Walking!! Clinging!! Swinging!!

She's been taking a few steps here and there for a while, but now, well, I think the pictures speak for themselves.  This was Saturday morning, and then Saturday afternoon:

Sunday we went to check out the playground on Patch.  We saw Jennifer out playing with her girls so we stopped by to say hi.  Elora lunged for Jennifer as soon as she saw her, and then immediately put her head down on her shoulder.  It was neat, because she rarely does that sort of thing.

Emily was too busy playing with a little friend to pay us much mind, but Ava wasn't. She was playing around the picnic table, and being adorable.

We encouraged Elora and Ava to say hi to one another, and it was going well until Elora decided to lunge for Ava the way she'd lunged for Jennifer.  Part of it was that she got too excited, and part of it was that she's still not real steady on her feet and she wanted to hold on to Ava for support.

Anyway, it totally freaked out poor Ava and she went to grab for her Mama, but Elora was still trying to hold on to her for balance.  It was so funny, and so cute!  After that, we left Jennifer to comfort a traumatized Ava (I may be exaggerating) and went to go swing.

Elora wasn't too excited about it at first, but she caught on.  And check out the shades!

After swings, it was slides.  I slid down with her the first time.

After that, I helped her to slide solo.

And she kept those sunglasses on the whole time! Either she wants to be like Mama and Daddy, or she just realized that they made the sun less bright.  I'm not sure I care why she kept them on, they're just so darn cute!

A lot of pictures this time, I know.  But seriously, how could I not post these??  And I needed this, the sunny-happy-fun-goodness.  It was exactly what I needed.

Egg Happens. So Does Spaghetti Sauce.

I was holding Elora, getting her juice out of the fridge, and not paying attention.  This was the result.

The little stinker picked it up, and just as I realized what was happening, very deliberately dropped it on the floor.  I guess it's my fault for leaving the eggs so conveniently in the fridge door, huh?

I've also discovered that my child loves tortellini.  It's been just us girls for a few days (Brandon is still stuck in Denmark because of the ash) so I picked up some of those fresh pasta things from the cooler section at the commissary, along with a jar of Prego.  Each package is the perfect amount for Elora and me to share.  We tried one for dinner Friday night, and she loved it so well, she licked her plate.

 She made quite a mess with that sauce, I tell you.  But it was nothing to the mess she made with it Saturday.

When she was done, I cleaned her up a bit, let her drink her milk, and then put her straight into the bath tub.  There was so much sauce debris that after I'd let the water out, I had to rinse the tub.  And I laughed the whole time.  :)

Playtime

We got some more lovely weather, and I finally thought to take Elora outside to play this past week.

She didn't do much exploring; she stayed on the blanket, or right next to it.  But she did a lot of looking around, and there were plenty of interesting things to examine right there by the blanket. 

She shared her finds with Momma.

 

And of course, everything had to go into the mouth.

I let her play with whatever she found interesting, but as soon as it went to the mouth, I took it away.  (Ok, for this one, I took the picture and then I took it away.)  We weren't out there all that long, less than an hour, but it was fun all the same.  I've been waiting for another nice day ever since.

In other news, my grandmother  is still recovering.  They've taken her off the ventilator, and I think they'll be taking the stomach pump sometime this weekend, as well as moving her out of ICU and into a regular room.   When that happens, she'll actually be able to take nourishment orally again, which will be wonderful.  Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!

Prayers, Please

*Note: I got behind in my blogging, so I posted 3 entries in a row today; the first 2 are back-dated.  You might like to go back and read them in order.

 

My grandmother was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday to be treated for a perforated bowel.  They removed part of her colon yesterday, and she is now recovering in ICU; the next few days are pivotal.  Most of my family --all 5 of her living children, and many of her grandchildren-- have gathered to be with her.  I want desperately to be there, but as it stands, she is not critical and if things did get bad, there is no way I could be there in time to see her.  At this point, either she will recover and I will be able to see her when we go home this fall, or, well, I don't want to talk about the "or".

Each member is equally dear to me, but they each have their own special places in my heart.  This is the Grandmother who kept my sister and me when my (single parenting) mom had to work evenings; this is the Grandmother  we spent our summers with; this is the Grandmother who taught me to sew, crochet, and embroider.  We have not always agreed or gotten along, but she has loved me unconditionally and been a stable element in my life for as long as I can remember.  She is strong and principled; has endured the loss of her parents, her siblings, her husband, and her oldest son.  I love, respect and admire her in ways that words cannot express.  

I know it is unlikely that that worst will happen (Thank you God!), and I am very likely over reacting.  I just feel so isolated, so impotent here, while the rest of my family is there with her.  My mom tells me that they feel impotent there, too.   I just want to hold her hand, and tell her that I love her.

Thank you, Brandon, for letting my cry on your shoulder.  Thank you Elora, for snuggling in my lap.  Thank you to my family, for keeping me there in spirit if not in flesh.  And thank you to all of my friends and acquaintances, who have been so supportive to me the past 2 days.  Please continue to keep my grandmother and our family in your thoughts and prayers as she recovers.

Easter Weekend

We went to Peguy's baby shower on Saturday, which was a lot of fun.  I didn't really know many of the people there; I think I was the only guest who didn't know her from work, but they all went out of their way to be friendly and make sure that I was included in the conversations and goings on.  I also appointed myself her official photographer, and I came home with exactly 600 pictures on my camera.  Of course, only about 450 of them were usable, and of those, many were duplicates.  But it was good practice for me.

 Peguy is due in July, but they're PCSing in a month, so I won't get to be around for her last trimester, or see new born Tyler.  But, they are headed to Maryland, so I won't be too far from them when we head to Virginia.  I'm already planning a weekend trip up to visit them.

I'd planned to go to Mass Easter morning with Peguy, but that didn't work out and I ended up doing my praise and prayer at home.  It was for the best, since Brandon got called in to work for a few hours. When he got home, though, we got dressed up and headed to the Brauhaus for dinner.  

Dinner was delicious, and the company was unbeatable.  

As we were driving home, we saw a lovely full rainbow arcing over the sky, and we just had to stop to take pictures.  

The whole sky was glorious!  I just kept taking pictures.  We turned around and drove the same road twice, just to make sure that we captured it.  These are the west and east sides of the road, respectively:

Then we stopped again, closer to home, so I could snap some more.

Such scenes have always been special to me.  I feel the greatest connection to the divine through these experiences, and I felt doubly touched that it happened on Easter.