If you take her photo with a proper camera, complete with flash, she takes a pretty mean photo.
Credit where credit is due - Kris took all of these. I am mearly providing the lumpy backdrop!
Thursday 24 January 2013
Interesting Fact
Learned something new about Eleanor this morning - if you try and take her pictures with a phone, she will not sit still and will attempt to grab the phone (the way she is currently grabbing at the keyboard while I type this!).
If you take her photo with a proper camera, complete with flash, she takes a pretty mean photo.
Credit where credit is due - Kris took all of these. I am mearly providing the lumpy backdrop!
If you take her photo with a proper camera, complete with flash, she takes a pretty mean photo.
Credit where credit is due - Kris took all of these. I am mearly providing the lumpy backdrop!
Saturday 19 January 2013
THIS! THIS! LOOK AT THIS!
We bought this Tigger ride-on toy awhile back from a very nice lady who was selling stuff from her daycare. For $10 we got the scooter and a piano-thing. What a steal, hey? Well, the scooter proved to be too wide and too tall for Eleanor to ride on it, let alone push it with her feet (which is what we were hoping she would do), and it has no "off" switch.
It makes airplane noises as well as Tigger laughing. It's the worst.
BUT today we found a new use for it! And those ankle weights that I never use (they are inside the seat)!!!
And then we took another one with "good" parenting skills! You know, supervision and not just crazy, blind excitement!! But we are SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!
She got really tired and poopy after this video. Like, give me my water and a snack - I just ran a marathon. So proud of our little bear today!!
Friday 11 January 2013
Play Date
Eleanor had a play date the other day. Her little buddy Taran came round to play. I use the term "buddy" lightly, because the last few times the two of them played, Taran spent most of his time trying to kick Eleanor in the head or throwing sand at her. Whatever. They are two. He's protective of his mummy. But they played really nicely, for the most part. Neither of them threw tantrums when stealing toys from one another, so I consider that I successful play date!
Kris came home and got to witness all this normal toddler behavior and was full of questions after they left. How old is he? How long has he been walking/talking? Did you see how sad Eleanor looked because she can't do those things? I'm not sure how sad she was - I certainly didn't see it - but I get that reality check-feeling. Taran is three months older, but it seems like a lifetime. He can formulate thoughts and feelings into sentences. He can put on his own shoes. He can follow complex instructions. He can run and kick a ball. He is a very normal 2 year old boy. We get lost in our own little world of Eleanor (especially after two weeks of concentrated family time), and we forget.
I've been filling out a form for her speech therapist to help gauge her vocabulary. I was excited to tackle this because I feel like Eleanor has made leaps and bounds in this area over the past little while. My excitement faded pretty quickly when I realized that while her comprehension is greatly improved, her speech is dismal. Most of her communication is through gesture and sign language, which is fine and works great for us, but it is not speech. She can parrot some sounds, but she really can't talk. But I can't get morose about it; that is why we are getting a speech therapist!
When I met with the therapist to discuss what Eleanor's treatment would look like, she used the term "special needs". I have used it myself in reference to my daughter but I have never heard anyone else say it. It's apt; it makes sense. She does have needs that are different from other kids. But the term always seems to be referring to kids with Downs or autism, so when it came out of this woman's mouth, I sucked in a quick breath. That's not her. Don't say that. And as my shoulders relaxed on the exhale, my thoughts switched to the rational truth. It's still hard to hear, though. I read a quote a little while ago that said "a child that falls behind is left behind" or something to that effect. It keeps coming back to haunt me, though I know she has come so far.
And still-photos are so deceptive! I keep catching shots of her and I marvel at how normal she looks! It doesn't show how quickly she comes out of kneeling and you can't hear how she drops the final sound off every word she says. She just looks like a normal toddler.
I've been working with her on using utensils. She hasn't shown much interest up til now so we haven't bothered too much. It's a slow process, but she's really getting the hang of the spoon, especially with foods she loves (yogurt, peas, chocolate anything). I never let her eat her own yogurt because we used yogurt to hide her meds. If she got it all over her face or flung it on the floor, we'd never know if the meds made it to their final destination. But now that Mitotane is out of the picture, she's free to dip and stuff and fling and smear all she wants. If I hold the bowl/container, she's actually pretty tidy. If let her do it...
Well, we still have a ways to go!
Kris came home and got to witness all this normal toddler behavior and was full of questions after they left. How old is he? How long has he been walking/talking? Did you see how sad Eleanor looked because she can't do those things? I'm not sure how sad she was - I certainly didn't see it - but I get that reality check-feeling. Taran is three months older, but it seems like a lifetime. He can formulate thoughts and feelings into sentences. He can put on his own shoes. He can follow complex instructions. He can run and kick a ball. He is a very normal 2 year old boy. We get lost in our own little world of Eleanor (especially after two weeks of concentrated family time), and we forget.
I've been filling out a form for her speech therapist to help gauge her vocabulary. I was excited to tackle this because I feel like Eleanor has made leaps and bounds in this area over the past little while. My excitement faded pretty quickly when I realized that while her comprehension is greatly improved, her speech is dismal. Most of her communication is through gesture and sign language, which is fine and works great for us, but it is not speech. She can parrot some sounds, but she really can't talk. But I can't get morose about it; that is why we are getting a speech therapist!
When I met with the therapist to discuss what Eleanor's treatment would look like, she used the term "special needs". I have used it myself in reference to my daughter but I have never heard anyone else say it. It's apt; it makes sense. She does have needs that are different from other kids. But the term always seems to be referring to kids with Downs or autism, so when it came out of this woman's mouth, I sucked in a quick breath. That's not her. Don't say that. And as my shoulders relaxed on the exhale, my thoughts switched to the rational truth. It's still hard to hear, though. I read a quote a little while ago that said "a child that falls behind is left behind" or something to that effect. It keeps coming back to haunt me, though I know she has come so far.
And still-photos are so deceptive! I keep catching shots of her and I marvel at how normal she looks! It doesn't show how quickly she comes out of kneeling and you can't hear how she drops the final sound off every word she says. She just looks like a normal toddler.
I've been working with her on using utensils. She hasn't shown much interest up til now so we haven't bothered too much. It's a slow process, but she's really getting the hang of the spoon, especially with foods she loves (yogurt, peas, chocolate anything). I never let her eat her own yogurt because we used yogurt to hide her meds. If she got it all over her face or flung it on the floor, we'd never know if the meds made it to their final destination. But now that Mitotane is out of the picture, she's free to dip and stuff and fling and smear all she wants. If I hold the bowl/container, she's actually pretty tidy. If let her do it...
Well, we still have a ways to go!
Thursday 3 January 2013
Simply The Best
So I have the best husband in the entire world. Sure, he has his short-comings and a lot of the time I want to murder him, but he does one thing for which I am eternally grateful: morning duty.
Every morning he gets up at some godforsaken hour (usually between 4:30-5:30am) and fetches Eleanor from her crib so I can sleep a little longer. He makes his coffee and feeds her some Cheerios or toast or fruit (hereto now known as "First Breakfast"), and the two of them quietly play for an hour or so. Around 6:30 the dog will start getting ornery so Kris makes me tea and tosses Eleanor into bed next to me and he takes the dog out for a pee.
I spend the next 20 minutes getting smashed in the face with my phone and playing defense so said phone doesn't get dropped in my tea (no Eleanor, hot. HOT! No Eleanor, not on Mummy's belly) until I finally drag myself, fetus and all, out of bed.
Eleanor and I will then have some Cheerios or toast or fruit (hereto now known as "Second Breakfast" and must be entirely different from First Breakfast) and we get on with our day.
Now, because I'm asleep for that first hour or so of Kris and Eleanor's day, I don't really know what shenanigans they get up to. I just enjoy my sleep and assume that much play was had because her toys are EVERYWHERE when I get up. So yesterday Kris showed me exactly how it goes down when he first gets up and I wanted to share it with you. Because it is hilarious. And cute. And slightly dangerous.
Every morning he gets up at some godforsaken hour (usually between 4:30-5:30am) and fetches Eleanor from her crib so I can sleep a little longer. He makes his coffee and feeds her some Cheerios or toast or fruit (hereto now known as "First Breakfast"), and the two of them quietly play for an hour or so. Around 6:30 the dog will start getting ornery so Kris makes me tea and tosses Eleanor into bed next to me and he takes the dog out for a pee.
I spend the next 20 minutes getting smashed in the face with my phone and playing defense so said phone doesn't get dropped in my tea (no Eleanor, hot. HOT! No Eleanor, not on Mummy's belly) until I finally drag myself, fetus and all, out of bed.
 |
| While this is taken later in the day, it successfully illustrates our compromise. My belly is spared her wrath and she sits on my face/shoulder |
Now, because I'm asleep for that first hour or so of Kris and Eleanor's day, I don't really know what shenanigans they get up to. I just enjoy my sleep and assume that much play was had because her toys are EVERYWHERE when I get up. So yesterday Kris showed me exactly how it goes down when he first gets up and I wanted to share it with you. Because it is hilarious. And cute. And slightly dangerous.
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