Thursday, April 29, 2010

Walking tall


One day, about a year ago, Hope decided to cruise. Seemingly out of nowhere, she put one hand over another, moved her feet and scampered across an ottoman.


One day, a few weeks ago, Hope realized she didn't need the ottoman. She let go of her push cart and started walking excitedly to Mo.


Since then, her confidence is increasing and she's taking more steps on her own. At therapy this week, Hope walked about a dozen or more steps. Now, she's walking a bit more every day, even if she still resembles a drunken sailor.


We're awfully proud.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Easter passages

As some who've followed our story for a while know, we like to torture Hope on Easter.

The first year, Mo put her in an Easter basket. She didn't like it much.



Last year, we put her in again. It didn't go so well, either.



This year, we didn't bother with the big girl. Everyone is a little bit happier because of that.



Sunday, April 4, 2010

The swimmer

Hope loves the water. We love watching Hope in the water. It's a pretty good arrangement that works well for all parties.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Caught in the act



Hope has taken to her crib. When she was much smaller, she hated being put to sleep. It was a true endurance test. We'd read to her, fill her with Pediasure, rock her 'til we nearly dropped and pray for the best. She usually didn't fall for it. The moment we put her in the crib, her back would stiffen, she'd begin to wail and we'd have to start all over.

My routine was to count backwards from 100 once I believed she'd succumbed. I needed to move very slowly from the chair to her crib, gently transfer her from one arm to the other and place her down like a princess awaiting her pea.

It rarely worked. We'd be mid-tiptoe, the crying would start and dreams of a quiet night enjoying "Intervention" reruns would be quashed again. Likewise, when Hope awoke, the entire house knew it.

Eventually, Big Mo made a declaration: No more, she decreed. We're not going to spoil her by rocking her to sleep every night. And thus it was so. Sort of.

Now, I usually have to count to only 30, but Hope doesn't mind her crib. In fact, it's become just another place in the house to play. We'll put her to bed, think she's asleep, and then 20 minutes later, the cooing and giggling comes over the monitor. It begins quietly, a tee hee there or a wee there, but often gives way to full-blown, one-hour laugh riots at the wonder that is sheets and a bed. She eventually gets to sleep. We think.

Long story short, we often catch her awake far on the other side of the crib, in the ghetto of stuffed animals. Her arms will be wrapped around a stuffed Elmo, her beloved cloth rings or the god-awful "Ziggy as Frankenstein" that I won at the crane game to make amends for thoughtlessly discarding Mo's beloved "Ziggy" address labels that came in the mail.

Thursday, we caught her in the act, two hands clutching a ring, a stuffed mallard propping her up and her upper torso surrounded by her stuffed animal pals. She had a look like, Huh? Bug off, buster. Can't you see I'm busy here with Ziggy?

We know we're not winning any plaudits from Dr. Spock with the stuffed-animal in the crib arrangement. We'll probably have to move them now. But it is pretty cute. And who doesn't like Ziggy?




Thursday, April 1, 2010

Sitting pretty



It's a big weekend for Hopesy. After two years of adjusting to her car seat, she's now quite comfortable in it. For months, we needed to time our trips to the minute so we could avoid putting her in the seat, lest she burst into tears.

Now, it's her mobile entertainment capsule, like a Lazy Boy with cup holders and remote-control holder for the toddler set. Two sets of rings dangle from the carrying handle. Hope meticulously takes them off one by one. She has her binky on one side and a bottle on another. It's a comfortable arrangement.

And like any good parents, when we see comfort, we set out to eradicate it. Hope may be a few pounds shy still, but we are transitioning her to a Big Girl front-facing car seat this weekend. We figure we'd better make the move now. Little Brother is fast incubating in Mo's womb and will soon need to learn the ways of pulling refrigerator magnets from Big Sister. Unnamed Baby Boy is due May 12.

So we went shopping last week for a new seat to see what Hope thinks. If the test run is any indication, we suspect she'll do just fine.


What's this thing?



We think she likes it.




Oh yeah, this'll work. We think.