Dubai Desert Summer Scorcher

This morning I ran the Dubai Desert Summer Scorcher 10K. It was hot and early! The race started at 6:00 am and was about 35 minutes outside of the city. The course was on the roads surrounding the Sevens Stadium. The stadium is used for rugby, they also have cricket pitches and it looked (and smelled) like there is also a camel race track. It was great to get out and run a race but I was a little disappointed in the course. The way it was advertised I thought it would be a little more scenic but it was mostly cleared desert instead of natural desert land. Thank goodness our new car has GPS Navigation unit  in it...I would probably have never found (or attempted to find) the stadium without it!

Indoor Fun

Between Savannah's cast and the heat outside we have been looking for indoor activities to keep Savannah occupied. During the week, we are still going to our play group and music class but we also at least go walk around the mall one afternoon and have found some different things to do at home. This week we did "mess-free" painting, played with pipe cleaners and of course our normal toys and puzzles. On Friday, we went to dinner with friends but not before stopping at Magic Planet for a few rides!

What Cast?

It is amazing how well Savannah has adapted to her cast. Now you have to keep a pretty close eye on her as she is attempting to move around, almost like she doesn't even have  a cast on! She figured out how to scoot around on her butt to move around the apartment and play with toys. She is also sleeping better now that she has figured out that she can indeed roll over to lay on her side or belly. She gets mad when you stop her from doing something, like today when she attempted to use the kitchen chairs to pull herself to a standing position (her cast is not made for standing/walking). She continues to sleep in our bed, which will be a habit we have to break when her leg is better. We can't put her back in a crib, as she will use the rails to stand up and we can't put her in her toddler bed because she will attempt to get out. For some reason in our bed, she stays put! It is baffling how small a king size bed gets when a toddler sleeps in the middle of it...and why do they insist on sleeping the "wrong" way in the bed? :) The only thing she doesn't enjoy is bath time (which normally she loves). We have her leg taped and bagged to keep the water out and have tried multiple tricks to help make it more enjoyable for everyone...the winner so far is letting her give her toy Minnie Mouse characters a bath while we give her one! Hopefully, when we see the doctor next week he will have good news for us regarding how much longer she has in the cast.

Madagascar and the Movie Theater

This afternoon we decided to give the movie theater a try! Madagascar 3 just opened in Dubai. Savannah isn't a huge movie watcher but loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and will sit for a long time to watch that so we figured it was worth the try. We "hyped" it up a little by watching Madagascar 2 at home the day before. Savannah also loves animals and likes to say "hippo"! Overall she did great, she watched the entire movie and loved the popcorn snack!!! It will be interesting to see if she sits still that long once the cast comes off her leg but it was a great indoor, sitting down activity we could do as a family.

Savannah is 22 Months Old

How is it possible that we are only two months away from a second birthday? Savannah is talking (and repeating) lots. Most of her talking is one word, labeling but she can communicate a lot of her needs and wants (which takes out a lot of the guess work), Her favorite word continues to be "NO". We are working on the sounds that animals make. So far horse, duck, dog, sheep, cow and pig seem to be her favorite although she likes to say "hippo". We are also working on colors and letters, but everything is "yellow" or "o". Savannah continues to be a pretty picky eater, but she is eating plain noodles, cucumbers and had a hummus sandwich for lunch (we are happy with the successful baby steps). She is still a self-proclaimed vegetarian eating only cheese, milk and a very occasional egg. Savannah continues to love all things Minnie Mouse, books, balls and swimming. She has four stuffed animal friends that the favorite seems to rotate by day. They have very original names: Ducky, Bear, Baby and Minnie! These four sleep with her and are on continued rotation for playtime. Savannah also requests to wear dresses and has just started asking to wear a  bow in her hair. (Partly, because I told her that Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck and her baby all wear bows!) She just started saying "mommy" and "daddy", which is sweet sounding, even when it is over and over and over... 22 months is a little different as her leg is still in a cast from her toes to her mid thigh. Hopefully we have only a few more weeks!

We continue to enjoy watching Savannah grow and change, especially when it seems like daily she can do or say something new!

Let the Healing Begin

We have been back to the orthopedic surgeon twice now. We went on Monday to have it x-rayed by the orthopedic doctor and have the hard cast put on. We did this, put after looking at the x-ray, the doctor decided that he needed to do a "closed reduction", which basically means setting (or pushing) the bone over a few degrees. He felt like the two pieces of bone were about eight degrees off. Although, he said that because her bones are young and still growing that they would probably compensate and adjust on their own without any future problems. Or he could push them a little, which would give them better alignment and ultimately a better healing process. We went back today to have this done. He measured and drew on her cast, then cut a small wedge out of the cast so that he could access the bone. He quickly moved the bone, and re-casted it. After having another x-ray done, it looks much better aligned. We go back again next week to have it x-rayed.

They were able to give Savannah a local anesthetic, which involved two injections that she did not enjoy! This was supposed to help the pain, but also make her a little drowsy. Instead, it made her a little hyper! She was wide awake. It obviously helped with the pain because she had more of a reaction to the injections then she did the doctor pushing on her leg. To help keep her distracted she had been playing with my phone. While the doctor was holding her new (wet) cast in place she turned the phone onto the camera and told him to say "cheese"....he was a good sport and was laughing with her and told her to go ahead and take as many pictures as she wanted. Thank goodness we have been able to find good doctors while in Dubai!

Unfortunately, the estimated time in the cast has gone from 3-4 weeks to 6-8. I still have my fingers crossed that over the next few weeks and with a few more x-rays, the time will move back down...especially since Savannah and I leave for St. Louis (by ourselves) in five weeks!

Madonna Concert in Abu Dhabi

Last night I went to the Madonna Concert in Abu Dhabi. This was her second stop on her MDNA Tour. Chris surprised me for Mother's Day with tickets to the show. We were supposed to go together and and worked over the last few weeks to find a babysitter. We had everything set...until Savannah broke her leg. We decided that we could not leave her with a babysitter, so instead of selling the tickets, Chris insisted that I still go. I went with my friend, Beth. We had a great time and it was an amazing concert! Plus, it was probably the best people watching I have seen in Dubai/Abu Dhabi since we moved here. Madonna stuck to her brand and performed the same concert here that she will perform on the rest of her tour. She is an amazing performing and even through the summer desert heat (the concert was outdoors) she danced, sang and performed throughout the entire show. She stayed true to her name and still pushed the envelope, created a stir, was controversial and potentially broke a few UAE laws. It was a once in a life time show, I have the best hubby!

Keeping Busy...

Savannah seems to be feeling better but the challenge is keeping her entertained. She can't swim or do a lot of the things we do in a normal day. We did go to our play group on Monday. A friend of ours was the host so Savannah stayed and played a little longer. Thank goodness for good friends. Jacob had a blast pushing her around in the wagon and she had a blast being pushed. Neither one of them seemed to mind that they didn't get to switch roles. We have also been going for walks in the evenings...just to get outside! We spend the rest of our days coloring, doing puzzles, playing (or eating) play dough and playing with her toys that can be played with sitting in one spot. Chris has also found a way to play catch with her sitting on her bed. Tomorrow we are back to the doctor for her hard cast.