Returning to the land of the living

Well, it seems to be two-steps-forward-one-step-back for Flynn QiuQiu. She's still going forward at twice the pace that she's relapsing. But the relapses are still there. I'd show you a picture, but it's way too pathetic, and you'd feel dreadful for her. So I'm going to show you the "forward" pictures. OK, sort of. I mean, she isn't exactly chipper in this one. But neither would you be if you'd had the entire inside of your mouth cut up and re-folded.

This is her attempt at a smile. the "whisker" strips under her nose are designed to pull back against her cheeks whenever she tries to smile, thus discouraging her from doing so. It doesn't seem to be working. She is far from discouraged. She smiles when we tickle her ribs or her feet. She smiles when I blow her kisses. She smiles when I say "mama", or wave my hand, or brush my hair. This is only a partial smile, because when we went for this evening walk, she hadn't had nearly enough nap hours during the day. Nor had she had enough sleep the night before. So she was tired and on the verge of cranky...and wanting to smile anyway.
For the record, when she REALLY smiles, she opens her jaw and stretches the bottom lip, creating a better impersonation of a grin. This is really just her current version of her old "half-smile".

This is what she looks like most of the time these days...very pensive and prim. In reality she is not...I reapeat, not...a prim child. She's a wild woman. This expression is due entirely to the fact that much of her mouth cavity is stitched together at the moment.

This is the hopeful, "Do you have a bottle?" look. She has resisted real food for the past two days, accepting only apple juice and pedialyte, but today she chugged two entire bottles of real food (or at least yogurt, soy formula and rice cereal), and has been more open to mealtimes, which makes mommy's heart glad.

And this is her "take pity on me" face. This one will slay you where you stand. Really, it's just more of an "I haven't had enough naps" face. Or more pertinently, an "I kept daddy up most of last night, but he's a sucker for my cuteness" face.

Lest you be sucked in by her pitifullness, this is what she looks like most of the time. Full of energy and ready to rock and roll.

And this is a new expression, to go with all of her new sounds. I call this one the "Billy Idol".
"It's a good day for a...white wedding....."