Designer

Lunch & Designer

D and I had an unexpected lunch date today.  Since we needed to meet with our designer/GC's showroom at 1, we met up for lunch beforehand.  My head is rather in the ground on this whole house business.  I have just kind of shut down and started to pretend like it's all beyond my control. It's the way I was when we bought this house, too.  We made quick decisions and then I was ready for them to implement and for everything to be done.  It's not lack of patience on my part as much as it is lack of interest in the process, I guess.

He's going to come back to us with a few more drawings for paint color options.  You know the picture I scanned in before?  I thought it was a computer drawing, but it's a hand drawing.  Wow.  Anyway, they're going to do a few more of those with different house colors to see if we can get it nailed down.  We also decided to skip the porch - at least the porch that would be in front of the windows.  We're most likely still doing a decking over the existing concrete steps we have.  We're also looking into other options for replacing/changing the brick.

In case you're wondering, he was finally diagnosed with Bell's palsy. It is a less than clear cut case because he had paralysis on his entire right side of his body, not just on his face.  He can walk without a cane now and we were able to meet with him in his showroom, so I think things are getting back to normal for him.

Tantrum update

Avery's been doing much better with her tantrums the last few days, and I've been handling them better, too.  Of course, we have just been driving to and from school and those trips are usually without any issue, but she's also been a bit more toned down in her tantrums at home.  She'll whine or cry when she doesn't get what she wants, but it's less drawn out and dramatic.  I've been rewarding her with a sticker for getting into her car seat without a hassle.  I figured we'll start smaller than a TV reward as long as I can get away with it.  I found some free Sesame Street video podcasts that only last about five minutes.  I don't like the idea of her watching a lot of TV in the car since that means less TV time at home (adhering to a screen limit time to avoid Angry Child at nighttime).  I like TV time at home because it gives me a break.  I don't want to waste TV time in the car.

Sleeping

She ended up sleeping with us last night.  I vaguely remember pulling her into bed with us after she came into our room (which I was later informed by D was around 2:30 AM).  First she came in without making noise, but since I wake up whenever there is any movement or sound of any kind, I was aware that she came into our room.  At first she just stood next to the bed, then she went to sleep on the floor for a while.  Eventually stood up and asked to come into bed with us.  It's all a bit of a haze.  Normally I would have checked the time and then told her to go back into her bed, so I'm not sure why that didn't happen last night.  It wasn't desperation for sleep or frustration on my part.  I think I might have been somewhat asleep and just wasn't thinking straight.  Overall, she has gotten good at going back into her own bed without help from us if she wakes up in the middle of the night.  I'm currently knocking on wood for that trend to continue.  

Packing

I have told Avery several times about our upcoming trip to Colorado.  When she got home from school yesterday, first she stripped down (always her first act when we get home), then decided she wanted to get into dinosaur jammies, then she she said she needed to pack for our trip.  I gave her the ladybug bag to pack, but she also decided she needed to bring along the box that we had been pretending was a mailbox. What she packed: two pieces of junk mail, our mailbox key, and several shredded up pieces of paper.  Sounds about right to me.

Comprehension

On the way to school this morning, I was explaining to Avery why she is going to school three days this week (our travel next week).  I finished, then she said, "and daddy/daughter date night!"  It seems all future events get all jumbled in her mind.  I told her yesterday that tonight will be a Daddy/Daughter date night since I'm going out to dinner.  It was very sweet to hear her so excited about it.

We talk a lot in the car lately.  She likes to observe what I'm doing or not doing: "Mommy waving" or "Mommy not waving."  The why questions have started, though I'm not sure she really understands what "why?" means since she doesn't always use it at logical times in a conversation.  An example of her why question used properly: at the stoplight today, she said, "Mommy not going. Why?"  I explained that we stop on red and go on green and she seemed satisfied with that answer.  I'm curious to see if she'll retain that bit of knowledge.

And while this is not a leap in comprehension to document, she says the same thing every time we go to or leave school and I find it adorable.  A couple of weeks ago, they went on a buggy ride around the hospital grounds and over near the private school.  The private school apparently has goats on its grounds.  They saw one of the goats.  So now, every time we walk by the buggies, which are stored on either side of the entrance to her school, she says, "'member buggy ride?"  I say, "I remember you telling me about the buggy ride.  What did you see?"  Then she yells, "Goats!!!"  Then she usually points to the seat (I presume) she was sitting in and points to the seat next to it to say, "Ethan!" (whom I presume was sitting next to her).  She talks about Ethan, Owen, and Ali from school.  The other day she even asked for Ali.  It's very different for me to hear her ask for friends from school since she's forged these little friendships on her own.