Happy 3rd Birthday Jordan!

The birthday celebrating didn't end when we left Disney World (which by the way - left a balloon and a card signed by all of the major Disney characters in our hotel room the night before we left). We drove 10 hours to Knoxville to visit my bestest friend in the whole wide world who lives there. Shockingly - we hadn't see her in person in a VERY VERY long time. Even more shocking, she hadn't met Jordan in person yet! But that didn't stop my dear friend Tisha from decorating and buying presents for both kids. It was so freaking sweet.

Jordan hadn't removed the pink hair yet - so we continued to celebrate Miss Princess on her official third birthday. It was the 100 day celebration! (Or 3 day... who's counting?)

It's amazing to think how far we've come in three years. My little gorgeous baby is a now firecracker three-year-old full of energy that far surpasses her tiny frame. Jordan is a handful in so many ways. What she's done in the last year just amazes me. She tolerated an arm that never fit or worked properly... And now she has an arm that is really offering her some ways to balance, play and learn. She didn't wear it much during our vacation, but she's already back on track since we returned home. She started dance class, learned how to go potty on her own and is FIERCELY independent when it comes to doing things for herself. I actually sat and waited for her to put on thick tights on her own this morning. It took her 10 minutes, but darn it - she put them on! Jordan's love of pretending to be a princess, chef, mommy, super hero and many other things blossomed in the last year. You never know when she's going to pretend to be a mommy or a ballerina or a little baby that needs cuddles. She got really good at egging her brother on - They will start fighting the MOMENT you leave the room. But more often than not, she will run over and give Cameron a hug or try as hard as she can to keep up with him. I'm so proud to be her mommy. I'll admit, she keeps getting cuter and she can melt me from time to time and that lets her get away with stuff. At the same time, she's very respectful and worries about others. She's mindful and aware of emotions and needs. I can only imagine the amazing adventures we will have in her fourth year of life!

Happy birthday Boo!!

Holiday preview

We made it to Florida! We also had a chance to celebrate an early Christmas with Jordan and Cameron's Poppy and Grandma (aka my in-laws)! They had a ball opening gifts. We also got to drive long distances with the kids in the van -- for the first time we had them sitting in different rows with two separate DVD players.

It changed EVERYTHING. Our drive was relatively peaceful... happy and enjoyable. I think we will travel this way from now on. It was too nice. No fighting and relatively few outburst from either kid.

I did figure out an additional way to help Jordan keep up with her toys without them all falling to her left side and she can't reach it. It's a soft tray that attaches with a belt behind her so it doesn't fall down. She was able to play with smaller toys and eat food without losing stuff. I highly recommend it!!

Today we enjoyed a little time in my parents' pool (it was freezing cold) and riding bikes. Jordan was exhausted but we did pull the bike arm out for a little while. Not long enough for her to be willing to let me leave and find a camera. She was exhausted by the end of the day and even fell asleep on the floor. Hopefully she'll get a good night's sleep so we can have a really fun day tomorrow!

I'm here... They're there

I'm in China and feeling like I've gotten my body adjusted to the 14 hour time difference in Shanghai. All it took was not sleeping for one night and sleeping a lot on my 14 hour flight from Chicago to Shanghai. Nutty stuff.

I'm happy to report I'm here and we were able to figure out how to get Skype's video chat function to work... So I got to see the kids before they went to bed. That was so awesome. The kids were giddy to see me and I have to admit, I was giddy seeing them.

I hope to have some pictures and possibly video later after we play tourist in an hour or two.

I'll leave with this silly screen capture of the kids:

Before I run off....

I'm in a hotel just hours away from when I need to hop on a plane towards Shanghai for work. It's very exciting. I doubt I'll be able to get access to this blog from blogger.com since China blocks many popular American web tools. But I might try to email updates. We'll see what happens.

I haven't updated one last big event for Jordan this past week. I took her to the occupational therapy clinic on campus to introduce her to the students there. She's visited the class once a year since she was 10 or 11 months old. I just tell the students what it's like to have a child born with a difference and explain the various things we're doing to make sure she stays on track. And she's really on track and I expect to keep her that way!!

The coolest little moment was when Jordan was hanging out with Lea Ann who directs the clinic. They were sharing some Teddy Grahams when Jordan held out her new hand to hold the snack. Lea Ann helped turn it enough for Jordan to actually hold it. It was a really cool moment. It's the little things. The little flexible hand is helpful but so darn simple -- But since it doesn't really restrict Jordan, she really uses it. I watched her chase a friend with TWO hands earlier this week. Today she was petting our big dog with TWO hands. The hand that opens and closes still feels restrictive to her. She doesn't hold her arm as heavy or dead as she did with the previous myoelectric arm, but she isn't really using it to the fullest potential. She's only had it for a week - With a little extra OT and effort, she's going to catch on to that one as well. We have yet to try the bike hand. Maybe she'll work on that when I'm away -- But hopefully she'll wait so I can be there for the moment she has full balance and stability riding a bike!! (can you tell I'm excited for that moment?)

Last hotel

We made it to our final hotel before we start our camping trip for five days. We snagged a nice room in northern Vermont before we cross the border over to New Hampshire. It's very exciting.

I will probably be completely offline until after we arrive in Maine. I promised Cam that I would not turn on the computer at all while we camp. That means five days off the grid. It's longer than I've gone in a while and I'm sure it will feel great.

So for family checking the blog, we're doing fine. We survived a 1300+ mile, two-day drive across the country and we're ready to have fun outside! For anyone else, we have a full agenda: Camping, swimming, hiking, biking and exploring! Very exciting.

An angel

Jordan woke up last this morning. She took forever falling asleep. It was challenging sleeping next to her. Actually is was so challenging that I ended up sleeping at the bottom of the bed so she wouldn't kick me in the head. Anyway, she was still sleeping this morning when Randy and I sat there watching her. She looked like an angel. So I had to take a picture of her sleeping in the car.

We're still driving towards New Hampshire. We plan to stop in Vermont tonight. We have queen beds in our hotel room tonight. Maybe, just maybe the girl will let me sleep in peace. If not, I'll have more space at the bottom of the bed!

Right now Jordan is singing about her haircut. Very silly.

Our special trip

I just love spending time with my Aunt and it was so great to take Jordan back to Dallas to see her last weekend. I happen to be out of town AGAIN - this time I'm on my own to attend a journalism forum. But I just wanted to tell everyone a little more about Jordan's great trip with Aunt Jan.

First, Jordan and I were totally off schedule. I had to wake her at 3am to get us to the airport. The first thing she said as I lifted her off her bed: "I go back in the bed." I don't know why I find that so funny. Anyway -- She LOVED being on a plane. We had a window seat so she could enjoy the view and look at the clouds. "I fly in the sky!!" She pointed out everything she could see. It was just so cool to see her register the idea that she was flying and on her way to see Aunt Jan and Uncle Chuck.

Even though we were a little off on sleep the entire time, Jordan was SO dang funny. She was goofy, she was giggly. She was so great. She made all of us laugh and smile. In between a little tired issues here and there, it was just fun to watch her hang out with family and have fun.

We actually ended up sharing a bed - and the first morning she woke up and was SO excited to find me in bed with her. Her tone was utter disbelief that I would be in bed with her.

Strangest moment: Jordan decided she hated the two pairs of shoes I brought to Texas. Not only did she hate them, she was throwing a fit with them. So I did something I don't normally do: I relented. We went shopping and got the girl a new pair of shoes. It's silly I know. But I had her SO out of her element and she was SO tolerant that if shoes were what she wanted to freak out about, I was going to help her deal with it. We went to the Disney Store and picked out a plaid pair of Minnie Mouse shoes (you don't actually SEE Minnie, she's in the insole if you're curious). Either way, the girl LOVED those shoes.

Life got back to normal pretty quickly when we got back home. Jordan has been pretty good at school (until she bit a girl at school today). She also had her third dance class. Today she had to go to time out because she decided not to participate during a part of the class. The teacher said if Jordan is happy, keep taking the class... But we can wait until she officially turns three if we'd like. The teacher and I schemed to decide if this was the right time for dance class... it may or it may not. Who knows. Her last class is next week, so this was just a little peek into the dance world. Maybe we'll wait until next winter. Either way, Jordan LOVES it... At least talking about it.

Fun fun fun

Jordan is starting to talk and talk and talk. So I have to write down a couple of funny things she's saying.

When turning on a light she says: "I open the light."
When turning off a light she says: "I close the light."

When Randy was leaving for work yesterday she asked: "You got your bye-bye bag? You go to your car and go bye bye?"
Bye bye bag. I like that. I isn't a computer bag anymore. It's a bye bye bag.

While going upstairs with Cameron yesterday, Jordan started yelling: "Wait up you guys!"

This weekend, we went on a bike trip down the Katy Trail... It's a pretty nice and easy trek even though it was hot outside. We were all biking while Jordan road around in the bike trailer. She did NOT like riding in trailer. She was feeling trapped and uninvolved. Her best tactic: Scream that she needed to go potty. We'd stop and offer her a chance to use the grass as a bathroom, but she was not interested. We finally had to turn around and find a bathroom. She actually used a public bathroom for the first time. But since that's been a challenge and we're planning a big road trip, I just bought a travel potty. I think it will make like a little easier. Anyway, after we turned around, she got to run around on the trail and she was just so dang happy (see picture).

We're finally getting Jordan's feet casted today for her shoe inserts. The previous fitting wasn't done properly so we have to go through it again. This has been a really crazy delayed process and Jordan's really enjoying life in shoes that don't require socks. I'm expecting a pretty unhappy process when we bring the inserts back into her life. (There I go again - always so negative. Sorry about that.) The upside of taking her to the appointment, I get to leave work a little early and spend some time working out. I work an odd shift on Mondays and I did some Wii Fit yesterday afternoon while Jordan snacked and watched. As I tried a number of yoga poses, Jordan kept asking: "Whatchya doin' Mom?" It's very hard to hold a balancing pose when you're getting the third degree!

Long delay!

After a relatively long business trip, I'm home again with the kids. I hate being away for so long, but I did a lot of good stuff for my students and I got to see a ton of cool technology and ideas. (I was at the RTNDA/NAB conference in Las Vegas - such a silly town)

Jordan got to spend time with her grandparents while her dad and I worked and had fun. We stayed at the super trendy Palms hotel, ate amazing food and even got to see Cirque du Soleil's Love show as a way to celebrate our tenth anniversary. Those who know us are probably wondering if what happened in Vegas came home with us like Jordan -- I have high hopes that we'll remain a two kid family.

The kids and the grandparents left us a sweet note on the door when we got in. I think they missed us.

I'm trying to get Jordan back into the swing of life with Mommy. She's taken to screaming for what she wants. Unfortunately for her, I don't do things for screams so she's going to have to find her talking voice to get action from her mommy. It might take some time to work that out.

This morning we walked Cameron to school in the rain. I decided to put Jordan in the hiking backpack so we could use an umbrella together. At some point Jordan dropped her lamby on the sidewalk. So we hopped in the car and drove around to look for that precious pink thing. The entire drive Jordan was yelling: "Lamby! Lamby!" as if we were looking for a missing dog. It was so funny. Anyway, the wet little lump of pink was discovered on the sidewalk near the school. All is well -- and a cleaner, drier version is waiting for her when I take her to school for the day. It's bring a stuffed animal to school today - so she'll get to bring her new love: A little white Webkin she has lovingly named "Puppy." And no - we haven't gone online to plan with her cyber Webkin. We aren't like that yet in this household.

By the way - that's a picture of Jordan playing with a bubble maker I bought recently. She loves it and I had to play outside with the kids before work yesterday.

Whirlwind trip

I just got back from a whirlwind trip where I had a chance to meet with a bunch of companies in California. I had hoped to meet up with BethGo, but the schedule was packed. I barely slept. I did eat well (Cliff House, Brickhouse Cafe, Circolo) and I am feeling very inspired when it comes to my job.

I got home without getting to see Miss Jordan before she went to bed. But she did make sure she hogged the phone when I called in this evening. She can talk and talk and talk but when she has a phone in her hand, all she says is: "Hi Moma! Hi Moma! Hi Moma! Hi Moma!" I think she's just trying to hog the line so no one else can talk.

Family time!!

Jordan and the rest of the family just got back from spending time with Daddy's side of the family. You can see the girl enjoyed playing with her Uncle. For someone who moved out of state, we sure have been lucky to see him so often.

We also had a chance to spend with Jordan and Cam's great-grandparents who can't travel like they used to. Jordan was not into giving kisses to her Moma Dot - until right before we were leaving Moma Dot and Daddy Jr's house. The trick: Make sure I'm not in the room. I'm hoping someone in the house got a picture of Jordan doling out the smooches. I tell you, there's something about me that keeps her from sharing the love with everyone else.

So there are some fun things going on in the language department: Many, many words. Some of the funniest. Jordan's Grandpa is named Poppy. Jordan has recently stopped calling all dogs Bubba in honor of our fat pug, she now calls them "puppy." But the difference between "puppy" and "Poppy" is slight. Only an expert hear can notice that difference. Another funny one: "hot" and "hat." Oh, and her blankey is officially named "Lamby." She is still walking about the house assigning items: The couch is Daddy, my computer is "Mommy." Ditto for my chair in the kitchen and of course my van and bike and phone. Now wait, the phone is "Elmo" because she can watch Elmo on it.

Anyway, during our drive home tonight, Jordan got chatty. I sat next to her to help her eat her dinner... And girlfriend wouldn't stop talking. She talked and talked and a few times I could notice a word or two. But whatever she was telling me was SERIOUS. I just nodded my head and responded to the words I thought I heard. If this is what we're headed into -- it's going to be tricky to think with all that chatter.

Oh! One other thing: Poppy trimmed Jordan's hair for the second time in her life. Just a little off the back to help even out the natural layers she's growing. It looks great and it think it will help lighten the load and help the curls pop out a little more. Hooray curls! (I only say that because I don't have any and I think they're cool)

Day 1: Getting Started on a New Prosthetic

We got up crazy early this morning (even though Jordan seemed quite alright about it at the time - that picture shows her bright and cheery in the car around 6am) and headed out to Houston. The combination of morning traffic in St. Louis and a 20 minute layover in Dallas was enough stress for the day. But I knew how things work with prosthetic building. When we got here, they got right to business with trying to locate a sensor site on Jordan's arm to help trigger the hand. We also had to get Jordan casted. Boy was all of that UGLY.

What happened to my peaceful traveler?

My poor baby girl. When we started out on this great trip. See that picture, that's how our trip started out.

Today's trip home didn't go as well. It was kind of sad. Her eye teeth have put her in a pretty sour mood. In our first flight she was okay until we had to put the iPhone away right before we landed. She threw a huge fit and didn't really calm down until I started singing a lullaby.

The lullaby kind of worked in the second flight, but we went from the first plane, to the bathroom and then to another plane. There was no time to cool off from the previous flight. So I gave her tooth medicine, motrin and a bunch of lullabies. In the end, the only thing that calmed her on that flight was cuddles and a good dose of free Sesame Street downloads on the iPhone.

In the bus ride to our parked car, Jordan once again freaked. This time it was because she was sick and tired of sitting on my lap. The only thing that helped: Dora vodcasts. We watched the four or five on my iPhone constantly. The guy sitting next to me said: "Aren't you glad you're an early adapter?" I was... And so were all the other folks in the van. It was a funny moment.

Eye teeth are mean

Jordan didn't sleep well last night... periodic crying, restlessness. It was so sad. When she woke up she was warm and unhappy. She just cuddled for 20 minutes with me before she was ready to eat breakfast. Darn teeth.

What stuns me is how this is really the first time we've had trouble with teeth. I didn't even know when she got molars! So I'll let her get all the pity she needs on these teeth. Her brother cried through every single one! It's too bad we're out of town... This is no fun! Thank goodness the yummy waffles this morning helped brighten the day.

Getting ready for travel

Jordan and I have many trips in the next few weeks. Tuesday we're heading off to spend time with my aunt and uncle. The big goal: Hand out lots and lots of hugs and smiles.

After that, we're home for a little more than a week before our next trip: Building a new version of Jordan's prosthetic. Jordan's arm has grown at least an inch in the last year and the sensor that triggers her "hand" to open and close is really inconsistent. We (Jordan's therapists and I) are pretty darn sure that if we could have a consistent trigger, we could get her to open and close that hand by choice. Jordan is a pretty bright kid.

So that's exciting... And exhausting. I'm trying to think of interesting ways to hold her attention and excitement while she sits on my lap. These are probably the last trips we can take with her on my lap -- 2 year olds must be in their own seat. Books work pretty well these days. Elmo is king in her world. So that probably means we'll read Elmo books. She also loves dancing. LOVES dancing. But dancing in our seat will probably be annoying to our seat mates. I'd love some ideas. We haven't been on a plane in almost a year since we started driving crazy amount of miles for mega-trips to Florida and the Northeast.

Busy couple of months

Jordan is about to spend a lot of time in Texas. Next month she and I are going to the Dallas area to spend time with my aunt and uncle. I'm SUPER excited about that. And now it's pretty clear that we need to plan a new trip to Houston for Jordan to upgrade her prosthetic.

We're looking for a way to get Jordan to purposefully trigger her hand to open and close. Hopefully we can move the sensor somewhere that will work. I look forward to seeing if we can get her to use it even more. Her teachers say they've seen Jordan use her arm more to steady herself and do little things here and there. I love watching her try to turn the pages of books. It's all pretty cool.

Back home

There's nothing like the hug you can get from a child when you've been away. Jordan was so happy to see me when I got home. Her hugs are strong. Her smooches are sweet. The down side of returning is watching her cry as I dropped her off at school. It's the first time she's done that in months.

But it's good to be home and I don't see myself leaving town for a while. That's kind of nice (except for the nasty wind storm that rolled through our town last night and we still don't have power in the 100 degree weather).

Off again

I'm on my way out of town again... This time I'm leaving the rest of the family at home. Well, I'm leaving the girl and Randy. Cam is off on vacation at his grandparents' house. I'm trying to get ready to leave in the morning... For some reason I got all mopey when I put the baby to bed tonight. I'll miss her a bunch.

She's getting stronger willed by the day. Today it took us 20 minutes to leave school... She just didn't want to walk into the parking lot. I'm trying to give her the independence to go to the car on her own (until the parking lot -- she has to hold my hand there -- usually against her will). It's a slow process.

I also made a big move... Jordan moved out of the high chair and into a Svan chair. It's a cool adjustable chair that will grow with Jordan (who is stuck at 23 pounds 4 ounces by the way).

Okay... One more thing. I was reading BethGo's recent post and it reminded me of something that happened today and I didn't know how to handle it. A little girl (who I say hi to and I'm very polite to her little sister and parents at our school) walked by Jordan and told her dad: "She's scary. Just like Grandma." He walks by and just keeps talking about Jordan without acknowledging our existence or even stopping and working with me to show this little girl why Jordan isn't scary. Jordan was wearing her prosthetic at the time and was being particularly cute at the moment in my opinion. But it made me so mad... Stop, take the time to show your child that my daughter isn't scary. She's sweet and that prosthetic HELPS her. It gives her balance, it offers stability. It's also clunky at times and a challenge. But it's offering Jordan strength and options and helps her solve problems in ways that this little girl has never encountered. And DANG it. When she's in the area, don't ignore us. Talk to us. DANG it. I should have just interrupted the conversation, but I had Jordan on a short flight of stairs and I was trying to convince her to come down so we could get to the car. Should I stop everything just so this little girl will learn something about my daughter? I just don't know. But walking by us and continuing the conversation without our involvement just seemed strange.

Okay. Rant is over.

So silly

I was snuggling with Jordan right before bedtime and I got all goofy... I'm not sure why. I'm going on a road trip to a conference tomorrow and for some reason that makes me more nervous than flying to a location. It's easier to get into an accident in a car.

Anyway. I just soaked in my time with both kids this evening... Maybe because I had enough time to cook and enjoy them. Usually it's a big rush towards dinner and bed time.

I don't like leaving the kids. This conference is an important chance to connect with industry folks... But I don't think I'm going to do this again for a while.

I haven't had a lot of sleep lately. I think it's making me extra goofy.

Is it too late to change my mind?

So I'm heading out of town this week for a conference and a quick visit to see old friends. I just got an email from Jordan's physical therapist who said she thinks Jordan is possibly days away from walking and recommended someone keeps a video camera around at all times to capture the big moment when it all kicks in.

Maybe I shouldn't leave town!

But then again, she's probably more likely to walk without me around. Maybe a little time away from me with intensive PT will be exactly what she needs.

Another interesting development: Jordan's therapist thinks she walks way better with the prosthetic on so we should wear it more than I've had her wearing lately. Apparently Jordan throws her little arm high into the air to try and maintain balance that she feels when she wears her arm. Very interesting.