BJM’s Photos

While Nicholas was hanging out with one of his friends today, we decided to take Ally to Homestead Park to play since it’s such a nice weekend. Ally got enough swinging in today to at least last her through the winter into next spring. We got her out once to climb on the equipment but she ended up back in the swing yelling “Higher Daddy, Higher!” She was fearless as we pushed her higher and faster. . laughing the whole time.

Ally has been working with her physical therapist for months on trying to ride a tricycle along with other skills. It’s a lot of hard work since her legs just don’t have the strength they should. She’s made wonderful progress with the trike the past two therapy sessions and has gotten going on some pretty long stretches down the hallway. Steering is NOT her strong-point as it takes pretty intense concentration to move her feet. 🙂 The therapy trike has modified pedals so her feet are velcro’d to the pedals (which helps a LOT by the way) Sometimes her therapist puts the trike on the treadmill so it does the work for her and she can get the feeling of how her legs should be moving. The past few times we’ve taken her out on her trike at home, she’s tried to pedal by herself and gotten closer to being able to do it on her own. It’s tough without the help of the velcro straps though 🙂

One evening last week, an ice cream truck rolled through the neighborhood. We’ve rarely bought anything from them, but Nicholas stuck his head in the house and asked if I had any cash. I didn’t. . so he ran and got his wallet and ran back outside with Ally. He took her across the street and came back with a SpongeBob pop just for Ally that he bought with his own money! He didn’t even get anything for himself! He then sat outside with her and helped her eat it. She even willingly shared some with him 🙂 He shared later that he tried to buy her a Dora pop but they had just run out! Eeeek! He makes it obvious every day how much he adores his little sister. . and I think Ally likes him just a little bit too! 🙂

Nicholas and Ally kicked the soccer ball around in the front yard for quite a while tonight. Ally was having a blast but was laughing so hard at times, she had trouble standing let alone trying to run after Nicholas. Maybe she’ll be the next Mia Hamm (here’s a bit of trivia for you. . .did you know that Mia Hamm had club feet when she was born?)

After the ‘game’, we went out back so Ally could play on her little swing-set. Nicholas was practicing some yo yo tricks near us and for some reason she thought it was hilarious. The evening was beautiful. It’s getting cool in the evenings again. .I love it!

I’m so glad I caught this one.. .do you see anything funny in the photo below? She squatted down so we could see her head and feet but it looked like her body was almost nonexistent! She looks like one of those corny magic shows where the lady gets sawed in pieces and put together in the wrong order….LOL!

I got into one of my scrapbook bags to grab a pair of scissors last night and look what I found! The fake chicken leg quarter, bun top and play silverware from Ally’s kitchen were funny enough, but the cow just killed me! I’ve found some pretty funny things in some odd places lately. It’s hilarious to watch her carefully select the items before stashing them in her secret places. . .what is going through her little toddler mind????

I got some fresh fruit at the store tonight and Ally wanted to sit up on the counter while I cut it up. I taught her how to pick grapes off the stem and put them in a strainer to wash. Once I convinced her to stop spiking the grapes into the strainer (yes, grapes bounce surprisingly well!) she did a great job! She then ‘helped’ me cut up the melon by sampling a small piece occasionally. Both fruits passed her inspection 🙂

Ally found out this week that if you have a pretty dress on and stand on the air conditioner vent when it’s on, that it makes your pretty dress poof out! She did it a few dozen times while waiting for me to get ready to leave for grandma’s house 🙂