Getting back on our feet

We've had a lot going on over here.

Besides the obvious (The Silencing of Maya and the news stories generated by the silencing---which I'm updating every few days) we were also all sick with hand, foot & mouth virus (which was exactly as miserable as it sounds).  Two and a half weeks later, we're finally all back on our feet. 

Maya was feeling better last week and got to do some painting . . .

 . . . but some days she was still so tired that she needed an immediate nap (which is not her style).

 

She continues to make great progress with her talker, and so does Parker (yep, really).  First, here's Maya, showing off how she is starting to put sentences together:

Maya loves to call Parker, but she makes a tiny, breathy "Pa" sound to call him.  Sometimes he hears it, but most often not.  I made a button on the talker that says "Parker, come!" and I've been teaching him to come when he hears it.  Finally, it's working :)  Take a look:

  

If you haven't already, we would really appreciate it if you could take a minute to sign our petition to keep this app available for Maya and its other users.  As you can see, it's her voice.  We can't let it go.  (And we would be especially appreciative if you would share it---via email, to listservs, on Facebook, through Twitter, from a banner on a plane, written in fireworks, whatever.)  Thank you!

  



We beat the plague and celebrate (with a cow, too)

We're now at a full day with no fever (and 2 days without a high fever) and I'm feeling relieved at finally turning the corner.   Getting Maya back on solid food is likely to be a week long battle (as she's happily transitioned to a diet composed solely of milk, water, applesauce, yogurt & chocolate pudding), but at least the fever is gone and she's on the road to normal.

We celebrated with a fabulous feeling-better-and-it's-Mother's-Day-too! weekend . . .

Saturday . . .

We go to Stew Leonard's, which never disappoints.  This time they have some sort of kids club thing happeneing outside, complete with snacks, hand painting, and . . . a calf!

A baby cow?!

 I'm going to come get you, baby cow.

 True love.  Note the cow trying to lick Maya---I think the feeling is mutual. (Also, note my death grip---I've seen Maya's "gentle hands" with Parker, and was afraid she might try to love the cow to death.)

 I think she was debating a big kiss on the nose.

I'm going to kiss you!

One big snuggle for the road :)

We become the hand painter's favorite client of the day when I request . . .  not a princess, not Spongebob, not a tiger, but a white circle.  It's the moon.  Maya is obsessed with the moon (ever since we took her outside with friends back in March to see the "Super Moon").  

And on Saturday night I made a big fancy Mother's Day dinner.  It may have been one night early, but I was excited to splurge on nice food and spend some time in the kitchen after spening most of the week sick.   So I bought the food I wanted, the flowers I wanted, and the good local beer I wanted and made up a nice meal:

Why not take a picture of dinner?  This was steak, potatoes, bok choy, garlic green beans, and tomato/onion salad.  I didn't get a picture of the amazing dessert, but it was equally wonderful.

Sunday . . .

I went out shopping alone, and Dave & Maya went to the zoo.  While it was nice to have a little break from toddler mom duties, I quickly became a little lonely (and remembered that I hate shopping).  So I went home, grabbed Parker, my book, and an iced coffee, and laid out a blanket at the park instead.

That's much more my speed.

The afternoon brought trips to 2 different playgrounds, walking around the neighborhood, and take-out Thai food from my favorite local place. 

 Maya was delighted to find a stopped up, filled-with-muddy-sand water fountain at the second playground. 

 Hey, you!  Come here!  You've got to see this!

 Successfully dirtying other playground children.

She may have also had a grown-up partner in crime.

It was a perfect return-to-health/Mother's Day weekend :)

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there!  Especially to my mom (Maureen), sister (Lisa), mother-in-law (Helaine), and sisters-in-law (Anne, Laura, & Lori).

Blech. And a bonus giveaway entry.

Maya is sick.  I'm sick, too, but that doesn't seem to matter much.  She's little, and her fever is higher than mine, so she gets all of the pampering.  This morning I awoke to hearing her scream from the crib (which was terrifying) and when I ran in and took her temperature it was 104.8.  Yikes, dude.  Scary stuff.  It seems to be just a virus, and hopefully tomorrow will be much better.

For the past two days, there has been a lot of this:

And a very few bundled-up outings, too:

At the dog run, in between fevers.

Lucky for her, she's been very stylish throughout this illness because the other day I gave her her very first little manicure:

They're blue---blue is her favorite color, she picked it out at CVS

2 days left for the giveaway!  I already laid out the 4 different ways to enter, but I thought of a 5th!  You can leave an extra comment on the original giveaway post if you share the giveaway link ( http://niederfamily.blogspot.com/2011/04/giveaway.html)  on FB  (or if you email it to someone, that way the non-FB folks can get a bonus one too).

I remember the happier days . . . (from Maya)

 . . . when I was on vacation.  Times of eating ice cream . . .

and gazing out at the sea . . . (ok, at the lake.  whatever.)

But now I'm home, and sick.  Bad fever sick.  Trying to sleep my way through the day (here at a doc appt) and the night too. 

But I have a feeling that my mom will be up worrying all night :(

Foot in mouth

So my rhyming-titled post was all like, Maya had a little bug, but she's over it, went to the zoo, diaper explosion, ha ha, whatever. Then we all got sick. Really sick. We spent Friday laying in bed (all three of us, in a row) with a little alarm set to wake up every 15 mins and give Maya littles syringe-fuls of Pedialyte. Then we moved to the living room and layed on the floor:

(that black strip down the right side are my pants)

The next day we went to the park, where Maya met a dog named Polly who magically cured all of her leftover yucky feelings:




And then I bounced her around to shake out any last viruses:



We got better in time for Easter, but still have occasional stomach issues. I'm not feeling up to doing an Easter post tonight, but the pictures are uploaded, so it will be soon! Also, Maya got some big girl sneakers today, so look out for a picture of those soon, too.




(Are you on the edge of your seat yet?)




(I thought so.)