Happy / Post New Years

So time, time got away from me. I don't know the exact days something happened like usual. Oh, well. Here are the important things that happened. 

New Years Eve & New Year's Day
For New Year's Eve Char had the day off (he worked New Years Day). Thus 9:00 pm became the new midnight! I'm honestly impressed Heidi Anne made it that long, she's an early bird not a night owl. 

During the day we played a fun game called 5 Second Rule. You pick a card that has a request like "Name 3 things you need to make cookies" or "Name 3 African American Actors", "Name 3 types of butterflies." It sounds easy, right? But it's so hard when you're put on the spot and only have 5 seconds to come up with the answer. The game is really fun and older kids can play, too. We are so bringing this game to the family reunion this summer!

That night we watched "Storks" the movie. Which was kind of cute. We started "The Secret Life of Pets" but only made it half way because everyone started to drift off to sleep. Per tradition, we had some sparkling cider, which we chilled outside in the snow. Hey, if you have a ton of snow why not use it? 

The Day of Doctor Appointments
On Tuesday the 3 we had a doctor appointment for Anastasia in Salt Lake and Rory had one in Bountiful. 

Anastasia has been outgrowing her helmet due to a growth spurt. The prosthetic doctor tried to shave off as much foam as possible to give her a little more time in the helmet. But for the first time, she HATED the helmet. She'd tug, push, pull, rub her head and helmet. She was also abnormally fussy. (She's cutting 6 teeth at once, which means she was constantly unhappy).  

Her doctor appointment was with the cranio-facial plastic surgeon. He checked her head and made sure her eye socket was circular. While her head is still 10 degrees off, everything is growing normally. So she'll just have funky pig-tails. He gave the all clear to go helmet free. If we had caught it sooner, it would have resolved even more. SO from now on, if I think something is off, I won't delay getting help. It is comforting to know we did act as fast as possible, but were stonewalled by the insurance. Here she is enjoying her new found freedom. 

The next appointment was for Rory to determine where on the autism spectrum he falls. We won't get the answer until the 19th. The pediatric developmental psychologist watched how he played and interacted with her and myself. She would try to engage him in pretend play, which he wouldn't do. She witnessed his laying down on the floor to play with cars or other toys. She said she's never seen that behavior before, and thinks he does that to view things from a different perspective, to see how objects operate. 

He wouldn't play with toys the usual way, for example, cars he wouldn't crash together but would spin the wheels. She tried to get him to play with an airplane waving it in the air, he played with the propeller. She pretended to smell fake flowers, he rubbed the different fabric textures between his fingers. She brought out a toy dog, which he loved. She noted every little thing he did.   

We still have some more online assessments to do. I just wish we could get the results sooner than the 19th. I try to remind myself that some people wait years to get a diagnoses. Waiting 2 more weeks isn't terribly bad. 

The Snow Day
The day before a snow day was called, Heidi Anne's bus got stuck in a snowbank. They had to call for a rescue bus to take the children home. 

The following morning (at 5 am) we got a phone call and a text informing us the school was taking a snow day. Char couldn't get back to sleep, so he went and shoveled the driveway in -3 degree weather. I made him some hot chocolate as a thank-you and to help warm him back up. 

Heidi Anne worked on her first sewing project, she got a sewing kit for Christmas and I just haven't had the time to teach her. But today, I had the chance to work on it with her. 

She is very proud of completing her first sewing project, (which is a little stuffed fox), like a big girl. 

She also went sledding down the hill in the front lawn, made snow angels, and played with her friend. I read "A Snowy Day" to the little babies, (I think Heidi Anne was listening in as well). A pretty good Snow Day if you ask me.