Hannah's view of Disneyworld

This is how Hannah looked for much of her trip. Since she is such a good baby in all things, we had her nap in her stroller twice a day. The rosy cheeks are courtesy of both the heat and her internal fever setting, and since we weren't about to spend all that effort and money to get the girls across the country to have fun, as soon as her little cold became apparent on our first night in Orlando, we just dosed her with baby ibuprofen and dragged her out to the parks. My secret tip for any moms planning to take an infant on such an adventure is to bring your own stroller that has a full recline position, and nap the babies in an air conditioned restaurant. This method even worked for three year old Claire, when I threatened her with having to go back to the condo if she didn't lie down in the stroller and hold still while I made laps through an air conditioned eatery. For either girl it worked quite quickly, and then the child minder could relax for an hour with a cold Coca-cola. Hannah particularly enjoyed the live shows such as the Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Beauty and the Beast, and would stand in my lap and dance, watching everything with wide eyes.I had never been to Disney anything so I didn't realize the enormity of the parks, and of the individual attractions that would appeal to babies of all ages. I didn't get great pictures of Hannah in the It's A Small World ride, but I think she enjoyed seeing such a big place full of beings roughly her size. I think I have mentioned here that my goal when we learned about the MCADD was to teach her to see this illness as just a part of who she was but not by any means the most important part. I got smacked with the cerebral palsy and knew we couldn't really go through her life pretending she didn't have illness and injury to contend with, but right now, she doesn't actually appear to others to have any issues, and I want her to grow up not feeling burdened by what is on her plate. I'm still struggling with balancing the daily therapy as the most important thing I do with her with the reading and interacting and mental stimulation so she doesn't get delayed by not having age appropriate activities and just figuring out when to be overprotective and when to be cavalier about the ups and downs of life. If she were more sick I would have kept her home but she rallied so well each day and showed such delight that I am glad I took her out and filled her mind with magic.