Halloween and Beyond

O.k., so probably nobody's reading this anymore since it's been so long since I've posted anything, but I'll keep writing. If a blogger blogs in a forest and no one's around, does anybody read it?

Halloween was a big event. We had a six-year-old woodland fairy, a three-year old brown dog, and a little ladybug, who made its third appearance at our house. Dave took the big girls out trick-or-treating and Grace stayed home to help me hand out candy. It only took her a while to learn that all of the candy wasn't for her. Then she really got into the handing out, digging her hand into the bag and pulling out huge fists full to drop into the bags. Needless to say she was very popular on the block. The girls got back at 8:00 and Lily was asleep on the couch by 8:05. We now have enough candy to last us until next year and beyond.

Unfortunately the weather in Michigan this Fall has not been the greatest so we haven't been outside much. The leaves are spectacular right now, but it's been rainy and quite cold most of the time. We still manage to ride bikes to school on occasion wearing our winter hats and mittens, but we've already had to resort to the car more than I would have liked. We got to go to an apple orchard outing last week and were lucky that it was one of the few beautiful days we've had. The kids got to ride ponies and horses and go for a hay ride as well as picking their own apples and playing in a life-sized teepee.

Grace is gearing up for her palate surgery on Dec. 5th. Of course the ENT doctor who is putting in her tubes called this week to say that he can't put them in when she is having her other surgery so we are going to have to put her under twice for each separate procedure. And the pediatric dentist wants to work on her teeth before the other two in case there is any decay in her mouth (which I think there is) to get it out before surgery. So that will mean three rather traumatic events over a period of several weeks. Such coordinated care; way to go team!
Otherwise she is just humming right along.

She has adapted so well that there are rarely times when her actions seem any different from any other 23-month-old. She still has a few odd ticks. The worst is that she cannot stand it if I sit down anywhere in the kitchen, other than right next to her at the table, when she is in her highchair. As long as I'm walking around, cooking or doing dishes she's happy as a clam. The second I touch down on a stool at the counter or even try to sit in one of the other chairs at the table, she goes ballistic: kicking, screaming, crying and throwing food. What's that all about? You got me, but for now it means that I'm not doing much sitting in the kitchen. Honestly I haven't been doing much sitting, anywhere, lately. Grace is one happy little girl who is happily bonded to all of us. She goes happily with babysitters and to the nursery at church and then runs laughing back for a pick-up when we return. But this little girl can also happily dismantle a room in about ten seconds flat and she is not afraid to do so...Every day...Several times a day.

She is learning signs as fast as we can throw them at her. Her newest ones are "cat" and "hat" (which don't rhyme nearly as well in sign language). And if we really get in her face and repeat it over and over again, we can usually get her to say "mama" - actually say it, as opposed to pointing to her chin which is her sign for Mama. The speech therapist has told us that she is capable of making some sounds which only require putting her lips together, such as "pa, ba, and ma" so that's what we're working on. She's also starting to put her tongue between her teeth and say "la-la-la" and is greatly encouraged by a big round of applause and some cheering, which she always joins in on.

We picked up Dave's new car today, but don't have any pictures yet, so I'll save the big reveal for the next post. Along that same line, if anyone is interested in a lovingly maintained 2000 Nissan Maxima, please let us know. The dealership was not in a giving mood when making their trade-in offer, so we decided to give it a go selling it ourselves.

Only one more week of basketball which will determine if we end up with a winning or losing record. While it will be nice to have my evenings free to be at home again, it has been nice to have the distraction as well as the opportunity to get out of the house and put on real, adult-like clothing and wrap my brain around something other than child-rearing. I've actually petitioned to be able to go down to the junior high and coach the 8th graders next year. It's a somewhat shorter season and they desperately need someone to work on fundamentals before they get to the high school.

That's it. I'm out of ideas. Until next time