A Long Overdue Introduction

This is Melissa, Roxi's first and utterly fabulous babysitter. She's a senior at CSU and a total blast. Rob and I are almost as smitten with her as Roxi is, which is to say considerably.

Crying Not Fowl

In response to a question from good friend Tori: "Are you a chicken?"

Roxi: "Chickens live on the farm. And I have hair on my head. So no, I am not a chicken."

"When I Get Older, I'm Gonna ...

... eat gumballs."
... use a knife to cut things."
... drink coffee. But for now we'll just get this coffee for Daddy."

The Softer Side of Lizards

Roxi is really into dinosaurs lately, having just acquired a bag full of them. She knows all of them by name, from Apatosaurus to Parasaurolophus to good old T-Rex, and frequently begs Rob to find new kinds of dinosaurs to see and discuss on the Internet. This new fascination is great, further testament to the incredible memory of small children and very fun to watch besides. The interesting part to me, though, is the way in which she plays with the dinos.

Case in point: Rob had two of them "attack" each other (quite in character for giant, hungry lizards), and Roxi took them from him and had them kiss instead. She frequently has her dinos give each other lollipops - purple lollipops are especially popular - or takes them to the potty, where they are lauded for doing an excellent job making pee-pee. "Good job Triceratops! Now we will wash your hands."

Happy Halloween!

Dinner Party

Roxi played hostess to pals Josie and Hailey (as well as their parents) last week for dinner. After a lovely meal of spaghetti, broccoli and garlic bread, followed by a cobbler and ice cream dessert, the girls partook in what can best be described as a free-for-all of running, giggling and blowing through every toy in the house. I should mention that said free-for-all allowed for a surprisingly relaxing time for the grown-ups (actual conversations and everything). Roxi, who is in the midst of casual potty training, was inspired by the behavior of her diaper-free buddy Hailey and spent most of the evening bare-bottomed, trotting back and forth from the toilet and announcing success to anyone who would listen. Food, friends, streaking ... it was a good party.

Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows

Everything that's wonderful is how I feel ...

Please Welcome

Roxi's newest "cousin", the fabulous and dashing Dario Barnes. He was born to Roxi's Aunt Renee and Uncle Scott on September 22. Roxi is already smitten.

I Have No Idea What It Means, But I Like It

Roxi: I'm feeling sad.
Me: Why?
Roxi: Because ... when I'm sad the butterflies come.
(Pause)
Roxi: My spoon is upside down.

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.