Recovery, day 2.

Anyone who has had any experience with toddlers knows that they can be silly. They also know that they can get tired. In fact, there's some kind of curve where the more tired the get, the more silly they get. The problem is that it's not necessarily the "fun" kind of silly. It's the "wild" kind of silly. Add no impulse control and no common sense and it can be a recipe for disaster.

We didn't have any disasters, but as a result I'm TIRED. Not simply in a "a good night's sleep will take care of this" way, but really and truly tired. I think worrying for a few weeks will do that to you. Plus, Katy seemed to think that she hadn't had surgery at all. In fact, Ryan and I were marvelling at how incredibly well she was doing. That was my mistake. I mistook her great behavior for a cue that we should actually get out and run some errands - THE DAY AFTER MAJOR SURGERY. She only took a twenty minute nap. That should have been a clue to stay home; but sometimes I think that nap is more for Mommy to rest (which is often true and was yesterday). Which one of is the parent here? Her speed seems to have increased exponentially, which combined with the wild silliness and lack of proper nap made for quite an adventure. By last night Katy was just plain done. I resolved to keep her home and as quiet as possible today (which is what I should have done yesterday, but the allure of running "just one errand" was too great).

Before we headed out for our errand we indulged in a little "dress up."

And a little wild flinging of things used to child-proof the cabinets (shouldn't they be on the cabinets?)



Katy knows that she's not allowed to touch the desk or computer. I caught her checking to see if I was looking.



Just one little touch, please?





I'll be especially cute for you....



In order to run to the Post Office I needed to remove the tutu. One step accomplished. The problem is that Katy was bound and determined to wear it, whether I helped her put it on around her waist or not.



The Post Office trip was actually delightful. As I said above, she was in that extreme silly mode and there are plenty of safe places for her to run and be wild in a military Post Office (it's essentially a huge building full of PO Boxes which leaves a lot of "hallways" for her to run down that only have one exit; which makes it easy for me to let her run and play while safely supervising from a distance). The process is a bit frustrating for us here. If you get a package they put a "slip" in your box (our boxes are really small, so essentially everything that isn't a regular envelope gets a slip). You take the slip and stand in line at a window where one of three or four people will take your slip and go to the warehouse and find your package(s). Since there are so few people taking the slips and such a large population here, coupled with the fact that many of us can't find what we need here and do a LOT of online shopping, this can be VERY time consuming; I have from time to time spent most of an hour in this line, several days in a row. Now everyone can see why I simultaneously love and hate receiving packages from home. Yesterday we received a "slip" so went to stand in line with the rest of the crowd. Katy went scampering off down one of the halls of PO Boxes to spin the dials and play. She had a crowd of people watching her and laughing, which always delights her and spurns her to be even more wild and silly. In the course of playing she found a ripped scrap of paper on the ground and was carrying it around. When it was my turn I handed the man my slip of paper. Katy, very seriously, stood on her tip-toes and handed him HER slip of paper. He made a huge deal about it to her and went to find our box. It took him MUCH longer than usual and I was beginning to get frustrated (the front of the line is close to the door outside; so you can imagine how many times I had to grab Katy and drag her back in). He finally came back with TWO boxes. One for me and a tiny one made out of card stock and scotch tape that he had taken the time in the back to make for Katy. It was so sweet that I wanted to cry. Katy's been carrying her little box around the house ever since. She was SO pleased. Now THAT is good customer service. Taking care of even the smallest customer.

Here's today's silliness. Yes, she's wearing her pajamas, a pair of fleece pants on her head and carrying a cheese grater. Plus, it's proof positive that both Ryan and I are too soft-hearted to pull the heart monitor leads off her chest. We figure they'll fall off eventually.....



We really HAVE been mostly laying on the couch and resting today (thank you, Elmo). Katy's coming down with another cold, and since getting sick for the next 8 days was a major no-no, I'm doing everything in my power to soften the blow. Plus, I'm just plain tired too!