In November!

Way back when, I bought a book called In November. Inside the from cover I wrote, "In November, we got married. Nov 30, 2002" Well, that was 10 years ago -- can you believe it! In addition to celebrating our tenth anniversary we did a lot of other things in November too. Time to get caught up!

Lyla got botox on Nov 5 as you well know y now. The photo below shows the back of her leg and the places marked for injections. She also had a couple more on the front of her calf. We saw Dr. Kiesling this pas Monday (Dec 3) and she said that while Lyla had a hard time in week 3, she seems to be doing better now that she was pre-botox. Sarah noticed that she's standing lower on her left foot and that her hamstring is much looser. She said the botox is definitely working on the hamstring and posterior tibialis but that the gastrock is still a little tight. We talked about a lot of options, but for now agreed that some aggressive stretching the best course of action for the next few weeks. The next thing we might try is serial casting (where she would get a new cast every week  for a few weeks to keep her foot stretched 24/7), but we weren't ready to talk about it right now. Our next appointment with Sarah is in February. We'll talk then about whether or not Lyla would benefit form getting botox again. 

Lyla has a great time at Faye's even thought she's only there for breakfast and afternoons most of the week. David takes her off the bus every day and sometimes he even takes her for rides on the 4-wheeler. Super fun!

And then, of course, there's Thanksgiving. We spent the day at Mom and Dad's. Lyla brought her new puppy Joy from therapy and had a good time painting, coloring, watching TV and hanging out with the family.

Breakfast was delicious strata, little smokies, fruit, juice, and cheesy potatoes. Yum! the table was beautiful, as usual. Per tradition Lyla sat next to Uncle Ryan. There was no stare down this year, but the pictures still came out well. Lyla ate little smokies and goldfish for breakfast.

Lyla was excited for ornament time. She opened her present almost all by herself and was happy to find a dinosaur inside. Her ornament was super cute and even personalized. She can't wait to hang it on the tree!

After breakfast we read through the paper, colored the turkey and Mom went and picked up Grandma. I love this picture of Grandma and Emily.

Carrie and Jeff joined the the family for lunch and brought Lyla a dinosaur bingo game. It was a HUGE hit and she loves playing. She's got a good eye for the details of the dinosaurs and even knows a lot of their complicated names. It was such a thoughtful gift.

Lyla sat with Mom at dinner and ate come corn, potatoes, and "chicken". Afterward, she had fun helping out in the kitchen. It's fun to see her being a kid and getting into the thick of things. She was much more outgoing this year and wanted to be part of the action. She still took short breaks in "her room" by the TV, but overall, she was at the party. She even won bingo!

A little while later we had to take care of the more difficult task for day -- burying Lyla's fish Buddy. Yes, we've lost our first pet here in the Mamun house. Lyla was quite upset when we notices Buddy was sick earlier that week. I think he tried to jump out of the bowl earlier in the day on Monday and by bed time, he was barely swimming. Lyla didn't cry, but did get very emotional as we called Grandma to see what we could do for him. She didn't have any ideas other than salt water, which we had already tried to no avail. We each told him we loved him and that we would miss him and patted his bowl before going to bed. Then we snuggled for a long time because Lyla had trouble sleeping while thinking about Buddy.

I was sure to put him in a baggie and into the freezer before she got up in the morning. After class on Tuesday, we went to wal-mart and got another fish just like Buddy except black. She named that fish Buddy too. On Thursday, we buried the original Buddy with Baby Maach next to Grandpa's tree at Mom and Dad's. Lyla helped out and seemed happy that her fish was at rest. Buddy 2 died the following saturday and is still in the freezer. She had no emotional attachment. We're back to having only one pet.

Thanksgiving weekend we got together with the cousins at David and Kim's. Lyla was hesitant at first, but loosened up after having some italian beef. She had fun playing outside with the girls and riding on the 4-wheeler with Hailey. She played air hockey with Uncle Ryan and watched skating with Aunt Emily. She also played on the piano. She's very into pianos and put one on her wishlist for Christmas. She's pretty good!

So that's Thanksgiving and botox. Lyla also had another big event last month, of which I have no pictures -- her first friend birthday party! Lyla's friend Cecilia turned 5 and invited Lyla over for cake, presents, and crafts. Lyla had a hard time at first and was really nervous to go in. I stayed with her and we snuggled in the entryway for about 10 minutes before she decided she wanted to play toys with the other kids. After that, she had fun painting a ceramic butterfly and even ate her whole piece of cake! It was so much fun the see her having a good time being a kid. First party is a big milestone -- I can't wait to have one for her. I'm just deciding if 4 or 5 is the right age.

I'm sure there are some things I missed. I'll try to think of more! Thanks again for following us to the new blog! Hopefully this one gets us through another 4 and a half years!