Saturday, April 18, 2009

I know, I know. It's been a while. Kim put up these pics long ago and I haven't carved out the time to populate the space in between with narrative. In the last post I mentioned that we made a little move down south to the Tampa/ St Pete area. Well, that didn't last long. Long story short, I took a position in the Albany area and we decided to re-re-locate to our home in Alplaus, NY. So, we're back. For the moment, Kim is staying home with Mikaila. Mikaila came back from Florida (via plane, in the midst of the swine flu epidemic by the way) with what I would characterize as moderate separation to sever separation anxiety. Kim can't leave the room for 2 consecutive minutes without inducing a panic. Her anxiety manifests itself in many forms, most of which are not particularly convenient for us. However, they all pale in comparison to our current sleeping arrangements. You see, Mikaila simply will not sleep in her crib. Frankly, she won't be left alone for any significant period of time. So, she sleeps with us in our bed. Kim finds it cute. I, on the other hand......... well, I'm not so pleased. We hope to develop and execute a transition that gets her back into her crib shortly.





Looking at the pictures though it seems I should provide a bit of detail on her time in Florida. We drove down to Florida, Mikaila, Grandma Ducky and a trailer in tow to begin a new life in Florida. The plan was for Kim to begin work, Davia to watch Mikaila and for me to head back to Albany to get the house ready to be put on the market. I did a bit of networking down there to develop opportunities but just as I was gaining some traction down there, I received a job offer in the Albany region that I had to take. So again, long story short we decided to head back north leaving the fun and sun of Florida behind. However, much fun was had in the intervening months as evidenced by some of the photos herein. Mikaila went to the beach, had her first boat ride, swam in the pool, went out to eat often and for the most part, got a chance to interact with a world that she had only observed through a window. The kid gloves came off in Florida: we took her out to eat a dozen or more times, took her shopping, to a bar etc. She has had some of those same experiences since her return but it all began in Florida. Many thanks to Kim's brother Mikie and Denyve for there overly generous hospitality. They opened up their lovely new home to us and we certainly could not have done it without them.






















When we left the Albany area, Mikaila was struggling to keep herself stable while sitting up. While in Florida, about two weeks after our arrival, she began to crawl thereby dramatically changing the dynamic for those in charge of her caregiving. A mobile Mikaila is much more difficult to deal with. One must account for her whereabouts at all time.


On Fathers Day, she began to walk and our lives have been forever changed. We will post photos and videos


I'm now finishing this post the morning of September 16, many months after I began. I will follow up with another very soon. Enjoy the photos, videos and pyrotechnics.
















Mikaila Kissing Herself in the Mirror





































Mikaila Just Starting to Crawl



































Mikaila Kissing Tigger













































Mikaila Horsey Ride

































Mikaila Walking

































Mikaila Crawling Through Her Tunnel