Christina loves going to school, but it really wears her out. By afternoon she is starting to get cranky. The little princess enjoys school so much that she wants to go go go and pushes herself. And nap time is not on her list of things to do, she may miss something.

This past weekend was the International Fall Festival. Christina was in the parade to show support for the local Children's Museum. I opted to pull Christina in the instead of pushing her in her chair since she enjoys her wagon rides so much. Christina did very well waving to the onlookers.

With Christina in school today I find myself wondering what to do and the list of chores swirling in my head.

I figured I would start 'ripping' my cd collection. I knew it would be quite the undertaking, but it isn't going to bad so far.

I am debating what method to use to make a backup of pictures and video onto DVDs. After going through the software list already installed everything I found uses a proprietary format. Not too sure I want to go that route. I also need to use some sort of compression, or at least I should. Doing some quick math there should be about 15 DVDs of uncompressed so far. Maybe that is the way to go, just start burning and if it takes a lot so be it.

Christina really enjoys school; however, it has been wearing her out. She is so tired in the evening and wants to keep going. The princess does not want to go to bed early. Probably figures she may miss something.

Happy Labor Day!!!

Christina has continued her busy streak. Things should start to get into a rhythm soon.

Christina's appointment for Phenol blocks and Botox injections went well. A long day for all, but it did go well. Christina is again learning how to walk with the lower tone.

Christina really likes school and riding the bus. The princess goes for a full day now and is tired by evening. Christina likes to tell us about her day and the activities.

Christina was able to see all the first cousins this weekend. It was nice to get the kids together. Lots of pictures, heh.

Christina has two molars poking through on the bottom. Gums are swollen and uncomfortable. Hoping they come through all the way soon.

I have the pictures all organized. Enjoy. Slideshow pics coming.

Christina and Grace


Gma Kar reading


One of my current favorites.

With the busy week and being a couple days short of housework time one of my top priorities has been keeping up with pictures. I have been successful with pictures and am only one load behind on laundry. Yea me.

The fam is going to get together this weekend. Looking forward to seeing the siblings and their families.

Happy Labor Day!!!

Thursday was Christina's first day of school, but Friday was the first full day. Christina rode the bus and participated with her new classmates.

Christina really enjoys riding the bus. There was an assembly at school and Christina went and did wonderfully. She has come such a long way, we are very proud.

Many kids surrounded Christina when she first got into her classroom and it was a little overwhelming. Everybody enjoys Christina's company.

It was a good first day and Christina hung in there all through the school day. I bet she sleeps hard tonight.

Daddy and Mommy are super proud of you Christina!!!

Today Christina had her Phenol blocks and Botox shots. It seemed to take longer than usual for the princess to wake up.

Once again I will state that it does not get any easier watching your child get put down.

The hospital seemed a little off today, but I think it was more the new policies that are getting implemented. Each visit seems to have at least one new policy that interrupts the flow for awhile.

I'm feeling productive since as I post this I am backing up the pictures from the week. The backups should be done tonight then I will upload some pics for the slideshow. And for those paying attention, yes I did say 'backups' plural.Original, local backup, off site backup, redundant local backup.

Cheers.

Another good article from US-CERT.

This article does a nice job explaining what rootkits and botnets are. The article was published before and is republished to continue keeping people informed.

It is a scary number of infected and compromised computers being used on the internet today.

Check out the article here: US-CERT Cyber Security Tip ST06-001 -- Understanding Hidden Threats: Rootkits and Botnets

Christina has her new wheelchair. She picked out the color and surprise it is pink. The fitting was yesterday and Christina was tolerant, but not thrilled. I know she will like the new chair, but like any of us the fitting part is never a good time. It went quickly though and overall the trip was not too bad. Now mommy and daddy get to watch for bruising.

How to put this... ummm... seeing the new wheelchair is harder this time than seeing her first one(the Kid Kart).

Christina also went to the Big Rig Truck Show. And wanted to see the Truck Light Parade. I have to share how we ended up going to the parade.

I knew the parade was at 8. I thought Christina may like it, but was concerned about the time. That is the princess' getting ready for bed time. As the day wound down I opted not to go to the parade. Feeling bad about this I figured it would be better if I asked Christina if she wanted to go. Knowing it had been a full day, Christina was in her wind down stage, she loves her bath time and bedtime routine my guess was Christina would agree the parade could be skipped. I was wrong. I set the yes/no switches and asked Christina if she wanted to go to the Truck Light Parade. Christina reached for the yes hitting no on the way. She then proceeded to hit yes many time. I moved the switch, adjusted her so she was sitting more upright and put the switch back on her lap. I asked again and she looked at me and hit yes, yes, yes. We went to the Truck Light Parade.

Christina and John


Christina checking out a big truck

Where to start on what has been going on... Let's start with what's in my head up front and center.

Christina had her wheelchair fitting yesterday. It went well, but it was and is emotionally draining. Let's start with the good stuff. The chair is pink with black padding. The side prompts will hold Christina from her side to side shifting. The chest prompt is neoprene with an elastic band attached which should give the comfort of the neoprene and still have the strength to hold Christina correctly. The lap belt goes over her hips not her waist which should hold the princess in place better as she tries to squirm around. The ankle straps seem more comfortable, but we'll know for sure looking for bruising.

The princess was well behaved throughout; although, she was not a fan and you could tell after a couple hours in the hospital she was ready to go.

We went to the Big Rig Truck Show. Christina enjoyed some of the odd stuff we did. We walked under/in one of the big plows and had fun waling over the foot bridge. Christina wanted to check out the Truck Light Parade that night. As she was watching the trucks go by I was watching her track the lights. Good job Christina. And when they blew their horns Christina giggled on the loud ones.

Christina helped with my first attempt at zucchini bread. After we were done mixing everything and I was greasing the pans Christina asked for a taste. I didn't want to tell her no, but I didn't think it would taste good. So I told her I wasn't sure what it would taste like and she could try it if she wanted. She wanted.
This is taste number four.

Christina has been up to her usual self. Lots of walking and talking. Sunday she did exceptional in the gait trainer. Christina has also increased her teasing me at meal time clean-up. It has become quite the game.

On several instances while we have been out lately people have stopped to make a comment how beautiful Christina is. Christina has been flooded lately with comments including, but definitely not limited to: beautiful, cute, precious, adorable, pretty, lovely. This is not uncommon, but the past couple of weeks seems to be more so.

I should make a point to say the Christina's favorite song is "Three Little Fishies". When asked what song we should sing it is now always this one. She laughs at me if I mess up the words. I compromise and we sing the fishie song and then other songs and then the fishie song again.