Friday - Thursday August 24-30

On Friday the 24th Indigo and I had lunch at CPK with our friend Ellen and Sarah. Between our company and their trip to CA, it had been a while since the girls had seen each other so it was really fun to see them again. The girls were both superbly behaved and ate a very good lunch of honey chicken pizza. After lunch we went to look at some shoes for Indigo (I am earning a reputation of not putting my child in shoes). We bought a pair suitable for now and then we both got the girls the same adorable little clogs for the fall/winter. After that we made a quick stop at Costco to check their fall outfits but no luck with the right sizes. The girls were so cute together in the shopping cart! Daddy came home a bit early as we were going to Shabbat Rocks at our temple. This is an annual summer event where there are activities for the kids such as a rock wall, moon bounce, crafts etc. The families all eat together and then they have the service outside. We had a good time and it was great to introduce Indigo to some new people and she ran around a lot. However, it was terribly hot and humid - about 100 degrees so we ended up coming home earlier.

On Saturday we had a nice family day together. We did projects at home in the morning and then a little shopping together in the afternoon and a quiet evening with dinner at home together. It was a nice bit of rejuvenation - Amy, no comments from the peanut gallery!

On Sunday morning we had a nice breakfast together at our local favorite diner where they call Indigo "sweetie". We then ran some errands and returned home later to get Indigo down for some sort of a nap before going over to our friends. We had a lovely afternoon and evening at our friend Tricie & Jon's house. We did a potluck style so as to not have all the pressure on one family and got together with Tricie and Jon, their kids Anna Kate and Louisa; with Robyne and Stuart and their twins, Callie & Stirling and new baby Alexandria and also with Susan and Gary and their twins Emma and Lilly. Indigo enjoyed playing with the other kids although she was not interested in being photographed with them - perhaps ugly memories of the red couch debaucle? When we returned home we got Indigo to bed. However, shortly after that our friend Elizabeth arrived to spend the night and Egan barked so loudly that he woke Indigo up and we had a long long period of screaming with both of us taking turns to settle her down which took ages.

On Monday morning, while David and I were both here, we had our first injury with blood! Indigo was trying to get on her little rocking horse by herself, fell and made her lip bleed. We were definitely more traumatized than she was and you'll probably notice a few photos with her bottom lip looking less than perfect. After Elizabeth returned from her morning doctor appointment - that is why she had come into town to spend the night, she, Indigo and I went to lunch and had a lovely time. Elizabeth went off to another appointment and Indigo and I hung out. Indigo had a lot of fun pulling all our newspapers out of the recycling bag - she thought that was a hoot. The cute little outfit she is wearing is from her Auntie Amy. Elizabeth returned and enjoyed a nice afternoon nap and then after David came home I cooked dinner for all of us and Elizabeth left for Orange after dinner. We had quite a dreadful night with difficulty getting her down to bed and then her waking up several times in the night. Why? That's the million dollar question. Best suspect is teething.

On Tuesday morning she woke up at 5:30 a.m. This is considerably earlier than her normal wake up time. She was up so early that she was napping by 9:15 a.m. She was much cheerier after that and Ellen and Sarah came over and we took a trip out to the stables to see Dan the horse. We had a quick lunch on the way and then hung out for a few hours at the stables. We washed Dan and turned him out in the paddock to dry off. Indigo and Sarah seemed to enjoy their time outside and Indigo loved running all about. She was also enthralled by the buckets and wanted to tote them all around the barn. Sarah was very good with Dan and loved giving him carrots which was so cute. After playing with Dan we hung out around the picnic bench and the girls were so adorable giving each other kisses. With all her running around and hard play, Indigo was asleep before we got to the freeway.

We had another rough night - she is madder than a snake when we put her to bed - she was really yelling but you can tell it's because she is cross that we are putting her to bed. She does not want to miss anything. Anyway, she fell asleep after about 25 minutes which was better than the prior evening. However, she woke up at 1 a.m. and I was up with her until 3 a.m. - even ended up with her on the single bed in her room but she just wanted to play then. Finally she fell asleep again and then she woke up again but she fell back asleep herself. I felt like a bit of a wreck on Wednesday morning. On Wednesday we had lunch with our friend Mary at Cactus. Mary was joined by her friends Terry and Adrian. Terry is someone I had met once before and who I communicate with somewhat frequently in a work capacity as she works in the legal office at the USPTO. Terry has been an avid fan of Indigo and the blog and she was very keen to meet Indigo. She was so sweet and bought Indigo the most lovely gifts - very generous and very thoughtful. She got Indigo two great books - one even had a picture of meerkats because she knows from Indigo's zoo visits that she likes to see the meerkats. She also gave Indigo the most adorable outfits - lots of very cute pink corderoy - will probably feature those in some pictures this fall/winter. Anyway, I was very touched. Indigo was good at lunch but a bit fussier than usual probably due to her complete lack of good sleep. However, she did laugh and interact and tease and we had a nice time together. She had a great afternoon nap and was very chipper again by the time daddy came home. She had a good dinner and I went out to my friend Tricie's house to hang out with my girlfriends and Daddy got her to bed - and with relative ease - she fussed for a much shorter period. Today my parents left for their long trip to South Africa - they will be gone nearly three months. They plan to blog their trip which will include a safari so if interested you can follow along with their trip via the link on our blog - Mom and Dad AKA granny and granddad.
On Thursday morning, David left the house very early to go and pick up his mom who came in on the redeye from CA to see her new granddaughter for the first time. Indigo and I were up when she arrived and Indigo has been extremely cheery and playful with her Grandma. She had us laughing so much while playing with Grandma. She was fascinated by Grandma's watch and played with that for ages. After lunch she played with Grandma on the couch, pretending to feed her over and over again. Indigo was just cracking herself up and we were both laughing so much. When Indigo thinks she is funny she throws her head back and laughs - it's hilarious. We had dinner together at home and then Grandma opened "the suitcase" Naughty (but very generousand sweet Grandma) had bought a whole suitcase filled with things for Indigo - it was like a fashion show and Indigo is going to be very well attired for the cooler season - probably both this year and next. We are so excited that Grandma is here and getting to spend time with Indigo. After Indigo went to bed we watched the "Gotcha Day" video and there was a heck of a lot of sobbing going on in this house!

The weekend of August 18 through Thursday the 23rd

Before I begin this post, I just want to add an omission for the last post - more for our journal records as I am not keeping track of things anywhere else. On Monday the 13th of August, Indigo had her 15 month check-up (she was 15 months on the 15th). I think the shots were so traumatic for me that I had blocked it from my memory. Our little girl was 20 lbs, 14 oz and 31.5 inches long. The doctor feels that her development is very normal and commented that her attachment to me seemed very strong (it is to David as well, but he was not there for the appointment). Anyway, she received FOUR shots, two in each thigh. It is not easy to hold the arms of your child down while they hold her legs down and stick these injections into her. However, it's part of life and we did survive. She had MMR (measles, mumps & rubella), she had the chickenpox vaccine, she had Haemophilus Influenzae Type b (Hib) vaccine and she had the Polio vaccine. We still have to take her for a lot of other bloodwork and testing - all to be on the safe side, but I must confess that I have been delaying that and there is no way it's happening without David being there too.
So onto the weekend that began August 18th. Mom and Dad left that Saturday morning and we were sad to see them go. We packed a picnic lunch and had an outing to Clemy Jontri park. This park is the mother of all playgrounds - it's quite unbelievable in all that it has to offer in the way of playground equipment. It is really a neat park but was very crowded on the weekend. Indigo is still a bit young to take advantage of most of the playground but she sure loved being there and soaking it all up. She did take a carousel ride and managed the whole ride although she was tentative about it but no crying.

Later that afternoon we went to the birthday party of Adam Till who was two. Indigo enjoyed the birthday party very much and apart from having some food and a cupcake, she pretty much was queen of the sandbox. She really loved playing the sandbox. Other kids would come and go but she just loved being in there. We all had a good time at the party.

On Sunday we all hung out together at the house, doing tidying up and chores. In the later afternoon, our very dear friends, Marty & Laurie and their boys, Connor and Aidan came over to meet Indigo and to enjoy some lake fun. We had lots of fun swimming in the lake and really enjoyed ourselves. After the lake we came back to the house and had a great bar-b-que. Laurie et al. had also bought more gifts for Indigo (she is not indulged at all) and she enjoyed opening her presents with help from the boys. She loved her gifts. Laurie had made the most incredibly yummy dessert and Indigo really enjoyed having some tastes of that. While they were still here, my cousin Ruth came by with her husband David and their girls, Anna and Sarah Grace. David had been living with us from May to August and now the whole family was moving down here so they had come by to start collecting some of his things (however, Ruth confessed that it was really because she was dying to see Indigo). The girls were very sweet with Indigo. Anna also loved petting Egan. We said farewell to Laurie et al after having had the most marvelous time with them - also, Indigo really liked Marty and wanted him to pick her up that was very cool. We got Indigo to bed and then visited a while with Ruth et al. before they left. A very lovely day.

On Monday Indigo and I stayed home for the whole day without any activity. David had left very early in the morning to fly to Chicago for work and he was gone overnight. She was really cute in the day and found these three large crumbs on the coffee table and she fed each one to Caleb. She would take a crumb and then go to him to give it to him and then back to the table to get another crumb! Our daughter was also testing the theory of gravity and took great delight in throwing toys etc. down the stairs. She would take whatever toy could fit through the bars of the gate and throw things down. Some made it all the way down to the bottom of the stairs, but a lot just hit the top stair. On Monday night we had another visit from Ruth et al. and again the girls enjoyed the dogs and playing with Indigo and Anna read to her. David was ecstatic when Indigo willingly sat on his lap.

On Tuesday Indigo and I took a drive to Maryland where we met our friend Allyson and her boys, Jacob and Joshua for lunch at our very favorite sushi restaurant. It was so yummy! Indigo enjoyed her miso soup and also some tofu dish from the buffet. After lunch we went back to Allyson's house and Indigo played with the boys in the playroom. She had great fun. Later that evening we went to pick up Daddy from the airport - it was a bit late but we wanted to greet him so we got him and then we had some supper at the airport - she had already had dinner but still ate some of our food and some grapes the waiter brought for her.

On Wednesday we had a lovely visit to the office and had lunch with Daddy and all her aunties from work who were properly adoring! She had a great time and played with her aunties and was letting them hold her. We were at the office for about 3 hours and she was full of smiles and was very confident walking around. We had primarily gone because my boss was in for the day from Milwaukee and he was keen to see her. However, the meeting he was in for, went way past its scheduled end time but we did have a quick visit and it was lovely to see all the work people who care so much for David, me and our beloved daughter. On Wednesday afternoon I caught her pulling all the diapers out of the package - I love the mischievous grin on her face! On Wednesday night Indigo stayed home with Daddy while I went to get some girlfriend time with my friend Tricie.

On Thursday, we were met at the house early in the morning by my cousin Ruth and her daughters and after a wake-up start at Starbucks where you see Anna and Indigo enjoyed looking at books, we headed to the zoo where we had a great day. We were so lucky with our animal sightings! We saw the orangutans on the o-line - really remarkable. The o-line allows the orangs to climb these towers from one habitat, and cross over the zoo on these cables connected the towers and go to another habitat so they are swinging on these cables high above the people.

They can stop and rest at each of the towers but the towers have electricity so that they won't come down amongst the people - they can come down the towers into the habitats. Even though I am at the zoo all the time I have never seen this so I was excited. David has seen it twice before - you have to be there at the right time. Also, the mom and dad panda have been put back together so they were wrestling and we saw the hippo keeper working with him and got to see his great big mouth. We also saw the brand new baby giant anteater as it clung to its mom's back but she was shy about bringing him close so photos were difficult. We also saw the three cheetah brothers out together and the small-clawed Asian otters were out swimming and playing. One of the clouded leopards was out in full view (normally more elusive) and the baby sloth bear was being very playful with a twig of leaves. Indigo's favorite animals still seemed to be the giant elephant shrew and the meerkats. See pictures. She can see them up close and then tend to be active so she sees their movement and then is captivated by them. It was another good day at the zoo. We drove to have a late lunch and when we got home, I found that Indigo's Certificate of Citizenship had arrived! Very exciting - she has been in the country just over a month and

now has her proof of American citizenship. This helps with other documents we need to

obtain.