Big Sister

Sometime around March 24, Roxi will start sharing her blog (as well as her personal space and worldly belongings) with a little sister or brother. Rob and I have mentioned the baby to her only in passing, since her concept of a long time is two days. We figure she'll start putting two and two together when my belly is enormous and/or the crib makes an appearance.

We are pleased to introduce Roxi's future playmate/punching bag/partner in crime. He/she's a cute little pip, huh?

Dialogue

At lunch: "My grape matches to my shirt." (Both were purple.)

Referring to milk foam in a sippy cup: "These are milk bubbles. Soap bubbles? Not so much."

Responding to a pajama outfitting request: "I'm too busy bouncing on my bed."

I Scream, You Scream

The Vernacular

Some of our favorite recent phrases:

"Daddy is turning into tables." (Roxi's way of declaring a status change – turning the tables on someone.)

"Mommy came-ded home after her errand." (Understandable creativity with the past tense.)

"I know what a quacking duck is. But what's a guck!?" (The best joke ever, which results in uncontrollable giggles from her and therefore us, too.)

"You don't want to have an owie. Then it turns into a boo-boo. And you go home and wash it out and put medicine on it to make it feel better. And you don't touch it so it will heal. Owies hurt." (Unsolicited explanation provided most times we point out something to avoid in order to prevent injury – like letting go with both hands while swinging on a swing.)

"Mmmmmmm, lollipops are GOOD." (An appreciation for the finer things in life.)

Exuberance

It's been too long since I've given you a dose of Roxi. So without further ado, I am pleased to present Happy Play-Doh Worm Squish With Pigtails:

Horsin Around

Roxi joins pal Hailey for a ride on Meg, our friend Sue's deliciously friendly horse.

Feline Observation

"Teton came to visit us with his black fur."

Toilet Humor

June 30th marked the beginning of a new era for us. Welcome to Potty Land. We are still full-time residents of Diaper Kingdom, mind you, but Roxi is enjoying side trips into the brave new world of the commode. It's flushtastic!

Giggles

Delicious Summer

Summer

A Snoring Success

Big Girl

Roxi had her 2-year check-up with Dr. P last week, and the numbers didn't disappoint:
Head circumference 20 inches - quite literally off the chart
Weight 28 pounds - 70th percentile
Height 36 inches - 95th percentile

At this point, it's possible that Roxi will be 6 feet tall by the time she's finished growing. And also that she'll never find a hat big enough (all those brains, ya know).

To celebrate her entrance into full-fledged kidness, Rob and I got our 2-year-old a big girl bed for her birthday. She started sleeping in it Wednesday night and hasn't looked back. Rob de-constructed the crib this afternoon and put it in the garage. We were a little saddened to witness the end of an era, but Roxi wasn't encumbered by such silly sentimentality: "Bye bye crib! Bye bye! You wanna play in the big girl bed?"

Roxi's Birthday Party Started With A Hayride

Then Came Fun With The Animals

Lunch And Cake

Topped Off By A Pony Ride

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday

Roxi is two years old today. As she would say, "Holy 'mokes!" That went fast.

She celebrated on Saturday with 49 of her closest friends (19 kids and 30 adults) by petting farm animals, going on a hayride and pony ride, and - naturally - ingesting bunches of sugar. Good times, good times. Stay tuned for pictures; Rob and I are still gathering them from various sources.

Tonight Roxi will be opening the largest pile of presents I've ever seen. She'll also be brushing 15 teeth, having gotten her bottom right canine in today.

Giddyup

It's birthday party season in these here parts, what with all the little doggies being born within a couple months of each other. One of Roxi's pardners in crime, Zander, happens to have horses. Lots of 'em. So you can well imagine what a fine time was had at his party on Saturday. This was our cowgirl's first horseback ride.

So Many Teeth, So Little Time

Roxi's bottom left canine broke through today, and its bottom right counterpart isn't far behind. 14 down, 6 to go.

If You Can't Beat 'Em

We never thought we'd be one of those families with a yard full of plastic. But then Rob stumbles across a faux log cabin that a co-worker's kids have outgrown ... and then a play set. And they're so reasonably priced. Too good of a deal to pass up, really. And here we are.



But look how happy:

Ain't We Got Fun

A conversation from the weekend:
Rob: "You're just the cutest."
Roxi: "You're just the silliest."

Lounging

Chomp

Roxi's first canine tooth broke through yesterday (upper left). 13 chompers down, 7 to go ... before she loses them all and has to start from the top.

A Good Day

We got the best possible news at Roxi's follow-up appointment with the surgeon. Her eyes are healing so well that he doesn't need to see her for another six weeks. Even better, it appears that her eyes are aligned and working together. As in, both at the same time. As in, binocular vision.

I pause here for a hearty HOORAY.

This doesn't imply a definitive "problem solved" result. We won't know the long-term prognosis for a while. Her alignment could certainly change. Roxi will be wearing her glasses at least until the next checkup six weeks from now, and she may still need them at that time.

But at the moment, all is fabulously, wonderfully well.

Below is what our sweet girl looks like today. Her eyes are slowly healing from a fire engine red to a yellow-orange. She should make it back to white in another two weeks. In the meantime, she's not in any pain. She had 3-4 doses of Tylenol after the surgery, and that was it. She'll get twice daily doses of eye ointment until Thursday, at which point she'll be free of all medication.



The smudge you see over her left eye isn't part of the healing process, it's part of the eating macaroni and cheese for lunch process.

It's been a very fine day indeed.

Sure Beats Bran Flakes

As is the morning ritual, we asked Roxi what she would like for breakfast. "Oatmeal," she replied. Rob went to the kitchen to prepare it quite enthusiastically, since Roxi usually shows no interest in the first meal of the day.

Roxi then turned to me and said, "Oatmeal AND French toast." Wow, I thought. This is going to be a record breaker. We went into the kitchen and passed along that request, which was met with equal enthusiasm.

A few minutes later, Roxi and I were discussing breakfast, how Daddy was cooking it especially for her, how yummy it would be, and so forth, when she said, "For breakfast I am having oatmeal and French toast. AND an ice cream cone!"

On The Other Side

Today was surgery day for Roxi. Three cheers for the wee one, because she got through it like a champ.

We're home. Roxi is sleeping peacefully in her crib. The three of us have been showered by good wishes, stuffed animals, DVDs and unbelievably delicious food by our friends. Rob and I are sitting down with gift beers as I type this. Life is A-OK.

We won't know how successful the surgery was for several weeks. But it's enough right now to be in our house, with this particular hard part behind us. Yeeeehaw.

It Was A Lovely Easter

A Walk In The Park

Next She'll Be Wanting A Twist Of Lemon

From this weekend: "Can you freshen up water and make it cold?"

Learning

During last night's reading of the aforementioned book about colors ...

Roxi, pointing: "Leaves don't make any noise."

They're Pretty Quiet

So we're reading a book the other night, one that Roxi knows by heart. It's all about colors, with each two-page spread devoted to a different hue. We turn to green.

Roxi: "These are green things!"
Me, pointing: "Right. And this is a ..."
Roxi: "Frog."
Me: "Good job! And what does a froggy say?"
Roxi: "Ribbit ribbit!"
Me: "Yes!"
Roxi, pointing: "These are peas!"
(pause)
Roxi: "I don't know what peas say."

Cheeseburgers

Evolution

As Roxi's verbal skills become more and more honed, some of our favorite "baby" words are going by the wayside. Bananas are no longer "buhl-EH-thuh" (with exaggerated tongue flourish). They're just plain old "BO-nanas".

Lest you think I'm moping, there are plenty of other wacky words to fill in since Roxi will repeat anything and everything. Among the new vocabulary this month are: interesting, voracious, pentagon, horizontal and slam dunkaroonis (as in when you successfully dunk a basketball).

She also tends to add syllables to words. Elephant is "elephenant", for example, and cranberries are "crannaberries".

And today, out of nowhere, as we're visiting the farm down the street comes, "There's a horse over there. He's resting in the stable." You'd have to understand toddler speak to get it, but STILL. Sheesh. My friends joke that she'll be reciting the Gettysburg Address soon.

You Gotta Have Friends

The Long Version

As previously mentioned, Roxi has been diagnosed with crossed eyes. Yesterday she had her follow-up appointment with the pediatric opthamologist. The purpose of this meeting was to determine whether or not her glasses are improving her condition. Sadly, they are not. So the next step is surgery, which we are scheduled for in a month.

We're happy with Roxi's doctor. He's the best in Northern Colorado, a specialist with kids and does this kind of surgery every week. Even better, he's approachable, communicative and great with Roxi. We came to him with a full page of single-spaced, typed questions yesterday. He answered every one ... in as much detail as Rob and I wanted.

He also offered to get us an expedited second opinion from a specialist in Denver, which we will do because, well, these are Roxi's eyes we're talking about. He also gave us the name and number of a family whose toddler had the exact same surgery. So we'll be calling and sucking as much information from them as they're willing to give.

In the end, though, I expect we'll be keeping our surgery date with this doctor. Which is too scary to think about but much less frightening than not fixing the problem.

Here's where I go into medical mumbo jumbo. Feel free to tune out.

Roxi has constant congenital esotropia and hypertropia. Her eyes turn in (esotropia) and up (hypertropia) all the time (constant), but not both at the same time. Her eyes alternate crossing, which is good news since it means each eye has established connections with the brain. They just don't work together. Roxi was likely born with the condition (congenital) but it has gotten worse with time.

The purpose of the surgery is to re-establish binocular vision – both eyes working in unison - and therefore improve depth perception and peripheral vision. It will also improve Roxi's appearance, but that's secondary as far as we're concerned. The sooner she has the surgery, the more likely it is for her to achieve binocular vision. There are no guarantees, of course, but we're hoping for the best and know that Roxi will be a stellar patient.

Before Anyone Gets The Wrong Idea

Roxi doesn't have a new brother. She does, however, have a new "cousin" and pal. Please give a warm Tusselwupper Welcome to Levi Alexander Stone, born to Roxi's Aunt Jen and Uncle Mike on March 4. Roxi is already looking forward to teaching Levi the finer points of babyhood, such as choreographed grunting and slinging pureed carrots across the room.

It's All in the Wrist

Roxi shows off her best Benevolent Princess Wave at the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Four Eyes

Roxi has been diagnosed with crossed eyes. This is a long story that deserves a long post, but for now I'll cut to the chase, which is that she's wearing glasses. She's wearing glasses fabulously, I should say. Just look at this kid ... she's a natural.

Thirst Quencher

Roxi has become concerned about the well-being of her pals. She often puts her sippy cup to the mouths of Turtle, Lobster, Twinkie the Kid and several of her many other inanimate companions. It's cute.

Even cuter was today when she offered her animal crackers a sip at lunch: "Bear is thirsty. Give him a drink!" Followed by her fruit: "Strawberries thirsty too!"

Pigtails

Pretzel Girl

Practicing a stretch learned at her weekly gymnastics class. The instructor calls this one Bonk Your Nose. Another side effect of the class is that Roxi wants to get in her crib and jump. A lot. With very much jumpitude. And often jubilant yelling. I call this exercise Being A Wild Thing.

Anatomy

One of Roxi's favorite books includes a section in which the protagonist, our hero Cookie Monster, examines some cookies using his five senses. Rob and I explain, as we're reading that section, that he sees the cookies with his eyes, listens to the cookies with his ears, etc.

Roxi has lately applied this knowledge to her daily life. She'll often ask for something by saying, "Want it. In the hand." We have flowers on the kitchen table, and she inquires, "Smell them? Want to? Flowers? With the nose?" This morning, she commented on her breakfast, "Eating it. In the mouth."

In Celebration of Snow

Vail, last weekend, and home, yesterday:

New Traditions

Last night, we joined the annual Valentine's ritual of some friends of ours: Dinner at McDonald's. The tradition started several years ago when Heather and Paul wanted to have a romantic dinner together ... and ended up at Ronald's when every other place in town had an hour-plus wait.

So we joined Heather, Paul and Josie this year - along with pals Dola, Shannon and Hailey. The three girls could not have had more fun. The fabulously salty cuisine aside, they enjoyed chasing each other around the restaurant, pushing each other in the wheeled high chairs and being goofy in general. You'll know where to find us next Feb. 14.

Running Commentary

On the way from the house to the car last night: "Roxi and Mommy walking to the blue car. Daddy walking to blue car, too! Mommy and Daddy walking. Roxi walking, too! Daddy, Roxi, Mommy walking together. All walking. Roxi and Daddy and Mommy. Walking to blue car!"

In the car: "Roxi is riding. Daddy is riding, too! Mommy is driving. Going to restaurant! See Hailey and Josie. And Heather. And Dola. At restaurant! Mommy is driving. Roxi and Daddy are riding. Going to see Josie and Heather! And Hailey! And Dola! And Paul and Shannon. Going to restaurant! Daddy is riding. Mommy is driving. Roxi is riding, too!"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Joy Is ...

... listening to your daughter sing the ABC song wherein all the letters are replaced by "pig", while simultaneously dancing in circles with a wee toy piggy. Pig, pig, pig, pig, pig, pig, PIG, pig, pig, pig, pig, pig-o-pig-pig ...

Hut! Hut! Hut!

Roxi is, among other things, a budding wide receiver. She and Rob often play football together, which goes a little something like this:
• Rob shouts, "We're going to run a post route into the bathroom. Blue 42! Blue 42! Hut! Hut! Hut!"
• Roxi replies, "Hut! Hut!" as she goes tearing down the hall towards the bathroom.
• Rob throws the football over Roxi into the bathroom. Roxi picks it up.
• Rob: "Touchdown Tusselwupper!"
• Roxi: "Yaaaaay! Touchdown Tuppahwuppah!"

She doesn't quite understand the finer points of the game yet ... because her favorite play after the touchdown is to run halfway back to Rob with the ball, throw it on the floor, scream, "Fumble!" and laugh hysterically. The fumble play never gets old.

Roxi is also quite the fan. Whenever she sees football players in motion on TV, she belts out an appreciative, "Niiiiiice!"

It's In The Bag