Daddy's Girl/Mommy's "Helper"

A friend of ours kindly thought of us when a friend of his mentioned he was throwing out some toys that his kids had outgrown. We got a toy box on wheels, and a great little kitchen set out of the deal. The kitchen set is perfect for Andrea, because she got all kinds of play food and dish sets from various people this Christmas, and now she has a kitchen to use it in! It's great when you get stuff like this from other parents--we washed it up, and it was good as new! And Andrea loves it! She especially likes putting things in the microwave and the fridge, and turning on the burner (it makes a sizzling noise).

Daddy is also trying to teach her to play golf, because the toy box came with a few plastic golf clubs in it. Andrea, however, prefers to chase after the ball and bring it back to Daddy!

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On Friday night, Daddy went to a Red Wings game with his friends. On Saturday morning, while Daddy was at work, Andrea went into our bedroom and came out carrying his jersey! She then proceeded to play with it for a good half-an-hour straight, all by herself: hiding in it, wrapping up in it, and laying on it. It looks like we have a little Wings Fan on our hands. Daddy should be proud!

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Daddy has been great about doing extra household chores now that Mommy's pregnant again. Tonight, just before he left for hockey, he put a clean load of laundry at the top of the stairs. Well, I guess Andrea decided that she felt like helping out. I couldn't believe it--she grabbed the laundry basket, and pushed it all through the living room, and down the hallway! I went to grab my camera to capture "Mommy's Little Helper" on film, but she was getting tired by that point. Still, she pushed it a bit further; then, she hopped in the basket, so I took her for a ride! Anyway, the result is a pretty cute video:

http://media.putfile.com/Helping-with-the-Laundry

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Finally, here is Little Miss Curiosity checking out the camera, resulting in a close-up photo:

The Crooning Puppy

Gram and Grandpa G. gave Andrea a crooning puppy dog a while back. She didn't have much interest in it before; in fact, I think she was kind of afraid of it. Andrea has a bit of a "thing" about singing stuffed animals or puppets. They seem to weird her out a bit.

However, she suddenly decided that she likes her crooning puppy dog. And you know what happens when a toddler decides that they like something--you have to do it like 50 times in a row to keep them happy! So, here's Andrea, swaying to the crooning of her puppy, and imitating its moves!

http://media.putfile.com/Groovin-with-Puppy

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In other Andrea news . . . she had been to her first appointment with the people who will be fitting her shoes with orthotics, and they say she will be fine with regular shoe inserts, so she won't need anything from the knee down. That was nice to hear. It will still be two or three more appointments before we get her actual shoe inserts.

She is doing great in daycare. I haven't heard anything but positive news from the Toddler Room staff.

I think we will be starting potty training soon, too. Andrea is showing a distinct interest in how the toilet functions (which makes me nervous sometimes), and today she told me that she had to go #2. Well, she said "Uh, oh," and I asked her, "What?" and she replied, "Poo!" I thought she was telling me that she had already gone in her diaper, but a few seconds later I realized she was in the act of going! If I had realized what she was trying to tell me, I would have made an attempt to take her to the potty!

What else? Oh, I don't know. She is so funny. She makes us laugh all the time. I wish I could capture all of her adorable moments, but there are just too many. She is getting to be quite the little chatterbox, and quite the comedian, too.

One thing I can tell you: this child loves CHEESE. I swear, each day when I get her home, the first thing she says is, "Cheese? Cheese? I want!" Her second favourite food is "ya-ya," which is yogurt.

Oh, and she continues to be a singer. Her favourite place to sing is in the car, where we are treated to Andrea's version of the ABC's nearly every morning. Tonight, she surprised us by singing, "Na-na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na, na-na-na" to the tune of Brahms' Lullaby! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since I always sang it to her, and her musical-lights show for bedtime plays the tune, too.

Andrea also makes it very clear when she wants to go to bed now. If she's tired, she'll say "night" or "ni-night" so that we'll know she's ready for bed! And she says "I wuffoo" (I love you) and gives us a good night hug and kiss before going to bed. :))

Discovering the Nose

Andrea is fascinated by body parts right now. Her two favourites to jab at on everyone are "eyes" and "nose."

Today, as we were waiting for the CF people to arrive, Andrea discovered that she could put her finger up her nose! I knew if I made a big deal out of it, she'd keep doing it. So, I just said, calmly, "Honey, please take your finger out of your nose."

Of course, what does she do? She laughs, and shoves it up her nose as far as she can. I say, "Honey, you're going to hurt your nose."

She laughs, shoves it in, wiggles it around, and pulls it out.

Now, remember, she has a constant cold . . . ugh. I thought I was going to be sick. But, I just grabbed a tissue, wiped off the finger, and went about my business. We went through this routine 3 or 4 times until Andrea got bored with her nose.

Kids are so gross sometimes! :)

Another CF Meeting

Today we had another CF meeting at our house. This time, the In-take Coordinator and the Physiotherapist came out to look at Andrea's progress, and decide where to go from here.

Here's what they said:

• It's totally amazing how well Andrea is doing with her walking. They are amazed she can walk at all, and they chalk it up to her own will-power to overcome her foot and leg problems.
• Andrea definitely still needs orthopedic inserts for her shoes. Although she is walking, her feet and knees are not aligned properly. She is also putting her back in a bit of an awkward stetch to help herself balance to compensate for what's going on with her feet and knees.
• To make sure we can correct these issues, and do it before any of these "overcompensating" walking habits stick with her, we need to get her in orthotics ASAP.
• Andrea has her first appointment with the orthotics company on Tuesday afternoon (the 20th).
• It may take a few visits before she actually gets her inserts (consult, take molds, get orthotics).
• It will be an intensive process. Once we get the orthotics, we will slowly introduce her to them, minutes at a time, until she is used to wearing them all day. This will also involve several visits to the orthotics clinic, and visits with CF people for monitoring and follow-up.
• Andrea seems to be age appropriate in all other areas, but CF is still going to have a resource consultant standing by for us just in case any other issues appear.

I think what surprised me most about all this is that before, when they were talking orthotics and shoes inserts, I figured it would just be like adult shoe inserts--they go in the shoe, no big deal. But today they decided Andrea will need something that goes all the way from knee to toe, like a splint, on both legs. It will still go in her shoes, and under her pants, so it won't be very noticeable in the winter time. But still, that's a lot more to deal with than the little shoe inserts I was picturing.

But, I am glad we are doing this. Yes, she's walking, but anyone can see that from the knee down, her alignment is just not right. Her stance is too wide, and she walks like a robot. Plus, I was really concerned when they mentioned how it appeared to be affecting her back. She kind of overcompensates by jutting out her stomach, or leaning forward a bit--it's hard to explain.

They both said they can see she's very eager to walk now, so now's the time to get her all straightened out, before her awkward walking habits settle in for good. I agree.

We've Been SICK

My goodness, it has been crazy these past two weeks or so. It seems like there is always at least one person in our family who is really sick! First it was Mommy, then Andrea, then Daddy, and now Mommy again. It's round after round of cold and infection . . . blah.

But we have still managed to have some fun, and some family gatherings. I haven't been able to take a lot of pictures, but I managed to get a few.

Here's Izzy and Andrea, playing together for a bit at our Super Bowl party on February 4. Izzy was fascinated by Andrea, and tried to eat Andrea's shoes! Andrea, on the other hand, has no interest in babies. It's normal for her age, I guess, but it does kind of worry me how jealous she is of her attention and her toys. I guess she will learn soon enough.

On Saturday, February 11, we went to Mass, and a steak dinner, to celebrate Great-Grandpa Gagnon's 96th birthday. Andrea was really well-behaved during the Mass, but she didn't want to eat too much at the Hall. She did, however, chow down on Grandpa's chocolate eclair!

I got Andrea all dolled up for the occasion, since we don't get a lot of opportunities for fancy dress around here. I just love this picture! Check out the ponytail on top of her head. :))

Grandma and Grandpa Gagnon gave Andrea a Valentine's Day present, which she opened on Sunday morning. She liked the bouncy heart ball, and the musical flower, but her favourite thing was the heart-shaped lollipops! Andrea LOVES lollipops.

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Daycare is going well. The only thing I've heard is that Andrea is coughing a lot (no big surprise, since we're constantly sick).

Today was the first day they had been able to take the toddlers outside to play in the playground. It has been far too cold up until now. Guess how Andrea reacted? Her teacher told me she CRIED the whole time they were outside! :(( Admittedly, I haven't really taken Andrea out to play in the cold (because we're always sick), so it must have been really weird for her. Plus, she would not be used to being all bundled up in her bulky snowsuit. I hope she gets over this soon! It kind of made me sad, because I remember how much I LOVED playing in the snow as a kid--but then, I was raised in the county. :))

A Couple of Videos

Here's a couple of Andrea videos I captured over the past week.

The first one is of her newest skill, getting herself from sitting to standing without grabbing on to anything. She's mastered it now. The only time she falls down a lot is if she's tired.
http://media.putfile.com/Standing-up-From-Floor

The second video is of a new game she likes to play. She'll hide behind something, and if you say, "Where's Andrea?" she'll pop out and say, "There she is!" We usually play it in the bathtub, with the shower curtain; yesterday, she was doing it with a comforter!
http://media.putfile.com/There-She-Is-34

Andrea's Doing Fantastic!

Just a quick update, because Mommy is so busy with her new job . . . I think the blog entires are
going to become a lot less frequent now. Sigh.

Anyway, Andrea is doing awesome! She walks all over the place now. She also pauses in mid-walk to pick up toys, and keep going. She pushes herself up to standing position from the middle of the floor now, too.

She has spent the last two days in the Toddler Room at daycare. So far, they haven't expressed any concerns about her being there. She seems to be quite happy, and is fitting in just fine.

My goodness, after all that drama . . . I am so happy things have worked out for everyone involved. :))