2009 not shaping up well...

This week was the longest week in recorded history. It claimed to be seven days, but I'm certain that I lived 40 in the same amount of time. All week I had been looking forward to the promise of reuniting with old friends and colleagues one more time before the Governor's Mansion changes hands. We dolled up on Friday (not too much, mind you. It was only 'business' dress) and headed to Jefferson City.

Just as we had reconnected and settled in with our treats and wine, we received the phone call that started "Sophia's okay, but..." Ugh. As Erick took the phone call, I watched from my seat and knew that our evening was taking a disappointing turn. Sophia had "helped" take a pizza out of the oven and set her hand on the door in the process.

We returned home to a lethargic and sleepy girl with slight blisters on her palm. We were shocked when she slept through the night, but we were even more shocked that her entire palm had turned into a blister. Five hours and much pacing later, Sophia got into the Burn ICU at the University and was immediately patched up, so to speak. Tonight, we're resting.

Sophia did wonderfully throughout. Trooper doesn't begin to describe her sweet and heart-wrenching tenderness. Last night, as we were discussing bed, she looked at Erick with watery eyes and said, "I'll stay here under the blankie a minute. Is that okay?" It was. She seemed to forget about her injury if it was tucked safely under the blanket.

Then this morning while discussing the impending doctor's visit, Sophia said "I wish it didn't happen." Broke our hearts, that one.

The emergency room itself was actually a pleasure for Sophia. at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, she had her pick of nurses to Peek-a-boo with. They were all head-over-heels for the cute little girl. Even when the burn attending, Dr. Kratz (sp?) came to get her, she responded sweetly, to which he said, "Sophia, you are indescribably cute."

We were home around 1:30 this afternoon with a groggy but still happy toddler. She perked up this afternoon to play some with her wrapped appendage.

By tonight, she was feeling out of it again and needed to snuggle with daddy, watching her little DVD player while Daddy watched football. A restful and much needed scenario for both.

The pain is significantly less this way than had the burn had to heal on its own. We are very grateful for that. So, anyway, 2009. I'm not loving it. Any budgetary restrictions we had placed on ourselves are shot beyond recognition, and that makes them all the more necessary. I still have hope. Seriously, with an adventurous and fearless toddler, our chances of making it through 2009 without an e.r. visit were slim to none. So maybe we just got ours out of the way. One can hope if one chooses. I choose to do so. Remind me of that tomorrow when I'm still wishing for 2010.

Sweet and/or Sassy

Yesterday was another one of those days with a toddler. You just never know what's going to come out of that mouth. Sweet or sassy. One moment, she told me, "I love you, too, Mama," even when I hadn't told her first. The next minute, she was yelling with her angry face about who knows what. Probably that I wasn't doing precisely what she wanted.

Here are a couple of captured moments from our day. One moment with a scary pirate and another with a sweet great-granddaughter. She was calling my grandma, Momo. I'm not exactly sure what she's talking about, but I think she's asking about a present or something. . . it's still sweet, right?

The Impasse

We should be at TumbleBees right now. Instead we're at home listening to Mickey Mouse. Sophia has been having a little trouble following directions lately (insert sarcastic laugh here). So today when we began talking about going to TumbleBees, I asked, as I always do, "Will you listen to Bob today?" This time, instead of answering yes, even though it's not always true, she said, "Nope." I believed her. Of course I'm probably just as disappointed. Getting out is always a relief. So, I tried again. We talked for a while about what she might do there today and that she wanted to go. Okay, let's try again. Would she listen to Bob today? She replied "No, Mom," with the tone that said, "Weren't you listening five minutes ago, Woman?"

So, here we are. Home. The photo above is real time. Look into those eyes. . .

Family Photos with a 2-year-old

On Saturday after the parade, we went to Rock Bridge State Park with David and Casey and the boys as we had done last year. It worked out perfectly last year because we each had someone handy to take a family photo and snap some shots that we each would have missed. This year, it was not so ideal.

It was our own fault to start out with. We told Sophia we were going to a park, and she had the entirely wrong idea about what that meant. There were no swings or slides, just rocks and trees. Not really to Sophia's liking. She kept saying, "Let's go to the park now!" Poor thing. She was distracted by a few things. Water:

A leaf lasted a couple seconds.

It was almost comical really. Any time I would get close for a picture, she would push me away or simply turn the other way or yell something unpleasant. That's always a good feeling. After a lengthy walk through the woods, maintaining the hope that we would round a corner on a new attitude, we decided to give it up. On the way out, Sophia was happy because she was riding Daddy's back. So this is the best family photo I could get. Even then, she didn't really want to smile. She just couldn't help it.

Once we neared the van, she - of course - didn't want to go. Erick tried to snap a shot of her "flying" around the grass, but for some reason the camera focused on the grass. I just love the look on her face in this one. So sweet. So deceptively sweet.

Long Week

It has been a pretty long week, and I can't really explain why. Well, two reasons pop to the surface. Sophia has been a bit of a pill. Her worst behavior tends to be followed by her most boisterous laugh, so it's hard to know how to respond without laughing. That's not really true. There have been plenty of times that I wasn't tempted to laugh. The second reason is that I have been TIRED! I don't know why, but I have been exhausted this week. I think it's the mixture of allergies, late night and early mornings.

Sophia's toe is doing pretty well. The nail is still black and loose, but it is hanging on. I'm kind of worried that it will take a long time to come off. Anyway, she is acting just like normal as far as that's concerned.

Yesterday, I took advantage of her attitude to snap a few pictures. She was ignoring me, so it worked out pretty well.

Still ignoring me...

Almost 2 . . . or is it 13?

With a birthday coming up, we've been thinking a lot about this new phase. What we didn't realize was that two would be so much like thirteen. From what I hear (I was a perfect teenager myself), teenage girls can be, um, difficult. Lots of their own opinions, they don't like anything you do, and they seem to already know everything! Enter not-yet-two Sophia.

Sophia has become very independent and it's not always cute - although sometimes it is.

What I didn't mention about Sunday's visit with my parents is that she spent the first 30 minutes or so being taciturn and anti-social. When asked a question, she would gruffly answer and walk away. It's not the typical whiny toddler response she has when she's normally being unpleasant, but it's still unpleasant.

Today, we had another phase of teenage angst. Basically, she just doesn't want anything to do with whatever I suggest. Here she is mulling it over. She's not in trouble here. It's just her way of letting me know she doesn't appreciate my input.

Another time this weekend, she and I were having a disagreement over an established boundary. I don't even remember what it was. She turned and walked to Erick, while pointing back at me. She said, "I'm kind of sad at her." It was very hard not to laugh, but in reality I was proud of her! There was nothing bad about her telling us how she felt or that she disagreed, as long as she was being nice about it. So, she's already learning, and maybe having these "trial runs" will make her teenage years more tolerable.

Our Next Big Adventure

This morning, I took Sophia to Tumbling class. I just decided it was time to start her on something that involved some sort of structure and instruction. I'm not a big one for tons of structure, so I knew it would be helpful for her to receive direction from someone else. We're going to TumbleBees here in Columbia. The class she's in is 18 months to 3 years. She did so great! I was very happy for her because she seemed to just light up with each new obstacle he presented! It was great fun to watch all the kids learn and play. It was cool to watch her look to someone else (Bob) for instructions on what to do next. He seemed to be pleased with her attention in the first class. . . so was I! I am very glad that we decided to take this step. It's just a 7-week class, but I think Sophia will definitely want to continue. I'll keep you updated on her progress.