Walk in the park

Or a walk to the park, I should say. Monday night we took a family walk, about 1/2 mile to the park down the road. I thought I had a picture of everyone walking, but I couldn't find it, so I guess I don't ;). It was fun to walk along behind everyone and just watch. We arrived at the park, where of course, Bethany and Rebecca chummed up with some school pals, but Madeline, Lillian, Isabelle, Matt, and I walked between all the playground equipment, letting Lillian explore. She LOVES going down slides and aside from the really really tall one...she cruised down every one. Matt stayed on the ground as she scoured the playground equipment as I sat clenching my teeth watching. She works so hard to get up the stairs and get to where she's going. She has a really hard time righting herself if she is nudged and still doesn't do very well with self protection. So if she gets nudged just a little, it's usually all over. I squinted my eyes as other kids brushed by her and held my head just the right way so she wouldn't fall from the ladder Matt was guiding her up. It was such an enjoyable evening, I see many more like it as the days get longer and warmer. Hard to fathom we had 70 degree weather here the last couple days and today it snowed. Good old Indiana weather. Always keeps us on our toes.

Yesterday, she was in her 1 1/2 hour long therapy and I was across the street at the library when we were rushed out of the computer lab for a Tornado warning.( That is the only thing I dislike about this time of year) I might have made record time getting across the parking lot to the therapy center to get back to my baby girl. She was undisturbed as we were forced into the stairwell to wait out the ordeal. Interesting, how most of the office staff in the stairwell joked about it. Saying things like "take teh whole house if you come through" "don't just take the roof, take it all". Having been through some very unpleasant natural disasters in the last couple years, I found it very disconcerting. Not to mention, I was not the only customer in the stairwell. I did not find it very professional. I believe they were staff from the upper offices, not necessarily the rehab, but even still...a little unprofessional, I thought. I doubt any of them would have been so glib if their homes were destroyed by a tornado. I really wanted to go right out the double doors to my van and get Lillian home in the basement, but 1) didn't know if they'd let me out....and 2) wasn't sure if I wanted to be home alone if the tornado did hit us. We spent about a half hour in the stairwell and finally headed home. I was also concerned about how the conversation was being received by Lillian's little ears. She may not communicate very well, but we know she hears and understands most of what's going on. She wasn't the only child in there either.

Other business, I'm not sure all this new medication is making any great improvements for Lillian. She is still a snot volcano (sorry, but it's a good depiction). She is still coughing much of the night away. *sighs* She most definitely does NOT care for nasal washes and I don't think I do either, but such is life.