Block Bag = Blag

Today I got all Sally Homemaker on Zara's new Mega Blocks. We stopped at Borders yesterday to see what they had with the going out of business sale. The kids books had been picked clean and we only got a couple of those, but in the toy area the Mega Blocks were also half off. We picked up a couple bags of blocks for Zara and since they were in some plastic ziploc close bags, that just wasn't going to do long term for storage. So today we picked up some cute courdoroy fabric and I whipped up a drawstring bag for them. Not too shabby and much better for wrangling them into one place.

Stupid Questions

Our book club book this month was "The Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination" by McKracken. The book is a memoir from a woman whose first child was stillborn and written shortly after the the birth of her second child. The book is sad, but not too sad and was both a good read and good discussion Thursday night.

We didn't get into this discussion Thursday, but one of the questions McKracken as a new mom had problems with was the "is this your first?" A VERY typical question and one that clearly is a lot more difficult to answer for her the most women, but it is stupid mom question number 1. I always thought that question sucked just because the follow-up to is usually smug advice about how they are expert parenters because they have three screaming brats in the booth behind them throwing things. But when you think of it in this context, it is just mean, even if it is unintentional.

Stupid mom question number two: are they sleeping through the night? No, and your kids didn't either so don't try to tell me otherwise.

Stupid mom question number tree: is he/she yours? Really, no, I borrowed this kid because I love grocery shopping and managing a fussy child. Of course, they are mine.

Hopefully you don't ask these questions, but just in case, don't ask me.

Potty Wars

We've been working on potty training for, well, months at this point. At first it was a game and Zara loved it for about a week and then it's been off and on since. Lately, we'd been on a real losing streak though with very few successes in the last month even though she would tell us potty and she'd sit there for a short time/long time/whatever time. After she gets upset, put her diaper back on and she goes in no time. We have stickers and m&ms as rewards, sing songs, read to her, or anything we could think of and nothing worked.

After perusing the internet for tips, we decided to try giving her privacy. umm... really, sometimes no matter how verbal a kid is they still just don't tell you what they want. Yesterday and today we've just been sticking her on the potty handing her a book and ignoring her and, bam, literally. Maybe there is hope after all.

Oh, and she is walking great again and running already. We've said good-bye to pegleg, she's healed.

Pegleg Princess

I feel like I need to post an up update on the wee one. The appointment at the ortho Monday went well, er, health-wise, not so much on the ears of everyone in the room at least. Zara's cast came off with much protest, crying, wailing, and twisting about. It's funny, when she was actually hurt she put up with everything without a whimper, but this time she started crying as soon as we walked in and no one had even touched her. Not sure if she remembered this as the place she was hurt in or what. I had to physically clamp her in my arms while the awesome tech deftly managed to hold on and, with a circular saw, take the cast off without nicking her. Furthermore, Zara then proceeded to do the same thing during the x-ray, the walks between rooms, and the sit-down to let the doc tell us everything was peachy keen.

...And then we left and everything was copacetic again for Z.

But having been trapped in cast for three weeks it is supposed to take just as long to fully heal the muscles and get everything loosened up. Zara is walking, just not well right now. She has a kind of stiff legged limp, but is at least getting around and shows improvement each day. Again, adults would have been in the cast twice as long and need physical therapy at this point to recover, so no real complaints. And for the very long awaited fun, she has gotten many baths and gotten to get in the pool twice now. She is a little fish and has enjoyed getting to be in the water again.

Toddler Ink

It's been awhile since I posted due to a couple very busy weeks at work doing dual duty with my regular work and writing a section for a proposal my firm is submitting. After about a week now of being able to relax, I'm finally getting back to the blog. Zara has done great cast and all for the last three weeks and we head in tomorrow to get it taken off. She has been getting some ink on the broken wheel from both home and school doodles. Hopefully, these are the only tattoos for Zara.


Today we also headed to the zoo for a visit to the animals since we can't go back to the Children's Museum until the cast comes off. Zara enjoyed the chimps the most again with her declared "I like." Also, Sunday morning right at opening is clearly a better time to visit the zoo than the last time we went. No one there, animals were all eating their breakfasts, and, even though it was hot, without the crowds it is a lot more pleasant.

And That's All She Wrote

Atlantis landed this morning. At wheels stop, the end of the Space Shuttle Program. This is the first time I've seen this view of entry captured and it seems like a most fitting way to say good-bye. Space Shuttle Atlantis as last seen in flight by the International Space Station.

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say 8 Weeks?

After a huge hassle finding a pediatric orthopedist in Houston on our insurance, we got Zara looked at today. I blame non updated Aetna provider network web interface for all that trouble. What a mess. Anywho, Zara's leg fracture is very clean and, while no doc will say zero chance of problems, this is about as close as you can get. He's confident everything will heal without issue and this apparently is more common than I would have guessed as this was his second officially named "toddler fracture" today. After the brief checkout, Zara got a full leg cast in her fav, orange. Since she can't use crutches, she gets the full leg cast bent 90 degrees at the knee to try and keep her from walking on it. Although, doc says they usually figure out how to walk with it before it comes off. And, speaking of coming off, she only has to wear it three weeks, kiddos heal so much faster then us old farts.

All in all, she was a champ and just looked curious the whole time it was going on without complaining any. She doesn't seem to mind it and she is already used to not being mobile again has been pretty chill about the whole thing. Here is Zara getting her cast and then another after we got home and Momma was playing with Picasa.

Like Old Times, Kinda

This is just a short status post for everyone regarding Zara's leg. Yesterday morning she was in the shower and just slipped. Since my back was turned, I didn't actually see the fall, but when I looked she was just on her butt with her hands behind her (ergo, so head bump or anything) and serious injury hardly was expected. But she was clearly hurt and it took us a long time to figure out where (ankle) since she really was just upset/crying no matter where you touched her. So we called a nurse line and the pedi, both of which said wait and see if there is no improvement before coming in.

This morning since she still wouldn't even put weight on it, we decided to get it checked out and went to an urgent care place for an x-ray. Turns out she has not just a fracture, but a rather bad one which is spiral and complete through the tibia of her right leg. Everything is in alignment (very good) but we'll be making a trip to the pediatric orthopedist tomorrow for what will hopefully just be a cast and a little more ice cream. For now, Zara is handling it remarkably well and suddenly is okay cuddling in our laps and getting carried everywhere again.

Frankly, I am impressed with the urgent care. The doctor was very nice and competent and we got in, x-rayed, and out in under an hour. Forget the ER folks, if you have the unfortunate need for immediate medical care, short of gun shot wounds, just go to one of those.

Little Gene Simmons

The rest of our 4th was a feast of an afternoon with homemade wings, yellowfin tuna steaks and tropical salsa with green salad main, and a dessert of blueberry freezer cake. It was a nice afternoon with friends and Zara and Lucy have started to warm up to each other and even interacted in ways other than screaming fits when the other got something they wanted. Nice that they are getting older and "play" is actually a possibility.

The girls also got some homemade fruit pops. I think they liked them.

Happy Independence Day

Hope everyone is having a good 4th of July. This morning I took Zara and we strolled in the neighborhood bike parade. All the kids decorate their bikes and we parade through the neighborhood ending at the park for drinks and snacks. This afternoon, BBQ at a friends house to cap off a nice relaxing three day weekend. Next year, Z should be old enough to ride on her own for the parade, but this year she was still in the BOB. Although she didn't seem too put out by Mommy having to do all the work. Have a safe and happy 4th!