Quilt Show

Last year I took the girls to a quilt show. A while back Bethany had said that she would like to go to one.

Dad had to work, so it was just the girls and me. My first overnight trip out of town with no other adults to help with Kimmie. Bethany was 16 at the time, and good help, but not quite the comfort that another adult provides. My main concern was driving in a strange city, checking into a downtown hotel with Kimmie and all her "stuff", and parking the car.

We had a very nice trip and it all worked out well. The valet attendants were extremely accommodating.

To make the trip more enjoyable for the girls we also went to a children's museum, a natural history museum, an aquarium and a mall--so Kimmie could get her shopping fix!

We went to the quilt show twice. It was not Kimmie's favorite thing. The first time we went Kimmie was tired since it was after the children's museum and the natural history museum. She did not like me stopping to look at anything. After a while I offered her a piece of fabric that I had purchased. She snatched that fabric and started wrapping Brown Bear up in it. Brown Bear spent the rest of the trip wrapped up like a baby doll.

The second time we went to the show, Bethany had stopped at a vendor booth to look around. I found a place to park Kimmie's wheelchair so we could wait on her. As I looked at the booth where Bethany was, I decided there was space for me to push Kimmie over there to look. I carefully parked Kimmie's wheelchair in a spot where I thought she would not be able to reach anything. She is notorious for unfoldng things, unwinding things, ripping tags off, and tearing labels and stickers off. I kept one eye on Kimmie while I looked. She was leaning and stretching trying to reach something. While I was moving her so she was just out of reach of everything, the man operating the booth rushed over and asked if she likes flannel. I was stammering around trying to figure out how to answer him when he handed Kimmie a flannel fat-quarter piece of fabric. Kimmie snatched it up, grabbed her little panda bear and started wrapping it up. I finished my looking and headed to check out before she became too grabby again. As I was checking out the man asked me what her favorite color was. I told him she likes blues and greens best. He reached under his table, came up with a stack of flannel fat-quarters, pulled a blue one out of the stack and handed it to Kimmie. I told the man repeatedly that I would pay for the fabrics Kimmie had, but he wouldn't hear of it. Kimmie had another little panda bear along for the ride, so she located it and wrapped him up.

I paid for my items and moved her out of there. We went back across the way to wait on Bethany. When Bethany was finished making her purchases, she came over to us laughing. Kimmie was sitting there in her wheelchair with a baby panda wrapped in a pink blanket in one arm and a baby panda wrapped in a blue blanket in the other arm. Bethany said that it looked like Kimmie had twins, a girl and a boy. Bethany also said that the man at the booth was telling her how cute her sister was.

Kimmie made a new friend.

She held those bears, one in each arm, for a long time. It kept her happy for a good while.

After our trip, every morning as we were preparing to leave for school, Kimmie would have to pick which blanket her little panda bear was going to be wrapped in that day, and I would have to wrap him up just right for Kimmie. This went on for several weeks. I'm not sure what her teacher thought of this, but, oh well, it's Kimmie.

She still has her little blankets. Sometimes she will get one and wrap something up. Usually she gets frustrated and I have to wrap it for her. Nobody else can wrap it just right for Kimmie. I wrap it really tight and tuck the ends in so that it doesn't fall off without a lot of tugging.

Kimmie may be 20, but she's still a lot like a 3- or 4-year old.

--Mom

P.S. She never did like dolls. Her bears were always her "dolls."

Pandas Get a Bath

Panda bears are one of Kimmie's loves. She has quite a collection of panda books, movies and stuffed animals. Her stuffed animal pandas range in size from a giant plush to the Ty beany baby size. The ones she plays with the most are the little ones. She has seven or eight of these little ones. I think there are four identical Ty ones, a couple other Ty versions, and then a couple other brands.

She often takes these little ones out and about with her and they were starting to get quite grubby. I told her they needed a bath. Brown Bear needed one, too. His fur was quite matted.

So, the other day I threw them all in the washing machine with some towels. Brown Bear survived the washer and dryer. That's always our first concern. I was sitting with Kimmie when Dad pulled that load from the dryer. He brought the little pandas in and gave them to Kimmie still warm from the dryer.

Kimmie very carefully picks up each panda bear and sniffs it. She held them by their front paws and sniffed each one's tummy. One by one she did this until she'd smelled each one three times, just like a momma bear sniffing its babies.

Then she started examining their faces. She held each one around the neck and looked and looked at their faces. The way she holds them around the neck it looks like their heads might pop right off. Before the bath she could tell them apart by the dirt marks, and she always picked the dirtiest one to play with. Now she had to figure out which one each was by some tiny difference. It's amazing how she can usually tell them apart, just like she can tell identical shoe strings apart that came out of the same package just ten minutes ago!

She's so funny! I sat there watching her and laughed. The sniffing I'd never seen her do before and it was too funny!

--Mom

Disney World - Pooh, Eeyore & Tigger

I have been busy and have not finished my stories about our trip to Disney World!

The first characters that we saw, that Kimmie wanted to hug, were Pluto and Goofy. We waited in line and she hugged on them with her Pooh Bear in tow.

One of the workers, cast members, commented on her Pooh Bear and asked if we had seen Pooh yet. I said no, so he pulled out a map and marked exactly where we could go to see Pooh.

We made our way to the character greeting place where Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger were and got in line. The area where they were was pretty good size. The line went along the side of the area with a rope to keep those waiting out of the greeting area, but we could see Pooh and Eeyore and Tigger.

One of the cast members was walking along the rope chatting with those waiting. When he stopped to chat with us, he noticed Kimmie's Pooh Bear and watched her hold her arms up towards Pooh wanting to hug him. The characters were getting ready to leave for a couple minute break. As Pooh was walking past, the cast member called to him to come over to Kimmie. Pooh reached down and hugged Kimmie in her wheel chair. She was thrilled. When Pooh left, Kimmie reached for the cast member and gave him a big hug around the neck. He melted.

The next thing I knew he was unhooking the rope and telling me to take her up by the front of the line so she could be first when the characters returned.

Eeyore had not left yet. Kimmie got herself out of the wheel chair and into Eeyore's arms for some good hugs.

They were all very nice to her. I kept watching the characters to see when they would stop hugging on her so I could pull her away, but they would just keep on hugging.

When they returned, she hugged on them some more.

Every morning when I get her up, she stops at the pictures we hung in her room and points at Pooh and Eeyore and Aladdin. And then her beloved Brown Bear gets lots of hugs as she remembers.

--Mom

Brown Bear's Adventure

Brown Bear, for those who don't know, is Kimmie's teddy bear. Brown Bear was big brother's teddy bear first. Kimmie loved Brown Bear so much that big brother let her have him many, many years ago. Kimmie named him Brown Bear after her favorite book when she was little, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?" (Eric Carle)

Brown Bear is well loved. You can tell by the bald spots. He goes most places with Kimmie. He's even been through surgery with her, more than once. We always make sure we have him when going to a doctor.

Yesterday when we went to the doctor with Kimmie, we parked in the parking garage, rode the elevator to Level 3 so we could walk across the pedway to the office building. Once we arrived in the office building we took another elevator to the floor we needed.

When we were leaving the doctor's office we rode the elevator back to the third floor so we could walk across the pedway again, back to the parking garage. A woman on the elevator was talking to us and exited on the third floor with us. As I was talking to he, Kimmie walked over to the balcony overlooking the lobby and looked down at the fountain. As I continued talking with the woman, it crossed my mind that Kimmie might drop Brown Bear over the rail.

I glanced at Kimmie standing by the rail, she was fine, and then I turned back to the woman as we chatted. When I glanced back at Kimmie she was walking towards me with empty hands. Sure enough, she had dropped Brown Bear.

The woman and I rushed over to the rail and looked down. There lay Brown Bear. Fortunately she had dropped him rather than tossed him, or he might have ended up in the fountain.

BUT, as we looked down at Brown Bear, a lady picked him up and was walking off with him. As this lady was walking off with Brown Bear I started calling down to her, "Lady with the bear, wait, come back, lady with the bear . . . ". The woman I had been talking to started calling down to her as well, "Look up. Look up." I had no idea where the lady was going with Brown Bear.

She did stop and look up. (Whew!) I asked her to put him back and we'd come get him. She asked what floor we were on, said she was coming up and would bring him to us. A minute later the elevator doors opened, she stepped off, handed me Brown Bear and stepped back on the elevator. It happened so fast I hope I said "thank you," I think I did.

And Brown Bear returned to Kimmie's loving arms.

We have so much fun (well, that might be an overstatement) and so many adventures going to the doctors. We never know what might happen, who we will meet, who Kimmie will decide to hug, how people will respond to her . . .

--Mom

No More Oreos

No more Oreos, Halloween candy, or anything resembling chocolate or sugar!

Ever since Kimmie came home from the hospital, she has not slept well. If Kimmie doesn't sleep well, Mom and Dad don't sleep well. Funny how that works. We are ready for some good sleep at night.

She's not just waking up in the night; she is waking up hysterical, mad, frantic, screaming.

We ask ourselves, and each other, "Is she cold?" "Is she hungry?" "Is she thirsty?" "Does she hurt?" "Did she have a bad dream?" We ask her, too, but that's kinda pointless since all she does is scream at us and throw anything she can get her hands on. Fortunately blankets, pillows and Brown Bear are soft.

Don't know what's going on, but hopefully this new policy will help even out some things internally.

No more Oreos, Halloween candy, or anything else chocolate or full of sugar!

Kimmie's New Best Friend

Kimmie has a new best friend. He hasn't replaced Brown Bear, but he is going everywhere right along with Brown Bear.

Kimmie came home from school last Friday with a new Pooh Bear. She "earned" it at school. It's a beanie size Pooh and fits in the palm of her hand.

She has taken him to bed with her every night. She wants him every morning. She took him to horseback riding on Saturday and church on Sunday.

She has two others just like him that she has had for years, but they are part of the mass of stuffed animals, mostly bears, that she has.

This one is special because she earned him. She is proud of him.

--Mom

Beloved Brown Bear

I think I've written about Brown Bear before. He is a part of our family, usually attached to Kimmie's right arm. He is a worn and balding teddy bear. He is well loved. He sleeps with Kimmie every night. He goes to the doctor and to the hospital with Kimmie. He has been through surgery with her. She carries him to church, to the store, anyplace we will let her take him. We draw the line at school, too much risk of losing him.

I took him to work with me not long ago. I was going to be picking Kimmie up at school and taking her to the dentist. I knew she would want him at the dentist. I felt guilty leaving him in the car in the cold. He looked rather forlorn laying in the back seat all alone.

We often worry about what happens when Brown Bear falls apart. How will Kimmie deal with it.

Last week we were hopeful that she would attach herself to a new bear. She had snatched a brown bear from her sister's room and played with it the rest of the evening. We were hopeful she would take to this new bear, but we were skeptical.

For some bizarre reason Dad got the notion last week that if Brown Bear disappeared for a while, Kimmie would forget about him. Now Kimmie's sister and I looked at Dad like he had grown an extra head, but he persisted.

After Kimmie went to sleep on the couch that night, Dad carried her up to bed and intentionally left Brown Bear in the family room, taking her sister's bear up to bed with Kimmie instead.

A few hours later we were roused from sleep by Kimmie crying. She wanted Brown Bear, so Dad retrieved him from the family room. The next morning, he commented that she only lasted three hours without Brown Bear.

Since then he has made sure Brown Bear goes to bed with Kimmie.

--Mom

Mornings

Poor Kimmie. She is not a morning person, never has been.

This year her bus comes at 6:10 each morning. We try to let her sleep as long as possible, so we get her up about 5:45-5:50.

She's hustled out of bed while her breakfast is heating in the microwave. Her clothes are already laid out. She staggers around with her hair in her face and her eyes more closed than open. Brown Bear securely clutched in the crook of her arm.

She is quickly stuffed in her clothes. Breakfast is shoveled hurriedly into her mouth. Hair brushed. Teeth brushed. Glasses washed and on. Coat.

Then she boards her bus. I'm not always sure she is fully awake when she gets on the bus, and we think she often goes back to sleep on the bus.

No wonder she's grouchy in the mornings.

--Mom