anna is waving. i swear. people say hi, and she lifts her arm up and down. she also is desperately trying to crawl. she gets up on her hands and knees pretty easily these days, then does the back and forth rocking that looks like she is revving her engine. she does not yet have the strength to pick up a hand or knee, but she is working hard at it. she can definitely move backwards and in a circle on her tummy. i took her to the opthamologist in burlington on monday, and she got an a+ for visual development, so that means the hemangioma has not pressed on her eyelid, which is great. she did have her eyes dilated, and that was pretty interesting. she kept looking at me with this puzzled look on her face, like "what in the world is going on?? i see you, i think, but i am not sure..." and she would wave her hands in front of her, trying to get a handle on the blurs of color and movement.
ava has got an incredible schedule these days. i almost referred to her skating as her "skating career" -- but i stopped myself just in time. she is very excited about it though. she has a locker in the big girl's locker room, she has a training notebook, and she is working hard on learning all of her jumps. the more structured, the better, which sort of is a no brainer for her. she is doing well in school, though every morning is a strain. she still cries when i leave. every day. i think this will go on for years. it kills me. i want her to love school, and i can't make that happen for her.
fall has arrived. it was 32 degrees this morning. we are planning to pick apples, pumpkins, and the cornmaze. when we are going to manage to do that, i have NO idea.