Slices of Life, Vol 2

*One of Daphne's favorite things to do is walk with her belly, legs or toes. If she tells you she wants to walk with her belly, it means she wants to walk with no shirt on (and legs means no pants, etc). Just in case she ever asks you if she can walk with her belly and that question confuses you.

*Daphne wants to know what everything says. Mama, Daddy, butterflies, rocket ships, ambulances, doors, balloons...there is no limit to her curiosity on what any person, place or thing might say.

*The other constant questions we hear are "who's that?" and "what's that?" Reading a book really isn't that fun anymore because she asks "what's that" to every tiny thing on every page. And of course she asks about the same item 10,000 times.

*I love it when Daphne wakes up in the night and starts talking to herself. Two nights ago she woke up to sing the Spongebob Squarepants song. Last night she woke up and "tweet tweet tweet-ed" like a bird. It cracks us up.

*The other day we were getting ready to head out the door when Daphne disappeared for a minute...and came back wearing one of David's hats. Apparently she decided she wasn't officially ready to go until she looked just like Daddy.


















*Yesterday after we left a friend's house, I asked Daphne if she had fun playing with her friends. She raised her arms high above her head and said "it was sooo great!" I didn't even know she knew that phrase.

Try to Hold Your Applause at Her Cuteness

I just love these photos of how fabulous Daphne looks first thing in the morning.

(I know, she's going to hate me someday for posting these on the world wide web.)

Brynner Part 2

"I love Brynner so much I will stab him with many sticks."

Brynner Part 1

"I love Brynner so much I will give him lots of kisses!"

Makeover

Sometimes you wake up just a bit off your game...












...and you need a little help from your personal stylist to get you back to what you once were.












(I apologize if that first photo made you throw up a little in your mouth.)

Marching On

Daphne had two doctor's appointments yesterday, one at Hanger to get fitted for new shoes and one to see her orthopedist (Dr Renwick). It's a good thing we know the layout of St Vincent's so well 'cause we had time for a long coffee break between appointments.












Daph used to scream and scream her way through Dr Renwick visits but today she was a gem. It's partly because I discovered that there is definitely a time and place for fruit snacks, and partly because Daphne really enjoyed rolling herself up like a burrito in the curtain in our room and getting into the cupboards and drawers filled with toxic items.




































Both doctors were so happy to see her walking. I distinctly remember being told in the NICU that Daphne might never crawl, so to have her walking around like it's nobody's business is very impressive to those who didn't know if they should expect much from her. (Physically, that is. We've always known Daphne is as sharp as a tack, which she definitely gets from me.)

Dr Renwick says her feet are doing amazingly well. I was busy trying to keep The Daphinator from destroying the room, so I missed a lot of what he was saying to David. The gist is to keep on doing what we're doing, since it's obviously working so well. She doesn't need any help being in an upright position (being able to walk and be 'upright' when it is developmentally normal affects mental development, too, did ya know?) so the doctor sees no need to try anything beyond her little braces for the time being. We'll go back in 6 months for a re-check.

Her heals are loosening on their own from her walking, her ankles are getting more and more flexible...all things that are good to be happening naturally instead of forcing another surgery right now. (Although another surgery will come.) Someday, he says, her feet will be pretty much as normal as they can be, and she'll be shopping for regular shoes that hopefully won't cost thousands of dollars. And if they do cost thousands of dollars, she can pay for them herself for once.

Some Sunshine Would be Nice

We are sooo ready for Spring. A Spring that brings 80 degree weather so that we can play outside.

I think we're getting stir crazy.






























But I learned a new skill...


















...I can make butter. You just need a cow, her milk, something that can mix stuff really fast and voila! butter.

We get raw cow milk (the goats we were milking are busy having baby goats right now so we needed a new milk source) from a local farm and I needed to come up with creative ways to use the cream. Butter is very useful, and soon I will make sour cream and probably yogurt. It would be so helpful if I had my own cow. (Or if my parents would get a milk cow...)

The Last Minute is Not the Best Minute

This morning I had Daphne and I all ready to leave for BSF. We were dressed, clean, diaper bag and my personal bag in hand and ready to walk out the door.

Then I smelled that smell that signaled Daphne had filled her diaper in the final seconds of walking out the door. I dumped my armloads on the ground, did a quick change, and we weren't even late to BSF. Phew.

Tonight I was getting Daphne ready for bed. I changed her into her nighttime diaper and went to get her jammies....when I smelled that familiar smell. May I explain that her nighttime diapers are much thicker then her day-to-day diapers, and we only have three of them? They are the only thing I've been able to find that have not left her bed soaked by the time she wakes up in the morning. I can't believe she so thoughtlessly wasted one and it would be good if she would think about her actions a bit more.

I think it's sad that the last-minute-diaper-blowout happened to me twice in one day.

We've Been Shopping

I think I've mentioned before that our camera has slowly been going the way of the buffalo. Thankfully we have a camera guy (everyone needs a camera guy) who was able to get us a fabulous refund since the camera was still under warranty. On top of that, our camera guy had a Canon DSLR available for a super great deal. Combine that with our refund and we got ourselves a new camera! For dirt cheap! And by dirt cheap I mean half the price that we had saved for a camera.

Helloooo new shoes. I mean groceries. Or gas. Whatever.

David had an older film Canon with a couple of lenses that fit this camera, so we now have a new camera plus 3 lenses. Christmas has come early.












David, who used to take pictures everywhere we went but hasn't been as into the hobby lately, was totally a camera hog today. He was mostly taking pictures of flowers and fences but I made him take pictures of Daphne, too. I don't know why he always forgets to take her picture. Doesn't he realize how cute she is??












We have another new item that came in the mail last week. I saw these Stonz Booties on a deal-a-day website that I watch and I thought they seemed like they would be great to go over Daphne's braces. She's been wearing them around and we LOVE them. The website gives all the details, but they are basically a water-proof nylon "boot" that is made to be worn over shoes, socks, or even barefoot to give some extra warmth or to make a regular shoe water-proof. They fit perfectly over Daphne's braces so now she can run around outside and her little feet stay warm and dry. They are washable, which is good for muddy spring, fall, and winter weather. I love that her pants tuck into them, too, because it's so annoying when her hems get soaked and then we have to change pants after every trip outside. Stonz Booties are good; maybe you should buy some.

We only got about 5 minutes to play with the camera this afternoon, because sure enough, Daphne fell right into that container of water. She was fine; she's really tough so she actually thought it was really funny. She talked non-stop later about how she fell in the water and how her face got wet. I kind of think that next time we go out she's going to try it again. Her little body was soaked from head to calf, but her socks and braces were perfectly dry thanks to her booties.

I don't know if the website mentions that you can swim in them, but apparently you can.

We're Tired (But Happy)

This past week my friend Heather and her son Dylan came down from Alaska to stay with us. We became friends 10 years ago at Bible school, and after all these years and a 1000 miles between us we still manage to stay friends. She's been down here twice now but I've only been up to see her once when I was a bridesmaid in her wedding 8 1/2 years ago. I think that means I'm due for another AK trip. Is it ever warm in Alaska? Because I will visit then.

Daphne absolutely loved having a live-in playmate. Dylan is about 9 months younger than she is so honestly is still a bit confused on how to play with a friend. He was not thrilled that Daphne was always trying to hug him. But they got along great, managed to make some trouble, and even had a couple of bath dates. (Don't tell David.) I think Daphne laughed more this week than she has in her entire two years combined. Apparently Dylan is the most hilarious person to ever walk the planet.
















































Our friend Jen drove down from Washington on Friday with her little twinsies. Babies? Daph loves babies.












All week we stayed up too late and got up too early, much like our Ecola days, but we don't seem to be able to handle it as well anymore. It's 7:34 right now and I feel like going to bed. Hurray for aging.

Hurray for friends.