Miss Afghanistan

Emerson's school celebrated multiculturalism last week. All the different rooms concentrated on a different county. The infant room was Afghanistan. At the end of the week, the multiculturalism festivities culminated in a parade. All the babies and kids at the school dressed up in the traditional dress of their "country" and treated all to a parade. Kinda of like the opening ceremonies of the Olympics or a mini UN meeting. Here is Emerson in her traditional Afghanistani dress. (Since it's not a burka, Rico and I are assuming it's pre-Taliban).



Here are some of the babies in Emerson's class in the "limo" that the school uses to take them all for walks in nice days. Notice Emerson isn't having as much fun as the others.


The lip gets bigger.



One very unhappy Afghani girl. She was upset because her father was there to assist with the parade and Emerson wanted to be with him and not in the limo with her classmates.


Of course he rescued her and she was carried through the parade in the arms of her slave boy like any deserving Afghani girl out there. No pix of that, as the slave boy was also the photographer.

My latest challenge

I have recently signed up for The Grocery Game. Rico and I have made a serious decision and started a serious program (more on that later, another of my challenges) to get out of the "nagging" debt that keeps hanging around (you know, that few thousand bucks that just gets easier and easier to look at every month?), so I thought this would be a good way to help towards that goal. It involves a small investment of time and money. The time to clip coupons and the money to pay for a coupon organizer and a Sunday newspaper for the coupons. OH, and the subscription to the game itself, which is minimal right now, as we are on a trial. This week, our savings was $15 and change. And all day long, I've been telling Rico "Here, have some. It was free" or "Isn't this good? It was on sale". I'll update my progress and let you know if it's really worth the time and effort. Rico's only gripe? Having to spend money on the sorry excuse that passes for a newspaper in this town!

Darth Pink Returns

Emerson got her helmet back today. Her pressure sore has healed nicely and the helmet has been adjusted so that it shouldn't rub that spot anymore and can do it's corrective work. However, Emerson has gotten used to being without it and is having a hard time sleeping tonight, so we have given in and taken it off for the night so the sweet girl can get some rest. We shall have to start building her time back up again till she is used to it again. Sweet girl, she is so strong and brave. It just amazes us how she is able to adapt and adjust.

10 Months

WOW, guess who turned 10 months old on September 16th? Emerson's dad and I are having a hard time believing it. We look at her and then at each other and say "Who is that big girl?"
Emerson seems to be growing in leaps and bounds. She has had a very busy month. Some of the cool stuff that has happened in the past month include:

**She now has her two bottom teeth. She has been teething for MONTHS and I was convinced that she was never going to cut these teeth. So much so that I mentioned my concern to her pediatrician at her 9 month visit. I became a tooth fanatic and would put my finger in her mouth several times a day. And one day there it was, the left bottom tooth. No fanfare, no crying, no nothing. Her father and I were so excited that we did a reverse tooth fairy and gave her money for getting teeth. She got a Sacajawea dollar from me and a silver Balboa from her father. We have tried and tried to get pictures of the pearly whites, but apparently Emerson does not like it when people try to pull her bottom lip down without her permission!**

**Good news about her neck CT scan. You may remember me blogging that the results were not encouraging. Well, we went to see the pediatric orthopedic surgeon who let us know that Emerson is going to be fine. While the bony abnormalities that were found will never go away, there won't be much that Emerson won't be able to do, and he does not anticipate any further problems. We were very happy and relieved to hear this. Emerson is going to have to follow with Dr. Stanley for a long while, but we are OK with that.**

**Commando crawling both backward and forward. As well as up on hands and knees rocking. She can also stand if she has something to hold on to. It won't be long before she is mobile!**

**Who sleeps 12 hours a day? OH YES, it's Emerson. She has been doing this for the last 2 weeks and we are loving it! I really thought my days of getting a full nights rest were over until she was married with her own kids. Baby girl, you are making your parents human again!**

**Emerson continues to eat and drink like she always has. This girl likes her meals and her milk. She eats everything that we feed her and so far does not seem to have any food allergies or dislikes. She sometime has issues with texture, but is learning to chew, so has been getting slightly more and more chunky food. Her favorite is Yo Baby! Ana Nicole likes it as well.**

**More and more "words" and vocalizations. And LOUD! This girl loves to babble and scream at her monkey (I guess he needs scolding?). She says Dada a lot, and we are working on Mama. She wakes up every morning and has conversations with whoever is in her crib with her. She'll do this for a good 30 minutes before she begins the "Hey, come and get me" cry.**

We are so in love with our baby girl. She has brought such joy and light to us and we are thankful everyday that she is here. Emerson, you are the best baby and we love you so very very much! We can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Darth Pink Update Part 2

Emerson had her appointment at the plagiocephaly clinic today and she gets a 1 WEEK BREAK from her helmet. Poor girl has a pressure sore (for you nurse friends of mine, you'll really appreciate that) on the left side of her head. The orthotist is going to adjust the helmet so the pressure sore doesn't come back and Emerson is going to use the week to heal. Rico and I first noticed the sore about 2 weeks ago and thought it was a mosquito bite that was having trouble healing because of the helmet. Well, now we know. On a positive note, the neurosurgeon was happy with Emerson's progress and the advance practice nurse said the changes were obvious. Both Rico and I thought we had seen improvement and it's nice to have our thoughts validated. So, the girl is now sleeping the sleep of the helmet less! But have no fear, Darth Pink shall return!

Darth Pink Update

Emerson is making copies progress. On her head that is. We had an appointment at Hanger with Jon, Emerson's orthotist. Emerson's head is improving. She has made a 2mm improvement and her cephalic index has gone from 99% to 95%. We don't exactly know what the heck he's talking about, but he reassures us that it's all good. So I guess the helmet is working and worth every dime we spent on it (and it was A LOT of dimes). She is such a trooper. She wears her helmet 23 hours a day, sleeps ALL NIGHT in it and doesn't even cry when we take it off and put it on to change her clothes. We are so proud of her.

Congratulations Emerson!

For my Grandpa

On Saturday, October 27, Emerson and I are joining a lot of people at the Sunken Garden for the Light the Night walk to benefit The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This cause has special meaning for me as my grandpa died from leukemia. I really miss the phone conversations that my grandfather and I had every week. He always had a funny story to tell, as well as good advice to give. He was somewhat of a mentor to me and I miss him. So, to honor him, Emerson and I are putting on our walking shoes and lighting the night. If you wish to join me or donate to this cause, please visit my Light the Night website.

McLovin

A couple of Saturday's ago, Rico and I went out on our 1st date sans baby. We went to see Superbad. And let me tell you, Superbad was SUPERGOOD! We went to the new Palladium Theater at The Rim. This fancy schmancy new theater sells gelato (I had grapefruit - YUM!) has a restaurant AND a bar as well as the usual popcorn/drinks/candy/pickle counter. Rico and I really enjoyed our time out and realize that we need to do it more often. So, anytime anyone wants to babysit, just let us know!