Passing it on

Brynna sweetly gave us this award, and we're dutifully passing it on to others who've touched our hearts. For the record, Bryn, you'd be on my list, too!
To pass it on...

To Mandy (Not so patiently waiting), who sometimes it seems understands me like nobody else. Or, if that's not the case, at least makes me feel like I'm not the only one feeling the way I do! I know you're on hiatus, Manna, but that doesn't mean I can't recognize you.

To Kristen (Expecting a baby...someday), who understands like few do the difficulty of having a child in the NICU, and what it means to survive and thrive once they're NICU grads!

And Martha (Snarfle), who - though she doesn't post nearly as often as I check ;-) , makes me laugh with her descriptions of what x-man's currently going through!

A Visit!

Cousins Kasia & Moira came for a visit today. This picture is a pretty good representation of the three - probably the only time they were all in the same room at the same time for any longer than 30 seconds! The girls (and Uncle Jeff) came up for a few hours, had some dinner, and headed back home. Jeff: 2 tired girls, two boxes of clothes, and some chairs packed in the vehicle. Me: a tired Victoria who was in bed before they left, and a guest room that's almost fit for guests (as soon as I hand off clothes to Chloe and Rowley!)

So fast

It's still amazing to me to step back and take inventory of everything Victoria has learned/is learning. The two things she's focusing her learning on right now are jumping (we'll work on getting a video uploaded), whistling/blowing bubbles, and counting. She actually counted to 10 the other day! I would say each number after her, and she'd go on to the next number. The number 3 seems to be the biggest catch. Most of the time, it's 1, 2, 1, 4, 5... We'll get there soon enough!

She also getting better about putting two- and three-word sentences together. The longest is "By guys, see you!" but there are others (of course, I can't think of any examples right now, other than "sit down" and "all done"), and the babbling sentences are getting more and more frequent as she tries to carry on a conversation. Her manners are great - she says please and thank you (and even at the appropriate times!)

It's difficult to figure out sometimes whether she's simply identifying something, or if she wants it. She has really begun pointing and labeling everything (blanket, shirt, pants, socks, shoes, pillow, chair, hair, arm, feet, toes, jump, climb... the list seems endless). I don't think I could list everything she knows how to say. She's trying to repeat everything we tell her, and you can almost see her filing it in her brain for future reference.

Her food sensitivities (to strawberries and tomatoes - yay spaghetti and hot dogs in ketchup!) seem to be gone now, and pasta seems by far to be her favorite thing to eat. Though she'll eat pretty much any fruit you put in front of her, and she loves veggies, too: peas, beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, corn, broccoli. Favorite snacks include oatmeal breakfast cookies and mini whole grain strawberry newtons.

What else? I guess that's it for updates for now.

Is that a creature from Star Wars???
Nope! Just our own little ewok. :-)

Kid's Picnic

Victoria is doing well. The rash has gone away and she continues to enjoy summer. Here are some pictures from the recent FOP Kid's Picnic.

Who knew?

Having dogs our whole lives meant that we knew dogs could get Parvovirus. Didn't know until today that people can get it, too. Though the kind people get is different than the dog/cat strain.

The doc at the medxpress is pretty sure Victoria has Fifth Disease. It's not really a disease, but a virus - what they call the "slapped-cheek" virus.

It makes for a moody child with a small appetite and a short temper, whose face is all blotchy and whose body is full of little red bumps. :( No quick fix, just have to ride it out. Luckily, there are still occasional happy moments (usually brought on by frozen blueberries or raspberries!)

Peek-A-Boo!

New pics