Lobster time!

We took Savannah out to dinner tonight so she could finally have some lobster. She had randomly asked for it a couple weeks ago when she couldn't have solids yet. So we kept our promise and went out to Red Lobster. When we asked her what she wanted for dinner she kept pointing to the lobster on the seat cushions.

Well, after all that anticipation she tried her first bite and.... decided she does not like lobster! She tried a couple more bites and wouldn't eat anymore. It is a good thing Grandpa was only sharing his lobster with her. She did enjoy some shrimp, fish and some mac n cheese from our plates.

Last Post-Op Visit!

Today we met with Savannah's surgeon for a final follow up after her surgery. It went very well and Savannah is healing as expected. She is now cleared to eat everything except chips, crackers and anything considered too crispy. Savannah is a very happy camper tonight. She asked for cookies at her appointment so we picked some up on the way home and she also chose pizza for dinner tonight.

First solid meal! Finally!

Those who are friends on Facebook know that Savannah asked for Pizza a few weeks ago and when told she couldn't have that she asked for lobster instead. So don't worry, I plan on getting her some next weekend so her request will also be fufilled!

Angus does not seem entertained by bows and dress-up.

We now have no more surgical/cleft clinic appointments until next year. We will continue speech therapy which is down to only one session a week until school starts again. This week we registered her in a preschool that her speech therapists are based out of. It works out well because the therapist can take her out of preschool for her speech therapy sessions and we don't have to fit any other appointments into our week. She is excited to start her new preschool in fall! She will also continue to see her HMO therapist for speech therapy also.

Took daddy to Lunch in Coronado for Father's day.

Since we are here may as well play for a few minutes in the freezing water!

Disneyland!

A little over a week ago we took Savannah to Disneyland to celebrate her recovery from surgery. She has been cooped up in the house for so long now and has been such a good sport about it. The day before our trip Savannah had been given the okay to start adding some very soft but solid foods. We drove up on a Tuesday afternoon and stayed at a nearby hotel. We headed into the park for a couple rides after check-in because Savannah was so excited and had been talking about during the entire drive there.

Always happy to see Tigger.

First time meeting Eeyore. Finally!

After getting into the park we went on the three rides that she talked about on the way there... Haunted Mansion (her all time favorite), Snow White, and Winnie the Pooh. We then headed to Downtown Disney for dinner. We picked up some macaroni and cheese at Napolini and then headed to Tortilla Jo's. Tortilla Jo's is my favorite restaurant at Disney and I was not going to miss it. Unfortunately, they did not have anything Savannah could eat but they had no problems with us bringing in her own food. She even got a balloon animal made for her while we were waiting. She picked Pluto.

First solid (but still soft) food since surgery! Woohoo!

Pluto Balloon from Tortilla Jo's

The next day we headed into Disneyland. The day before we had measured Savannah for the 40" rides and she was a little less than an inch too short. So I decided to switch out her shoes for her tennis shoes and they made her the perfect height to go on some of the "big girl" rides. We headed to splash mountain first but it was closed. We went on Winnie the Pooh and as we exited they were opening Splash Mountain again. We got in line with only a couple people in front of us. It was perfect timing. She loved the singing animals but hated two of the drops. She is adamant that she will go on the ride again "some day" but not any time soon.  After going on a few more rides we headed over to California Adventure. She went on her usual ride requests and then we tried Jumping Jellyfish. She liked the ride even though she jumped every time it "floated" downwards.

Splash Mountain!!

First time on the Jumping Jellyfish.

After a perfect night of sleep we checked out of our hotel and headed to California Adventure for rope drop. Our plan was to get on Radiator Springs Racers first. We didn't want to battle the fast pass line and Daddy really wanted to take Savannah on it since it was the first time she had met the height requirement. We were almost there when we heard a cast member yelling that it was closed. So we quickly headed over to Toy Story Midway Mania since there is always a long line there. After Toy Story we headed back to Cars Land and Racers was just starting to open again. We hopped in line and only waited 30 minutes to ride. Savannah did not like going fast but didn't cry. She also does not want to go on this ride again any time soon. She says it is too fast and she doesn't like the little hills.

Just got onto Radiator Springs Racers.

At least she is still smiling afterwards!

 Last big girl ride of the trip was Soarin' over California. We told her that it was a big movie and that it will look like we are flying. She was okay with that but started to cry when we were strapping in. We sat her in between us and held her hands. She held on TIGHT to our hands but did not cry at all during the ride. Afterwards she was smiling and we asked if she wanted to do it again. Instantly she started to shake her head "no". Since coming home she has decided she likes this ride. She talks about it a lot and says she wants to go on it again. Splash Mountain and Radiator Spring Racers are still a no go.

First time on the bumper cars.

First time on Autopia. Where driving by braille is OK!

Savannah had a great trip and we were all so happy to get out of the house for a couple days. She went on a lot of new rides during the trip and she is still talking about it. She wants to go back so bad but she will have to wait until at least after summer break is over!

Driving home. Sweet silent success!

Post Op Checkup

We took Savannah to a follow-up appointment with her surgeon today. Everything is healing as scheduled and looks good at this point. She now has the green light to eat soft foods in addition to the liquid diet. She was very happy to have some scrambled eggs and cottage cheese for dinner tonight! She will also start going to speech therapy classes again next week. I haven't noticed anything different in her speech so it will be interesting to see if her teachers will be able to tell since they haven't seen her in four weeks now.

Checking In

Riding the Carousel at the mall!

Amazing gifts!!! Big thanks to Aunt Glee and Uncle John!

Hungry and can only eat purees?

No problem just eat all the ketchup you can! (Ewwww...)

Still Healing

Savannah is still doing well. She is still over emotional at times but seems to be doing well with the pain. We have been trying to keep her busy and have been going to the zoo every few days. Last weekend we went to the Wild Animal Park (aka Safari Park) so I could run a half marathon that I signed up for last year. Savannah and Daddy took a shuttle to the finish line inside the park. There they got to see animals and walk around while I was on the course.

The first and the worst of the hills.

I haven't been training so I was really slow this time. A little over three hours later I crossed the finish line. I was so confused when I was handed a laminated card on a lanyard with a photo of the medal. After all that running they had ran out of medals! Mine will be mailed to me in a couple of weeks. At least I finished this tough course complete with big hills. Afterwards we went and fed the lorikeets and petted the goats. Shortly after Savannah fell asleep and we headed home for naps. It was a good day and I am happy I decided to do it (I wasn't going to and changed my mind the night before!).

My "medal"

Feeding the Lorikeets after the half marathon.

Today we went to the zoo again and later this week we plan to spend some time at the beach since the weather is predicted to be 100+ degrees this week. Our plan of distracting her has been working well. We also plan to start speech therapy again in 2 weeks. I think Savannah will be happy to go back to classes again.

Required goat petting for today's zoo visit.

Nap time with a friend.

A fire in the riverbed near our home last week.

Surgical Recheck

Today we visited Savannah's surgeon to check the surgery site. Everything still looks good (HUGE sigh of relief!). She needs to stay on a liquid diet for a few more weeks to protect the surgery site and our next appointment/check up is on May 19th. I am hoping at that time we can start adding more food options. It is going to be hard to feed her nothing watery soup, whipped yogurts, and melted ice cream until then.