe sinus infection, topped by a bronchial infection, bronchitis, and a bad asthma flare up. I'm still dealing with the latter, coughing a lot and using the nebulizer six times a day.  Kitty missed a full week of school due to bronchitis. Dollbaby had a bad cold for a week. Fatima and Dave were home sick for two days each. 

Two disappointing consequences of all this sickness:

(1) Kitty missed tech week and two-thirds of the productions of the One Act Plays at her school, for which she was the set designer, tech crew coordinator, and Assistant Stage Manager :-( 

(2) Fatima's birthday party had to be rescheduled because Kitty, Dollbaby and I were all sick and contagious on her birthday. This was especially upsetting to her because she SO wanted to have her party on her actual birthday, which was a Friday this year. That won't happen again until 2022.  :-(   :-( 

We did still celebrate her birthday with the family. I tried to make it extra special - doughnuts & presents at breakfast, present after school, favorite pizza/presents/favorite cake at dinner, movie with Daddy (Gnomeo & Juliet). I really surprised her with two gifts. She loves the How to Train Your Dragon series. She had finished all the books available in the U.S. So, I ordered the other two from the U.K.!

Because I was sick, I didn't do much this past month. I was able to hold the Psalm Study the past two weeks. I'm really enjoying it. I'm also having a great time with my monthly Game Group. Last time, a friend brought Sequence. It's a fun game, but really requires totally different strategies from cards! Since she left the game here, Dave and I have played it several times. He beat me all but once. I guess I need lots more practice to figure out successful strategies :-) I also finished the last season of Numb3rs (thanks, Aunt Mary B.) and have played a lot of online Word Drop and Euchre. 

Now, for Dollbaby updates: 

* 16mo, 19.4# (although I think my scale is different from the doctors, as I don't believe she gained 1.2# this month!) 

* says "bababa" for ball 

* says "ah da" for all done 

* says "di di" for diaper 

* threw a small ball over hand 

* LOVES canned pears. The first time I gave them to her, she did NOT want to stop eating them! 

* first cold :-(

* three new teeth -- both upper lateral incisors, right first upper molar ... that makes a total of eight teeth so far 

* tried to turn on the "noise maker" (a white noise machine) with her foot, just like I do!

Pics & Videos:

sister fun

changing channels :-) (She LOVES remotes!)

"helping" Mama flip mattresses

She empties the bookcase - every day!

who me?

pictures from her 16mo day - Feb 23

Dollbaby LOVES baths. Kitty & Fatima like to be around when we ask her if she wants a bath. They love to see her get excited and run to the tub! The funniest is when we're downstairs. She drops whatever she's doing, runs to the stairs, climbs up as fast as she can and hurries to the tub!

We all love asking her "where's your..."  I have a great video of this, with her pointing to her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, teeth, socks, belly, hands, head... But it wouldn't upload, urgh!  Maybe next time.

So, for now,  I'll leave you with this bit of silly fun:

January -- lots of pics & clips

Kitty took the SAT this month. In preparation, I signed both of us up for the SAT question of the day emails. In two months, I think I've missed only two English questions and all but two math questions, lol! I know math's never been my forte, but it's rather comical that most of the time I don't even understand the question! It's a good thing I'M not the one applying to college! Last weekend, Kitty went on a pilgrimage to Washington DC with our church youth group. They attended the National Prayer Vigil for Life, our state's Mass for Life, and took part in the March for Life. It was Kitty's third year to participate in the prayerful, peaceful protest against the assault on life in the womb. She's already looking forward to next year's March. Dave has promised to take her and make a weekend of it. Kitty wants to help with the March, attend some of the rallies, and go to the Smithsonian.

Kitty is right in front (khaki pants)

Fatima has been busy planning for her birthday party, which will happen in a few weeks. It yielded a wonderful lesson on budgeting and the choices that requires. Her initial wishlist for party supplies, food, etc. totaled over $200! After our Dave Ramsey course this fall, the girls know we have a budget to stick to for everything. She was crestfallen at the budgeted amount. I helped her create an Excel spreadsheet and find the lowest prices for what she wanted. Then, she whittled down her list. When she got it down close to the target, she had me help her with another spreadsheet to show her chore commissions, snack, dining out and entertainment allocations for January and February. Then, she decided what purchases she could do without, so she could put her own money toward the other party expenses.  I was very proud of how she handled it!

The record cold has continued. And, we had snow and ice that closed school for four days. Day 1 brought smiles, fun in the snow, and joy at the day off. Fatima and I tried to create a "make do sled" using boxes, large plastic lids, pool rafts, etc. But, nothing worked. Later a neighbor came out with a real sled and she had a great time with that. She made a snow dragon and dragon eggs. I think the funniest thing to me was seeing the little mounds of snow from our sand buckets -- surely a sign of a Florida kid playing in snow! Day 2 brought freezing rain and ice, covering the yard, drive and steps. By Day 4, everyone was tired of being cooped up and no one was happy about the school closures because with make-up days, they now only have spring break and Memorial Day off. If we have any more snow days, they'll have to go on Saturday! On the plus side, whenever it does snow again, we're really prepared with the "cold weather survival" package my aunt sent. We now have toasty warm hats and scarves ... and most importantly for snow play -- waterproof gloves!!

Face down?!..A Florida kid snow angel?

We kept Dollbaby inside, since she only has one pair of shoes!

I've started a Game Group with ladies from my newcomer's club. Since my Dollbaby-directed schedule makes going anywhere or committing to outside activities nearly impossible, I asked if anyone wanted to come to my house to play board games once a month. I was thrilled that 14 ladies were interested! We had our first game day a few weeks ago and had great fun playing Scattergories and Last Word. Next time, we're planning Rummikub and Sequence. I've also started a Bible study group. Five ladies will be joining me for Jeff Cavin's Great Bible Adventure Psalm Study. We'll start this week and end just before Holy Week. 

Dollbaby has had an amazing month!

* 1st Outing just for Dollbaby -- our early New Year's Eve together at the science museum

* A fun start to the New Year -- a game of drop & giggle: 

(FYI - the video upload quality is not very good...)

* Understands many words, including: bath, downstairs, upstairs, coat, socks, shoes, outside, diaper, teeth, eyes, ears, nose

Show me your ears...eyes...

* Has "words" for / tried to say: diaper, her sisters' names, peek-a-boo, down

* Clearly says: uh-oh, Daddy, doggy (one time only so far)

* Still loves her Animal Book. Likes the fish page and says "blub, blub" - the text on the page!

* New foods: yogurt (loves), pancakes, cheese pizza, raw apples, tacos, cheeseburger (didn't like), fish, pasta with red sauce (LOVED), craisins, blueberry cereal bars (favorite!)

Dollbaby LOVES blueberry cereal bars!

* Biting into food (pancake, banana). She still wants to bite too much to let her, though. 

* Climbed onto a chair on her own. Two weeks later, climbed on sofa by herself.

* New tooth -- looks like a molar. I've been watching the buds next to the front teeth for weeks, but this one just popped up one day!

* Opened latch on safety gate and let herself out of the family room!

* Climbed from my lap onto the table to get to my food!

* Climbed on top of overturned laundry basket & file box

The camera was acting up, so it's in two parts.

* Removed hinge pin from pantry door

* I found her secret stash of socks behind her crib!

* Clicks her tongue

* Signed book/read

* High-fived Kitty

* Sleeping through the night for over a month now! Turning off the monitor sound worked wonders. I always sleep through. If she wakes up, she puts herself back to sleep.

* Pretends to talk on the phone. Sometimes when it rings, she puts her hand to her ear and starts babbling! I've tried to catch it on video, but no luck so far.

* 15 mo check up - 30.5", 18.2# (50th & 5th percentiles) -- gave fact sheet on tantrums, apropo as she's had more than a few lately! So far, we're all pretty good about ignoring them. Although her sign language words are few, communicating hunger avoids a lot of problems. I'm looking forward to her learning more.

* 1st drawing!

More Pictures

Insisting on sitting at table like a big girl ~ looks like "kilroy!"

loves to grab the keyboard, mouse, papers...

opens her drawers & empties them!

Fatima at the circus (she & Dave went)

a beautiful 70 degree day!

And, some videos!

The cousins brought their Wii when they visited. Dollbaby took over the balance board and led everyone in her usual "squat dance"

Fatima took this clip, so it's a little bouncy, but the ending's worth it!

 Bye-Bye!!