Let the countdown begin!

Just 16 days until the $&@(@ spica cast is GONE FOREVER!!! Hurray!!! For some reason these last few weeks are the hardest for me. The first 10 weeks I just try to not think about it, not let it get to me, etc. However I think the last weeks it actually hits me how much we've MISSED. Not only the squishy hugs, the little rump, the shopping carts, baths... but also the regular milestones that most kids get to do. I admit I do get a little pang of jealousy every time I see a tiny little person walking along. Violet will pretty much be a little GIRL, not a baby by the time she walks. But she will! And gosh darn it, you'll all hear about it about the millisecond it happens 'cause we'll all be so excited!

Anyway, I took some more pictures of her in her cast. Here is the back of it:

She was playing in the mirror for a while and thought it was SO FUNNY that this "other baby" did all the same things she did! She also gave her lots of kisses. Sweet.This is why Jon and I sometimes refer to Violet as "Baby in a Bucket"

She just LOVES to stand up. It isn't exactly recommended in a spica cast but we couldn't stop her if we tried! It also goes to show what a instinct it is to walk - she is bound and determined to do it, with or without her hard candy shell!When she's not standing around, or crawling around, she is also dabbling in the fine art of finger paint. Luckily she seems to understand that she's not supposed to eat it. She has been making some fabulous masterpieces!
This weekend we went into the Capital Hill area of Denver to the People's Fair. We sat and watched some of the bands play.
My friend Beth and I have been meeting at Washington Park (Wash Park to the "natives"). I took these pictures of Violet at our last trip.

Now that I have a season pass to the zoo, we're taking full advantage! We had a "girls morning out" and just Violet and I went this past week. It was so fun! We watched the seal show, the elephants, and then a "wild bird" show where they fly all around. She LOVED it and yelled and screamed at all the animals. It was pretty funny. This is the only (fuzzy) picture I got. The one downside of going to the zoo alone!

In other news... I went to my first Red Rocks show!!! We saw Modest Mouse and R.E.M. last week. Here is the view from our "cheap seats"... if you get out your magnifying glass you can see downtown Denver just to the right of the center.
Date night!
Ah, good old R.E.M. Both Jon and I have been BIG fans since middle school. Right before we left Michigan I said "If R.E.M. comes through on tour, we're GOING!!!" so we did!
The crowd
Heather and I being silly. Her and I snuck down and got a lot closer to the action. It was SO FUN!!
And last but not least, this past weekend I made a garden!! I planted cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, strawberries, and lots and lots of tomatoes. My goal is to have so many great, homegrown tomatoes that by the fall I am totally sick of them and can live without any sort of tomato (including the gross, no-taste orange colored ones at the grocery store most of the year) until next summer. Ha! Good luck with that, self.


If you found this blog searching for info spica casts,
please visit this wonderful and incredibly helpful forum:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hipbaby/
Also, please take a look at my Spica Cast Survival Guide, which you can download here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hipbaby/files/
It's the first thing on the list.
Sending lots of good hip healing vibes your way!!