Most, if not all, of my readers should already know this.
Amelia lost her beloved Grandma Cathy last Wednesday in the early morning. I posted at the time a picture that I will treasure for the rest of my life. It was taken the last weekend visit that my parents made to us in Delaware, about 2 months ago. Thankfully, we'd seen them since, about 2 weeks before her death. But we have great memories of that weekend visit, and I'm so thankful that it happened.
Amelia LOVED her Grandma Cathy. I mean, she loves all her grandparents, but she and my mom just made each other so happy and it meant so much to me. My mom was dealing with a lot of chronic pain, and she told me multiple times how Amelia just brightened her day.
Whenever Amelia got her little hands on my cell phone, she somehow found a way to call Grandma via the speed dial for one of her numbers. Amelia would get all shy and not say much, if anything, but her little face would light up when she would hear my mom's voice. And I know my mom's face looked the same. I had recently been informed of a way of locking my phone, for when Amelia's fussing and I hand it over to calm her -- but I knew how much those Amelia calls meant to my mom.
Amelia is very aware that something is up. Of course, I cried Wednesday morning when Amelia woke up, before I left to be with my father and brothers. And that night, when Chris was getting Amelia ready for bed, she kept saying "mommy mommy sad, mommy sad". When they came over the next day, and she saw my dad, her little eyes peered around, wondering where my mom was. She saw a picture of grandma and she hugged it. She's very perceptive. She knows someone very important is missing.
Today was the viewing, tomorrow is the funeral. Amelia had multiple "handlers" today to keep her occupied, but at the end, we did let her see my mom. Her eyes seemed confused at "sleeping" grandma, and she kept saying "night night night" as we told her that Grandma was in Heaven with Jesus.
Please, hug your loved ones. Let them know that they are loved. My mom's passing was not expected... you just don't know when you'll be saying goodbye.
Give me another week to get back into this blogging thing. My mom was Amelia's biggest fan and LOVED this blog, so I will need a reminder to keep it updated.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Weekend Fun - Part 3!
Now for the rest of Saturday...
After Amelia's nap, we went over to wait for Daddy to finish up at the conference.
In the meantime, Nana and Amelia played some version of hide-and-seek (they are both counting):
Where's Amelia??
There she is!!!
Amelia loves her Nana:
Nana reading Amelia a book:
Running around like a crazy girl:
After Amelia's nap, we went over to wait for Daddy to finish up at the conference.
In the meantime, Nana and Amelia played some version of hide-and-seek (they are both counting):
Where's Amelia??
There she is!!!
Amelia loves her Nana:
Nana reading Amelia a book:
Running around like a crazy girl:
Then, we all went to dinner. Amelia enjoyed coloring on the table:
And playing peek-a-boo behind the table cloth:
Happy group!
On Sunday, after we drove Daddy to his conference, we came back to the hotel and Amelia played and watched a video:
After checkout, we went over to the conference hotel and Amelia ran off some energy in this big room:
And we made a stop at IKEA where Amelia helped pick up some stuff:
And playing peek-a-boo behind the table cloth:
Happy group!
On Sunday, after we drove Daddy to his conference, we came back to the hotel and Amelia played and watched a video:
After checkout, we went over to the conference hotel and Amelia ran off some energy in this big room:
Sees an airplane ("airpay") in the room: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3B2-bGwUhQ
In this one, she is playing with 2 coffee stirrers. Right before I started the video, I saw one break and I said "oh no"! So in this video, she is saying "what?" "oh no!!" "what?" "oh no!!". Chris's favorite part is where she hikes up her pants before running away. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdCg4ocZqWc
And then the conference was over, so it was time to go!
And we made a stop at IKEA where Amelia helped pick up some stuff:
Weekend Fun - Part 2!
This post will be all about life in the hotel!
Since we are all 3 light sleepers, we can't successfully share a room with Amelia. So we stick to hotels where there is a side room of some type, even if it means that she gets the nice bedroom and we get the fold-out couch.
That was the plan at this hotel, except they over-sold on that type of room. So as a (nice) consolation, they gave us two of their regular rooms, with a connecting door. So Miss Amelia got her very own hotel room!
We kept the connecting door cracked just a little while she was sleeping, except for one bad (toddler locked in a hotel room) incident which we will not discuss on here.... :)
Amelia really settled in easily to life in the hotel.
She used this nice comfy chair for eating her snacks:
She LOVED the elevator:
Since we are all 3 light sleepers, we can't successfully share a room with Amelia. So we stick to hotels where there is a side room of some type, even if it means that she gets the nice bedroom and we get the fold-out couch.
That was the plan at this hotel, except they over-sold on that type of room. So as a (nice) consolation, they gave us two of their regular rooms, with a connecting door. So Miss Amelia got her very own hotel room!
We kept the connecting door cracked just a little while she was sleeping, except for one bad (toddler locked in a hotel room) incident which we will not discuss on here.... :)
Amelia really settled in easily to life in the hotel.
She used this nice comfy chair for eating her snacks:
She LOVED the elevator:
And she got to be such a pro at navigating the place! She knew the exact path between our room and the front door of the hotel - and vice versa - including riding the elevator.
And she loved the mirrors in the gym, and didn't understand why she couldn't stay and play in there:
In the mornings, she would stay in her warm pj's, while we drove daddy to his conference:
She really liked it there... especially once we realized that she hated the sound of the heating unit in her room and turned it off.
One more weekend post coming later - with the second half of our adventures!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Weekend Fun - Part 1!
We had a big weekend!
Chris had a conference to attend in Michigan, so Amelia and I decided to tag along. He was really busy with meetings and presentations and such, so mostly it was Amelia and I checking out the city, with Chris joining when he could.... and a visit from Nana Dona, who drove in to see us!
Friday lunch at Moe's before dropping Daddy off -- dipping chips into yummy salsa :)
With Mommy at the mall - riding a little doggy ride:
Next, she climbed up to the top of this little loft area. She was so proud of herself!
And she played games with Nana, who had just arrived:
Chris had a conference to attend in Michigan, so Amelia and I decided to tag along. He was really busy with meetings and presentations and such, so mostly it was Amelia and I checking out the city, with Chris joining when he could.... and a visit from Nana Dona, who drove in to see us!
Friday lunch at Moe's before dropping Daddy off -- dipping chips into yummy salsa :)
With Mommy at the mall - riding a little doggy ride:
Checking out the kids' play area at the mall. Amelia was a bit hesitant at first, but then she started running around a bit:
Then Amelia and Mommy went for pizza at California Pizza Kitchen. She was a fan.
On Saturday -- Amelia and I went to a hands-on childrens museum in Ann Arbor.
She loved playing on this fire truck:
And then she realized that she could put these balls in the little tube on the fire truck and they'd roll down to the bottom. She kept going back and taking them from the bottom and putting them back in the top.
Next, she climbed up to the top of this little loft area. She was so proud of herself!
And she played games with Nana, who had just arrived:
Then, she enjoyed the water area:
She was a little nervous about crawling through this tube, until Nana bribed her with something that she couldn't pass up -- a shiny bracelet:
Ooh... fun!
Ooh... fun!
Weekend posts #2 and 3 coming soon!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Max!
Last week, Amelia's best friend, Joey, stayed with us for a short while, while his little brother made his entrance into the world.
The timing of it all was pretty funny though. Joey arrived a couple of hours after Amelia went to bed, and he slept until a couple of hours after Amelia woke up.
Not knowing how long Joey would sleep, and needing to get some work done, we went ahead and dropped off Amelia at her Sitter's house like usual. Shortly after Joey woke up, we learned that his family was ready to have him back. Not wanting the kids to completely miss seeing each other during Joey's big sleepover, I took Joey to go play with Amelia for a couple of hours.
Amelia showed Joey how to properly play on all of the toys:
And they went on a brief field trip and got fire helmets!
So, Chris and I took Joey back down to Columbus, and got to witness the beautiful sight of two brothers laying eyes on each other for the first time.
The timing of it all was pretty funny though. Joey arrived a couple of hours after Amelia went to bed, and he slept until a couple of hours after Amelia woke up.
Not knowing how long Joey would sleep, and needing to get some work done, we went ahead and dropped off Amelia at her Sitter's house like usual. Shortly after Joey woke up, we learned that his family was ready to have him back. Not wanting the kids to completely miss seeing each other during Joey's big sleepover, I took Joey to go play with Amelia for a couple of hours.
Amelia showed Joey how to properly play on all of the toys:
And they went on a brief field trip and got fire helmets!
So, Chris and I took Joey back down to Columbus, and got to witness the beautiful sight of two brothers laying eyes on each other for the first time.
So this week, it was Amelia's turn to meet little Max. He's an adorable mini-Joey.
But I think Amelia liked playing with Joey's toys a teeny bit more. :)
Terrific Thursday!
Some miscellaneous pictures for you!
Being awfully curious at a soccer game:
Turning a book mailer into a lovely hat:
Sitting incorrectly in her chair - and way too close to the tv:
Being awfully curious at a soccer game:
Turning a book mailer into a lovely hat:
Sitting incorrectly in her chair - and way too close to the tv:
A very messy time eating pizza:
Yum!
Yum!
Modelling her winter gear - heavy coat, pants and snow boots. Amelia never played in the snow last winter, so we're determined that she won't miss it this year!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Funny kid!
She says new things all the time!!
The phrase of the moment is "wow! what is that?". She says that a lot - about everything.
The phrase of today is "see ya!" She must have learned that at the sitter, because I don't think she learned it from us. She's said it several times today, and it is so cute :)
Tonight we were singing "Twinkle twinkle little star" together. It is so funny how she doesn't know all of the words, but she makes sounds that sound pretty close to them. She has always done well at mimicking people.
She also recognizes more and more things in her favorite books. She flips all of the flaps, calls out the words she knows, and gets really excited for her favorite books.
Also, we started praying before bedtime about 3 weeks ago. We have a "Thank you God" book that we read, and then we finish off with a "thank you" for specific things that happened that day. We would put her hands together at the very beginning, but she wouldn't keep them that way. Well... now, when we pull out that book and say "it's time to pray", she will put her hands together on her own!
The phrase of the moment is "wow! what is that?". She says that a lot - about everything.
The phrase of today is "see ya!" She must have learned that at the sitter, because I don't think she learned it from us. She's said it several times today, and it is so cute :)
Tonight we were singing "Twinkle twinkle little star" together. It is so funny how she doesn't know all of the words, but she makes sounds that sound pretty close to them. She has always done well at mimicking people.
She also recognizes more and more things in her favorite books. She flips all of the flaps, calls out the words she knows, and gets really excited for her favorite books.
Also, we started praying before bedtime about 3 weeks ago. We have a "Thank you God" book that we read, and then we finish off with a "thank you" for specific things that happened that day. We would put her hands together at the very beginning, but she wouldn't keep them that way. Well... now, when we pull out that book and say "it's time to pray", she will put her hands together on her own!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Weekend - Part 2!
On Sunday afternoon, we took Amelia to a pumpkin patch.
We took the hayride out to the patch:
And Chris guided her through and let her check out her options:
She was a little more interested in the other plants:
And then at one point, she looked really overwhelmed:
But then she picked out her first pumpkin:
Here you go, Daddy:
And then she met a couple of horsies:
Next, she checked out the kids' hay maze:
Daddy helped:
Can you spot the adorable needle in the haystack? Look at her little face!
She made it out!
And then she met a couple of bunnies:
And a donkey:
Such a good time!!
And then she decided that she HAD to have a green pumpkin, too.
I kept sitting them upright to take her picture with them, and she kept knocking them over and laughing:
And then she met a couple of horsies:
Next, she checked out the kids' hay maze:
Daddy helped:
Can you spot the adorable needle in the haystack? Look at her little face!
She made it out!
And then she met a couple of bunnies:
And a donkey:
Such a good time!!
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