Little spitfire

I'm going back to catching up on more pre-surgery photos, since I have so many really adorable ones that I can't resist putting up here.
Just FYI, however, QQ is doing great. So great, in fact, that we're having a bit of a time keeping a handle on her right now. The Q really doesn't like being kept down, and I think she feels like she needs to make up for the time she spent laid-low in the hospital. She came back with a vengeance after our evening walk yesterday, and I could tell she was feeling her oats. We had just bought her a new pair of sneakers (she's outgrowing everything in sight) and she started off by running at full tilt round and round the house...up and down the halls, and back and forth between me and the couch, screeching with laughter the whole time. This is a new skill, so it's more of an approximation of a run, and not at all safe. She still doesn't look where her feet are going, so every pile of magazines or dropped shoe is like an oil slick, sending her flying and forcing me to catch her in mid-air. This is rather heartstopping for a parent, especially since the kid is only three days out of a traumatic surgery, and still has a bandage holding her stitches together.
But she was so happy that I didn't have the heart to stop her.
Overnight, she managed to escape her arm braces (she's very nearly double-jointed in every single joint, so it's literally impossible to keep her in restraint) and pulled her bandage off. This gave us a small heart attack (even though he lip looked amazingly well-healed underneath...after three days!), and we decided to keep the optional checkup with her surgeon this morning.
The surgeon said she looked terrific and she would have taken the bandage off anyhow, so no worries (phew!) The surgical "superglue" over her stitches will last a few more days. But she is healing beautifully.
So, back to this photo series - in which QQ models the adorable Sweet Pea jacket my friend Carol sent her from New York.
I'd given her a bath before bed the night before, and she woke up with this distinctive hairstyle.
Anyone who knows me really well will know how long and how eagerly I've been waiting to put Q's hair in a spout on top of her head.
I could hardly believe that this was finally my chance! I couldn't get a rubberband to stay in, so I had to use a clip, and she really doesn't have enough hair even for that, so it would only stay in for 15 minutes or so at a time. QQ's hair does not grow quickly, in contrast to the rest of her, which grows like a weed.
Our little rockstar doing her Billy Idol impression again.
How cute is that? Now, I can't wait until I can actually get a clip to stay in. Then she'll be wearing this hairdo all day, every day!
Yup, Mommy's a bit obsessed with the hair spout.
This is QQ's tough look, that says "I'm from the mean streets of Xuzhou...don't mess with me!"
She's like Pebbles and Bam-Bam combined with this look. She's definitely a "Bam-Bam", not a "Pebbles" in personality, but she wears the Pebbles-hair well.
Trying to get Sam to give her a kiss on the face like he does for Mommy. Do you see the skeptical look on Sam's face? He's thinking "No way, José. First of all, you stink like baby. Secondly, you poop in the house. You don't seriously think I'm going to put my tongue on your filthy little face?"
To Sam's credit, he tried to force himself. But this was as close as he could stand to get. After that, he chickened out.
I eventually got him to give her a single, tiny lick on the hand...with a disgusted look on his face.
QQ posing for me. This is her favorite posing spot. She backs up to this bookshelf every time I ask her if I can take her picture...then she comes running over eager to see how she looks on camera.
Getting Mommy to help her put on her aviator goggles.
Does that hair crack you up the way it does me?
She has a hard time putting on this model without help. I think it's the front-closure.
But she's gotten quite adept with the regular shades.
This is her Risky Business look.
Demonstrating the concept of "through" with a pair of shades. She never misses an opportunity to act out a prepositional phrase.
Found a handbag. It has not escaped Q's notice that Mommy always carried a big bag over her shoulder, so whenever Q finds a bag lying around (shopping bag, string bag, plastic bag, doesn't matter) she slings it over her shoulder and parades around proudly with it.