Current Favorite Phrase:

"Uh-oh. Angie has a boo-boo. Maaaah (kissing sound). Okay. Boo-boo is so much better."

Taking the Daughter to Work Day

Chas had a CLE today and we had arranged with my mom for her to care for Angie. Unfortunately, my step-dad became sick and then poor Mom did as well. We had paid for the CLE and what is more important, it appeared to actually be an interesting seminar so I really wanted Chas to go. The decision: I would take our two and a half year old daughter to work with me.

I will say that it was wonderful to spend the day with Angie, even if it was a little hectic. Everyone from my clerks to the attorneys who practice in my courtroom were very kind and understanding. I guess that is the plus about working in a Juvenile Court where people truly care about kids.

Angie sat in (and sometimes stood on) a chair at the bench with me for the first hearing. She chattered a bit and so is on the permanent record of some Court proceedings. She was very noisy before the second hearing so I had to send her out, which led to one of her fusses, which I could hear through two closed doors. The people who witnessed it were very amused and one said, "She is a drama queen isn't she?"

However, in the midst of her fusses she made one of the clerks melt by running to her and holding up her arms to the clerk (Ellen) and then snuggling with her. Ellen's oldest son turned 22 this week and she had been having a rough time dealing with it.

Angie was pretty good for the day. I didn't accomplish as much as I would have liked. I was going to leave early when Ellen called me to leave my office and speak with the Deputy Clerk of Court (Bill) about some problems with upcoming changes at the Court. I walk out in jeans with Angie in my arms and Bill laughed. Angie fussed a few times while I talked to several people and within three minutes she was asleep in my arms. We continued meeting while I held the snoozing baby and actually resolved a few of the problems. I wish all meetings were that productive. Angie woke up briefly to say "bye-bye" to Bill and his clerks then she promptly fell asleep again.

By then it was almost quitting time and one of the Security Guards (Joe) escorted Angie and I out of the building while carrying her Dora the Explorer tent and a few bags. He told us that the guards were attributing the peacefulness of the day to the presence of Angie at work. I asked if that was because she was chaotic enough for everyone, but he said no and seemed to think she was pretty wonderful. He told me that he missed having kids her age--his were eighteen and twenty.

We picked up Chas from his CLE and went to dinner. Then it was my bath night so I had a full day of Angie. It has been great.

As we were getting ready to leave the Court, Angie laid on the floor, put her head in my lap and said, "Ahhhhh. I like the Mommy. Like Angie?"

I told her that I loved her and wished that particular moment would not end for a very, very long time.

Good News from the Allergist

We took Angie to see an allergist today. We were braced for a two hour visit but fortunately it lasted just a little more than an hour.

Angie did reasonably well at the visit. The "generic" med student entertained her with a pen that lit up (Angie was entralled and charming) while we discussed our concerns with the doctor. We had thought Angie might have had a few food allergies and we were tired of battling some very nasty bouts of diaper rash. Our regular pediatrician is a super doctor and when we mentioned our thoughts she referred us to the specialist.

It was not the torture that I recall from my own test over thirty years ago (nice to know that medical science has progressed). The doctor tested roughly ten allergy triggers, including pollen, ragweed, milk, and peanuts. The nurse numbered spots on Angie's back and dropped a little "essence of allergen" on or near each of the spots then pricked them. We had to hold her still while this was happening and Angie naturally started to fuss. The nurse was worried that she was afraid and we tried to explain that Angie is just extremely fond of her liberty. As she left, the nurse told us not to let her touch her back.

Uh. Yeah. Didn't the nurse notice she is two and a half?

After more fussing, Angie settled when Chas pulled out some toys from the diaper bag. She immediately talked with her cell phone, "Hello Gramma? okay. google goo Doctor. google goo, Itchy scratchy. Okay. Bye." She may have been asking for a rescue effort, but she seemed calm at that point so I just don't know.

The end result. Angie does not have food allergies, including milk and peanuts). Yay. However, she is allergic to pollen and ragweed (thanks entirely to Chas's DNA) and her body is reading certain foods (carrots and apple peels) as pollen and having allergic reactions to them (sneaky). It's called "Oral Allergy Syndrome"--I put that in so Grandma Pat can start looking it up on the internet now.

We won't need to avoid foods, but we should probably watch the amounts she eats of certain types of foods. Carrots would be okay if cooked, but Angie refuses to eat cooked carrots--she likes her vegetables fresh. We'll see the doctor again in June because he wants to see her during the pollen season.

Angie remained in good spirits through most of the visit. Chas and I are in good spirits because it could have been much worse. He is still holding out hope that she won't develop full blown asthma. Well, I am too. I'm more relieved that we won't have to eliminate foods from her diet this early.

Reverse Potty Training

We haven't pushed potty training yet. Apparently, Angie understands some of the basics just from observation.

Yesterday, I was at the sink in the bathroom when Angie came in the room. She looked at the toilet, closed the lid then flushed it. She was so excited by the sound she flushed it a second time.

She clapped her hands.

So she understands the final steps, even though she is unwilling to use the potty seat.

Chas intends to start training her this week.

Keep us in your thoughts.

Awesome new activities

Angie has discovered two new fun things that she can do with her Mommy and Daddy.

Music in her room was a huge favorite over the summer, but in the fall she wanted t.v. more than music. She has requested music in her room in recent weeks. The new part is that she will look at me and say, "Picky up and Dance!" You can guess what this means. I can only say that this is one of the times that I am grateful that she is on the small side. During the dance portion of our evening she will request, "Spin again!" or "Do again that was awesome!"

Additionally, Angie has discovered the joys of a piggy-back ride. She couldn't quite grasp the concept until recently--our attempts at piggy back ride left her looking very confused as she slid off my back or her father's. Now we often hear, "I wanna piggy back wide!"

Yesterday morning she said, "I wanna piggy back wide!" Chas said, "Okay Angie." I then hear her say, "No, no, no! Mommy piggy back wide! Ready Mommy? Ready! Okay piggy back wide! Yay! Piggy back wide!" So we ran around the house for a few minutes. At the end, "That was awesome!"

Right now she is cleaning up the study while I type. "I guess I could tidy up! Okay! Tidy!"

I've also heard her "call" grandma to tell her, "Hi Gramma, in front Christmas tree. (Yes it's February and I put up a small tree.) Okay. Bye." or "Hi Gramma, I dance music tv. (Chas puts on VH1 during the week just before dinner.)" She uses her plastic phone, a calculator or the label maker for a telephone. She still will not talk on an actual phone though.

She remains non-stop energy.

Comedian

Every night when I come home, Angie takes my water jug and puts it in the kitchen sink while I remove my shoes. She's at that age when she is eager to help and she always seemed to want to do something while waiting for me to come into the main kitchen area. She eagerly takes the jug and runs it to the sink proudly, like she's just established world peace.

For the last two nights during this ritual, Angie has taken the empty jug, staggered around the kitchen while bending backwards from her waist. She has groaned, grunted, and said in a straining voice, "Oooh heavy. Beeee careful!" She then sat on the floor cross legged and said, "I'm okay. I'm all right." Then she repeated the entire scene again. She did this several times last night and I couldn't stop laughing at her.

She seemed really pleased with the entire situation.

Namesake

Angie and I have been working on her name. For roughly a week she has managed to say some variation of all four of her names in the correct order.

Tonight she looked me straight in the eyes and said very clearly, "I'm Angie-Baby!"

My heart stopped for a second.

She looked at me again and said, "I'm Angie-Baby!"

I gave her a big hug and said, "Yes you are sweetie."

She put that together on her own, I've never mentioned that phrase to her.

Most everyone who knows us, knows that Angie was named for my best friend Angie Young who died several months before I became pregnant. When we were very small, my friend Angie would tell people her name was "Angie-Baby Helen Young."