Bad Mama

OK---I'll admit it. I am too lazy/too tired to upload some cute pictures of my kid eating 1/32 or perhaps 1/64 of a banana voluntarily. I am likewise too lazy to upload pictures of her at her first-ever aquarium visit this past Saturday (apparently, one of the few things worth visiting in Camden, NJ, where we proceeded to get lost in some pretty dodgy neighborhoods). (Note to others: even if your kid has a thing for Dorothy-the-goldfish on Sesame Street, if they are young-acting preemies, 2 may be a bit too young for them to be absolutely riveted by sharks. However, that does not mean that they won't be absolutely riveted by the face paintings worn by other kids slightly older than themselves whom they nonetheless call 'babies.').

Anyway, I am battling my laziness and fatigue and trying to produce a coherent update here, so bear with me!

Hallie has had an okay week. We're not sure that she's okay with the blueberries that we are food-challenging, but we're pushing forth nonetheless since it seems sad to be allergic to such an innocuous fruit and her vomiting of late may not really be related to this antioxidant rich bush grower. It's kind of too soon to tell, but she has had one good day out of the past four, and the three bad days were none too bad (no congestion, just weird and hard to explain vomits at various points). So we've hit 94 vomit-free days and we're hoping for 100 by Labor Day. Seems reasonable. Otherwise: she's been eating bits of banana, huge amounts of chevre-mixed-with-goat yogurt and...drumroll please...chunks of solid prunes (dried plums). Her dinner often begins with a Hallie-approved 'trail mix' (as Sharon termed it): chunks of prunes, strips of goat mozzarella and gerber baby dried apple pieces. It almost seems like it's approximating standard toddler fare, even if the assortment is a bit odd.

Otherwise, she's also doing great. We've confirmed that she can, indeed, count to 15 (I am trying to get her to internalize 16-20 now) and she's been talking up a storm. Her EI speech therapist (Jenny) was pleasantly floored by Hallie's major speech spurt this past month, and, after some initial shyness (Hallie will absolutely clam up when she is around new people, and Jenny has been away nearly a month), Hallie showed off all of her new skills to Jenny. Had I not forewarned Jenny of this spurt, I think she might have cried (as she did when Hallie finally signed 'book' correctly). Anyway, it was gratifying to hear it from a pro that Hallie's made a great deal of progress this month (even though we already knew this about her).

Not much else going around here. I do promise to try to get some pictures up soon!