This is not how I normally roll, but…it’s the night before we’re getting on an airplane, 14 whole hours before takeoff, and all the suitcases and bags are packed! Well, about nine-tenths packed, anyway. Of course we had to leave out things like toothbrushes and deodorant, because we’ll use those tomorrow morning. But still! I’m surprised we managed it, and happy to have the evening to relax. Here, let me illustrate using these play-dough teddy bears that Annalie made the other night while I was cooking dinner:

When I told her she’d done a great job with the blue bear’s smile, she said, “Yes, he is very happy. And this one,” she pointed to the yellow bear, “is surprised!” Which is how Annalie felt when she came downstairs one morning this past week and found a play kitchen sitting in the living room.

“It’s a kitchen of my very own for me to play with!” Then she squealed and giggled before dumping the box of play food on the floor. She spent the morning making elaborate soups and cakes and serving them to me on her plastic flower plates from IKEA. It was a good morning.

You might notice that in these photos, Annalie is very nearly standing up normally. I have not mentioned her injured foot lately, partly because I have mixed feelings about the whole situation and partly because improvements seem to be occurring at a glacial pace. It’s been over a month since the box fell on her foot, so we’re reasonably sure it’s healed. Also, we’ve seen her climbing the play equipment at Chick-Fil-A and we know that foot can stand a lot of pressure without Annalie showing the least sign of pain. But she’s a stubborn one, our daughter, and she’s hanging on to that memory of pain and her fear of it happening again. I can actually understand that, since she’s got fewer than four years of living under her belt, and not much experience of pain and recovering from pain. And you know, on the off chance that the injury is still healing, I would rather she were cautious with the foot so she doesn’t have problems with it later in life.

She’s been limping and lurching around on her toes this past week, usually hanging on for dear life to our hands or a nearby stationary object. She’s doing it at least once or twice every day, but not enough that I was getting excited about it. It’s almost harder to help her stay upright as she wobbles on her tiptoes than to just carry her around. So I was—yes, you guessed it—happy and surprised yesterday when Annalie walked from the living room to the kitchen and back five or six times in a row! She was walking on her toes, and still wobbling a bit, but she was doing it without any suggestion on my part, and laughing while she was at it.

Annalie walking, sorta from bethany actually on Vimeo.

Today, I was again surprised and happy at Cassie’s birthday party at the base movie theater, where Annalie, Gabby, Annie and Morgan spent much of the film chasing each other up and down the aisle. Annalie still has a definite limp, but her walking is getting closer and closer to normal. We’ll probably have to carry her a bit at the airports tomorrow, but I bet by the time we come back home we’ll be hollering at her to slow down and wait for us. I would not be a bit surprised.