Temple Square

We had a great time being tourists in our own town yesterday. I think there is a term for that, Shaun? We went to Temple Square before church yesterday. I had the inspiration as I was praying for help to enjoy my new calling as primary teacher more. I can't resist going on a tangent here. In college I admired the Elementary education majors because anyone who could spend all day 5 days a week with 30 young children and try to teach them something while keeping them under control was someone to admire in a "you're crazy" kind of way. It was the last major I would have picked willingly. Physics, Math, yeah hard, but doable even English would have come in before EE and I hate English (as you can tell from my spelling and grammar on the blog). Well the more I think about it English would probably have to tie, and teaching English in Elementary! Oh the Scientist in me cringes at the thought. I would have dropped out of college after the first semester and taken a permanent job at Village Inn (my least favorite summer job). So it was a real test of my faith when I was called to teach the 4-5 year olds in primary. Let's just say I have a hard time getting anything spiritual out of just trying to keep them in their seats, let alone getting them to listen to the lesson. But it is only the third week and I'm sure as I get used to it I'll be able to glean good things from it. I have to admit they did get something out of my lesson on prayer two weeks ago because I just had to begin to tell them to fold their arms, close their eyes, and bow their heads for the prayer this week before they did it. OK moving on...
Temple Square was so beautiful. It was just what I needed to relax before church. The weather was just gorgeous and the flowers are just starting to bloom. It was so relaxing and Cecilia really enjoyed it. She was especially enthralled with the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It is so ornate and has a big statue of Joseph Smith that she couldn't get enough of. Here are some pics of our "trip."





She really does look like him, huh?

Dancin' Dancin' Dancin'!

Occasionally I watch this show on TLC called 19 kids and counting. It is about a family who have, as you can guess 19 kids. They take the scripture "multiply and replenish the earth" a little too literally in my opinion. They dress like FLDS polygamists even though they are southern baptists. They have good family values and believe in praying with your children and living within your means, among other things. I find it interesting how they handle that many children, something I could never do. Having a baby every 1.5 years is also something I could never do. Well it is unthinkable throwing up that much, but even if I didn't get major morning sickness there is just no way. Anyway I'm getting off topic. I watched a FAQs show where viewers chimed in and asked why they do/believe certain things. The one thing that stuck with me was they don't believe in dancing. I can't remember their exact reasoning, but I remember it primarily came from the dad, Jim Bob (yeah you get the Southern baptist thing now huh?). It was something about how you are supposed to control your appetites and passion and dancing makes you let go of that. Well they have some great values, but they got this one totally wrong. There are so many different types of dancing, and each of them can be appropriate at different times. I have thought about this so much recently while watching my adorable 11 month old daughter dancing to the music from her toys. I wish Jim Bob could come to my house and watch her bob her head and sway her body to "Pop Goes the Weasel" and tell me it is evil. She knows no evil. But she knows joy and this is a beautiful way to express it. Watch for yourself.

Miracle on Fisher Lane

Cecilia has been out of her cast for just over a week and a half. Our first miracle happened yesterday. For the first time in two months, Cecilia took TWO naps!!! My excitment was such that when I went in to get her up from the afternoon nap I overwhelmed her and she started to fuss. "Too much jumping and loudness after I just woke up mom." Another really exciting aspect of it, and miracle on it's own was, she put herself to sleep for the afternoon nap! BC (before cast) that was also not a problem. If she wasn't asleep after we finished nursing, I would put her down and less than 20 minutes later she would be asleep. But again those last 6 weeks in the cast, if she wasn't asleep when I put her down, and stayed asleep, then no nap. Sometimes even then she would wake up 10 minutes later and that was it. I was hoping and hoping that once she was out of the cast it would go back to the way it was. We had to make a few adjustments to make them happen (timing of the second nap and not too long of a morning nap). Plus this is only the second day it has worked. But that is two days more than we had in the cast. So I have hope. It is so ironic to me that she was awake so much in the cast and asleep more out of it. Life is way more exciting now. Before she got the cast I thought, well she sleeps so much that we will just sleep away the time she has to be in this thing. Boy was I wrong! She missed more sleep in it than her entire life combined up to that point, like 10 times over. I just hope and pray we can make up some now that she can wear herself out more. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Wet Noodles

So as you can tell from the countdown and our previous posts, Cecilia is finally out of her cast! It has been a fun couple of days for us all. I've been surprised how happy she is to have it off. She kicks her legs and laughs. I thought she would be more nervous to have so much free movement. Sometimes she forgets that she has to control them all the time, and when she relaxes them they spread out like a frog, which is a little creepy. We were warned about the "noodle" legs and would have really been freaked out otherwise. Luckily we have this brace that fits around her pelvis and upper thighs. This helps give her some needed support, while still allowing her lots of freedom. We keep it on her most of the time, but will wean her off it once she gets more leg muscles. Then she will only have to wear it while sleeping, much like a retainer for your teeth after braces as my sister astutely observed.

The first bath wasn't as bad as I expected. I got in with her which I think really helped, we needed someone to hold onto the jello legs after all. She cried for only a few minutes and then was ok after that. Today we took her third bath and this one she really started to enjoy. I continue to get in with her and help support, but honestly I do it mostly because enjoy it. We filled the tub all the way up and stayed in until the water got cold. Cecilia splashed and splashed and kept trying to eat the water by grabbing it with her hand and putting it in her mouth. I laughed pretty hard at that. After we got out, it felt like we had gone swimming. We were both famished for lunch, just like I always am after swimming. On a side note, Cecilia and I are going to take a mommy/toddler swimming class starting next week. It lasts 13 weeks, just over the amount of time she was in the cast and is our reward. I can't wait. I hope it is as fun as I expect.

Another thing I love is, she grabs my arms when I pick her up, hugs me, buries her head in my chest, and giggles. Oh how I love that! I missed hugging her so much, it is hard to not be able to get close to your daughter. We have started tummy time again and yesterday she totally scooted backwards. I was so impressed she she moved at all! Maybe she won't skip it and go straight to walking. I have also put her sitting on the ground with a toy. I put some pillows around her because sometimes she forgets there isn't a cast to lean back on. She had a good time playing on the ground with her toy. It is so nice to have variety in her play time again, not just in the spica chair. Hopefully she will be able to play longer by herself again :) Here are a couple of pictures.

Last picture with the cast! Notice she isn't smiling, she is a smart one and knew something was up. I tried to set her down when no one else was in the room and she totally started wailing. Once she sees someone in scrubs, she is like a hound dog hunting, knowing torture is near.

Look, she is sitting on my hip, and I can hold her close!

And kiss my sweet baby!

Yeah, sitting on the ground playing! Ahh, the simple pleasures in life.