It's July already?

Wow, June went by really fast! It was a busy and exciting month. We started the month by going to the circus and meeting with an attorney to complete Lila's Illinois re adoption. The second week of June, Logan's dad and wife came to visit and we went to the zoo. We had a blast at the zoo again. This time we took Lila to the build-a-bear store at the zoo and let her pick out an animal to make. She had a lot of fun! The following weekend was our final post placement meeting with our social worker and Father's Day. This was our first Father's Day with Lila home. Logan had a nice day hanging out with Lila. She bought her daddy a new amp for his guitar and they had a lot of fun playing with it. The next week Lila had her first real injury. I was at the store picking some things up for work and I got a call from a co-worker saying my mom was trying to get ahold of me, "but don't panic". When I called my mom, she and my aunt were on their way to the E.R. They were shopping with Lila and holding her hand. She was trying to pull away and got frustrated and threw herself down (like toddlers do on an hourly basis), and started crying immediately. They knew her arm was hurt. I, on the other hand assumed she was faking until I met them and she wasn't using it and starting crying and pointing at her arm saying boo boo. We decided to take her across the parking lot from the hospital to her pediatrician's office. Fortunately after waiting for what seemed like an eternity the doctor came in and bent Lila's arm so that her hand touched her shoulder and she could automatically use it again. She was fine! It was a super quick fix and I literally could have kissed the doctor. Lila and I were both crying hysterically. She had nursemaid's elbow (one of the tendons on the side of her elbow slipped out of place). I've seen a lot of small children at work that have gotten it in various ways. I've always been paranoid about it, but I admit Logan and I do hold Lila's hands and swing her in the air when she's standing between us. We have held her hands to pull her up on the couch. Not good, I know, I just didn't realize how easily it could actually injure a child. The doctor instructed us to always let go when she starts to pull away from us. This doctor has obviously never been in a crowded area with a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, or just a toddler that's wanting to run for that matter! My solution? We bought the dreaded backpack leash. You know what I'm talking about? The leashes for kids disguised as cute cuddly animals with long tails? Before we were parents we always looked snarkily at people with their kids on "leashes" with utter disgust. I mean what kind of parent can't control their child without treating them like a dog? I don't think it helped that we've actually seen a person with a 5-6 year old child with one of these backpacks on with the tail replaced by an actual retractable leash. As we were watching this woman "walk" her child he wasn't going the right direction and she yanked him so hard he ended up on his butt! So, as a naive couple without children we vowed to never put our child on a leash (we also vowed never to let her eat fast food, ride in a car without a carseat, eat anywhere other than a high chair, or drink soda, see prior post dated about 2 weeks after we became parents(http://redthreadtolila.blogspot.com/2008/09/museum-of-ethnology.html) to see when those rules were broken). We were adamant about the leash one though (possibly because it seemed the easiest to stay adamant about). So, when the doctor said that the recurrence rate for nursemaid's elbow is really high and that we absolutely cannot hold onto her hands/arms while there is any resistance, we tried thinking of every possible solution to keep her safe and with us without touching her. The only solution we could come up with? The leash. I caved pretty quickly and realized it was the only possible solution. Logan is still pretty convinced that using it is child abuse. If anyone has an opinion on the backpack/leash, I'd love to hear it! We spent the last weekend in June in Chicago. We had a blast! We went to Navy Pier, Shedd Aquarium, Taste of Chicago, Rainforest Cafe, did some shopping, and took Lila to her first concert. It was a lot to pack into 3 days! We love Chicago and can't wait to go back! We won't be so hesitant now that we know Lila did so well travelling. We got home really late Monday night and had to get up Tuesday morning to go to court for Lila's re adoption. Everything went well, so hopefully we will get Lila's new birth certificate in the mail soon. We had a great 4th of July! Lila liked the fireworks, but was a little confused by them. We went to watch our local display, and it was so far past her bedtime that she only last about 5 minutes. Oh well, maybe next year! My goal for July is to post more frequently so I don't have to cram so much into each post.

Lila's new favorite hobby, splashing in puddles. She wants to wear her boots all the time anyway, at least they make sense for playing in the puddles.

Lila at the zoo with daddy.

She was very impressed with the hippo.

Touching the stingrays.



Cuddling with her new panda bear.

She was exhausted!

She looks like she's really concentrating doesn't she?

Shedd Aquarium





Lovehammers Concert, Lila did a lot of dancing.

Navy Pier

Worn out after a long day.

She would have rode this train around in circles all day saying "Choo Choo" if we would have let her!

Yummy Chicago style pizza.

Playing in the sprinkler.

Doing some writing.

We found a nest of bunnies in our front yard.


Lila was saying "Shhh" because the bunnies were sleeping. She always puts her finger to her nose instead of her mouth though. She's a goof ball.

Waiting for the fireworks t start.


Watching the fireworks.