Singing Along

Cutest thing ever ... Amelia singing along to the snippets of songs in her Pooh videos and the theme songs to her cartoons like Super Why.

Imagination

Amelia's imagination is growing by leaps and bounds, or at least it's now starting to show itself to those around her.

Some examples:

When reading a book she almost always must have a small character (like one of her Little People or one of her small Dora or Diego figures) which she calls a "kid" to interact with the story that she reads to herself. She also uses figures on her house puzzle, as if it were a 3-dimensional doll house.

This past Saturday in Target she picked up a small wire-bound notebook and proclaimed it her journal (thanks to Sid the Science Kid). She proceeded to tell me about all the things that were actually on blank pages. "Do you see that butterfly there Mommy? It's orange!" At $1.42 I couldn't pass it up since she was turning each page and it was completely holding her attention even as we were checking out. (She was mildly annoyed she had to stop long enough for the cashier to scan it.) I assumed that once we got home she would lose interest and I would use it for grocery lists or whatever. Nope. It is still her journal and she draws in it, writes in it and still reads blank pages.

First Dental Visit

Amelia did really, really well at the dentist's office! She opened her mouth and totally cooperated. She has 20 teeth now - more than Nana! The X-ray came back really good and she also got a general exam and has no decay and all signs of good growth and bite.

They can't guarantee that her tooth won't turn colors - there's no way to tell how much trauma it took. They also can't guarantee there won't be a stain on her permanent tooth because there is no way to tell if there was any contact between her baby tooth and her permanent tooth when Amelia hit the ground. At this point, I've done all I can do and it also feels good to have had her looked at by professionals. They noticed that her two front teeth are a little uneven but aren't concerned at this point. They do want us back in 2 months to see if there are any other signs of damage that take time to "present themselves". They'll also do her first cleaning.

The dentist is a female which I think is a good example for Amelia. Even more of a bonus - she's a UK grad! Go BIG BLUE!

Busted Lip & Bruised Gum

We had a really nice family day yesterday. We ate lunch at Moe's (which Amelia now calls Moses for some reason). They had Mickey Mouse memory cards there and she swiped some of daddy's queso, so she was really having a ball at lunch! I noticed and commented aloud that she is doing so much better at sitting in her chair now, too. Yay! She only got down to "hide" her drink and then to swipe daddy's queso - very purposeful actions, not just random getting down for no reason.

Then we went to our local nature center since we're members. The weather has turned nice (about time!) and I thought it would be an excellent opportunity for Amelia to just run free and for us to all enjoy the nice day. She had a ball going down the slide they have and was really interested in the otter (normally she could care less about anything there ... she just likes to run free). Then we headed down the path and she decided to climb the steps of the outdoor ampitheatre. There was a path at the top that went down to meet the path we were originally on, so I encouraged her to go that way. She took off running and just as I was thinking of calling "Slow down!" and didn't because I was worrying that might cause her to trip and fall because she'd probably turn around mid-stride and say, "What?" she fell down hard. There was blood pouring from her mouth and my first thought was, "Well, it's our first busted lip," scooped her up and headed to the bathroom knowing that busted lips usually just look really bad. We cleaned it up, I noticed she didn't have any scrapes on her knees, elbows, palms or chin so I thought we got off pretty lucky. We stopped in at the office for ice, which she didn't like. She wanted a band-aid on it, though, and I told her you can't really put band-aids on lips. She did okay the rest of the day, ate dinner without a problem and most of the swelling was inside her lip. I did try wiggling her teeth last night and they seemed okay, so I sent her to bed.

This morning her bottom lip was puffier on the outside, she didn't want to eat her breakfast and cried out when she tried to use her sippy cup. I looked at her teeth more closely and noticed that her upper gum is definitely bruised and has swollen down over the top third of her front upper tooth. I am still trying to decide whether one of her teeth looks a little moved or not, but they all still seem to be firmly in place.

Part of me knows deep down that she'll be okay, but the mama part of me feels really bad, even though it was definitely the type of normal accident when a running child meets uneven pavement. I can't keep her in a bubble. I am going to try to get her in to see a dentist tomorrow afternoon or Tuesday morning. There are three pediatric dentists that have been recommended to me and a fourth that sends out mailings, so I am hoping one of them can see her and not charge us an astronomical emergency fee like one of the recommended ones did.

She hasn't been to a dentist yet, I've been putting it off since I wasn't sure how she would react to one. (Flimsy excuse, but I figured she might be completely uncooperative or decide she no longer enjoys brushing her teeth if she has a bad experience at the dentist, etc. etc. etc.) I am actually more worried about not getting an appointment within the next day or two than I am about what the dentist may say.

Some other parents I've spoken to have had similar experiences without bad outcomes, so that gave me hope. I did a little Internet research and didn't find anything about swollen gums in relation to a trauma, but I did find out that a month from now her tooth could turn dark because the inside if the tooth could bruise and it will take months to lighten back up. Yikes!! I think as a precaution I will get her 4 year pictures done when her lip heals. I'd rather have her pictures done five months early than have her with a brown/black tooth.

On the plus side, she has been sucking on ice pops without sensitivity and stuffed her mouth full of bread at supper, chewing it with no problems, so hopefully that means no tooth pain. She has been so sweet and so chatty today - her imagination is just abounding lately - it made her injury even more sad for me. When we put her to bed tonight she was laughing and we got a good look at her upper tooth and gum. I said I thought it looked like it had receded a little and also lightened up a little - more of a medium purple than a dark blue-purple - and her daddy agreed. I said, "Now you're sure, it's not just hopeful thinking on my part, right?" And he said that no, it looked better.

So here's hoping for the best. It's not how I wanted to introduce her to the dentist, but hopefully there's no bad news and it turns out to be a more or less standard visit.

Playing Drum Corps

It was finally nice this afternoon and we played outside after I picked Amelia up from pre-school. One of the things Aunt Amy sent for Easter was a twirling ribbon which Amelia had fun with inside, so I brought it outside. Then I had the bright idea to get my flag and Amelia insisted on using it, too, proclaiming, "I want to turn the flag! I want to play drum corps!" Ooh, I love that girl! She didn't do too badly, especially considering this is a 6 ft. pole, not the more common 5-1/2 ft. one! (Can you tell I'm proud?)

[Pictures dated 4/23/09]

The First "Talk"

Amelia has been a bit whiney lately and breaking into tears at the slightest thing, like dropping a toy. Since she's normally a very happy child, I thought perhaps it was a stage, or at various points I thought it was hunger or being tired. When she broke down in tears 30 minutes after waking up Saturday morning, I decided to act on a thought that had been mulling around in my head for a couple of days.

I went into her room and said, "Amelia, does Eliza just start crying at preschool for no reason?" (I saw this happen a few weeks ago when I volunteered.) Answer: sniff, sniff, nods head. I respond, "Do you know why she does that?" Amelia, "Yeah." Me, "Why?" I give her a few moments to see if she comes up with anything, sometimes when words or concepts are new she takes a few minutes. After watching her mouth move without sound I asked her again and gave her a few more minutes. Finally I told her, "Eliza cries like that because she really misses her daddy." Then I turned it into a bit of a teaching moment because Amelia has a really hard time with holding my hand in a parking lot. Although it was a bit of a stretch, I took the opportunity. I said to her, "You know how I want you to always hold my hand in a parking lot?" Very clearly she said, "Yes." (Maybe she was relieved to know the answer.) Me, "It's because I am afraid you're going to get hurt, right?" Her, "Yes." Me, "Well, that's what happened to Eliza's daddy. He got hurt really bad in his truck and he is never going to come home again because he died. Eliza cries because she misses him. But your daddy is in the other room, you get to see him anytime you want so you shouldn't be sad."

Haven't had a problem with the crying since then. I think she was mimicking a behavior she had seen without understanding the cause of it. She saw the attention and comfort that Eliza got when she cried, but now that I've explained it to her, Amelia hasn't done it again and it's been a few days, so I think it may have worked.

Long Winter

You know it's been a long winter when Amelia, who was painting this morning, says, "I need more brown so I can paint the grass."

Family Fun

Daddy is on Spring Break so we took a short overnight trip to a close-by local tourist haven Monday afternoon and Tuesday.

On Monday evening Amelia showed her affection to Spiderman.

On Tuesday, I took her ice skating for the first time and she did really well for a beginner! There were imprints of snowflakes in the ice and as long as she had one of those as a destination, she did a good job of getting there. I wouldn't let go of her at all and she found that bothersome. She fell asleep on the way home - something she never does during daylight hours now! (Of course, we also took full advantage of the indoor pool at the hotel Monday evening AND Tuesday morning and I'm sure that added to her fatigue.) The only downer was the weather - cold and rainy. Blech.

[pictures dated 4/13 & 4/14/09]

Happy Easter!

Our egg hunt yesterday was held indoors thanks to yet another day of gloomy, cold rain. Amelia still had fun and her friend Livia came, so that's what counts.

Today the sun shone for most of the day and Amelia was spoiled with goodies from us, Aunt Amy, Grandma, Dodah, Tia Polly and Nana. It was a long day of visiting! Amelia looked so pretty in her yellow dress and straw hat, too. She is either looking down or running away in most of the pictures I took of her. This is the best one, except that instead of smiling sweetly, she is talking to me. (And you probably thought she was imitating the Easter Bunny, huh?) She is wearing her monkey finger puppet, too. Her Easter basket from us contained a set of finger puppets and Dora dominoes - both were huge hits!

[pictures dated 4/11 and 4/12/09]

Cuidado

We spend a lot of time encouraging Amelia to sit in her chair while we eat supper. The other night as she was sliding out, I again said, "Amelia please sit in your chair." She must have gotten a little off balance because she yelled out, "Cuidado!" then followed it up with "Watch out!" She's definitely getting something from Dora/Diego/Handy Manny, even though she doesn't watch them every day.

I knew what cuidado meant, but had to think about it for a second, even with the follow-up translation Amelia so nicely provided. The first thing I thought of were those yellow signs you see on floors that have been mopped. Pretty soon, Amelia will be teaching me Spanish because she will beyond the little that I know (like numbers, colors, etc. that she knows now).

There is great value in being bilingual and it's great that she seems to pick it up without much effort. If only it were that easy for me ...

It was a cold & windy day ...

... so we built Amelia's first snowman! Actually I guess it's a snow-woman since she is wearing my hat. We were temporarily out of carrots so we improvised with one of her play kitchen forks.

All the snow we've had up until now was too powdery for snow people. So I guess there's something good about April snow, then, huh?

[picture dated 4/7/09]