Tough chick

Roxanne totally got tackled by a boy today. I had plans to meet my friend, LP, and her daughter at a lovely park/garden for long walk today. But the desperately-needed rains scratched that idea, so we went to Tysons’ mall instead. While in the kids’ play area, Roxanne was tackled by a kid slightly bigger than her. He kind of jumped on her back, and grabbed her around the neck. The whole thing was a tad startling, but Roxanne didn’t make a peep. On the other hand, when I accidentally slammed the back door at home yesterday, she wailed. Huh. I guess she was being cool in front of the other kids.

Last week, Dan and I hosted his mom and aunt on their second annual D.C. getaway. They are the best guests! We all got along beautifully, they cooked, they entertained themselves, and having a doting grandma and great-auntie here was heaven for Roxanne! One of our outings was the Old Town Alexandria Ghost Tour (I've always wanted to take one!). The tour was mostly about the history of Alexandria, with a few ghost stories thrown in, but still a lot of fun.

Roxanne’s eating is coming along, slowly but surely. On good days, she eats about half of her calories orally, and the other half she gets from the tube. I consider that a great success! More importantly, she’s interested in eating and curious about new foods. Her favorites at the moment: avocado and yogurt. Despite how well she’s doing, I’m in no hurry to get rid of the tube. Roxanne has an even longer way to go with drinking than eating. We were able to make her hungry to motivate her to eat, but dehydration is a more touchy area. Also, I recall that a kid has to be totally weaned off the tube for at least 3 months before a doctor will remove it. So, I’m being patient for a change. How unusual.