After running all over town yesterday with Uncle Jeff, my parents thought I wouldn't mind running errands with them today. We went to a craft store, a hardware store and the grocery store. Despite getting in and out of the car so many times, I was happy to run around wherever my parents wanted to take me. I'm also starting to get to be quite the girly girl with my beads and my big poufy skirt. I'll dance anytime, anywhere but it's a lot more fun with the skirt!
Today my parents and I went with "Uncle" Jeff to help him find an apartment. Now that his son has graduated high school and is off to college - he is selling his condo and finding a smaller apartment. It's great because he is going to move closer to us! We got to tour a couple apartment complexes and Uncle Jeff found the perfect one. So perfect he even put down a deposit! And I was such a good girl that while we waited in the lobby, my parents let me have a glass of water and a few bites of cookie like a big girl. I was relatively good at Chili's for lunch - my favorite thing was taking small sips of Mommy's coffee (Mommy's family starts kids young on the stuff). But by the time lunch was over I was ready for a nap.
After some tips from the feeding therapist yesterday, Mommy and Daddy tried some new tricks with me today. First, when I wanted "more" of something or "down" or wanted to say "hi", my parents would ask me to use my voice instead of my signs. Since I don't like my speaking valve very well, they figured I could just cover my trach instead and then make a sound to get what I want. Well it may not sound like "more" or "down" or "hi" but I caught on quickly and I make a sound in addition to the sign while covering my trach. My parents are hoping that as I use my voice more I will start to get more practice and start saying actual words instead of just vowel sounds. 
My Aunt Kristin got me a book for my surgery that was really fun. It was supposed to be like my Mommy's purse (if my Mommy carried a purse). It even had a page with a dry erase marker. I decided rather then drawing on the book my shirt (and the entertainment center) were much more fun to draw on. So thanks Aunt Kristin! (Actually, the marker came off the entertainment center but the jury is still out on the clothes).
