Texas / sign language

For some reason, its a big effort for me to sit down and write out things that I want to remember. I can't trust myself to remember everything, so I know someday I'll be glad to come back to this and read with Violet all the fun things she's done. Dave and I took Violet to Dallas, Texas with us to visit our friends Shawn and Kim over their spring break. We went March 14-19, 2007. I was initially nervous about traveling with Violet. My mind wouldn't stop worrying about her ears on the airplane, what she was going to eat, and when she was going to nap, or how she would sleep at night time. Shawn and Kim tried getting a car seat for Violet at a nearby thrift store, but when I asked them more information about it, we discovered it had been expired. It turned into her eating chair. It worked wonderfully. We decided to buy a Cosco Scenera convertible that RF to 35 lbs. It'll serve as our 2nd car seat. It was inexpensive and light, so we packed it in a duffle bag and checked it through the airlines. The trip overall went practically flawless. I nursed Violet on the plane rides going up and down (even though I am down to just nursing once in the morning now, I wondered if I would produce enough milk...but she seemed contented). She even slept on almost every flight. Dave did an awesome job helping with every aspect of Violet's care. He held her on the plane rides when she was sleeping. She was so cute sleeping on his shoulder. :) We visited the Fort Worth zoo the first day, and Violet had such a blast. She was in her stroller most of the time, but she had a few opportunities to get out and walk around. Every animal she saw, she would point her finger towards it and go "ba!" She was interested in everything, with almost a constant smile on her face he whole time. She had chicken nuggets and french fries for lunch! The drive to and from the zoo was close to an hour in length, so thankfully she slept during the car rides and those equated her naps for the day. The next day we went to the Dallas Auto Show. Dave was drooling at all the new cars. I was interested, but I think Shawn and Kim only had a mild interest in going, but went with that plan with us in mind. We strolled around for almost 2 hours. The next day we went to the Dallas Arboretum/outdoor botanical garden. Everything was in full bloom and very fresh, fragrant, and colorful. Violet again was looking every which direction soaking in all the new sights. We had a picnic while watching an Irish dancing show on the grass. Violet had a turkey/cheese sandwich, some goldfish crackers and a few orange slices. She ate very well each day...and I was happy. She is weaning herself, and part of me is very happy and part of me is very sad. I know she won't nurse forever so her taking the initiative to eat food instead of nurse is a good sign. The trip overall went really well. We were able to reconnect with our friends who we don't talk to much on the phone. We just don't do well on the phone. I made some scones with Kim the last night and we talked about being supportive to our husbands despite their struggles that make us feel disrespected. She was encouraged by our talk, and I'm glad for that. I feel the Lord used me to encourage her and give her a new perspective on Shawn's struggle. I had been praying for a time to bring that subject up, and I'm glad God gave me an opportunity. Sign language is so fun! I am not going all out...just teaching her the basics. She already can sign "more" "hungry" and "milk". I'm trying to teach her now "tired" and "potty". She picked up the "hungry" sign in just one day. Today we were at the grocery store and she put her hand to her mouth and opened her mouth. I asked her if she was hungry, and she did the sign again. I got out a little container of goldfish crackers and set them beside her in the shopping cart seat, and she munched away happily. Its so nice to have her communicating with me without fussing and getting frustrated at me playing the guessing game.