O-I-O-I

Angelee and I went on a little road trip the other day to the helmet place.  When she first got her helmet at the hospital, it was so tight I was afraid it would squish her brain going on.  We did have to tug a bit to get it on, and then a snap under her chin meant it would not fall off.  I was afraid she would balk at wearing the thing - it would drive me crazy!  But the helmet, to her, meant freedom.  It she was wearing the helmet, she could get out of bed.  If she was wearing the helmet, she could walk around a little bit.  If she was wearing the helmet, maybe Daddy would take her for a ride in the wagon.  So she wore it without struggle, and we called it a "hat" because she loves hats.


Her once swollen head (no big-headed jokes here!) is back to a normal size, and her "hat" has gotten loose.  It slips down over her eyes, or cocks over to one side.  Usually it falls over her right eye, leaving the left side of the helmet high and not covering the thin but tough skin over her unprotected brain.  It worries me.  Also, Angelee's chin is getting a bit of a rash from the straps we have had to cinch way in to keep her hat on.  Time for a new helmet, I thought.

So that's why Angelee and I were in the car, driving and driving.  I spent the first half of the trip in deep thought, trying to sort out some of the things that have been plaguing me.  After a while, I pulled out of my reverie and remembered that I had a sweet little passenger.  We talked for a while, her pointing to things out the window and me trying to guess, without turning around and taking my eyes off the road, what it was she was looking at.  She likes seeing cars and trees.  She loves to see a dog in a truck.  She gets airplanes and helicopters mixed up, but likes both.

At our appointment, we found out that the next smaller size of helmet was too small for Angelee.  They replaced and adjusted the padding in her helmet, and now it would stay put.  I bet our insurance company is glad they don't have to pay for another $300 helmet!  So if this is the one we will keep, we can put stickers on it!  We left the office, Angelee giggling because she kept going the wrong way on purpose to make me chase her.  "Siyee (silly) Mama!" she kept saying.

We sang songs all the way home.  We sang "Popcorn Popping" and "The La La Song" ("Sing," by the Carpenters), "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and her current favorite, "O-I-O-I," also known as "Old MacDonald."  She loves making the animal sounds for a cat, horse, pig, cow, bird, sheep, fish, and bear.  She has a block with the dog, though, and can't tell us what it says.  We miss her high-pitched "arf!"  She sings along when I do the "E-I-E-I-O" part: "O-I-O-I".  I laugh and she loves it.  I love it too, and keep singing.  My voice was hoarse for a while.