Well, everything got checked off that list- except the blog post. I guess it was writers block. I kept thinking and thinking about it- especially when I would post on the dandy-walker parent page for a new parent to check out the blog, or when my mom said "I checked the blog- you haven't updated it in a while." So here it is- finally!
March 2nd was Ally's 2nd birthday! Her birthday was on a Wednesday this year so the actual date was fairly uneventful- we went to school and work and she went to Russell's parents house, and that night the boys had AWANA and Russell was home with Ally and put her to bed. So I honestly only got to see her for a grand total of maybe 3 hours.
The day after Ally's birthday was her 2 year check-up. Everything was fine, the doctor was very impressed with how well she's doing. She is a bit low on the weight chart (3%) so her pediatrician wanted her to start some pediasure. Ally often refuses dinner and sometimes other meals too. She's definitely not starving, but she also has a liking for snack foods and junk foods. She will try to get them at all costs! (One time I had gone grocery shopping and bought a container of cookies from the bakery. As we were unloading everything she managed to find the container and get her hand through and grab a small handful of cookie and put it into her mouth before we could snatch the package away! Silly girl!)
The pediatrician recommended that we give her pediasure in the evenings if she didn't eat a good dinner. We tried both the vanilla and chocolate pediasure- and she will NOT drink it! She doesn't like it at all. There is the strawberry one, but I'm afraid to buy it because it is so expensive and I'm afraid she won't like it either. So far, pediasure has been a bust!
Ally's birthday party was that Saturday. All of her grandparents came (except my Dad- tax season) and my brother and sister-in-law and 3 nephews, along with a few friends from church. When planning her party I was having a rough time- with her birthday basically being in winter and the weather being very unreliable, outdoor parties are not going to work. So I had to figure out an indoor party that wasn't going to cost me an arm and a leg (our house, being fairly small, doesn't really work well for parties with more than one or two families either). Our mall has an indoor playground facility/business that does parties, but I didn't like the packages and they were more than I wanted to spend for a 2 year old's birthday party anyway.
So I came up with a great idea- what if I paid for everyone to play for an hour, and then we went into the (abandoned) food court for cake and juice? I wanted to make sure this would be okay with the mall (I didn't want to get kicked out in the middle of her party!) so I called the mall offices. I explained what I wanted to do- and assured them I was not bringing lots of food, just cake and drinks (there are other restaurants in other parts of the mall so I didn't want them thinking I was stealing business from them). The woman I spoke too (didn't get her name- not smart) said "Oh, that would be fine, no problem, you do that and have a good time!" Problem solved.
Ally's party was Minnie Mouse themed. (She had a cute dress a friend lent to us and everything!) I made bows as party favors- but unfortunately they ended up getting thrown out with the trash while cleaning up and we couldn't find them. :-( The day of the party I showed up early to bring everything in and set up the table. Since the food court no longer had any restaurants in it, the mall had taken most of the tables and spread them out throughout the mall. I retrieved 3 of them and put 6 together to make a long table, and put a plastic tablecloth over the middle of them. That was it- no balloons, no other decorations.
When everyone showed up, we went to play in the playground. The kids were having a great time, and so was I- until my mother-in-law came over with a security guard. He asked me about the tables and why we had done that. I told him about the party and that I had called the mall office to ask for permission and they had said it was fine. We were not blocking the flow of traffic or any stores. He said this was very unusual- who was going to clean this up? Who did I speak to? Did I tell them when I was doing this? He would have to go and make some calls. I was so upset and told him I would clean up the area and put the tables back, there would be nothing to worry about. He went off, and the janitor came over to us. She was an older lady, and at first I thought maybe she was the one who had reported us because she was afraid she would be stuck cleaning up- but she was on our side! She told us "Don't you worry about anything honey- I will clean up for you." I told her oh no ma'am she would not but thank you. My mom had been speaking with her and told me her name was JoAnn. After a few minutes the security guard came back and told me they would allow us to stay but that this was 'highly unusual."
As we did the cake, I saw JoAnn hanging around the outskirts of where we were, sweeping up. When we started presents she came over to me and asked "Who's the birthday child?" I pointed out Ally and she walked over and handed her two $5 bills. I had been so unnerved by the whole situation that I had been on the brink of tears- and that act of kindness took me over the edge. I just hugged and thanked her and cried. To an 80 year old janitor with a disabled husband, $10 is a lot of money. I will never forget that as long as I live. (The money went straight to her savings account, by the way.)
As for the rest of the party, it went great. All of the kids, including Ally, had a great time playing and then eating cake and opening presents. Ally got some very cute things, including beach items (swimsuit, towel, cover-up, hat, and sunglasses), books, a tea set, a Minnie Mouse potty, play food for her play kitchen that she got at Christmas, musical instruments, a talking Care Bear (her new favorite show at the time) and a mermaid tail blanket with her name embroidered on it (made by Nanny!). She had a great party in spite of the hiccup.
Whee!
She loves to swing! Isn't her dress so cute!
Fun playing on the indoor playground. She loves playgrounds so this was perfect for her!
Minnie's 'Bow-tique' Cake!
The next Monday was a long awaited day for me- she finally started preschool! I had been so excited for her to start school and just absolutely love the school Ben has attended the past 2 years, and I knew Ally would love it too! I was nervous about dropping her off- would she cry? But she did great! Ben stayed with her and she was very interested in all of the new people and toys, so she had no problem being left there.
Before, with proud big brother
At pick up! She had a great day!
Ben was SO excited that Ally was at school with him. All day that first day he would say, "Want to see my sister?" and then try to drag them over to see Ally. The first few weeks both of their teachers would say that they would 'disappear' and they would find them in the other's classroom. (Their school is one very large room divided into three classrooms by partial walls so there are no doors to the rooms.) One teacher told me that one time she saw another kid push Ally, and Ben saw it and ran over and said, "You don't do that!" Way to go big brother!
Ally has loved school. She comes home dirty almost every day, and that's a win in my book. She usually has smudges all over from the rubber mulch on the playground, and she will often have paint on her clothes. She loves doing crafts with her teachers! (Her teacher in her room also taught Ben last year, and she said she would have to BEG him to do crafts most of the time. Ally wants to paint the paper, the table, the paper towels...!)
The best part, though, is that Ally is loved by her peers. Ben's best bud at school always asks where she is when he sees me come in with just Ben. Her teacher says the other kids ask where she is on her days out too. She told me "They don't ask about any of the other kids. Just her." I'm so glad she is doing so well, and that she is loved by so many. I wanted her to go to school not just so that she could learn, but so that she could make friends, and she has far exceeded my expectations.
Then of course there was Easter. This year Ally was old enough to participate in the festivities. She had lots of fun during the Easter egg hunt at school. And it was her first time getting to dye Easter eggs. She was fascinated!
At the Easter egg hunt at school. She had a great time finding eggs with Ben!
She kept stirring the dye and taking out the spoons. And she kept picking up the finished eggs before they were dry. The pink egg was her favorite!
Easter Sunday! So cute! Her hair is getting so long!
We've made it to another May! May is Dandy-Walker awareness month and also when we go to Carter's Run to meet up with our Dandy family friends (this is the final Carter's Run, sadly, and will be held Sunday). Hopefully it won't be too far into the future before I can blog about the experiences we will have this month (school is over in just a few weeks, so no more excuses!). There are some exciting ones coming up, so stay tuned! And thanks for your continued interest in our girl! Wear some gray this month!
Graphics done by Ashley Nicole Ickes, another Dandy parent from Pennsylvania.
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