knitting librarian

Well, we saw the PA at Zoe’s doctor’s office last week. She said she didn’t see anything too alarming at this point but that we’d watch it. The PA said mostly she’s just spoiled (she was joking).

She said we could “try” high-top shoes with hard leather soles (like the walking shoes I—and probably most of us—wore as a getting ready to walk baby.) Everything I’ve read online says that’s not recommended.

I did go to a Stride-Rite store (they sell adult shoes too, not just SR) hoping that I could get her measured and then find something for less on eBay so I played it as though I hadn’t been to the doctor yet. They didn’t want to waste their time and mine measuring her if that wasn’t what the doctor was going to recommend. I was less than impressed. They told me they haven’t sold a pair of the hard-bottom shoes in more than 10 years and recommended a store in a neighboring town if that’s what the doctor recommends.

We went there next. They were awesome. They did have some hard-soled shoes and a softer rubber soled shoe but they were close to $50 and they told me that really she should be primarily barefoot while learning to walk.

So, here I am, a week later with no shoes. I’ve stopped putting the robeez-like shoes on her feet for daycare to keep her barefoot while trying to cruise—which she does some now, but mostly under protest. At this point, my plan is to wait until Zoe’s 15 month appointment and see how she’s doing at that point. If I need to get more supportive shoes, I’ll figure it out then.

Last night I baked a cake and made dinner for our family (for Sunday). My brother, SIL, and nephew were supposed to come to my mom’s for birthday dinner for AJ today. We got a call at the time we were expecting them to arrive that they weren’t going to make it. It’s too bad, AJ would have loved to see them.

Zoe was walking around with a push toy today and we realized that her ankles are really turning in pretty bad. Badly enough that it might explain the whining she does when we encourage her to walk and why she holds her legs straight out when we try to stand her up, so I’ll be calling the doctor’s office tomorrow to have them look at them. I hope she can be seen soon, although I suppose it’s not urgent. Time will tell what the solution is for that, but it might explain why she hasn’t been in a hurry to walk or stand up so far. What do they do for pigeon-toed kids now-a-days? I haven’t heard anyone talk about their child having that problem in my “generation.”

AJ had a really good day today. He wasn’t all over his sister, he behaved, he took his rest without a battle. After rest, we went out to my friend Theresa’s to visit for a bit and he was great there too.

T’s daughter was playing with me and she ended up getting mad and hit me (not hard, but still it wasn’t nice.) She ended up in time out until she said sorry to me. When we left about an hour later, she still hadn’t said sorry. She’s her father’s daughter, that’s for sure!

We came home and had dinner with John, AJ played with the neighbors for a bit and then came inside for his book (we started The Adventures of Captain Underpants today) and bed. John initially suggested that I should give Zoe a bath, but when I chided him that he could do it as easily as I could, he actually did! I’m so proud of him! I think that’s the second bath he’s given her since she was born.

We’ve been sitting on the porch for the last hour or so, laptops in hand, and enjoying each other’s company. We occasionally share what we’re reading/doing, and then go back to our own little reverie, but it’s been nice. I’m off to bed really soon!

Zoe’s home this week because her daycare provider is on vacation. We slept in this morning (Monday and Thursday are AJ’s days for preschool for the summer), got up, had some breakfast and went to my cousin’s house to enjoy the pool. AM is watching his kids on Mondays, so we hung out with her and her daughter and all 6 girls (including Zoe.)

Z had a great time in the pool, seems to be a natural in the water, she actually moved her arms and legs enough to swim off of my hand when I was holding her up at one point. She didn’t fuss about going under water, other than to pull her pigtails when it got wet. I managed to get her covered with sunscreen so that wasn’t an issue, but I forgot to take care of myself and we were out in the sun for about 2 hours at prime time (10:30-12:45 or so) and I’m a bit red at the moment.

Tonight was my knitting night, so after the kids were in bed, I headed out. I’m at the decreases on my first sleeve on Daisy. I should be able to get it done in the next few weeks if I actually make an effort to work on it, but I’ve been bad about being motivated to do much other than during our knitting gatherings.

Tomorrow, I’ve got a meeting in the late afternoon, so I’m taking the kids to Mom’s and I’ll go into school to clean up and pack up my things to be moved to the high school. I hope that they’ll move things for me—I think I should be able to send things via district delivery. I don’t want to have to haul it all myself!

Today was the first day off where I didn’t have anywhere to be or anything I had to do. I got up to help John get the kids around and then went back to sleep about 9. I dozed off and on for about 2 hours—I think I had a few phone calls in there. I got up and headed out to my friend Theresa’s for a few hours and then after about 30 minutes of yawning, I came home for another nap. (And a few more phone call interruptions—AJ has a rash, try some Benadryl. AJ’s rash seems to be gone now, just wanted to let you know.)

Tomorrow, I’m supposed to be meeting up with a few co-workers and their kids at the pool. I’ll pick AJ up from VBS at noon and head home to meet them. I hope we get everything worked out. I called them both today but got voicemail, so it’s a little iffy. I’m sure AJ will have a ball though.

It was weird to have just Zoe two nights this week, with AJ spending the night at my mom’s but she seemed to enjoy the attention and was very verbal at dinner both nights, telling us all about what she was thinking—if only we could understand her!