Pomp and Circumstance

Reading on the tricycle and playing with the charade sticks.

Again, I apologize for waiting so long to update the blog. We have had a lot going on! Two weekends ago, my mom came up to spend a few days while my dad was on his annual fishing trip. Alden got very spoiled from all of Grammy's attention, and surprised us by saying "Coca-cola" and finally saying "more" instead of just signing it. She has also said "please". While I was at clinical on Saturday, Matt was able to get out and go to an airshow nearby, which he really enjoyed, and made him even more excited about being a pilot.

This past week, we finally found a vegetable for Alden. Edamame. She will eat it like candy. What a relief to feel like she gets something green in her diet. For example, for dinner tonight, she ate:

Tortilla chips and guacamole -

Fish sticks - with 3 different dips

Green olives

Edamame - about 12 pods worth

Tonight was a bit of an exception since the guac and olives were green too, and kind of vegetable-like.

I had graduation from my class on Saturday, after our last day of clinical. We all went out to Olive Garden afterwards to celebrate and get our certificates. Here is what I learned in my class:

1. How to fry chicken - we had a lengthy discussion about chicken numerous times. No one could believe that we never fry chicken at our house..."Girl, whatyou mean you never fry chicken?" or that my family never did growing up. Apparently it is a staple for a lot of my classmates, and I got a lot of advice on how to cook it. I told them I was intimidated by any chicken that was not a nugget, or boneless skinless breasts. They think I am crazy.

2. The numerous possibilities for African-american hairstyles including, but not limited to weaves, braids, extensions, senegalese braids, cornrows, etc. Hair seems to be a source of much concern with my classmates.

3. That your average 2nd grade teacher could take the state test and pass - as did my friend Sam's mom who took the sample test online and aced it.

4. How to roll hair - I masqueraded as someone proficient in rolling and setting old lady hair. One lady even wanted to tip me.

Overall, my CNA class I did learn some health care related nuggets in my class, but more than anything, it was a fascinating cultural immersion experience.

In other news this week, Alden has discovered how to crawl from her little wooden chair into the big chair and does this over and over. She really likes peppermint sticks. She learned the signs for monkey, blanket, and friend. Owls are now "hoot, hoot" and turkeys are "gobble, gobble". She has also begun going to our linen closet at bath time and insisting a wash cloth. Whenever you take her diaper off, she says "Brrrrr." She has finally slept the past two nights, much to our relief. At the consignment store today, she saw a gorilla backpack - this thing was hideous, pretty much a gorilla head with back pack straps - and did her scared sign, and would not go near it.

Aunty Amber came this past weekend for a night, and Alden learned the sign for "aunt" and did it a lot for Amber. She has been expending a lot of energy randomly running laps around the house, and back and forth upstairs, especially naked after her bath. She loves getting things out from under the bathroom counters, and even decided to move right in one day.

Matt has been selling some old toys on eBay. Alden was checking the structural integrity of the Ewok Treehouse.