I learned yesterday that my uncle Dale passed away. Dale we will miss you.

Prayers to Spring and all of the family.

I have been enjoying cooking lately. Made some beef vegetable soup for the first time in a very long time. Also have turkey soup in the crock pot now. Of course with the turkey leftovers. And the thanksgiving meal turned out beautiful. Even got a compliment saying the turkey looked like a picture in a magazine. Yea me.

The beef ribs turned out better in the crock pot than the ones in the oven so the next round will be in the crock pot. Hmmm, yum.

And of course it is the time of year for that friendship bread. I have a couple loafs in the freezer and one half gone on the counter. I am going to try different flavors, the banana has turned out well, so I'm getting the courage to try chocolate. Chocolate bread seems a little different for me.

Thanksgiving weekend is done. Lots and lots of food. Yum.

Christina ate like she had two hollow legs. She is a fan of turkey leftovers. And to my surprise she ate stuffing as well as she does mashed potatoes.

I am still concerned about the weakness in her legs and how quickly the Botox took effect in her arms. Her physiologist said that is normal, but I worry.

Christina and I have enjoyed telling stories to each other. I like to start with "Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess name Christina...". Christina gives me a smile and once in awhile she can't hold back a giggle.

Bath time has been hilarious with Christina laughing so hard she turns red. Christina also finds it amusing when she messes the towels up and I need to grab fresh ones. I can't help but to laugh with her.

The Thanksgiving holiday winds down. Lots of turkey, potatoes, stuffing were enjoyed. We finished the weekend going to grandma's and seeing James, Robyn, Sheri, Dan, and Dylan. Christina showed her flash card skills and played with grandma and Dylan. "C is for cookie".

Christina has been slowly, but surely relearning how to walk after surgery. The little princess has shots in new places and it has taken its toll adding to the work load of taking a step.

I keep saying it, although it seems repetitive, Christina really is vocalizing more and more each day. It is wonderful to listen to her stories.

Sunday was an early to rise day. I wish it would have been a little sunnier for us to watch the sunrise.

It has been chilly and windy so we have not played outside like we used to. The next calm sunny day we are going to catch up on outside play.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving. I made turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, yams, carrots, and lots of gravy. Dinner turned out well. Everyone ate a lot.

Christina looked beautiful, Angela had Christina in a pretty dress and her hair was done nice.

Happy Thanksgiving

Christina was lots of help making our Thanksgiving dinner. Christina was up early and took a long nap after a big lunch.

Christina was also talkative giving lots of holiday wishes.

Angela dressed Christina in a pretty dress and her hair was done up to match.

Helping cook


Looking pretty

Christina enjoyed breakfast at grandmas on Sunday. Eggs, toast, milk, orange juice, and applesauce were enjoyed.

Christina's incoming teeth have been bothering her. Thank goodness for Anbesol. That has not kept her from being a chatter box. Christina likes to sing along to some of her favorite songs.

The Botox shots in Christina's arms have loosened the tone already. Christina has been reaching in and out wonderfully. This has also increased Christina's hand opening. Whether it is a bonus ability or desire I do not know, but it gives me a smile to watch.

I am a little concerned how quickly the Botox took affect. Generally it takes some time, not a lot, to have an affect on the muscles.

On another good note, Christina has avoided getting sick with the bugs going around.

The Phenol blocks in the legs have made walking a learning again for Christina. She seems to have the routine down pat and several of the times we walked she takes little purposeful steps. I can't explain it well, but if you could see a before and after you would be as proud as me.

With Thanksgiving coming up Christina accompanied me to the grocery store to pick out a turkey. This year Christina can say she is bigger than the turkey.

Surgery went well. Waiting for Christina to get out of recovery.

Christina is out of recovery. She looks more out of it than normal. It is so hard to see her like this.

Will update more when I can.

The next round of Phenol blocks and Botox injections is creeping upon us. The doctor visits are popular these weeks. Christina went to see the physiologist, optometrist, pediatrician, and was fitted for AFOs. Christina is 27.7 pounds and is 36 inches tall.

We took it easy this past weekend with surgery coming up and to avoid getting sick. Christina has a couple of molars coming in and Anbesol is her friend. Christina also had booster shots on Friday which throws things out of whack for a couple days.

Christina has been super talkative still and I think it keeps increasing. It is beautiful to listen to her. Grandma had the chance to listen to her tell a story to a friend on the phone.

Christina has also become very fond of playing with the flash cards. We always had fun going through the letters and words, but now Christina grabs them off the shelf to go through them. I am so proud of her as she takes each card from me, says the letter/word, and then hands the card back.

The new AFOs fit well and Christina does not mind wearing them. The AFOs still play havoc with Christina's tone and make it more difficult for the princess to take her steps, but stand back the lil' firecracker is exploding. Christina has the determination you think you would only see in the movies. As Christina took her steps I thought she would stop after just a few. The struggle was tough to watch and the faces she made led me to believe that should wouldn't go far; I was wrong. The smiles lightened everything when Christina reached her destination. I am not sure who had the bigger proud smile, Christina was very proud of herself.

I will try to post an update soon after the surgery appointment.

Daddy's Log 20101114

With the rainy weather and cooler temperatures we have been spending our time indoors, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Although it is the start of the feeling of being cooped up.

Christina has continued being more talkative and is taking it to the next level. She is more verbal each week. It seems speech is a favorite activity at school also. It is difficult to find a speech activity Christina is not willing to do.

Soon is Christina's surgery, it always gives me a queezy feeling as the time approaches. It has proven beneficial for Christina, but that feeling and thoughts of 'what if' swirls constantly. The doubts raise their heads higher and more often as the day of surgery approaches.

The next topic:
I have been working on some more web stuff. I am trying to consolidate pictures for everyone and make them easy to view online. The total is over 30,000. I'll figure out a reasonable layout and finish it up one of these days. I also setup another blog for a friend. You will have to be patient as he is learning to post and get the look just right. I will post a link here soon. I've been pondering doing more myself, but that would require a bigger step I am willing to take right now. Getting the pictures online done and updating the slideshow come first. I want to make the slideshow more customized towards Christina. I chuckle as that probably means I'll add some pink.

I have to share (again) a smile from Christina. I see it most often when Christina is walking and I am 'following' her. She turns her head and looks up at me with big eyes and a smile. Her eyes have a sparkle that says "I'm doing it dad". As I have said many times before children are pure and have an energy within them. Never could I have imagined the feeling when Christina shares that with me. Christina shares herself with every smile. And to add to my list of wonderful daddy moments, after supper tonight when I picked up Christina made me smile. Christina gave me a hug and I gave her a hug back, then she said "daddy", I replied "yes", and Christina followed with "I love you", I replied "I love you too". I had to give her another huge hug. As much as I run that through my mind and cherish every bit of it, the best part came after. The look on Christina's face as we looked at each other when she realized that I understood what she said and responded. That smile, the look in her eyes, the unspoken words "I'm proud of you daddy". That was the best part.

Time to update Christina's blog. Enjoy the day.