Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Summer Time, Summer Time
What a fun summer this has been so far. As you saw in my last post, I have been much more mobile making trips as far as Monroe. Well I've got even more news for you this time. I've had my first overnight away from home. Not only did I have my first overnight, but it lasted for a whole week. Mommy took me on a vacation with Grandma, Grandpa, and all of my aunts, uncles and cousins on the Kemler side of the family. We went to beautiful Lexington Michigan. It is north of Port Huron in the thumb. We had some cottages on lake Huron. It was a fun time. You can see some of the pictures below. I'm getting really good at walking. I do still stumble every now and then but it has become a lot less frequent. Mommy and daddy still use my walking wings so I don't really hurt myself on those occasions where I still stumble as I am not strong enough to catch myself. I continue to learn more and more each day. I'm getting so smart that if mommy and daddy try to spell words around me so I don't know what they are talking about, I will sound out the words and most of the time I get it right. My latest development is that I am beginning to read words. Mommy was showing me some books that I had never seen and I was reading the names of the books before I was told what they were. (Don't forget, I'm only 2 1/2 years old) I was playing with a thing of Tic Tacs and daddy pointed to part of the label and asked me what it spelled and I said "wintergreen". No one had told me that they were wintergreen Tic Tacs. Who knows what I will learn next. Anyway, here is a quick description of the images below.
Pictures 1 & 2 are me being my goofy self. Aren't I too darn cute! Picture 3 is daddy helping me climb the stairs. That is something that I can't do on my own yet, but as I get stronger I get closer and closer to doing it on my own. Picture 4 shows me dolled up in one of my favorite hats. It is bigger than me but don't I look too cute in it? Picture 5 is one of my last visits with my therapist Lauren. She was teaching me how to and that I could bend over to pick things up. Now that I realized I can do it I do it all the time although it does take a lot of effort.
Another cool thing I learned is how to drive a bus. Check me out in picture number 6. I don't even have a license yet! I'm still just eating sweet potatoes by mouth. I just don't want to try anything else. Most of my nutrition still goes through my feeding tube but I do like to eat by mouth. I used to feed myself pretty good but have regressed a little bit. I like someone to feed me every now and then. I think it's the attention that I like. I like to be silly all the time. Picture 7 shows me being silly while eating some sweet potatoes. Picture 8 is a funny one. I always see mommy and daddy and even my nurses wearing gloves for suctioning me. Well, I want a part of the action. I want to wear gloves too. I ask for a glove all the time and make someone help me put it on. If daddy tries to give me his used glove I ask for a clean one. Picture 9 above and 10 below is me and mommy wandering the park across the street from our house. It's nice to have a park so close to home.
Picutre 11 is me trying to do some more potty training which doesn't happen all that much anymore. I do still go like a big girl every now and then though. I still always have to have a hat as you can see in picture 13. Picture 14 above and 15 below shows my pretty pink nail polish. Mommy painted my toenails for my vacation. I was a little unsure at first, but it quickly gew on me.
Picture 16 and 17 are of my cottage in Lexington where I spent a whole week with mommy and the Kemler family. What fun we had! Mommy brought my swimming pool which you can see me playing in in picture 18.
Picture 19, still playing in the pool. Some of the other kids decided to join me. Later in the week, we got a larger pool so some of the other kids could get in with me and I had a lot more room to splash around. Picture 20 is of the inside of our cabin. They were pretty nice. Grandpa bought an air conditioner just for me to use on the trip so that I would be comfortable in the cabin. What a guy!!! There were lots of outdoor things to do there. Pictures 21 and 22 show me playing in a toy house with some of my cousins. Picture 23 shows me cooling off and watching a movie in the cabin. It's exhausting running around as much as I do outside on those hot days.
The next several pictures show some of the outdoor activities we enjoyed while on vacation. Picture 24 shows how close we were to lake Huron. You can see some swings by the water which I enjoyed rocking on. Picture 25 shows us playing with my letters at one of the picnic tables. They are so fun to play with even the adults got involved. Pictures 26 through 29 show one of my favorite activities while on vacation. I just loved to throw rocks into the lake. I loved even more when everyone else threw the really big ones so I could see and hear the big splash.
These last couple of pictures show a frog that daddy caught for me. Daddy likes to find bugs outside for me to see. He will catch them one day and we release them the next. So far, he has caught me a caterpillar that turned into a moth, several frogs, and a praying mantis. It's fun to watch them crawl away.
Pictures 1 & 2 are me being my goofy self. Aren't I too darn cute! Picture 3 is daddy helping me climb the stairs. That is something that I can't do on my own yet, but as I get stronger I get closer and closer to doing it on my own. Picture 4 shows me dolled up in one of my favorite hats. It is bigger than me but don't I look too cute in it? Picture 5 is one of my last visits with my therapist Lauren. She was teaching me how to and that I could bend over to pick things up. Now that I realized I can do it I do it all the time although it does take a lot of effort.
Another cool thing I learned is how to drive a bus. Check me out in picture number 6. I don't even have a license yet! I'm still just eating sweet potatoes by mouth. I just don't want to try anything else. Most of my nutrition still goes through my feeding tube but I do like to eat by mouth. I used to feed myself pretty good but have regressed a little bit. I like someone to feed me every now and then. I think it's the attention that I like. I like to be silly all the time. Picture 7 shows me being silly while eating some sweet potatoes. Picture 8 is a funny one. I always see mommy and daddy and even my nurses wearing gloves for suctioning me. Well, I want a part of the action. I want to wear gloves too. I ask for a glove all the time and make someone help me put it on. If daddy tries to give me his used glove I ask for a clean one. Picture 9 above and 10 below is me and mommy wandering the park across the street from our house. It's nice to have a park so close to home.
Picutre 11 is me trying to do some more potty training which doesn't happen all that much anymore. I do still go like a big girl every now and then though. I still always have to have a hat as you can see in picture 13. Picture 14 above and 15 below shows my pretty pink nail polish. Mommy painted my toenails for my vacation. I was a little unsure at first, but it quickly gew on me.
Picture 16 and 17 are of my cottage in Lexington where I spent a whole week with mommy and the Kemler family. What fun we had! Mommy brought my swimming pool which you can see me playing in in picture 18.
Picture 19, still playing in the pool. Some of the other kids decided to join me. Later in the week, we got a larger pool so some of the other kids could get in with me and I had a lot more room to splash around. Picture 20 is of the inside of our cabin. They were pretty nice. Grandpa bought an air conditioner just for me to use on the trip so that I would be comfortable in the cabin. What a guy!!! There were lots of outdoor things to do there. Pictures 21 and 22 show me playing in a toy house with some of my cousins. Picture 23 shows me cooling off and watching a movie in the cabin. It's exhausting running around as much as I do outside on those hot days.
The next several pictures show some of the outdoor activities we enjoyed while on vacation. Picture 24 shows how close we were to lake Huron. You can see some swings by the water which I enjoyed rocking on. Picture 25 shows us playing with my letters at one of the picnic tables. They are so fun to play with even the adults got involved. Pictures 26 through 29 show one of my favorite activities while on vacation. I just loved to throw rocks into the lake. I loved even more when everyone else threw the really big ones so I could see and hear the big splash.
These last couple of pictures show a frog that daddy caught for me. Daddy likes to find bugs outside for me to see. He will catch them one day and we release them the next. So far, he has caught me a caterpillar that turned into a moth, several frogs, and a praying mantis. It's fun to watch them crawl away.
