Please get well soon!

Scout 5 1/2-

She has been sick with a fever since Wednesday morning and was lying on the couch this afternoon feeling sorry for herself. She hit that point that she thought she's been sick forever and she can't go to school and can't play with friends, etc. (I must admit to being ready to whine about all of that myself). After complaining, she decided I needed to do something to cheer her up like giving her something "funny". I put on her favorite Chip and Dale Christmas cartoon that makes her laugh lots and she said, "also something else funny". So I looked in the book/magazine basket by the couch and grabbed the Calvin and Hobbes book her cousin Adri gave her for Christmas and she said, "no, I mean do something funny with your body".

(I don't know quite what she expected but I really wasn't in the mood to dance or do anything else "funny" with my body).

A little later, she was still on the couch and Rob was on the computer and I walked in the kitchen and told him the story and we both laughed until we hear from the living room: DON'T LAUGH AT ME I'M SICK!!!

Idiot, jerk, or just a concerned mother?

My little Elinor has been a source of worry once again. This girl is going to send me to an early grave I tell you. You know how we have had the no walking/crawling concern? Frankly, she didn't score great on all her motor skills during that last appointment. Anyway, I set up baby boot camp last week and was feeling good. The last time we did it she seemed downright comfortable with the whole arrangement and was even getting around a little (she would actually be in a different spot then where I had left her). Anyway, mid week I started feeling sick. I was fevery, achy, chest coldy and sniffly. Not long after me, Elle started the same thing. We shelved baby boot camp and just worked on surviving the nights and days with our sanity in tact.

On Thursday (in the middle of all this), the doctor (she's actually the PA to the doctor that runs the practice we go to), anyway, she is the one that saw Elle during her visit, she called me and I missed the call. The gist of her message was that she went over Elle's chart and exam with the doctor and he wanted to talk about Elinor. At first, I figured he probably wanted to maybe go forward with whatever we'd be going forward with for Elle at 18 months. Well, I called back and the PA was busy and I was told she'd call back. Well, she never did and apparently the office was closed or something that Friday, so I had the weekend to stew over the state of Elle. Perhaps it was my fever or maybe it was just the way I do things, but I started to worry over Elle a bit. I started going over her abilities and lack thereof. I looked in the childcare book I have and that was my first major mistake (looking at Scout's baby book was mistake #2). I realized how far behind Elle really is. I then stupidly, went back to her birth and how it was traumatic with the cord around her neck and my imagination started cruising around. My third and final mistake was googling brain damage in infants. I read the signs and the ones that jumped out at me were: small head size, a delay in reaching milestones, overall smallness, and jaundice when newborn. I did my best to dismiss this stuff and tell myself Elle is fine, but as the weekend progressed, I found myself thinking of it EVERY time I interacted with her. I knew this wasn't good.

I got a call from the PA on Monday morning apologizing for not getting back to me. She basically said that the doctor was concerned with possible hip dysplasia and would like to either examine her himself, or we could just do an xray right now to be sure. I said whatever they would recommend would be fine, then I decided to just spill my fears (which I proceeded with, "I don't want to sound like an irrational worrying mother but....." I told her how Elle was born with the cord around her neck, had a very low apgar and how I am concerned now with her developmental delays possibly signifying brain damage. She immediately said, well, lets just go ahead a schedule the doctor to give her an exam. She said she will have him give her a neurological exam too. She called brain damage an "unlikely" possibility (making it clear that while she professionally didn't think so, it isn't out of the realm of possibility). I was able to get an appointment with him that afternoon.

Then I was faced with the task of telling Rob. I hadn't exposed any of my fears from the weekend, so I knew this information was going to do two things: 1. be coming at him totally out of left field, and 2. open me up to a lifetime of teasing that "mommy thinks Elle is brain damaged/mentally challenged" when after the appointment, more then likely, Elle will be given the diagnoses of "sound mind". How well do I know my husband?? Very well indeed. Within an hour, Elle was already getting a little of column B, but he told me that it is good to get her checked out so I can stop worrying about it. I agreed.

All four of us attended the appointment and Elle got a good exam from the doctor. She passed her neurological exam, and her hip exam. The little monkey would not under any circumstance even try to put any weight on her legs (she did the recoiling of the feet thing that is familiar to all those who know Elle personally- this cracked the doctor up quite a bit). He asked us a few questions like does she obey simple commands- which we honestly couldn't really say she does. He used the example of "go get your shoes" and that she really can't do that since she can't get her shoes. We told him that we don't really give her commands, so maybe she would if we did more. We told him that she says about 5 words (but she doesn't use any of them with a great deal of frequency). He said that is at least average for her age so way to go Elle (a victory). We addressed the head issue and he showed us on the chart that it is following a steady growth pattern. He also admitted that Utah has a larger then average head size (basically we are a state of giant headed children), so the curve is perhaps a little skewed. Plus he is mostly fine with her head size since Rob has a smaller then average head size and Scout's is small too (none as small as Elle's, but she is our Little Little). So, after we talked and looked at Elle for a while he told us that he didn't think there is anything wrong with her but "we'll watch her". We were told on this appointment (and by the PA) that often happy, content babies are slower to walk cause they lack motivation. He also says that some kids don't like the feel of surfaces on their feet and it hinders their walking (this is what he personally thinks is going on with Elle). I can buy that- she has always been weird with her feet (she is weird with her hands too come to think of it -kind of hesitant to touch things. Huh. Didn't think of that until now). So, I wouldn't say she has totally passed the test, but she has passed so far and will be "watched". He didn't even find an xray necessary for the hip thing- he is satisfied that isn't an issue.

So I do feel like kind of a jerk thinking my little girl has brain damage, and a bit like an idiot, but I am glad we saw the doctor. I can't say that today the issue wasn't on my mind while I played with her, but I think I was granted a little more ease on the subject. Without any preamble, I held one of Scout's toy horses within her reach, and told her to give it kisses and she instantly obeyed. Also, she was in a playful mood and I was cradling her and kissing and tickling her and she glanced at my ipod headphone that was dangling around my neck, seized it, and pretended to almost bite it with a devious look on her face and then giggled. She was trying to get me to say "no!" followed by the inevitable tickles. I was reassured by these things that she knows what is going on and can follow commands. Sometimes my kids just seem to know when mommy needs some reassurance, bless them.

I need to learn not to compare my two children. They are so different, so we interact with them differently. I've reflected a lot the last day or so, and have come to some conclusions. With Scout, she has always had a very active mind and body. She sat at 6 months and crawled at 7. She started making her first animal noises at 9 months, and her first words around the same time. She was busy busy busy (and still very much is), therefore, I had to engage her all the time. She had a fierce drive to be on the move and to explore her universe as much as possible. Elle, is a laid back, content, quiet little thing. She is happy just to watch the world around her. She only needs a little pile of blocks or a little book to be perfectly content for a long long time. She will sit there and play and I will be doing housework and she will be happy with what she's got almost indefinitely (she does need food and sleep from time to time). This means that my interaction with her is rarely anything but going over to where she is and giving her cuddles and kisses and raspberries on the belly. I also swing her around and turn her upside down cause she loves that stuff and Scout never really did. Scout would get downright panicked when she was swung and put upside down (still does sometimes.) Anyway, I have to make an effort to work with Elle on what animals say and stuff like that, cause it just doesn't naturally fit into her life at this time. Neither does crawling or walking. But as I've said, it's time.

The doctor did recommend something that the Alpine School district provides as a service for children with delays (and disabilities) called "Kids on the Move". A professional actually comes into your home and works with your child that has developmental delays and they apparently have some tricks up their sleeves that moms like me might not have thought of to get kids moving and catching up. The doctor said they also in the midst of doing this, can often notice some things the doctor might not have caught while doing his exam (I guess he was talking about brain damage -I'd like to make clear that at no time have I thought that if she had brain damage, it would be severe- there are obviously different levels of brain damage- am I just digging my hole deeper?).

Anyway, I think I'll call the Kids on the Move people tomorrow. It can't hurt, it's free and maybe it will work better then my baby boot camp (which actually was showing some promise before it was derailed). I'll get her evaluated anyways, and go from there.

How Baby Boot Camp is going

I suppose I haven't properly explained baby boot camp. We went to Elle's 15 month appointment last week and Elle was given the news that if she isn't crawling or walking by 18 months, then we will have to get her checked out by a pediatric orthopedic. I know we can do this! I know she's strong. I just think her little brain is hard wired differently then other people. It was hardwired part monkey and the monkey part controls the leg part of the brain. Anyway, it's been great having a non mobile child, but I agree with the doctor and therefore I have cooked up baby boot camp. For anyone that personally knows Elinor, you know that she is as happy and content a baby you could ever wish for. She is so happy and content I think it gives her no motivation to crawl or walk cause she just thinks, "eh! I'm fine right here." So I am going to have to create the motivation. This week, we are just going to concentrate on two things: tummy time and standing on her legs. I have decided on two sessions of 45 minutes a day on her tummy, and 3 times a day she walks around with mama. Next week (depending on how this week goes) we will either do the same thing again (perhaps increase 45 min to an hour) or we will start putting some food out of her reach. I have a feeling it will be the former. By the way, in the video: I'm ba ba and yes- she is yelling at me.

I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Five minutes after today's session.

What Emily's Been Watching, December Edition

Let's just jump right in shall we?

EMMA (1972) [NR]: romance. Watching this movie was the result of the unsatisfactory selection of movies found at my local library. After trying to find something at all interesting while constantly being prodded by a 5 year old, I figured a version of Emma that I've never seen wouldn't hurt. I must confess-- it hurt a little. I am not one to balk at an old movie, but when I got home and looked closer at this movie, I must say I put a wall up in my brain when I discovered it was made in the early 70's. I was further scandalized upon my first glimpse to see it was filmed and acted very much like a play. The hits just kept coming when all the characters I had come to know from the 1996 version showed up here about 15 years older then I thought they should be. The character of Emma was acted in such a strange manner, I don't know if I will be able to express the problems. I will do my best- whenever she talked, it was like she was forcing this mass amount of jovial energy through her face, contorting it into a sort of scary grimace. There. That's a pretty good description (if I may say so). Hopefully I will be able to find at least a small clip of this to show you all. After forcing myself not to just turn it off and to keep an open mind, I started thinking, "how cool would it be, if after watching the 240 minutes of this show I end up totally in love with it". I liked that idea and watched it over the span of about a week. Well, here is the deal: I got over the play like atmosphere and the ages I even if not "got over" at least got used to, Emma's scary excited grimace however continued to perplex and distress me. I kind of liked having an extended version since I have never read the book. Ok, that is quite enough words and space devoted to this miniseries. Emily really does not recommend this version of the movie. The Gwenyth Paltrow version is watchable, but really- just watch Clueless for the best version of the Emma story I think is out there.

Yay I found it online (the whole thing in parts is on youtube!) Please don't feel like you need to watch more then a fraction of this..... after probing youtube, I found out there is a version done last year in miniseries format. I am intrigued. Anyone seen it?


THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2009) [R]: mystery-thriller. Some people really like this movie, some (mostly ones that have read the book) give it a big eh. I (having never read it) give it somewhere in between the two. It is the story of a reporter trying to solve a 50 year old crime. He enlists the services of a hacker with a giant dragon tattoo on her back. The mystery story is excellent. The execution of the plot is real good. It's a decent movie, but I think I may try the book and stick with that for the rest of the series (there are more books and more movies although I don't know how many). Saying that makes it sound like I didn't like it, but this isn't the case, but I really am a book person before I am a movie person. From all I hear, the books are better, and I don't have a giant desire to read this book now since I know how the mystery ends. So perhaps I will decide to read the books someday and then after reading the books decide that I want to see the movie too. Who knows. Emily can recommend this movie to mystery lovers out there. If you are squeamish about such things (and I think most people are -or should be- I am going to warn you that there is a rape scene and while it isn't totally graphic, you definitely know what is happening.) Oh also it is Danish, so- subtitles.


ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, SEASONS 2 & 3 (2004-2006) [NR]: comedy. I blasted through the last two seasons of this series this month thanks to two things: Netflix streaming and my addiction to the Webkinz game "Atlantiles". I spent many late nights with a split computer screen watching and playing and laughing and Scout is reaping the benefits of a giant stash of Kinzcash. You already got my feelings about this tv series (I had missed until now) a few months ago when I watched season one, so that is all the time I am going to devote to the review. Emily totally recommends this series and is now excited for the movie slated to come out in 2012.


LOVE ACTUALLY (2003) [R]: romantic comedy. Yeah, I watched this movie (no it wasn't my first time) BUT it was my first time watching my own copy of it. Matt and B gave me some birthday money (impromptu party) and I decided a great thing to do with it would be to buy me a copy of this movie since it is a Emily/B favorite (though we've never seen it together). This movie comes from the mind of Richard Curtis and involves some of his regular players such as Hugh Grant and Billy Nighy. But that isn't all- there are about 20 people that star in this movie because it is a romantic comedy of epic proportions. In fact it possibly crosses the line in that area (love), but you still find yourself loving it dearly (even if romantic comedy isn't your favorite genre). It is the story of at least 7 couples finding love (or not) in one way or another, and they all kind of are tied together in one way or another. You got Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman [ :) ], Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Keira Knightly, Laura Linney, Martin Freeman, Andrew Lincoln, and Billy Bob Thornton even makes a cameo as a slimy American President. In great British fashion, the characters are so witty in that nonchalant way, and even the sappier love stories I find totally palatable. This is a great rainy day movie. It's biggest flaw to me is the Martin Freeman love story. B and I have discussed this. The movie is quite clean in all the other ways (there is some language and various other such things-), but that one love story makes me a bit squirmy. Basically, they play stand ins for a movie that is if not pornographic, at least raunchy by European standards. They are the sweetest most innocent couple of the bunch (which is what makes it funny -if you are familiar with Martin Freeman (British Office) then this will make sense to you- he plays your basic Martin Freeman character) they are these shy people in their everyday lives, but have to basically mimic these scenes from movies that are movies I never care to see, and they chit chat the whole time. It is an idea that is very funny on paper, but to actually watch it, like I said, makes me squirmy. It's too bad cause I think besides that this would be a movie many people I know would like. Perhaps they can find a cleaned up version of it somewhere cause it's worth it if you do. So look for that. For those that have seen it- tell me: which is your favorite love story? Which is your least favorite? Let's discuss. Emily recommends this movie very much. If you absolutely hate all romantic comedies then you have my permission to skip it, but other then that- I think you'll enjoy it and have some laughs.

This trailer was obviously catered to Hugh Grant fans. Sheesh.

BLEAK HOUSE, DISCS 2 &3 (2005) [NR]: drama. I finally got to finish this series thanks to Netflix. It ended up being fantastic. I really enjoyed everything about this. The story is stellar (good job Dickens), the actors are great and the filming was great. Triple threat right here. Get yourself a copy of this one- you'll love it. For more on my thoughts you can read my first review here.
Once again.......

(Bleak House had no chicken montage)

127 HOURS (2010) [R]: drama-adventure. I saw this as my Christmas movie this year (I like going to the theater as a Christmas expedition). I saw it with my dad, brother Matt and husband while my mom, B, Scout and Elinor went to see Tangled. I have long been fascinated with the story of Aron Ralston and was pleased to see that Danny Boyle was going to make a movie about it. I enjoyed it a lot as many of you know- I am a HUGE fan of survival stories. What this guy survived and ended up doing- is quite the story and Boyle made a rock star, Mountain Dew commercial version of it like only he could do. He kept it interesting and James Franco did an excellent job with his role I thought. Everyone know the story? Well, no one must have told it to the guy sitting behind me cause the second it was over he goes to the girl next to him, "an entire movie about a dude being stuck in a rock- I want a refund" DUDE! What did you expect???? His voice had that nerd/superior twinge to it, so I suspect he was trying to impress the girl. Do you know what I am talking about? It is that voice that you often hear such phrases issuing from it such as, "um, excuse me- but Captain Kirk's line in episode #231 was 'may the force be with you' not 'the force is with you'. " Alright all you nerds, fix that sentence for me (in your best superior nerd voice). Emily recommends this movie to pretty much anyone. Good survival story, well acted, interesting camera angles. I can only imagine it is R for a little language and of course the gore Aron is forced to execute at the end there.

Hey! Funeral. Nice.

PERSUASION (1971) [NR]: romance. Apparently I didn't learn my lesson with Emma. That lesson is checking the backs better when I get dvd's at the library. Again I didn't notice that this was another 70's gem done EXACTLY THE SAME WAY as Emma was. I have never seen or read Persuasion. I thought I would try it.
While I found the story enjoyable, I was not a fan of this version. Old people and play again. This time the heroine annoyed me in different ways then the Emma one did. She sucked so bad! Perhaps it wasn't her fault (in fact, I can see myself liking her in something else), but I just found her unlikeable in this part. First of all, they made the people up in some sort of Victorian/70's hybrid that detracted me. Second of all, Anne (the heroine) was not as aloof as I thought an Austin heroine should be and she would say something to herself after the person she was talking to would leave. Allow me to demonstrate: Someone would say to her, "that would be enjoyable" and she would say, "yes" to them, they'd walk away and in an almost evil villain-like manner would say knowingly to herself, "very enjoyable indeed". ARG! It wasn't just her though, I didn't care for any of the acting here and it's only redeeming quality is the story, which I found promising. Why doesn't anyone ever talk about this book? I look forward to watching a decent version of this. Anyone know of one? Emily does not recommend this movie. Run, run away.

This clip showcases the Victorian/70's hybrid I spoke of quite well.

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (2010) [R]: Documentary. Ok, I am cheating a little with this movie, cause I just watched it tonight and it is officially January. But I was so crazy about this movie, I wanted to talk about it right away instead of waiting until next month when it had faded from my memory. I want it fresh for this review. So- this was so enjoyable on so many levels. I don't want to share too much about the plot cause I didn't know much about it and it took me on a ride of twists and turns. I didn't know a documentary could do that to you until I experienced this. This is what I am willing to share about it: It's about this French guy living in LA that video tapes everything. He stumbles into the street art scene in Paris and becomes obsessed with it. He eventually meets the grand daddy of all street artists "Banksy" (who is reputed to have made this documentary). He is distorted while on camera in voice and face to protect his anonymity. Given the subject matter (in a word: vandals) there is a lot of secrecy surrounding the images captured. Anyway, it went places I wasn't expecting, and had a mysterious plot two things I really don't expect while watching a documentary. The art was fantastic. I've been a fan of the whole idea of street art for a long time, so this was a natural interest for me. I also am a fan of site-specific art such as The Gates that was done in Central Park (if you aren't familiar it is an art movement that takes a common, everyday place and the artist does something to it temporarily or adds something to it to make it a little different for a short amount of time. For The Gates, an artist put up these sheets of orange fabric along the main pathway. Anyway, I am perhaps not the best person to explain this (I am clumsy in my explanation) but I just like the idea of it. I look at street art the same way. I also really liked the people in this film. I liked them so much I had a very strong wish that I knew them. They just seem like interesting people I would like to hang out with. Emily really really recommends this movie! It is on Netflix streaming right now- so if you have that, you have no excuses! I also would like to give my brother Matt a personal plea to see this. There are a few reasons I thought it was almost custom made for you- get watching bro, you'll thank me. (Gee I hope I haven't over sold it but I can't imagine doing so).

Ummmm, not my favorite trailer of the year. Don't let this discourage you- the film is possibly my favorite of the year.

I'm not sure about this whole thing

Scenario Scout came up with today: (5 1/2)

Pretend that I am a baby tiger and you are my owner and I am eating blood soup (she's really eating tomato soup). Pretend that you found me in the safari and my mommy tiger said it was alright, you could take me- she'll just make another baby- cause that's the spirit of Christmas.

Dinner

Can I post something on here and still maintain the respect of my readers?
(if I had it in the first place that is).

You may all be surprised to read this but my family and I, well we are not perfect. My house isn't always immaculate. Rules aren't always followed to the letter. Our yard looks like downright crap much of the time. This is a blog post I am writing partly in protest to the perfect little world I feel closes in on me sometimes. I read a great article and I wish I could sight references and give the person credit here, but it was quite some time ago. The article was about how the art of the family picture has changed drastically in the last few years. Photoshop is ruining the bad picture we all laugh at in those old albums (you that are privy to a certain family pic of mine may insert laughs here). Basically it was lamenting that red eyes are a thing of the past, and we can blur out imperfections in the background, etc. We can even see the pic right away, delete it so it is gone forever and retake a million times when before, you just took two and hoped for the best. I am really going to mess this up because there was something else I read and I don't remember if it was the same article or a different one, but this time it was talking about the perfect cookie cutter blog worlds we read about. Everyone has a blog- correct? Well, it is easy to show our best pics there and we can pick and choose to share only the wonderful, cookie cutter, Norman Rockwell moments in our lives (I would like to insert here that this is also happening on facebook. In fact, I have a few "friends" that every time they post a status update I want to pull my hair out by the roots from the sickening crap I read. Example: "Just got back from skiing with my family, went home, had hot chocolate, sang carols and now I am sitting in front of the fire with my hottie husband and we are sighing about what a beautiful life we lead." Parts left out: "kids fought all the way to the resort, I was mad and didn't speak to my husband for half the day because I detected a flirty voice when he said hi to the ski instructor, the fourteen year old went upstairs after the carols and smoked weed and we will be paying for the season passes we bought on the credit card for 8 years- but we had to buy them cause everyone else in the neighborhood has them and the ones that don't are going to be oh so jealous." (Ok, I probably sound a wee bit more cynical then I really feel, but that was a lot of fun.) Anyway, back to my point- in this world we are finding ourselves in, we can give and get the wrong impressions about everyone else's lives and start feeling bad that we actually have real problems and aren't perfect.

So that was a giant intro into what I was going to confess, which may or may not seem trite now, but whatever. This is all I was going to say: My family has gotten into a bad habit for the past while which is simply this: We have eaten about 97% of our dinners in the living room in front of the TV. It has bothered me for a while now, but I have done nothing about it. One time a few weeks ago we were eating dinner and Scout asked to watch "Cash Cab" which is usually our dinner program of choice. Scout actually asking for Cash Cab got me thinking and I thought, "huh. Is this what I want Scout's memory of family dinner to be?". I brought it up to Rob and he thought about it for some days and came back to me in total agreement that we need to change this. (We have had this conversation a few times, but never quite acted on it, just kept doing what we were doing.)

Well, I am happy to report that we have had dinner at our dinner table every single night this week and we are loving it. I no longer shush my child while she talks through the answer to a trivia question- we have our own silly conversations instead. I now have a table to put my plate instead of my lap or the coffee table. When Elle spills a bit of dinner it is not on carpet anymore (or rather the towel I would put around her place to catch any errant food- and if you've ever seen her eat- there is plenty). Just writing this I am thinking to myself- why the bip did we put this off? Cash Cab certainly isn't worth it.

So anyway, I am not ready to air all our dirty laundry, but this improvement we have made is working out so great, there are plenty more things my little family can work on-- but one thing at a time.