Doctor Week

I haven't done a medical update in awhile which has, quite honestly, been awesome. But since we're coming off our spring edition of 'doctor week' where we meet with the big guns in her medical adventure, I thought I'd post a little bit of what's going on.  My parents and sister tagged on to an LA visit and spent a few days with us which was really nice since to have some moral support.

When the goose was born there were two 'lists' that we were given - the first was a list of confirmed findings from all of their tests and the other was a potential list of issues that she was prone to or showing symptoms of but would require more tests to confirm.  Both of these lists of gotten shorter (YAY!) and longer (BOO!) as time has gone on as we learn more of what's going on. We are so grateful to have crossed off a couple things but now items which in a previous life would make me pass out if I heard that she had (two confirmed heart defects and potential issues with her spinal cord) are now bubbling up to the top of our priorities. The rock and the hard place of it all is that we are all too well aware of how hard some of the tests are on all of us, but if she does have what they suspect and it goes unfixed, it could have devastating long term effects. So we're researching our heads off and doing some praying hoping we're making the right decisions.

While we tend to leave visits with lighter and heavier hearts all at the same time, every time we walk out of that hospital I am vividly reminded at how absolutely grateful I am that she is walking right next to me because being able to walk normally was not a given when she was born.

We also snuck in some fun with the fam on their visit, including a swim lesson with a cheering section. Note, Makenna was also in Makenna's cheering section that day clapping for herself? them? who knows every time she did something well.

Floating away with Ms. Jessica

Hanging out in an egg at UTC

While going to the doc isn't always fun it does remind us how lucky we are to have some of the best in the world.

Tea for '2'

I've skipped a few beats, namely some major/minor holidays and a handful of months, but I couldn't wait to post some pics from her little birthday party.  She is mildly obsessed with tea parties and I'm mildly obsessed with parties in general so we thought this was a good fit.

First, she kicked off her birthday with a little graduation (handed a piece of paper by the front desk) at her swimming school. I was impressed she graduated again, she was impressed with the rubber ducky they gave her. Winning all around.

A new friend found their way into the fairy garden that morning, too.

And we 'ran into' our besties from Montana at the zoo the next day. I think I heard the phrase 'herding cats' more that day than the rest of my whole life. . .combined. 

And topped it all off with a proper tea for our love.  Happy birthday sweet Goose, oh how we love you!

Cousin love

ABC

Some days it hard to believe we have a two year old because she still loves to be snuggled, rocked to sleep and held just as she always has. Other days, I realize that not only does her vocabulary rival my own, her grammar is undoubtedly better and that she is wise beyond her years, that she is turning into a little human all on her own.

I've thought many times that age 1 would be hard to beat being that she learned to walk, talk, sing and dance but I've realized there are still plenty of exciting things up ahead.

My mom likes to joke that she doesn't sleep much because she's practicing things like her counting and ABC's. While I wouldn't mind some more sleep, I do enjoy this little know it all quite a bit.

I don't usually post videos, but I haven't been great about remembering when she did stuff, so I'm posting so I don't forget (or lose this video). Here is her Stevie Wonder rendition of the ABC's:

Happiest Place on Earth

Mark's been travelling and gone quite a bit the past few months, overall, give or take, let's just say. . .FALL, and while mostly gone for work before you start feeling too sorry for him there was quite a few bachelor parties, weddings and general shenanigans to keep him upbeat.  While Dubbie and I had been braving the wilds of Carlsbad alone, he came home one day and surprised us with Disneyland tickets for some good old fashioned family time.  Mark and I are big Disneyland fans lucky enough to grow up within driving distance and having many, many wonderful memories there (FUN FACT: Did you know my Dad used to work at Disneyland in the summer as one of the Davy Crocket canoe guys? Oh, you didnt? That's probably because no one goes on those canoes. . .) We used to go to Disney during Christmas when we were dating and have been so many times in our life its pretty amazing we waited this long to take her.  Since we live in the land of a thousand theme parks, it was inevitable she'd make it to them all pretty quickly (which she has). While she is too young to really remember any of it, that kind of turns out to be the beauty of the whole thing because:

1) We'll remember it, and it was awesome
2) She didn't have an agenda, everything we brought her too was amazing
3) She'll have a blast at her first time all over again some day

I am more than happy to report that she loved EVERYTHING including the rides, the crowds, music, people, characters.. . everything. There were no tears and only minutes of sleep (on the walk back to the hotel for a break). She was well acquainted with the characters beforehand from her Disney coloring books but it wasn't until we showed her Mickey's Christmas Carol weeks after this trip that she said 'Mickey is talking!' in total surprise. Oh sweet goose, if you only knew. . .

If you happen to be around the Goose anytime soon, I assure you she will tell you ALL about it.

First visit!

Minnie's House

Tea party + Minnie = mind blown

Still obsessed with elephants, flying or otherwise

We also got a reverse surprise visit from Nonna who popped up late on Day 2 just in time to walk the next generation down Main Street, see the Goose get her first ears, and join us on our second round of It's a Small World.

FIRST EARS!!

Fueling her tea party obsession

Two days at Disney = one happy Goose!

The Goose These Days

...is pretty wonderful. Her large personality and petite stature make for one pretty awesome kid and I love seeing her become more and more of who she is each day. Which is a curious, precocious, silly, smart assertive little pipsqueak. Some fun facts about the person who thinks they are running our household these days:

1)She rolls deep.  All of her animals are her babies and she still spends quite a bit of time burying me in them everyday.  There is constantly one tucked tightly beneath her arm.

2) She knows her colors. Around 16 months I thought she had them down but every once in awhile she'd confidently try to tell me something black was pink making me think she was just a good guesser the rest of the time.

3) She can count to ten. The numbers are correct but the fingers can use some work. After ten usually comes twelve and fourteen. What can I say? She likes even numbers.

4) She is still a dancing machine. She's moved on the from the kiddie stuff (Raffi? Please, that's for babies) and now busts her move to Pharrell's 'Happy' every night. . .about 37 times. There is a LOT of dancing going on in this house especially in the late afternoons/evenings.  If your miss your zumba class feel free to stop by, we'll hook you up.

5) She likes to accessorize. Sunnys, crowns, beads, as long as its 'fancy' she's in. Again, not something she got from her Mama.

6) She has a good vocabulary. Words like 'whisking' and 'mustache' or 'motorcycle' come tumbling out every once in awhile and like a lot of kids she'll repeat anything. And I mean ANYTHING, as in, she'll repeat your whole sentence replicating the exact inflections and attitude to go with it. (That guy did WHAT?! Oh nooo he didn't!)

7) She'll tell you everything she knows. Waking up in the morning is like watching a car go from zero to 60 in no time at all. Her eyes open and she'll say 'foot,' 'other foot,' 'two feet,' socks, pink socks, small socks, two socks. . .you get the picture.

8) Her 'No' phase (if that's what you can call it) is pretty cute. If you ask her a question that doesn't involve wanting to dance or coloring with a pink crayon, there's a good chance you'll get a no in response. And let me tell you, its the most prim and proper, matter of fact, I'd rather not but thanks for asking petite little 'no' you've ever heard. The 'bye-bye' phase is totally in effect though, meaning she has to say 'bye-bye' to the slide, the swing, the sand, the sky, the clouds, the worm on the ground. . .before we EVEN think about leaving.

9) She has an elephant like memory. She can tell you every person she saw last weekend, which animals were at the tidepools and what the monkey at the zoo was eating. . .three months ago. I've got a pretty good memory (which happens to be the way I survived school) so I'm hoping this continues to serve her well.

10) We are buddies. I am so grateful for getting to spend so much time with this little human and being proud to call her mine. We spend hours talking, snuggling, dancing, playing and walking around the neighborhood. I am already so proud of who she is becoming.

The GREAT Pumpkin

Last year for Halloween I was a ghost. Not that I dressed as one, but that my kid spent the morning in the OR and I was as white as one due to the stress. This year I am happy to report that I was my normal color this year and all smiles getting to spend the day with our little fam. Mark took the day off since he was flying out to the east coast on a red-eye right after trick-or-treating wrapped up, so we spent the day at the park, carving pumpkins and just doing generally scary things.

The only criteria for the costume this year was that it be something she liked and knew what it was which would up our chances of her keeping it on all night. I usually start plotting and working on my homemade costumes unseasonally early each year so getting a store bought costume was a bit of a hit to me, but there are years to come for that unnecessary stress.

As for trick-or-treating, she loved it. She hopped in and out of the wagon, knocked on doors, received the candy, said 'thank you' (sometimes) and tried to pet every fat, furry Halloween spider decoration she saw. Ick. I can assure this is NOT a trait she picked up from me. And aside from the jelly bean she snuck into her mouth last Easter, she has, to date not had any candy so we were curious to see what she would think of it.  And all she thought was that they were little, colorful toys and she spent hours sorting and re-sorting them naming out their colors and laying them on the carpet. She was pretty stoked to add the word 'sucker' to her vocabulary and has successfully learned to take candy from strangers. All in all a very happy Halloween for everyone!

Pumpkins

I like them. A lot.  And after disowning my husband last year for suggesting we visit the 'pumpkin patch' at the mall, we were lucky enough to be up on the CC for the weekend to be able to spend some time at Avila Valley Barn for a REAL patch and have some good old fashioned fun.  Having been there a few weeks earlier pre-pumpkins, the Goose greeted the goats like they were old friends, gave a shout out to the donkey and the llamas and then made her way to the pumpkins. Complete with tractor ride, sunflower field and pumpkin patch, it was a pretty solid Fall experience to begin with, and then . . .it happened.  While we'd passed the horses a handful of times before it wasn't until she saw a kid mount one of them that her already large eyes doubled in size and she was drawn to the corral. While we couldn't sign the forms fast enough (you're supposed to read those?) I thought she'd flinch when they had me hand her over, or at least when they made her keep the helmet chin strap on, but no luck. She was riding that horse. And she did. Like a bobble head on the dryer she made numerous laps around the corral with the saddle in one and and a witch doll in the other before they let her go and stand on her own. And it was awesome.

Look at that mullet!

Happy Goose, mildly amused horse.

What up witch?

Cousin love?

She had more success with the maze for minis then I did with the one for. . .well, not minis.