Such sweetness for a stranger!!

I talk to my daughters all the time, however, I will be the first to admit that I am not always sure how much they understand in life. Today, Cailin taught me just how much she understands, and how even a three year old can have the most compassionate of hearts.
I use face book to keep up with my friends. I noticed a friend of mine posted a comment on a picture of a little girl who was in the hospital for some reason. The little girl looked close to the same age as Cailin. I asked my friend what was the story with the little girl. She told me that it was her friend from high school and her daughter. The daughter was just recently diagnosed with AML leukemia. My heart instantly broke. She gave me the link to a website called Caring Bridge. Sarah has her own pages on there to keep family and friends up to date. I read their story. I wanted to cry. Mom is about the same age as me, and Sarah is only 2 months older than Cailin. She has to have 8 months or so of chemo. I can’t imagine how Cailin would react if she had to spend that much time in a hospital. I don’t know how they are doing it. The great thing though, is that they have the utmost faith in God. Every journal entry seems to be praising God for bringing them this far, it doesn’t seem like they are asking why us… I sent mom an e-mail to let her know her daughters smile caught my eye on face book and that I would continue to keep them in my prayers. I asked mom what Sarah’s favorite color was and she told me green. I am going to make her a headband with different shades of green and white. Cailin saw the little girl’s picture on my computer screen and asked me who that little girl was. I told Cailin that her name was Sarah and she was the same age as Cailin. I told Cailin that Sarah was pretty sick and had to stay in the hospital to get better. I asked her if she would like to get Sarah a coloring book and crayons and we could mail them and she could play with them in the hospital. She says, “No mom, actually, I think she wants a little pet shop instead. It will make her feel lots better to play with them”. OH MY GOSH! When did my little girl get to be so sweet and caring? I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. When my mom was out, she had a cough. Every time mom coughed, Cailin would ask “you otay ranny”
We were in Wal-Mart and I took Cailin to the little pet shop pieces and asked if she wanted to pick one out. I showed her the ones with just the single animal, and Cailin tells me that Sarah really wants the bubble bath set. Just like the bubble bath set that she had. (There is a set that has a monkey, kitty and puppy in a bath tub. The monkey has bubbles on its head. There is a vanity, toothbrush, soap, hair dryer, shampoo bottle, perfume sprayer… lots of little pieces). Cailin told me this is the best one because it had 3 different animals, and lots to do. She told me that it will make her sooo happy and make her feel soo much better.
She brought tears to my eyes!! We went to church and she was telling everyone that she got a little pet shop for Sarah who is in the hospital so she can feel better. She can’t wait to get it in the mail. I hope we can brighten this stranger’s day with a little pet shop and a head band. I know they have touched my life!
Sarah, this is for you. Feel better sweetie. Maybe one day I will get a chance to meet you!!!

Prejudice towards the letters

Cailin and I have been working on the alphabet lately. She has been working on it for about two weeks and has gone from not knowing what a letter is, to being able to sing the ABC song. She can tell you "A says AAAhhh, B says buh, and P says popcorn". It makes me smile. She sang the ABC song last night perfectly. She didn't slur the LMNOP like a lot of people do! Today, she was singing over and over on the way to MOPS, but she was leaving off WXYZ. When I tried to remind her of those letters, she would cut me off and tell me she was singing by herself. I asked her what happend to the last 4 letters. Her reply, "I don't like them anymore". I guess you can skip the letters you don't like anymore.

Stop the Music

Every night before bed, and even before nap time, I will stretch out on cailin's bed next to her and sing a few songs before I leave the room for her to sleep. I am not a great singer, but i am not completely tone deaf either. Lately when I start to sing to her, she puts her hand to my mouth and says "juss tuddle momma, juss tuddle" (Just cuddle). Apparently she thinks my singing isn't the greatest!

On another note though, she is ALWAYS singing to her babies as she carries them around the house!!

Conversations with Cailin

Yesterday, we were leaving the soccer fields from visiting with Daddy before he went to a meeting back in Joplin. Chris buckled Cailin’s car seat while I ran to the potty. The piece that hooks across Cailin’s chest, he tends to hook it kind of low, so one day I told him that it needs to be up at her boobs. Now EVERY TIME Chris buckles her up, she always tells him “Hook at boobs daddy, at boobs”. She reminded him of this yesterday as well. Once we were driving, we had a funny conversation

Daddy buckled me.
He did?
Yeah
Daddy did a good job
At boobs too!
You have such a good daddy.
Gettin’ better mom.

I had to ask her why she said ‘getting better’ because Chris is a great daddy for her. She gave me the response to get out of everything… “I non’t know”.

Later that evening, we were in Wal-Mart and I stopped to look at the nursing bras because I really need some new ones. I got to have the following conversation with Cailin:

What’s that momma?
It’s a bra.
A bra?
Yeah, a bra.
Cover’s boobs?
Yes, it covers up boobs.
Covers MY boobs?
No, you have a little bit more growing before it covers your boobs.

I died! I had tears in my eyes when she asked if they covered boobs. I didn’t think she grasped that much yet, but I guess she does.

Recovery is almost worse than surgery

This week has been tough on Cailin. For the most part though, she is handling it like a trooper. Rarely complaining and mostly taking her medicine like we need to. We have hit the 5-7 days post op which are the hardest and the hospital was right, they are hard. Sunday night/Monday morning, Cailin woke around 4:30. She woke up hurting and screaming. It took both of us to get her to take some Motrin and that was a battle. Afterwards, she kept saying “rock daddy chair – mommy nurn”, over and over. Chris tried to cuddle with her and give her hugs and loving to sooth her, but she kept pushing him away. She didn’t want anything to do with Chris. I kind of felt bad for him. It took me a good hour and a half to get her calmed down and back into bed. She wasn’t all the way asleep when I went back to my bed, but she was significantly more comfortable and settled.
While I am somewhat flattered that she wanted me over daddy at night, by the time yesterday afternoon rolled around, I told Chris it was his turn and I needed a break. I was pooped. Between her being tired from the night before as well as her just being a two year old, I was going bonkers!!!! It shouldn’t take 5 attempts to get her to take some medicine that she normally likes. After she stands in the tub, slips and hits her lip on the side of the tub, she should understand why mom is telling her to sit down. I shouldn’t have to ask if she needs me to smack her bottom and she tells me yes. And then as soon as that happens, give me another attitude thing that she knows isn’t acceptable and instantly covers her mouth so she doesn’t get in trouble for that as well. She shouldn’t need a shower 10 minutes after she takes a bath because she is sticky from spitting medicine everywhere in a fit. It shouldn’t be a battle to get dressed. There are all of these “shouldn’t’s that happened yesterday. It was exhausting.

It is 1130 not and she is still sleeping. She went to bed at 930, woke at 2 hurting bad, we got her a dose of motrin and got her back to sleep (took about 40 minutes). She is still asleep now though. I am hoping with this much sleep that we will have a much better day today. I pray that the healing will be speedy and she will be back to normal soon!!

Cailin’s Surgery

I tried to get my cleaning done on Tuesday because I knew this week would be hectic. Cailin’s surgery was Wednesday. I went to bed around midnight but I didn’t sleep well. Seriously, how many moms sleep well the night before their child has surgery?
Well before the crack of dawn (5am), the alarm clock began to ring. I was already awake unfortunately. I stumbled down the steps and got my clothes. They were still down on the dryer from being folded last night. I let the dogs out to potty, and went back upstairs to get dressed. By the time 5:30 rolled around, I was dressed, and ready to go. Chris has his shower and was moving the car seat from the truck to the car. I didn’t want to wake up my sleeping girl by turning on the light in her room, so I turned on the bathroom lights and opened her door. Of course she was sleeping so soundly… against the wall. I moved her to the end of the bed and planned to change her without waking her too much. As soon as I touched her though, she was up. She needed to potty. She pottied and when I told her we needed to get dressed, she said she was “poop-nin”. I gave her a few minutes to go, but she didn’t. When I tried to get her up, she again told me she was “poop-nin”. I got her dressed and hair combed while she sat on the potty… and did nothing.
Cailin wanted to hold my hand while we were in the car. Once we got to the hospital, Chris dropped me of at the door and I took the bags and the paperwork in to check in while Chris parked the car and brought in Cailin. I should have waited with Chris. They didn’t do any check in at the desk. They took us into a room right away. There were two waiting room chairs and then a big huge recliner. After about 2 minutes, someone came in to do all of our paperwork. Cailin sat on daddy’s lap while I sat in a regular chair and signed everything.
Before I go any further, I have to tell you, this is NOT a children’s hospital. With that in mind, with the area where we were, you would have thought that it was. They were FABULOUS! KUDO’s to everyone working there. Not only did the work hard to make Cailin feel at ease, they made mom and dad much more comfortable too.
The lady that was doing all of our paperwork had an ID bracelet for Cailin to go on her ankle. We all made such a big fuss that she got a special bracelet. She loved it. This hospital worker left and in came a RN. She introduced herself to Chris and I and then she stooped down to Cailin’s level and greeted her as well. She let Chris and I know what to expect for the day, and she told Cailin what was going to happen… however, it was a much more vague description for Cailin. Instead of saying surgery, she told Cailin she was going to visit Dr. Walker. That kind of thing. When ever we had to do something with Cailin, such as checking height, weight, oxygen saturation, and such, the nurse always started with Daddy trying it, then it was mommy’s turn, then it was Cailin’s turn. This was she wasn’t afraid by the time it was her turn. Cailin thought it was great that she could make the SpO2 meter beep with her thumb and the nurse let her push the buttons on it. Next came in the anesthesiologist. He asked Cailin if he could listen to her chest to hear her heart. She sat so still for him! He told us she would get a sedative while she was sitting with us, then we would move to a kind of holding area. From there, when she was significantly calmer, they would take her to the surgery suite, play with the masks and after 2-3 breaths of the bubblegum flavored gas, she would be asleep enough to start an IV and get her intubated and ready for the surgery itself. Dr. Walker is known for being one of the best doctors in the area for her field. She is also one of the fastest. The anesthesiologist told us that it would take about 30 minutes from the time they separated Cailin from us to the time she comes off anesthesia. It would take just a few minutes to wake up, and then most kids normally fall back asleep. They stay in a highly monitored area for this part. When she wakes again, then she will be moved to a recovery room and we will be taken to her.
A nurse came in next with the sedative. She told us that some kids fall asleep, some get giggly, and some get glassy-eyed. It depends child to child. Cailin opted for #3. She was soo spaced out. They moved us to the holding room. There was a window to the nurses’ station so they could monitor everyone. They had mats and bean bags on the floor for bigger kids that might want to get all stretched out. Cailin started slurring her words so much. She sounded like she had a few too many drinks! She watched the Disney channel and tried to talk to daddy, but we didn’t understand much. Finally (5-10 minutes later), it was Cailin’s turn. They have wagons with blankets and pillows in them for the kids to ride in back to the surgery area. Cailin loved the wagon ride. We get to the end of the hall and they have hugs and kisses corner. We gave our lovin and told Cailin we would see her soon. The nurse told us that she could take one of her animals that we brought with us back to surgery with her so she wouldn’t be so frightened.
As soon as she went through the doors, another nurse greeted us and took us to the family waiting area. We asked if we could go eat. We were in the cafeteria for about 15 minutes, and then waited maybe 10 more minutes. Our names were called. They told us that Cailin was out of surgery and to go around the corner to wait for Dr. Walker to come out and talk to us. Dr. Walker came out with an elephant beanie baby. She said that everything went really well with surgery. In the state between coming out of anesthesia and falling back asleep, she got to pick out a beanie baby and she chose the elephant. She was a trooper. We sat back down in the waiting area and waited for Cailin to wake before she was moved to a recovery room.
We were told that for her to go home today, she needed to be drinking on her own and have at least one wet diaper, or successful trip to the potty. After waiting 20 more minutes from talking to the doctor, they sent us on the way to Cailin’s room. She was in a chair on a nurse’s lap sobbing slightly and hugging her wolf in one hand and a sippy cup of apple juice and ice in the other hand. I climbed up onto the bed and Cailin was placed in my lap. She cried. She cried hard. It broke my heart. I knew she was hurting and there was nothing that I could do about it. In between sobs, she was drinking her apple juice though. I didn’t expect that so early!!! A nurse brought in some Motrin for her and she gobbled that down and calmed down a little bit. It took her a good hour to calm down significantly. She fell asleep. She woke close to lunch time and told us she needed to potty. We unplugged her IV pump from the wall and she went to potty in the bathroom. We went back in the room and she didn’t want to sit on the bed any more. For lunch, she had chocolate pudding, chocolate ice cream, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. She finished a 2nd cup of juice. This was at 12:30. She still wanted to wander in the room, and then tried to go out in the hallway. We had the door closed, but she learned how to open them pretty fast. The IV pump began to beep low battery, but we couldn’t plug it in and keep her still enough. I had to talk to the nurse about this.
She told me that the IV had to stay in as long as we were in the hospital. I told her what was going on. She said she would be in shortly. About 2-3 minutes later, she came in, took the IV out of Cailin’s hand, and then told us we were set and could go home. That was good news. I wanted out of there as soon as possible.
On the way out the door, Cailin noticed cookies on the lunch tray and asked for them. She ate those in the car on the way home and didn’t complain about it hurting one bit.
We got home and she played for about 40 minutes then got a bit fussy. Cailin and I lay down and took a nap for an hour. She woke up crying because she hurt. It was 30 minutes away from a dose of Motrin, but I gave it to her anyway. 10 minutes later, she was showing me how she could jump, and build with blocks, and color, and play play dough. She drank more of her apple juice.
At one point, she found the other apple juice container and asked for it. I told her that is what was in her cup already. “No momma, this one. This one… mate brooat allll betteeerrrrr”. She sure knows how to work the system. She is still talking like she is drunk, but I know her throat is pretty messed up right now.
I am hoping she will get a good night’s rest, and so will Chris and I. She had last dose of meds at 7:30, and went to bed at 8:30. It is 9:30 now and I am going to join Chris in a nice snooze in our bed. I don’t know if Cailin will wake in the night needing more medicine or not. I hope she feels okay enough to get the rest that she needs. Dr. Walker told us the hardest part of this surgery is going to be once we get home. Wish us luck.
I am so thankful that so far, things have gone as well as they have. I am so thankful that the staff at the hospital work so hard to keep the kids and the parents at ease. I am so thankful that we get to sleep in our own bed tonight!!! God is good to us!!!

Biting

Cailin has a new habit of biting. I don't like it. To try to curb this habit, i smack her mouth when she does it... I don't do it hard, but enough to make her stop. She normally cries because i damaged her pride. I DO think her biting is related to her cutting her last two molars... Anyway, Friday, she bit my shoulder, my arm, my wrist, my finger and told me she wanted to nurse which I veto'd so fast for 2 reasons...
1. I didn't want her to bite my boob
2. She is done nursing.
Anyway, Friday night, I must have had "IDIOT" tatooed on my forehead. Cailin comes to me and gives me her finger. She tried to shove it into my mouth. I asked her what she was doing. Her reply...
Mommy bite finger, I mack yo mout... as she makes a smacking motion...
I don't think so!!!! At least she knows what the consequences will be.

Mini-me

Last night, Cailin got what I affectionately call a snot-sucker out of the bathroom. She had me sit down and put a hand on my forehead. "Dit Still momma". Okay, I'll sit still... she got the snot sucker and jabbed it up my nose. I asked what she was doing. "Dit buuugers momma, dit Buuugers". Glad to see she watches everything!!!

She grabbed Chris's hand one day and she used her fingers to pretend they were nail clippers. She holds chris's hand and kept saying 'snip, snip' and with each snip, she would wipe her hand on her pants like i would wipe her clippers on my lap.

Silly Mom

A few days ago, Cailin had a small box of goldfish. She also had a small stuffed puppy. She kept putting the puppie's nose into the box. The following conversation is what followed:

Mom: Mmmm Cailin, It looks like that puppy likes the goldfish.
Cailin: Yeah Momma!!
Mom: He says "MMM, I love goldfish".
Cailin: No momma, he says woosh woosh (our f's come out like an sh).

Silly me for thinking a puppy could talk!!!

Cailin Pictures

These are some random pictures that I have taken lately... they are in no particular order.

First, we got a new car. It's a jetta and I LOVE it!!! I told chris that is we could afford it, i would love to get a second one. That way, he can have one to drive to and from work, I can have one to drive around when I need to drive, and we could just use the truck when we need to haul something, or when we need the 4WD. It makes sense... the car gets 35-38 miles per gallon and the truck gets about 14-16. Not to mention it is soo much easier to get in and out of... especially with Cailin... I am dreading using the truck with 2 kids...

Anyway, Here is Cailin helping Daddy put the front lisence plate on our new car.

While I was at the dealership to get the wipers fixed, Cailin decided to test drive an Audi TT Convertable.

Seatbelts Please!



Speaking of driving, Cailin LOVES to drive!!


This is the bed that we are looking at for Cailin.





Easter Pictures

Putting colors on the eggs was fun!! We only cracked ONE egg as we threw it into the cups of colors!!!






She spilled some juice in the car before we were able to take pictures and was changed out of her dress before a nap, so her Easter shots show a sleepy, messy little girl…

Mommy’s helper LOVES to do laundry!!!



Twist ups write on people and paper... so much for keep it on the paper.


Cailin LOVES the cat and always wants him on her lap.




Bath Time! We like to swim in the tub!!








Finger painting is FUN!!! I strip down naked and paint!! Even though the paint is washable, this is safer!





The flooding that we had right before Easter. This is a road with campground on wither side of it as well as Big Spring park… what a mess!!









This is a camp ground believe it or not

My Ray of Sunshine through the clouds!

Oh the weather outside is frightful…

Yesterday we had over a dozen ‘super cell ’ thunderstorms come through our4-state area. It was horrible. We had severe thunderstorms all day long. Twice Joplin had tornado sirens going off and they had to see shelter. Chris said he spent over an hour of his day in a storm shelter at work. His storm shelter was the stairwell. Cailin and I stayed home and didn’t go anywhere till the storms cleared. We started with some cabin fever and ran to the store real quick. Cailin looked SOOO stinkin cute in her little rain coat and froggy umbrella. Here are some shots of her showing off... a pretty smile, and a "Big Girl Smile".

Cailin Can Count!!

Cailin can Count!!!!! I was so excited, and proud this morning. She was coming down steps from my room and said "momma, dount steps... un, doo, bree, dix, debin, eeeight, nine, ten YAY NA-NIN!!" It was very cute!!

ps, it still counts as counting if we skip 4 and 5 right? That isn't too bad for just turning 25 months old today right?

Growing up!

Not Cailin this time... It's me. I have a watch. I wear my watch ALL time time. I love my watch. I feel naked if I leave the house without my watch. My watch is nothing fancy. To be honest, it is quite the opposite. I think I spent a grand total of $14.99 on it 3-4 years ago. It is a black plastic band on a waterproof Timex watch. It has a light on it, it has a stopwatch or timer, an alarm, It can beep every hour if I want and i can keep 2 different time zones on it which is handy when traveling back to the east coast... My watch band it cracking. The little loopy thing that holds the extra band down against your wrist has fallen off, or broken off... I don't remember. Now I use a 1cm in diameter hair tie to keep it down. It adds a bit of color to it! My watch has definitely seen better days!!!

I have decided that i really ought to look into one that is a little more girlie, something that I could wear to church or to go out and play, and one that looks a little more grown up. My 2 main requirements for a new watch was that it couldn't have that elasticized metal band. I don't like my arm hairs being pulled out when ever I move my arm. And the other is that I would like for it to display not only the date of the month, but also the day of the week. My current watch has this and I rely on it SOOO much.
Chris has a Citizen Eco-Drive watch. It doesn't have a battery. I am not sure exactly how it works, but the basic gist is that it will take in sunlight or artificial light through the face and charge itself up. A full charge on his watch will last about 2 months. He hasn't worn his watch for several years and it stopped. All we had to do was put it under a 60 watt light for about 6-10 hours and it was good.
I was killing some time on Saturday while a friend took Cailin to get her picture taken with the Bunny. She wasn't happy. It was better without me there. She wasn't looking for me for security. Instead, I was hiding in the closest jewelry store watching from there. I thought that it would be an ideal time to check out watches. I found some that I really liked. One had a pearlized look to the face. It was pretty. Definitely would pass as a dress watch. There were a few inset diamonds around the face that decorated the face up a bit too. I learned the pearlized part was mother of pearl. The band was stainless steel... there was one with and one without gold accents. Check the price... OUCH. it was over $200. I was later told that most of these watches were in this price range, but they are good watches and would last a long time. One plus, there were at least a few that had my day/date requirement and NONE of them were stretchy elastic anymore.
I think I am going to grow up and finally buy an adult watch!!

New Room

Cailin is getting a new room. It is easier to move her room to the guest room and keep her room as a nursery. We are telling her that she gets to have a BIG GIRL ROOM and a BIG GIRL BED. She loves it. There are still 'grown up sheets' on the bed. The bed is shoved into a corner of the room. There is no headboard or footboard on the bed. I made it sideways so that the blankets/sheets pull down from what is really the side of the bed instead of the headboard area. The comforter is pulled down from the headboard side just a touch to cover what would be the footboard area. To hide this, it was simple, all we had to do was put her stuffed animals on that area of the bed. NOT ALL of her animals covered over 3 foot by 2 foot area of the mattress.
She LOVES sleeping in her 'big girl bed'. Who cares if it needs some kid touches. Here are some shots of this 'big girl room'!!!!!!

These first 3 are of the beginning of the cleaning/rearranging process.







Here are some of the After shots as well as Cailin Modeling her ner bed.










Here is her after her first full night in her new bed.

Update on Potty Training

We went out to dinner tonight. I had the brilliant idea to take the seat part of cailin's potty chair, which fits onto adult toilets with us stylishly stashed in a pretty bag to hide it. It was a good idea. FOUR times during dinner, Cailin told me she had to potty... and did so on the big potty.

We are going to save so much in diapers.

Growing up so fast

I can’t believe how fast Cailin is growing. In 2 weeks, she turns 2. One year ago, I had a little girl who couldn’t walk on her own. Her vocabulary consisted of a few one syllable words. She was still sleeping in a crib. Now, she is speaking in sentences that are 5-6 syllables long already. This seemed to start over night. She is very concerned with how others are feeling and always tries to make them happy. She has opinions of her own now, and knows how to express them (even if it is the most inappropriate time).

The biggest change that I am noticing right now is that she is learning to use a “big girl potty”. About 2 weeks ago, we decided to try teaching her to use the potty. I wasn’t sure how to go about doing this, so we used what I will call the ‘Naked Method’. I stripped her down on the bottom half and let her run around naked. Every time I would have to potty, Cailin would follow and sit on her potty too. Sometimes, she would pee pee, sometimes nothing. If I asked if she had to potty and she said “no”, it was fighting a lost cause to get her to sit on the potty and try. Within three to four days, there were no accidents on the floor. We used pull ups when we were taking naps, and a diaper when we were out and about, or when Cailin was going to bed for the night. That was it. Last week on Thursday, she surprised me. I didn’t see her disappear, but apparently she did. When I went to use the restroom, she had pottied in her toddler potty and didn’t even tell us. So much for thriving on praise and M&M’s for reinforcement.

This past Wednesday, I was in the shower getting ready to run some errands. Cailin was where I couldn’t see her for a good 5 minutes or so. When we went into the bathroom that she uses to get a brush for her hair, I noticed she pooped in the potty… again without telling me! Good job big girl!! Yesterday we hit another potty milestone. We were eating lunch. It was me, Chris, Cailin and Billie. Cailin was sitting in her seat dancing while she was eating. All of a sudden, she started to cry. I was wondering if she might have pinched her foot or something with all her wiggling. We tried asking what was wrong, but she just climbed down and came over to my chair and tried to climb on my lap. I picked her up and asked what was wrong. She says "poppy momma, poppy". She was telling me she had to potty. She had a pull-up on instead of a diaper while we were out and about. We walked into the bathroom and she immediately tried to get her pants down. I helped her and then lifted her onto the potty. With a death grip around my neck so she wouldn’t fall in, she went.... ALOT. Her pull-ups were still dry. I put them on around 9, and we ate at 1. That is a long time for her without going.

Last night, we were out celebrating a late valentines day dinner with some friends. After dinner, the guys went to Home Depot and Lowes, the girls wandered in the mall. Cailin tells me she needs to potty, and she went on a big girl potty again. An hour later, the same thing, but she pooped this time. I think it has finally clicked that it is better to go on a potty and keep those pants dry.

Dr. Hamby has told us that Most kids don’t start potty training till they are two-and-a half to three years old and not to get discouraged if it takes us a while. I am well aware that this is early and that she might get some set backs and might retaliate and go back to diapers, but for now, she is doing wonderful. I can’t believe how much she is growing up!!!

Do Mom's ever stop worrying?

Oiy. Cailin had a recheck doctor appointment today. On January 11, I took her to the doctor because of a nasty cough. Turns out she has double ear infections that were nasty. She was put on medicine for 10 days and we will see you at her 2 year old check up. Sounds good. TWO weeks later, she had an uber snotty nose, a gross cough (again). We made an appointment and went back... again. She had another bad double ear infection... again. Dr. Hamby wanted to see her in 2 weeks again to make sure that it cleared up this time. That check up was today. Guess what... She has another ear infection... still. We aren't sure if it is again, or if it is still... most likely still. Chris said that he had ear problems when he was little too. I don't know if I did or not. In a little less than 3 weeks, we will go back for her 2 year "well baby" visit. At the same time, we are going to re-check her ears again. This is the third medication we will be on in a month. It tastes nasty. The pharmacy REQUIRES you to flavor it because it is so gross. Dr. Hamby told me that if her ears were still not healed up by the time her 2 year check up rolls around, we need to take her to an ENT. We have already been to this ENT. She was AWESOME last time we went. Last time we saw her, Cailin was not quite 1 year old and had strep throat 6 times. She reccomened surgery to remove her tonsils, but said she would wait a bit longer because she was SOOO young. Dr. Hamby warned me that IF we have to go to her for ear infections this time, not to be surprised if she still talks about the possibility of taking out her tonsils. He said that they can affect her ears as well. The other possibility may be discussing tubes in her ears. If it helps, it helps, then do it, although I HATE that possibility. This is the girl who was constantly jumping into the pool, who lays back in the bath tub to play, who loves putting her face (and ears) in the water during bath time and who loves to swim. I know that having tubes in her ears will make things more challenging to keep them dry.

I am trying not to worry, and I am telling myself this NASTY gross disgusting medicine is going to work, however, in the back of my mind, I am still paranoid that I am going to be going down this road again to the ENT. Please say prayers that her ears will be better with this medicine alone!!

Bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Last night, I woke at 4 am to hear the aquarium on Cailin's crib through the monitor. The bubble feature of it is LOUD. I wonder if they have re-formatted it so that it will be a touch quieter... if so, i might need to invest in one. Anyway, it ran for the 10 minutes and as soon as it stopped, I could hear her turn it back on again... and again, and again... I went down to peek on her. She was curled in a ball on her pillow just under the aquarium sucking her thumb. She wasn't asleep though. I figured either she was snotty, and the coughing kept her up, or her teeth were sore and keeping her up. I got out the Robitussin and Motrin and went to join her. She sees me, leaps off the bed and says "I naped mom. I nap". This is normally her way to say i took my nap and am done now. I told her that we weren't taking naps, it was night night time. She took her medicines and lay back down. Lately she wants her bed EMPTY except her, a pillow and a blanket. She throws everything else on the floor. She curled up again and i put my head down next to her. It was uncomfortable, so after 2-3 minutes, i stretched out on the floor and tried to rest some. every so often she would peek her head over the edge of the bed to make sure i was still there. She would ask if i was sleeping. I finally realized she wasn't going back to sleep with me there so i went back to my room. She cried for a minute or two, but then was quiet. I am not sure how long it took her to fall back asleep, but the aquarium was quiet for the rest of the night. It is 9:30 now and she is just waking up.

I miss This

From the day Cailin was born, until she was at least 16-17 months old, I rocked her to sleep every single night. Sure there was that occasional night that we were out late and she fell asleep in the car, but most of the time, we would rock to sleep. Cailin isn’t feeling well and was uber fussy today. I know she didn’t sleep well, I could hear her coughing quite a bit throughout the night. Shortly after she picked and barely took 3 bites of her lunch, she sits on my lap on the floor crying and I started to rock her. She calmed down, and becomes very quiet. Chris tells me that her eyes were starting to drift shut. I move into her room and we rock for a while longer. She was asleep within five minutes. I continued to rock her, letting those little drool droplets roll down my arm, but enjoying this moment that we used to share every single night. When it was bed time, Cailin asked if we could rock again. YOU BET!! She didn’t fall asleep this time, but we rocked for about 20 minutes before I put her into her bed. I sang to her, she sang with me once in a while. After I realized she wasn’t going to sleep on my lap, we moved to her bed. She wanted me to put my head on the pillow next to her. I did, and I got to watch my baby fall asleep again. I miss getting to hold her and rock every night. I did notice at lunch time where she used to fit on my lap between the arms of the chair, now her legs dangle down the side. She has gotten so tall and growing up so fast. I can’t believe she is going to be 2 soon!!

Mind Your Manners Mommy!

Apparently Cailin has been listening when I am working with her on her manners, she now says Excuse Me (stuze me) before plowing into you with her stroller, she MOSTLY remembers to say Please, and almost always says thank you. I am very proud of her, however, she did remind me that I am not minding mine all the time and even though she is a child, I need to use my manners with her as well.

Earlier this week, Cailin found Chris’s stash of Pepperidge farm goldfish. She LOVES them just as much as her daddy does. She was eating some out of the bag when she runs to me with one in her hand saying “Ere mommy”. I stoop down and open my mouth. When it is less than an inch away from my mouth, she pulls is back and gets a grin on her face… “peeese mommy…. Peeeeeeessee…” I forgot to say please. I said please and she says “ere-go momma” and puts it into my mouth.
Thank you for that gentle reminder that even though you are small, I still need to mind my manners!!