On entertaining an immobile two year old

It really threw us for a loop when our super active little Cadence "broke" her leg.  It turned out, after consulting two more doctors that the first doctor had misdiagnosed her growth plate for a hairline fracture...medical care in a third world country can be exhausting as you learn quickly to do your own research and not trust your first diagnosis.  None the less, she was unable to walk and refused to put any weight on her leg for 8 days.  How on earth can any sane person be expected to entertain a two year old that suddenly can't walk?  

We watched every kid movie we owned 57 times.  We read books for hours.  We took baths (she didn't have a permanent cast).  We ate popsicles.  We colored.   We went for stroller rides around the neighborhood.  But by day two we had exhausted our resources.  Pets seemed like a good idea, at the time.  But entertaining a two year old all day proved to be too great a task for any one animal.  This one ran away and never came back.

Which forced us to explore options available in our yard.  Frogs were fun because they were the same size at the fisher price little people, except better because they were alive.  But that brought us back to the issue of not wanting to play with Cadence and being able to hop away at a whim.  Haven't seen this guy since he moved off the "farm".

 Our place is the weekend home for a local college guy, whom Cadence adores.  He was so sweet to sit with her and play with her when she could not walk.  He would pluck ants from the tree and bring them to her to torture.  Once he even found her a praying mantis!

In a moment of desperation, Jody handed her the camera and gave her a quick photo shooting session.  She shot a lot of frames, but this was her best.

Easter Bunny at a whole new Level!

March 27 Cadence fell and broke her leg.  The doctor called it a hairline fracture but said it was so small that it didn't need to be wrapped.  Every day she gets more mobile.  She is now at the speed of a normal child.  Every time we turn around, she is already somewhere else.
Haven't you always wanted to get real bunnies in your Easter basket?  They don't last long at our house, but what a great Easter present!

Easter

Cadence entered the living room today to find bunny tracks leading to her basket. I decided that I had always wanted to get cute, fluffy, baby animals for easter (and never did) so this was my chance to live vicariously through my child. Cadence fractured her leg earlier this week while playing on a playground. It has slowed her down quite a bit, but she regained her mobility as she scooted, on her bum, across the floor to her Easter basket. It wasn't the traditional Easter egg hunt that I had envisioned for this year, but there is always next year. The bunnies were troopers and even left their own little treat for Cadence in the basket. It was not chocolate. As fun as it was to get live animals, I think that the most exciting find of the day was the CHOCOLATE!

Favorite things

Just south of the equator, the rainy season is coming to a close. We spend the rainy days inside where Cadence loves to watch movies...especially with her friends. Her favorite is "Flicka". She loves her bath times so much that we give her several baths per day. When it is 90 degrees and 80% humidity, there is nothing better than water play. Our bathtub is actually outside so we treat it like a small pool. We add props to hold her attention...this is the easter bath. Cadence loves getting dressed up...and even better, dressing others up! She loves to paint. We only do this outside as she has an affinity for painting anything BUT the canvas. Cadence loves to play in the rain and splash in the puddles. She likes to get dirty. Here I caught her with the sunscreen. Cadence lives to make people laugh. The other night at the dinner table, while entertaining a family friend, she stuck a small flower, from the table, in her nose. This got such a great reaction from her audience that she did it a second time...but she inhaled and disappeared in her nose. We haven't seen it since. I was too stunned to take a picture. I'll try to be more prepared next time.

Peek a Boo!

This week I posted this new picture of cousin Harper, Jordan's sister's daughter, on the fridge.

Since we live half a world away from our family, we try to keep current photos around so that Cadence won't "forget" the people who love her. While I was in the kitchen talking to a local friend, Cadence started playing peek-a-boo with her cousin Harper's photo. My friend explained to Cadence that even though she could see her, Harper could not see Cadence and respond to her because she was only a photo. Cadence looked at my friend and simply said, "Malu Dia." (Harper is just shy!)

I just realized that it is nearly February and I still haven't posted Christmas pictures. Sorry Grandparents.

We decorated cookies on Christmas eve, as a family.

Then we ate them for breakfast, along with cupcakes for Jesus' birthday and sausage balls.

Cadence had fun opening all of her gifts and we were blessed to have a good enough internet connection to SKYPE with both sets of grandparents.

Thanks Aunt Amy and Uncle Justin for the new clothes!

When you live in the tropics, surrounded by millions of hindus who don't celebrate Christmas, it is always a challenge to make it "feel" like Christmas. We improvise the best that we can. Jody called this "Our best tree so far!"

Cadence still tells us "Merry Christmas!" at least once a day!

Soul Vacation

When you live on an island that is only 60 by 90 miles for several years at a time, you can start to get a little stir crazy. After Christmas, we decided to get off the island for a week. We had the best vacation ever, ringing in the New Year with some dear friends in another country.

Cadence still asks for her "Best Friend" even a week later.

We played hard every day!

We spotted oranghutans in the forrest!

We even celebrated King's Day (January 6) together.

Traditionally "King's Day" is the day to remember the Magi and their visit to Baby Jesus.

So the girls decorated crowns and dressed like royalty. Then we took stars that they had made and "followed them" for a walk around the neighborhood as the magi might have done.

We stopped for a snack of middle eastern flat bread just like the wise men may have eaten. This little restaurant was conveniently located in the neighborhood!

But by the time our food had arrived, Cadence had already de-robed.

We were also blessed to spend time with friends Jordan has known for 22 years who happened to be living in the same city.

Now Cadence is constantly asking to get on an airplane and go on another adventure...