A weekend at Inniswood...and some other fun stuff

Maliana ~

This week began with two different doctor’s visits, your three year old check up and a speech evaluation at Children’s. For your check up, I forgot to bring your urine sample, so you had to pee in a cup for the first time ever for the doc. You thought this was very cool and interesting. You are now a whopping 25 pounds and 34”, slowly but surely, you are growing! At the speech evaluation, you did great. You were a little hesitant when we got there, needing reassured that we wouldn’t have to stay again. Once into the appointment, you were very cooperative, although a little silly, with the therapist. They have decided to begin you in speech therapy for the time being, and then reassess you in about 3 to 6 months. You are progressing, but there are certain sounds that you aren’t quite making yet, mainly consonants at the beginning or ends of words, so they are going to see what they can do to help you along. A couple nights after the speech evaluation, you can imagine how surprised Daddy and I were when you asked for your moose book at bedtime, and finally added the “s” sound at the end. Granted, you sound a little like Lou Holtz (perfect in our Notre Dame-loving family), kind of slurring or lisping the “s” sound a bit, but we cheered and clapped and jumped up and down like there was no tomorrow, asking you to repeat it again and again. We were so excited!! Neither of us can wait until you start speech therapy, to see how they work with you on all of this, and then of course to see how you respond to it too. Daddy and I can’t wait to be able to understand 100% of your speech. We just know we’re missing vital bits of information, in all of your stories and observations everyday…it will be nice to not miss any more.

Surrounding these doctor’s appointments, I took some time off work, which was great. Any extra time with you is just peachy with me. We went out to eat at Noodles & Co prior to seeing Dr Dan for your check up, and you being the ever concerned kid told me, “Your belly growling, you need eat”. The next day, the morning of your speech evaluation, I took the entire day off work. After our 8am appointment, we left the hospital and lo and behold, guess what you wanted again...yep, noodles. So we found a Bob Evans that we conned into serving you spaghetti at 10am, and you were a happy camper. You and your noodles!

Once home, it was nice to have the whole rest of the day together. We napped together in the sunshine on the big bed in Abby’s room/your playroom, with you waking up shiny and happy. Thankfully, once awake and realizing we had so much time together still, we got the bright idea to go to the zoo since the weather was so mild. Aside from a few episodes of your growing defiance lately, (and boy are you a strong-willed little girl!), we had a really nice time checking out all of the animals. For a change of pace, you wanted to see the snakes first, and adored going through and peeking in every single glass enclosure. This was new for you, and I was happy to see you really getting into a new animal. You weren’t squeamish at all.

checking out another new animal, the flamingos!

This week also brought a nice date night for you and Daddy. You guys went to Red Robin for dinner, getting a free sundae when Daddy mentioned you recently had a birthday, and with you even being so brave as to sit with and shake the hand of the Red Robin mascot! That was a huge step for you, and when you got home you proudly told me, “I not even afraid!”

a milestone, ha ha.

Then, you wanted to show me the soccer shoes that Daddy had also bought you while out. (Well, ok, they’re actually basketball shoes, but Daddy couldn’t find any soccer shoes small enough for you, so for all intents and purposes these are officially “soccer” shoes as far as you’re concerned. Ha ha.) These are some nice kicks, and when you got to school the next morning, you were so excited to show your buddy Aray. Oh goodness, the fashion phase is already beginning.

You must have really liked our nap in Abby’s room/your playroom because this is what Daddy found the next morning when he woke up ~ you chatting away with Abby, all by yourselves, in her bed.

sisters, having an early morning discussion

You and I did some more cooking this week too, with one of the more fun recipes being our smiley face tater tot casserole. Spending time doing simple things like this with you is so much fun, and I think you enjoy it too because at one point you leaned over and gave me a big hug and then a kiss on my arm as we stood side by side, (you propped up on a chair of course), while we put the casserole together in front of the oven. Then a little later as I put your shoes on, you kept kissing your hand and then placing it on my lips, over and over and over again, looking at me with a big grin. Those little moments, the details of life, are so awesome. I wish I could bottle them and pull them out on a rough day, to help me remember what’s really important.

Anyway, this leads us up to the weekend, and what a weekend it was.

Friday night we went over to visit Memaw and Papaw since Memaw had foot surgery this week. She’s still feeling pretty rough, so we tried to brighten her day by taking her a “Get Well Soon” hat that you had made from a paper plate (with only a little of my help). You were so proud to give it to her, after working so hard painting and gluing crepe paper on it, that you would get offended whenever it would even slip a little bit off her head. It was cute, and I think our visit helped her feel a little bit better.

get well soon Memaw!

Saturday morning I had scheduled your three year old pictures…your “Rock Star” photo shoot as we’ve been referring to it. Before the shoot, I noticed that you had a big old green booger in your nose, and I kept trying to wipe it off, but you were adamant about not letting me. Finally, I got the bright idea to tell you, “You know, rock stars don’t have boogers”. At which point, you immediately leaned forward and could not get that booger wiped off your face fast enough. Ha ha. You are a trip! You did really great, having a blast getting all decked out in your special outfit and taking your guitar with us. You were silly and the photographer commented about how much energy you have (as you ran circles around the camera), but then you got a little shy, and decided not to show your “jammin’ face” at the shoot. The pictures turned out really cute anyway and I can’t wait to pick them up!

Later on Saturday afternoon, you, Forge, Lao Lao, and I all hit Easton and then Inniswood Park. It was a gorgeous, sunny, and mild afternoon (even if it was a bit windy), and we all had a blast. We stopped to get some Yagoot and then you conned Lao Lao into buying you a cookie from Cheryl’s cookies.

yummy Yagoot!!

You absolutely adore spending time with family, and were running and dancing and strutting all over Easton. It’s neat to sit back and watch peoples’ reactions to you, as you walk by, just doing your own thing. People can’t help but stop and smile at your little antics. It’s so cute.

A little later you spotted the kiosk where people can buy movie tickets, and you insisted you wanted to “take a picture inside” with Lao Lao. It took us a few minutes, but then I figured out that you thought this was one of those photo booths that they have at Easton, so we headed over to the actual photo booth and you and Lao Lao climbed in and had a great time snapping some really silly shots of the two of you. I was actually surprised that you remembered about the photo booth here. You were so proud of the pictures when you got out!

the caption on your photos was "best friends"

Upon leaving Easton, it was nearing dusk. We headed over to Inniswood and had just the perfect amount of daylight to do their Frog Talk Walk. You had an absolute blast walking on their wooden plank walkway, balancing on the rail like Uncle Forge, and running like crazy nearly the whole way. We were all exhausted but you just kept on going. Where do you get your energy?!? When we got to the pond, we quietly listened to the tons of “peeper frogs”, and it was a very pretty moment; exhilarating and chilly with the sun dipping down and peeking through the bare tree branches on the horizon, the water as still as glass, and the sounds of nature all around us. A great end to a great Saturday.

walking the "balance beam" (aka rim's edge of the walkway)

wanting to be just like Uncle Forge

just a tad happy

shhh...listen to the "peeper frogs"

The next morning, you, Daddy, and I woke up together, with Daddy getting a free day off work, and none of us with anywhere to be ~ a rare treat in our family. We headed to Gena’s for breakfast, then Hoover Dam to check out the water levels since we have had all of this rain lately. Since the geese wouldn’t let us play on the playground here, we headed back over to Inniswood so you could share the Frog Talk Walk with Daddy this time. We didn’t get to hear those “peeper frogs” again, but we did spot tons of squirrels, raccoon tracks, scat, the carcass of a frog (someone’s dinner the night before), a huge owl, and a red tail hawk. You are getting to such a great age, really enjoying learning about all sorts of things, and loving to be out in nature, exploring and soaking it all in. Daddy and I love getting out in the woods, so these times of uninhibited exploration and meandering outside as a family are so special.

encore of the "balance beam" performance

the owl we heard, then spotted

Daddy's shoulders, a favorite perch

I love this smile

family walk at Inniswood

On the way home, you were getting pretty slap happy, worn out from playing in the fresh air all day. Daddy and I started to be silly, singing “Old Suzanna” but using a bunch of goofy sounds and ending each chorus by turning to you and making a big fart noise. You were laughing so hard by the time we got home, you could hardly breathe, one of those laughs where no sound comes out, only air. It was priceless. I turned to Daddy and said, “This is the best medicine.” It’s been said that having a really good laugh each day is good for your health, so we are happy to oblige and indulge you. It’s good for us all.

Love,
Mama