Week 6 in “The Cast”

Week 6 in "The Cast"
Week 6 in "The Cast" (click to see album)

The day after Amelie’s birthday party our friends who live around the corner had their 4th birthday party and it was “Frozen” themed. Nadia and Amelie had a great time and the birthday girls’ mother, Hannah, did the most awesome job on the decorations and food – I loved everything about it! I think my two favorite things were “Kristoff’s Ice Blocks” which was blue jello cut in rectangles and “Anna’s Frozen Hearts” that were white chocolate dipped strawberries cut in heart shapes.

June 12-18, 2014 June 12-18, 2014

Mike and Dani watching the kids play games at the gym.
Mike and Dani watching the kids play games at the gym.

The party was at My Gym, for little kids. Mike got Dani settled on a railing so that she could see all the kids and the stuff they were playing. I think her favorite part of the party was the food because she had two pieces of pizza, grapes (“Frozen Trolls”) and a cupcake!

All the girls playing Hello Kitty Trouble
One of Amelie's birthday gifts was a Hello Kitty version of Trouble that we have enjoyed playing.
Mike and the girls on Father's Day.
Mike and the girls on Father's Day.

For Father’s Day we decided to try and go to Cotton Patch because we had some gift cards. Mike and I were trying to figure out how we could take Dani and have her sit upright because it would be a long meal trying to hold her with the heavy and very hot cast. Mike asked if we still had the black booster seat from when Nadia was little and I said yes. It’s made out of a strong foam material and once we were at the restaurant we asked them for a booth because they have wooden backs. We flipped the booster over and propped Dani up and it worked perfectly! I had to keep one hand on her throughout the meal (because I was afraid she would tip forward in her excitement), but it was worth it to get to eat out!

June 12-18, 2014

June 12-18, 2014

The biggest change this week was that Dani wanted to be out of her TARDIS chair more and more to get on the floor and explore. It is a major workout for her to get around, but she is so determined! Her upper body was getting stronger and stronger and she started to eat more again from all the sudden activity. The doctors at Scottish Rite had told us to expect this around week 5, so it was good to see her doing the things they expected. We had made it more than halfway with no major spills or diaper leaks so I was feeling good.

June 12-18, 2014

Dani does NOT like to sit still for the cast cooler so we started to give her conversation hearts or smarties to keep her from crying or moaning in misery. The cooler doesn’t hurt her and it works great to get the stinky sweat out, but she is like any other 2 year old – she wants to be free!

June 12-18, 2014

One last photo just for fun because it makes me laugh.

Amelie’s 5th Birthday Party

Amelie's 5th Birthday Party
Amelie's 5th Birthday Party (click to see album)

This year we had Amelie’s birthday party at a skating rink called Rollerland, which worked out great because we could invite entire families and have air conditioning for Dani. It was nice to see the kids of all ages out on the rink having a good time. Several parents skated too, which was great to see. Rollerland has some cool walker type contraptions to help the kids who didn’t know how to skate.

Amelie and Jude using the skate-walkers.
Amelie and Jude using the skate-walkers.
Dani in her wagon playing with balloons.
Dani had fun with the balloons and Mike rolled her around on the rink too.

After lots of skating it was time to sing Happy Birthday to Amelie and then do the Hokey Pokey. I love how she covered her ears at the beginning of the video.

Doing the Hokey Pokey and trying to make Amelie laugh.
Doing the Hokey Pokey and trying to make Amelie laugh.
Nadia and Reagan - reunited at last!
Nadia and Reagan - reunited at last!
Time to blow out the candles.
Time to blow out the candles.
Amelie with her huge piece of cake.
Amelie could not believe I let her have such a giant piece of cake. She asked me to take a photo of her being excited.
Kids at the table.
I thought this photo with all the boys and purses on one end of the table was fun.
Amelie and Grammie
Amelie and Grammie
Dani and Aunt Paula
Dani and Aunt Paula
Playing "Dead Bug"
Playing "Dead Bug"

This game was called “Dead Bug” and when they stopped the music the kids had to lay on the rink and scream like a bug. The loudest one got a glow stick necklace. It was really fun to watch.

Amelie's 5th Birthday Party

Amelie with some of her gifts after the party.
Amelie with some of her gifts after the party.

We had a wonderful time at the roller-skating rink with so many friends. I forgot to try and get a group shot, but I am thankful for everyone that joined us for Amelie’s party.

Week 5 in “The Cast”

Week 5 in "The Cast" - June 5-11, 2014
Week 5 in "The Cast" (click to see album)

Amelie had Dance Camp this week and she was so excited! We didn’t want to let the cast control everything about our life especially since Dani wasn’t so miserable now. It was good to get out of the house and for the big girls to be back in some activities. One of my friends told me they wished they could stay home more often and I told her I was glad we had something to do every single day of this week. It’s all your perspective.

Amelie at dance

Miss Tish and Amelie at the end of Dance Camp.
Miss Tish and Amelie at the end of Dance Camp.

June 5-11, 2014

Nadia and Amelie started swim school again and now they are over at the Wesleyan pool which they thought was neat.

June 5-11, 2014
One day while Amelie was at Dance Camp, the other girls and I went to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.

Amelie and Dani having fun.

Amelie and Dani having fun.
Amelie and Dani having fun.
"Mummies"
When they came down the stairs they told us they were "Mummies"
Dani in her TARDIS chair
Dani has been playing with these letter tiles for hours on end in her TARDIS chair.

We were happy to make it through this week because we were more than half way through this adventure.

Amelie’s 5th Birthday!

Amelie's 5th Birthday

Amelie’s birthday coincided with National Donut Day this year and so I suggested we have donuts for breakfast. She loved this idea much better than going out to dinner. She chose a donut with pink icing and sprinkles and they gave her a regular donut for her birthday. Amelie was so excited to get to have two! She followed that up with a sausage roll and donut holes. Needless to say, she was a happy girl by the time we left.

Amelie's 5th Birthday

Amelie's 5th Birthday

Sticker book excitement.

Amelie's 5th Birthday

This tent from Aunt Tahni is AWESOME! It has a sparkly light inside that rotates around and it looks so cool in the dark. Amelie has slept in it every night since her birthday!