I was supposed to post this on Thursday

Update: Rachel will be in a cast until next Thursday. The docs said they'd prefer her to stay in it for at least a week, and we can't get it removed on Sunday since the fractal clinic is closed and Monday is a holiday. The earliest appointment we could get is Wednesday. So...Wednesday it is.

Meanwhile, Rachel has taught herself to hold on to railings and walls and hop on her "good" foot to compensate.

Otherwise, she is completely cheerful. We went for a walk the other night and it was like going for a stroll with a real estate agent. Rachel has somehow picked up on my delight in and appreciation of pretty houses. So now she says, "Do you like THIS house, Mommy? Do you like THIS house? I like THAT house. I like that house, too." We passed one near our own house and she exclaimed, "Pretty porch! Pretty leaves!" (there was a big bush with virbrant green leaves).

Oh, yes, she has also gotten very huggy and kissy with me. I'll be talking to Drew and holding her in my arms, and all of a sudden she'll press her lips against mine and give me a BIG KISS. Then she'll start giving me kisses all over my face (which, in Rachel terms, means she smooshes her lips all over me without really kissing, but the thought is there).

The other night (the same night we went for a walk), we were about to get out of the car after I picked her up from school (Drew was in Seattle) and she said, "I don't love you. I love Daddy."

I was very hurt.

"That's not very nice," I said calmly. "You hurt my feelings. How would you like it if I said that? How would you feel if I went away?"

"I would not miss you," she replied.

I was very quiet while preparing dinner. So quiet that she wriggled off her chair and onto the floor, then wrapped her little arms around my legs.

"I love you, Mommy," she said.

"I thought you loved Daddy and not Mommy," I replied evenly.

"I lke Daddy AND Mommy," she said cheerfully. And about every hour for the rest of the night she'd say variations of, "I love you, Mommy! I love you very much."