Physical Therapy and Gymbo Stamps

For background info on Madeline's physical therapy, check out Part 1 and  Part 2.

Madeline has her first physical therapy session under her belt.  She rocked it.  Doing tricks like cruising around the ottoman in both directions, pulling up on everything and even making an attempt to climb the stairs.

Mads {Ellie's new nickname for her} also began Gymboree classes to help strengthen her right leg and get her walking.  Gymboree is a funny place.  I remember the first time I walked in to Gymboree with an 11 week old Ellie.  The first thing I saw were clowns and thought to myself, "Yeah right.  My baby will hate this.  What kid likes clowns?!"

She loved it.  Ellie went to Play & Learn classes at Gymboree from 11 weeks until she was over 2.

Madeline had the same reaction.  She was ecstatic.  Mads was going down slides, scooting through tunnels and rolling balls.  When it came time for the parachute, she was stunned.  Smiling and laughing, she was the happiest baby around.  Bubbles didn't disappoint either.  Madeline's chubby little hands were reaching everywhere trying to grab the bubbles all the way up to the rafters.

Gymbo the Clown {puppet version for those of you in the know} came out and we did the Gymbo Dance all around.  Madeline "took her little hands and waved bye-bye-bye" and we made our way to the door.

The last stop out is getting a Gymbo stamp on the hand.  Since she had never received a stamp before, she put her hand out like the other kids and was amazed when a purple Gymbo appeared, one on the left, then one on the right.

Mads looked down at her hand, then up at me, then down at her hand again. 

We put on our shoes, grabbed the diaper bag and headed out to the car.  As we were walking, Madeline began shaking her hands.  Harder and harder. 

She looked back up at me and there was panic on her face.  I knew exactly what she was thinking.  "What the heck, Mom?!  Why won't this clown come off me?!?!?!?!"

She screamed the entire drive to pick up Ellie at Nonna's house.

Two days, one bath and countless Seventh Generation baby wipes later, a faint Gymbo still remains.

We'll be skipping the stamp next week.

But our little Mads?  She took four steps on her own this week.  I even made Ellie put on a pair of pants that matched her dress in case I needed to video "official walking."

She's making progress.  We're learning how to help her make progress.  It's good.

MilliLee.com Review

MilliLee.com sent me this adorable organic cotton dress for Ellie to review. 

Not for Ellie to review, but for Ellie, for me to review.  Although Ellie has pretty strong feelings about this darling dress.

When the package arrived, tied with raffia, Ellie could hardly contain her excitement.

She carefully untied the bow and squealed when she saw the dress.  Soft and flowy, Ellie knew it would be perfect.  After a few minutes of "please can I wear it now?  Pleasepleasepleaseplease?!?!?" I caved.  She wore it the rest of the afternoon and wanted to give up her favorite ballerina nightgown to wear it to bed.

The dress has elastic around the neck and around the sleeves to give a perfect fit.  It's great with jeans or leggings and boots for the fall and winter.  Expertly sewn, the pattern gives a modern twist on a classic silhouette.

Oh, and it washes well, too.  We know because Ellie spilled chocolate milk on it the first day.  And it came out from the wash good as new. 

Ellie's dress from MilliLee was a huge hit.  With Ellie, with strangers at breakfast, with me.  Here are some of the things you can find on MilliLee.com:

MilliLee.com does custom orders, too, from cloth diapers to children's clothes.  I will be placing my order for a coordinating sister look any second!

Thanks MilliLee.com!

Disclosure:  MilliLee.com sent this darling dress to review at no cost to me.  However, the opinions in the review above are completely honest and my own.  No other compensation was provided. 

Small town living.

We moved from the city. The Big City as Ellie called it. To a small town in the suburbs.

We moved when Ellie was about 14 months old, in fact we signed the contract on her first birthday. We were all 'happy birthday we bought you a house twice as big as our cozy condo!'

Ellie went to Gymboree classes, swimming lessons and played soccer in our new area. When it was time to register for preschool, it was so funny when we recognized some of the families at the first preschool open house from Gymboree. What are the chances?

We ended up sending Ellie to the second preschool we toured {only kind of knowing one family} and also signed her up for dance classes.

Dance class is only an hour so Madeline and I usually hang out with the moms and other little sibs. So now here's when things get a little confusing.

I helped set up for the Fall Harvest at preschool with a mom who used to teach ballet at the Y and now teaches where Ellie goes to class. This mom knows one of the girls in Ellie's dance class.

Fast forward to the pumpkin patch field trip - dance class mom and ballet teacher mom are there together. Not only does Ellie go to dance with this little girl, but she is also at the same preschool, just in the afternoon class.

That night, we went to a Creepy Crawler Bug Hunt where the kiddos brought flashlights and hunted outside for bugs {so much fun!!} and two little girls from Ellie's class were there as well as a little girl she went to Gymboree with.  Ellie didn't know what to do.  She said that she was so excited that her 'stay at home friends' and 'school friends' were all at the same party.

Holy small town Batman.

In the city you can get lost in the crowd. You don't have to see people you know unless you want to.

Now? Now I'm scared to go to Target with my unshowered hair in a pony tail because I'm sure I'll run into Susie Smith from fillintheblank.

Obviously I knew we were moving to a small town, but it just hadn't been so....well, obvious until now.

I guess it's a good thing I like these people.  ;)


How about you? Are you living it up in the big city or enjoying a more quiet, small town life? Are you happy with your choice?