Grammy and Grandad are Here!

We spent the morning looking at houses down in Clear Lake...

Followed by lunch at Landry's in Kemah...

Then presents, presents and more presents...

Children's Museum

We finally ventured out of the Tot Spot...but we had to visit it first!

At the Vet's Office...

At the Grocery Store...

At the Police Station...
Finley had a fantastic time at Kidtropolis.  She loved shopping at the grocery store until she realized that there was no ice cream in the ice cream cartons.  She put it right back!

Do You Know the Muffin Man?

Finley's most favorite thing to eat is Banana Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins. She would eat one at every meal if she was allowed to. I decided to make her a new version with peaches, but she was not the fan of them that she is of her usual muffin. I am thinking it is the chocolate chips that propel the muffin from regular snack food to Finley obsession.  She loves anything chocolate.  Can you blame her?  Finley loves fresh peaches and I think she ate at least a whole peach worth while I was chopping them up for the muffins.  She stood by my legs begging for any peach morsel she could get.  At least fresh chopped peaches aren't nearly as messy as when she eats a whole peach by herself...

First Hospital Visit

Finley visited the Texas Children's Hospital yesterday for X-rays on her hip to try and figure out what is causing her limp.  She did fantastically with the X-Ray technician, who taught her a new word, "princess".  Finley pointed out all the princesses on the wall of the X-Ray room.  It was so cute.

Finley did great in the waiting room and really enjoyed watching the water bubblers.  She kept calling them candles, which I can see why she thought that. 

Thankfully, the X-Rays were normal, but that means we still don't know what is causing her limp.  This morning she woke up saying "Leg hurt", which broke my heart.  Our pediatrician had let us know last night that she thought a visit to Orthopedics would be the next best step to take.  I called into Texas Children's this morning and the next available appointment was for January 19, 2011.  So frustrating.  I left a message with our pediatrician asking for any other referrals and decided to call Texas Children's again.  I got a much nicer and more helpful person on the phone and they got Finley an appointment for September 23rd, still nearly a month away, but much better than January of next year.  The appointment will happen before we set off for Disneyworld, so that is a relief.

Dance Class, Two Steps Back

I tried leaving dance class yesterday and Finley only last for about three minutes before she started crying. 
She was distracted the whole class, she only wanted to read books and play with her bunny.  Note to self: no matter how much Finley whines, don't allow her to bring any of her toys.

Finley was not in the dancing mood at all.  Of course, for the rest of the day, she asked for her baway shoes.  Next week, Clifton and I will be in Italy and my parents will be taking Finley to class.  I sure hope Grammy gets pictures of Finley and Grandad in ballet class.  It is going to be hysterical.

A Visit to the Pediatrician

Since Sunday, Finley has been walking with a very pronounced limp.  Her left leg seems to be bothering her, but she leads with it to walk up steps.  So strange.  We tried moving her legs around and it doesn't seem to hurt her, we even meaured her legs to see if maybe one grew quicker than the other.  The doctor was equally puzzled, especially since Finley didn't react badly whenever she was walking.  She even ran for the doctor, but it was with a pronounced limp.  We are supposed to monitor her and follow up with the pediatrician tomorrow.  She was limping around dance class this morning, poor thing.

The cutest part of the appointment is that Finley handed a book to her doctor and told her to "Read it."  Her pediatrician said that she has no verbal problems at all, she is so talkative and using two word sentences well before her second birthday.  I told her she needs to see her in the grocery store, it is a running commentary of all the foods she sees, it is so cute.

Finley got an ice cream cone treat for being such a good girl at the doctor's office.  She loves going there, silly girl.

Jaaa-MEES!

I got Finley several Disney pajamas for our Disneyworld trip.  She has finally grown into them, so I brought them out last week.  The first night, she chose Minnie Mouse PJs and was so thrilled with them.  The next day, when it was time for her nap, she demanded that Clifton put her in "Toodles" pajamas.  This past week, she has requested a pair of jammies to snuggle with for her nap times, so it wasn't totally out of no where.  Clifton dug through the drawer and found her Mickey Mouse jammies, crisis solved.

Then comes today for nap.  Finley was happy to go to bed and requested her snuggle pair of jammies.  Then she requested....MORE.  I gave her one more, then another...then I thought...oh no, we are not adding PJs to the list of items she is hoarding in the crib.  It took her a good 30 minutes to calm down.  She kept asking for Pooh, Hearts, Stripes, Flowers...any jammies she could get her little paws on.

Package...Presents!

Finley loves it when the UPS man arrives at our door, she always assumes it is a present for her.  Often times it is some random shipment from Amazon.com, being a member of Amazon Prime is the easiest and best way to shop, especially for kid birthday gifts.  Finley had such fun opening her presents from Grammy and Grandad, we tele-conferenced them in on Skype for the unwrapping.

Thanks Grammy and Grandad for the books and stickers!

Sliding at the Little Galleria

Whenever we hit the mall, I make sure to end the trip with a visit to the Little Galleria.  Finley's favorite thing to do is to climb in the Williams Tower and slide.  Over and over and over again.  She never seems to tire of it.  She doesn't slide very quickly down the slide, which is nice, but she loves it nonetheless.
Finley still needs help climbing up onto some of the mini buildings, but she has gotten much more proficient at it the more we visit.  I still feel like I hover around her too much when we are there, but some of the older kids are crazy with all their mad running and jumping.  Not that my physical skills are anything good, I would probably do more harm than good with my poor coordination.

Making new friends!

Dancing Queen

Finley did fantastic in her dance class yesterday.  She loved dancing with the feathery boas and once they were all put up, there was a bunch of fluffy feathers all over the floor.  Finley pointed at the floor and told Miss Brenda "Mess!"  I was with Finley for part of the class and I was shocked how well she did at following the directions of her teacher.  She really followed along well and did nearly all of her dance moves.  She loves her baway shoes and always ask to wear them.  I am keeping them a special treat for dance class in order to keep her excited about going to class.

Too Early to Call Hoarders?

25 Stuffed Animals

13 Books

2 Blankets

1 Hoarder

An Oil Change...

I had a ton of errands to run...the bank, UPS store, CVS, carwash and an oil change.  I was going to hit Cafe Express while we had the oil change done, but once Finley spotted the free popcorn, there was no way we were leaving Mister Carwash.  Finley ate and ate and ate.  And then she dumped nearly half her popcorn on the floor.  That was sure fun to clean up.  There was a set of triplet boys at the carwash, who were a couple years older than Finley.  Talk about terrors, their poor mother.  I think they left a trail of popcorn everywhere they left and I didn't have high hopes for the model ship sitting on the desk.  They were everywhere!  I couldn't imagine triplet boys....makes my head hurt just thinking about it.

Luckily, the oil change was done in 30 minutes and we were ready to hit the road.  I'll save the free carwash for a later date, since Finley was so patient already, I wasn't about to test her limits.

Bang Trim

Finley had her first official haircut a little over a month ago and she was already in need of a bang trim.  We visited Maria with Snips and Snails again and Finley did fantastic.  She was a little wary of the hair dryer, but her hair was styled so beautifully when we were done.  I wish I had MAria's ability to make Finley's hair so nice.  Finley's pigtails were quite messy with by hair skills.  The best I can do is a bow or two clipped in.  I can do a French braid when she gets older.  Do they have a class for styling little girls' hair?  I see so many kids with such adorable hairdos, cute ponytails, braids, even simply pulled back.  Whenever I try anything, it just looks messy.  Anyone have any toddler hairstyling tips?  Best brush to use?

Piggy Tails!