Emily's vocabulary is growing rapidly and we are having more conversations than ever before. Here's a recent one from a few mornings ago.
Em: Mommy, dis huwts. (Said while patting her stomach.)
Me: Oh, Emily, your tummy hurts?
Em: Yes.
Me: Does your tummy hurt because you're hungry?
Em: Yep.
Me: Then I think maybe we should go get some breakfast and fill your tummy up.
Em: Otay!
--- FAST FORWARD TO A FEW DAYS AGO ---
Em: Mommy, eye huwts.
Me: Oh, your eye hurts?
Em: Yep. Num-nums.
(In other words... her eye hurts because she's hungry.... hmmm, something's wrong with that theory, but amazingly her eye stopped hurting after she ate!)
- - - - - - - - - - -
Another not so fun story -
With April being child abuse prevention month, Emily and I pass a new bulletin board several times a week. The bulletin board depicts a close-up of a little girl crying and it really bothers Emily every time she sees it... to the point that she recognizes that billboard from the front or the back.
I recently asked Emily about it as we drove by. She told me, "Baby cry. Nanny B ows. Hurt." And then she showed me the sign that she uses for scared. Let me break it down for you. If you remember a few weeks ago I wrote this post. It's about Emily's most recent traumatic visit to Children's Hospital when Dr. B aka Nanny B was a little less than comforting to Emily. Tell me my mom's heart shouldn't break every time we drive by that sign and Emily's face turns from smiling and content to sad, scared, and sympathetic for that little girl on the billboard. I know Emily replays her doctor's visit over and over in her head whenever something reminds her of it. She also doesn't like to take off her shoes, socks, or roll up her pants for physical therapy because they asked us to do that at Children's that day as well. The last time we drove by the sign, I tried to see if I could help her think of other reasons why the baby might be crying... we talked about things like maybe her brother was mean to her, maybe she fell down while playing and scratched her knee, etc., etc.
- - - - - - - - - - -
This one doesn't involve Emily, unless it counts that she was in the car when I saw this.
We were driving by a produce stand last weekend and the sign out front said:
OPENING MAY 36 & 37.
Is there something I'm missing?
- - - - - - - - - - -
And I'll end with this one tonight:
We ate at the Hong Kong Buffet a few weeks ago. Not that I believe in these things, but Emily's fortune cookie read, "Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos."
That explains A LOT. 'Nuff said.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Have a great day and be blessed! (There's another new post after this one.)
-jenni
Monday, April 20, 2009
Easter, Church and Early Birthday Party
I was going to put together a post for Emily's Easter with the family, but my sister did such a GREAT job with the pictures that I'm just going to send you to her blog to see the fun time we had. ;-) Enjoy, but be sure to come back when you're done!
While typically on the other side of the camera,
this particular mommabeast was caught with
a deer-in-the-headlights look while doing
"something" at church on Easter morning.
The past weekend was quite a bit of fun. On Saturday afternoon, Emily helped me bake cupcakes for our family get-together.
Okay, bake might not be the right word...
Our little ragamuffin watched me mix them up
and then helped clean out the bowl
after her "num-nums" went in the oven!
On Sunday, after church, we had Tom's side of the family over for a cookout/late Easter/early birthday party. Grandma Hypes was kind enough to bring bubbles for the kiddos to play with.
Emily was happy to show everyone how her bubble gun works.
I would say it was a successful training!
We took a few minutes to celebrate an early
3rd birthday while the family was with us.
(Can anyone guess what's wrong with the picture above?)
Em was pumped about having "ta-tot ice reem"
(otherwise known as chocolate icre cream).
And she was singing "Happy, Emmie. Happy, Emmie."
over and over again in the car on the way home from church.
It was a great weekend! We all had a great time and it was fun catching up with everyone again!
While typically on the other side of the camera,this particular mommabeast was caught with
a deer-in-the-headlights look while doing
"something" at church on Easter morning.
The past weekend was quite a bit of fun. On Saturday afternoon, Emily helped me bake cupcakes for our family get-together.
Okay, bake might not be the right word...Our little ragamuffin watched me mix them up
and then helped clean out the bowl
after her "num-nums" went in the oven!
On Sunday, after church, we had Tom's side of the family over for a cookout/late Easter/early birthday party. Grandma Hypes was kind enough to bring bubbles for the kiddos to play with.
Emily was happy to show everyone how her bubble gun works.
I would say it was a successful training!
We took a few minutes to celebrate an early
3rd birthday while the family was with us.
(Can anyone guess what's wrong with the picture above?)
Em was pumped about having "ta-tot ice reem"
(otherwise known as chocolate icre cream).
And she was singing "Happy, Emmie. Happy, Emmie."
over and over again in the car on the way home from church.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
We Had an Altercation OR Atta Girl
You get to pick the title for today's entry.
Last week, I was met at the door by the babysitter (we'll call her D) when I went to pick Emily up after work. As usual, Em came running at me shouting, "Mommy!" and then D was quick to fill me in that there'd been an "altercation" earlier in the day.
An altercation? Hmmm, interesting. My gears started turning... Who was it this time? Certainly it wasn't my little angel.
D is very good at telling us about things that happen throughout the day. She understands our kids very well and knows that they "talk" about their day with their parents and that they might not always get the facts straight... especially when the aforementioned kids don't have a good grasp on vocabulary yet... especially Emily who uses a combination of words, signs and pantomiming to get her points across.
Yeah, yeah, you don't care... you just want me to get to the point of the altercation, don't ya?
So, back to my story. D informed me that she and the kids were reading books and the kids were taking turns getting books and bringing them to her. Emily had gone to the shelf, picked out a book and a little boy (we'll call him J) not only took her book from her, but pushed her to the ground, sat on her and then proceeded to scream at her in his very high-pitched scream (which he knows scares her). D said that Em was shouting at him and saying, "No! No! No!" and when he wouldn't stop or get up, Em hit him. During all of this, D was trying to get the little boy to stop and to get off of Em and was also trying to get other kids and books off her lap so she could go split them up. She said as soon as Em hit him, she had a look of panic, that she knew what she did was wrong... but D didn't feel right punishing Em for defending herself.
The little boy did get disciplined and Em sat on D's lap and they talked about why it wasn't nice of J to do what he did and she asked Em if she knew that it wasn't nice to hit. She said that Em absolutely understood it but that it definitely stressed her out and she was more intraverted the rest of the day.
The next morning, Emily went to speech therapy and as we were pulling away from there she kept repeating, "D's, no. D's, no." until I figured out what she was referring to and asked if she was afraid to go to D's. She said she was and when I asked if she was afraid of J, she said "yes" to that as well. I talked with her for the next 5-10 minutes as we drove to D's and told her some things to do if J was acting mean. (Go to D, play with someone else, play in another room, etc.) She was still pretty clingy when we got there and I stayed with her a little longer than I normally do. Before long she was back to playing with the other kids like she normally does and all seemed well with the world again.
Overall, I think Em handled herself pretty well and did the only thing she could do at the time. She seems to be over the initial fear of what happened, but over the weekend while reading some new Dr. Seuss books with Tom she seemed to be overly obsessed with the "mean fish" in "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish". She wanted to keep talking about it, wouldn't let him turn the page, wanted to show me the mean fish and wanted me to talk about it.
One thing's for sure and we've seen this with so many other situations with Em. She's fairly quick to forgive, but she doesn't forget... ever.
Last week, I was met at the door by the babysitter (we'll call her D) when I went to pick Emily up after work. As usual, Em came running at me shouting, "Mommy!" and then D was quick to fill me in that there'd been an "altercation" earlier in the day.
An altercation? Hmmm, interesting. My gears started turning... Who was it this time? Certainly it wasn't my little angel.
D is very good at telling us about things that happen throughout the day. She understands our kids very well and knows that they "talk" about their day with their parents and that they might not always get the facts straight... especially when the aforementioned kids don't have a good grasp on vocabulary yet... especially Emily who uses a combination of words, signs and pantomiming to get her points across.
Yeah, yeah, you don't care... you just want me to get to the point of the altercation, don't ya?
So, back to my story. D informed me that she and the kids were reading books and the kids were taking turns getting books and bringing them to her. Emily had gone to the shelf, picked out a book and a little boy (we'll call him J) not only took her book from her, but pushed her to the ground, sat on her and then proceeded to scream at her in his very high-pitched scream (which he knows scares her). D said that Em was shouting at him and saying, "No! No! No!" and when he wouldn't stop or get up, Em hit him. During all of this, D was trying to get the little boy to stop and to get off of Em and was also trying to get other kids and books off her lap so she could go split them up. She said as soon as Em hit him, she had a look of panic, that she knew what she did was wrong... but D didn't feel right punishing Em for defending herself.
The little boy did get disciplined and Em sat on D's lap and they talked about why it wasn't nice of J to do what he did and she asked Em if she knew that it wasn't nice to hit. She said that Em absolutely understood it but that it definitely stressed her out and she was more intraverted the rest of the day.
The next morning, Emily went to speech therapy and as we were pulling away from there she kept repeating, "D's, no. D's, no." until I figured out what she was referring to and asked if she was afraid to go to D's. She said she was and when I asked if she was afraid of J, she said "yes" to that as well. I talked with her for the next 5-10 minutes as we drove to D's and told her some things to do if J was acting mean. (Go to D, play with someone else, play in another room, etc.) She was still pretty clingy when we got there and I stayed with her a little longer than I normally do. Before long she was back to playing with the other kids like she normally does and all seemed well with the world again.
Overall, I think Em handled herself pretty well and did the only thing she could do at the time. She seems to be over the initial fear of what happened, but over the weekend while reading some new Dr. Seuss books with Tom she seemed to be overly obsessed with the "mean fish" in "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish". She wanted to keep talking about it, wouldn't let him turn the page, wanted to show me the mean fish and wanted me to talk about it.
One thing's for sure and we've seen this with so many other situations with Em. She's fairly quick to forgive, but she doesn't forget... ever.
Grandparents
A cute email I received a few days ago regarding grandparents...
1. She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter, as she'd done many times before. After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, "But Gramma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!"
2. My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, 62. My grandson was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"
3. After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?"
4. A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like: "We used to s kate outside on a pond I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"
5. My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo and I said, "No, how are we alike?'' "You're both old," he replied.
6. A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather's word processor. She told him she was writing a story. "What's it about?" he asked. "I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."
7. I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me and was always correct. It was fun for me, so I continued. At last, she headed for the door, saying, "Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these, yourself!"
8. When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use Grandpa. Now the mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."
9. When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, "I'm not sure." "Look in your underwear, Grandpa," he advised, "mine says I'm 4 to 6."
10. A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting," she said, "how do you make babies?" "It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."
11. Children's Logic: "Give me a sentence about a public servant," said a teacher. The small boy wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant." The teacher took the lad aside to correct him. "Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked. "Sure," said the young boy confidently. 'It means carrying a child."
12. A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to their home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back," said one child. "No," said another. "He's just for good luck." A third child brought the argument to a close. "They use the dogs," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants."
13. A 6-year-old was asked where his grandma lived. "Oh," he said, "she lives at the airport, and when we want her, we just go get her. Then, when we're done having her visit, we take her back to the airport."
14. Grandpa is the smartest man on earth! He teaches me good things, but I don't get to see him enough to get as smart as him!
-and my favorite -
15. Grandparents are funny, when they bend over; you hear gas leaks, and they blame their dog.
1. She was in the bathroom, putting on her makeup, under the watchful eyes of her young granddaughter, as she'd done many times before. After she applied her lipstick and started to leave, the little one said, "But Gramma, you forgot to kiss the toilet paper good-bye!"
2. My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, 62. My grandson was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"
3. After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair. As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin. Finally, she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings. As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?"
4. A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like: "We used to s kate outside on a pond I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this all in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"
5. My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?" I mentally polished my halo and I said, "No, how are we alike?'' "You're both old," he replied.
6. A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather's word processor. She told him she was writing a story. "What's it about?" he asked. "I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."
7. I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me and was always correct. It was fun for me, so I continued. At last, she headed for the door, saying, "Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these, yourself!"
8. When my grandson Billy and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects. Still, a few fireflies followed us in. Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use Grandpa. Now the mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."
9. When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, "I'm not sure." "Look in your underwear, Grandpa," he advised, "mine says I'm 4 to 6."
10. A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother, "Grandma, guess what? We learned how to make babies today." The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. "That's interesting," she said, "how do you make babies?" "It's simple," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."
11. Children's Logic: "Give me a sentence about a public servant," said a teacher. The small boy wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant." The teacher took the lad aside to correct him. "Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked. "Sure," said the young boy confidently. 'It means carrying a child."
12. A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to their home one day when a fire truck zoomed past. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back," said one child. "No," said another. "He's just for good luck." A third child brought the argument to a close. "They use the dogs," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants."
13. A 6-year-old was asked where his grandma lived. "Oh," he said, "she lives at the airport, and when we want her, we just go get her. Then, when we're done having her visit, we take her back to the airport."
14. Grandpa is the smartest man on earth! He teaches me good things, but I don't get to see him enough to get as smart as him!
-and my favorite -
15. Grandparents are funny, when they bend over; you hear gas leaks, and they blame their dog.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Puppy Dog Eyes...
A few days ago, I was fighting a pretty bad headache all day and when it came time for bedtime Emily was all ready for me to go in and read to her. I asked Tom if he would mind putting her to bed that night and I whispered to Em, "Go give Daddy your puppy dog eyes."
She promptly did as directed. She walked right over to where he was sitting, paused just long enough to say "Bow Wow!" and kept right on walking to her bedroom. He had absolutely no idea why she was barking at him and once I caught on and quit laughing I translated for him.
Ah, the fun never ends in the Hypes House.
She promptly did as directed. She walked right over to where he was sitting, paused just long enough to say "Bow Wow!" and kept right on walking to her bedroom. He had absolutely no idea why she was barking at him and once I caught on and quit laughing I translated for him.
Ah, the fun never ends in the Hypes House.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
The Thin Mint Saga Continues
All right... which of my faithful followers tipped Emily off about my fear of her eating all my thin mints?!??
This morning, she went to the cupboard, brought me the box, looked at me with puppy dog eyes and held up 1 finger. Then, she went so far as to calm my fears by saying "not 2" and held up just 1 single finger again.
Oy, what's a mother to do! I gave her one.... and took the 2 she didn't want for myself. Hehehe.
This morning, she went to the cupboard, brought me the box, looked at me with puppy dog eyes and held up 1 finger. Then, she went so far as to calm my fears by saying "not 2" and held up just 1 single finger again.
Oy, what's a mother to do! I gave her one.... and took the 2 she didn't want for myself. Hehehe.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Potty Parties!
We decided last week that we were going to make a second attempt at potty training while I'm off for spring break. Emily agreed that she was ready to try again (a little peer pressure from her cousins, Abby and Gracie, who are well on their way helped a LOT).
Last week she used her little potty chair several times for us and out of the blue, this weekend she doesn't want to use her little potty chair but wants to use the big potty... fine by me! She still hasn't quite managed to let me know ahead of time when she has to go, but she manages to go every time I set her on the toilet.
She's been fascinated with some new Elmo and Disney Princess underwear that has been in her drawer and she shared last night that she wanted to try wearing them today.... we'll see how it goes!
Last week she used her little potty chair several times for us and out of the blue, this weekend she doesn't want to use her little potty chair but wants to use the big potty... fine by me! She still hasn't quite managed to let me know ahead of time when she has to go, but she manages to go every time I set her on the toilet.
She's been fascinated with some new Elmo and Disney Princess underwear that has been in her drawer and she shared last night that she wanted to try wearing them today.... we'll see how it goes!
Hats?
Emily went shopping with me this morning and as we passed through the "intimate apparel" section of the store, she spotted the bras and happily proclaimed to me that we were surrounded by "whole lot hats"! I did need to add a few new "hats" to my collection so we purchased some and Emily begged to carry the bag to the car for me and held onto it until we reached our next destination.
I watched through the rear view mirror as she took all of our goodies out of the bag and then watched her open the box that held one of my "hats". Sure enough, the "hat" went on her head and looked quite -- uh, how should we say -- special. I caught the whole thing on video since we were at a stop light but seeing how quite a few of my family, friends, and co-workers read this, I don't think I'm quite ready to share my dirty, er, clean laundry with the whole world yet.
Some day, when she's ready, I'll let her know they aren't really hats... but I don't think we're ready for that talk just yet. :-D
I watched through the rear view mirror as she took all of our goodies out of the bag and then watched her open the box that held one of my "hats". Sure enough, the "hat" went on her head and looked quite -- uh, how should we say -- special. I caught the whole thing on video since we were at a stop light but seeing how quite a few of my family, friends, and co-workers read this, I don't think I'm quite ready to share my dirty, er, clean laundry with the whole world yet.
Some day, when she's ready, I'll let her know they aren't really hats... but I don't think we're ready for that talk just yet. :-D
Monday, March 23, 2009
I've Made a BIIIG Mistake
Hmmmm, I'm trying to figure out how to undo this one. Let me know if you have any ideas...
I let Emily have one of my Thin Mint (Girl Scout) cookies this afternoon for her snack. She's hooked. She keeps asking for more. I was kind of cherishing the fact that Tom liked them but not that well and I was the only one in the house that really enjoyed them! I fear I'm going to have to hide my other box and at the very least I'm going to have to remove it from the snack cupboard that's conveniently located at toddler level!
And, no, I will not be sending my coveted thin mints to your house for safe keeping so it's probably not a good idea to even suggest that!
I let Emily have one of my Thin Mint (Girl Scout) cookies this afternoon for her snack. She's hooked. She keeps asking for more. I was kind of cherishing the fact that Tom liked them but not that well and I was the only one in the house that really enjoyed them! I fear I'm going to have to hide my other box and at the very least I'm going to have to remove it from the snack cupboard that's conveniently located at toddler level!
And, no, I will not be sending my coveted thin mints to your house for safe keeping so it's probably not a good idea to even suggest that!
A New Look
I've been getting a bit of spring fever today and decided to change our blog's template today to a more outdoorsie look. I tried finding some spring-looking templates for our blog but didn't care for the ones that I found.
Hope you like it!
-j
Hope you like it!
-j
RyRy, Play-doh Please
Emily's speech has taken off quite a bit over the past couple of weeks. She's starting to pick up new words on her own now and we sometimes hear her practicing her words through the baby monitor. She's also starting to putting several words together to make short sentences.
She looks forward to the weekends when her brother, Ryan, comes home and she practiced and practiced saying, "RyRy, play-doh, please." She couldn't wait for him to come home this weekend to ask if he would play play-doh with her. And, being the good brother that he is, this 17 year old boy obliged and made his sister VERY happy.
She looks forward to the weekends when her brother, Ryan, comes home and she practiced and practiced saying, "RyRy, play-doh, please." She couldn't wait for him to come home this weekend to ask if he would play play-doh with her. And, being the good brother that he is, this 17 year old boy obliged and made his sister VERY happy.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Botox 2nd shot - Follow-up
NOTE: I originally wrote this email to our family last week on Tuesday, March 10... but have debated posting it on here because I was simply so frustrated after the appointment and it came shining through in my email. I little dose of PMS didn't help the situation one bit. (Did I just tell the entire world that I'm not perfect and had PMS last week?!?!) However, after thinking about the whole situation and having time to step back for a bit, I think it is important to include this in our blog. There are other families dealing with situations similar to ours and it's not always pretty. There are bound to be speedbumps and hiccups along the way.
Tom and I have lived our life and our faith out loud. Our life is and always has been an open book. I'm also post-dating this blog entry so that it shows up correctly on our blog timeline.
- - - - - - - -
Hey all!
Em had a Botox follow-up appointment at Children's Hospital this afternoon at 4pm. She was in a great mood on the way down especially since we were going to meet up with Aunts Shell and Laura afterwards for supper. We got called back right about 4pm so it was looking good... but then apparently there was some sort of emergency ahead of us and it was nearly 5:30 by the time
the doctor finally came to our exam room. I hate it when they do that because by then Em's patience is running thin and she's played with everything in the room and chatted with everyone in the hall, etc.
Even on the way to Columbus, Em seemed really concerned when I mentioned they might take her shoes off or that they might roll her pant legs up. And when they asked me to do it she threw a royal hissy fit while squirming around and sitting on my lap. Instead of waiting for her to calm down, Dr. B seized the moment to see how much range she had in her ankles. Needless to say, Em was not at all happy and my shoulder was covered in her tears and snot in the few seconds it took to check her out.
Later, when things settled down a bit, Dr. B suggested that I give Em a dose of Benedryl prior to bringing her in... in other words mildly sedate her. I understand what she means... but really?
I wasn't real impressed with that and probably should have just asked the doctor to wait for her to calm down... after all, we waited an hour and half for her to come see us. ;-) But, I was thinking about Em and how to calm her down and get her to cooperate and wasn't feel snippy and brave at the time. Don't get me wrong the doctors that saw her were very nice and played with her and took time with her after the initial eval. But thinking it over in retrospect, we all know Em has an excellent memory and now THIS will stick in her mind the next time we need to come see Dr. B.
She was already worried about getting "ows" (shots) because she remembered that trauma from the last time when we came for the actual botox shots. I have a really strong feeling it's going
to get harder and harder for her to enjoy going down there if she's traumatized each time.
Dr. B still didn't feel that Em had much if any improvement over her initial evaluation (prior to Botox). She simply recommended increasing the dosage the next time Em gets the shots. She asked if Em had a lot of pain from the last set and I said "no" that she has never shown signs of
pain, she is just REALLY bothered by the fact that people hold her down when she gets the shot. Dr. B prescribed a topical numbing cream for us to put on Em an hour before her next Botox shot so that she won't have to deal with the numbing spray they've been using. Great. Now I have to attempt to put lotion on the back of her legs, get her to agree to leave a band-aid over both of them while we drive for an hour to get to our next appointment. This oughta be a hoot.
Some of our other discussions this afternoon were about the possibility of serial casting (using leg casts to hold her feet in position since she's still tiptoeing everywhere). However, Dr. B felt that serial casting could cause more damage. Seeing how Em reacted today, she felt she would
have to be sedated to get the casts put on (and I'm thinking also to have them cut off). Sedation has its risks - the casts could causing scarring if she fought them, etc. Another option our PT recommended was a type of night splint. Dr. B was also concerned about these, Em would probably have to be sedated to have the splint sized and made. They cost about $1,200 for each foot and would have to be replaced about once a year because she would outgrow them. She wasn't sure that would provide enough support and the right kind of bracing that Em would need. The other option that was thrown in the ring was surgery... but was quickly discarded because they said she wasn't old enough... they usually do those around 6 yrs. of age. At the end of the brainstorm-out-loud session, Dr. B. said that Em was a tough one and that she was really making her think.
I didn't leave this appointment feeling as optimistic as the other appointments we've had down there. Em was in much better spirits when we left there and was laughing and teasing with everyone as usual, but I don't feel like we have any firm plan of action yet. I'm going to talk
to her physical therapist again tomorrow and review the day with her. I think I'm also going to start seeking some information on my own and see what others are doing for kids this age. You'd think we had a pit bull or something with as much sedation talk as we had today!
Well, that's enough for tonight... I'm ready for my own sedation. I'm beat.
-jenni
Tom and I have lived our life and our faith out loud. Our life is and always has been an open book. I'm also post-dating this blog entry so that it shows up correctly on our blog timeline.
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Hey all!
Em had a Botox follow-up appointment at Children's Hospital this afternoon at 4pm. She was in a great mood on the way down especially since we were going to meet up with Aunts Shell and Laura afterwards for supper. We got called back right about 4pm so it was looking good... but then apparently there was some sort of emergency ahead of us and it was nearly 5:30 by the time
the doctor finally came to our exam room. I hate it when they do that because by then Em's patience is running thin and she's played with everything in the room and chatted with everyone in the hall, etc.
Even on the way to Columbus, Em seemed really concerned when I mentioned they might take her shoes off or that they might roll her pant legs up. And when they asked me to do it she threw a royal hissy fit while squirming around and sitting on my lap. Instead of waiting for her to calm down, Dr. B seized the moment to see how much range she had in her ankles. Needless to say, Em was not at all happy and my shoulder was covered in her tears and snot in the few seconds it took to check her out.
Later, when things settled down a bit, Dr. B suggested that I give Em a dose of Benedryl prior to bringing her in... in other words mildly sedate her. I understand what she means... but really?
I wasn't real impressed with that and probably should have just asked the doctor to wait for her to calm down... after all, we waited an hour and half for her to come see us. ;-) But, I was thinking about Em and how to calm her down and get her to cooperate and wasn't feel snippy and brave at the time. Don't get me wrong the doctors that saw her were very nice and played with her and took time with her after the initial eval. But thinking it over in retrospect, we all know Em has an excellent memory and now THIS will stick in her mind the next time we need to come see Dr. B.
She was already worried about getting "ows" (shots) because she remembered that trauma from the last time when we came for the actual botox shots. I have a really strong feeling it's going
to get harder and harder for her to enjoy going down there if she's traumatized each time.
Dr. B still didn't feel that Em had much if any improvement over her initial evaluation (prior to Botox). She simply recommended increasing the dosage the next time Em gets the shots. She asked if Em had a lot of pain from the last set and I said "no" that she has never shown signs of
pain, she is just REALLY bothered by the fact that people hold her down when she gets the shot. Dr. B prescribed a topical numbing cream for us to put on Em an hour before her next Botox shot so that she won't have to deal with the numbing spray they've been using. Great. Now I have to attempt to put lotion on the back of her legs, get her to agree to leave a band-aid over both of them while we drive for an hour to get to our next appointment. This oughta be a hoot.
Some of our other discussions this afternoon were about the possibility of serial casting (using leg casts to hold her feet in position since she's still tiptoeing everywhere). However, Dr. B felt that serial casting could cause more damage. Seeing how Em reacted today, she felt she would
have to be sedated to get the casts put on (and I'm thinking also to have them cut off). Sedation has its risks - the casts could causing scarring if she fought them, etc. Another option our PT recommended was a type of night splint. Dr. B was also concerned about these, Em would probably have to be sedated to have the splint sized and made. They cost about $1,200 for each foot and would have to be replaced about once a year because she would outgrow them. She wasn't sure that would provide enough support and the right kind of bracing that Em would need. The other option that was thrown in the ring was surgery... but was quickly discarded because they said she wasn't old enough... they usually do those around 6 yrs. of age. At the end of the brainstorm-out-loud session, Dr. B. said that Em was a tough one and that she was really making her think.
I didn't leave this appointment feeling as optimistic as the other appointments we've had down there. Em was in much better spirits when we left there and was laughing and teasing with everyone as usual, but I don't feel like we have any firm plan of action yet. I'm going to talk
to her physical therapist again tomorrow and review the day with her. I think I'm also going to start seeking some information on my own and see what others are doing for kids this age. You'd think we had a pit bull or something with as much sedation talk as we had today!
Well, that's enough for tonight... I'm ready for my own sedation. I'm beat.
-jenni
Friday, March 06, 2009
That is awesome!
....that would be her dad's response to the video below.
Since Daddy's out of town tonight, we worked on a surprise to send him. We worked on this at supper. I'm not sure if she'll say it without being prompted yet or not... but it's a wonderful start. It only took us 2 1/2 years to get here... but isn't it lovely!?!?
The other phrase we learned right before bedtime tonight was "Be nice"... she supposed to tell Daddy that the next he decides to tickle her!
Take care and be blessed (we certainly are!)
-jenni
Since Daddy's out of town tonight, we worked on a surprise to send him. We worked on this at supper. I'm not sure if she'll say it without being prompted yet or not... but it's a wonderful start. It only took us 2 1/2 years to get here... but isn't it lovely!?!?
The other phrase we learned right before bedtime tonight was "Be nice"... she supposed to tell Daddy that the next he decides to tickle her!
Take care and be blessed (we certainly are!)
-jenni
Friday, February 27, 2009
Of cookies, books, phones and body parts...
Emily continues to be fascinated with her valentines from a couple of weeks ago. She does a pretty good job at "telling" me who gave each of them to her. She even had a couple added when she went to visit Nannie and Papa last week and we dropped in a few that she received in the mail. (She loves to get mail, so thanks gang!)
Late last week, we were excited to find pre-made Valentine's Day cookies on sale (24 cookies for $1.00) All we had to do was take them off the cardboard sheet, put them on a cookie sheet and bake them. Emily was having a grand ol' time helping make cookies until about the 1:54 mark in the video... which involved putting the cookie sheets in the oven for a few minutes. Enjoy the footage! (Hint - Someone might be getting nominated for an Oscar soon!)
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Late last week, we were excited to find pre-made Valentine's Day cookies on sale (24 cookies for $1.00) All we had to do was take them off the cardboard sheet, put them on a cookie sheet and bake them. Emily was having a grand ol' time helping make cookies until about the 1:54 mark in the video... which involved putting the cookie sheets in the oven for a few minutes. Enjoy the footage! (Hint - Someone might be getting nominated for an Oscar soon!)
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Last week, Emily and I also got to share a few gorgeous sunrises together. We peaked out the window and Emily shouted, "DOD!". I knew immediately what she was talking about. One of her favorite bedtime books is called "Thank You, God!" by P.K. Hallinan and the illustrations are brightly colored and beautiful. The sunrise on those days looked exactly like the pictures of the sunrise/sunsets (Did you just hum a few bars from Fiddle on the Roof?) in Emily's book. I had to agree... God certainly did a fine job painting the morning sky last week!
(It's a shameless plug, but here's a direct link and you can order it through our store!)
(It's a shameless plug, but here's a direct link and you can order it through our store!)Anyway, back to the story about the story... Did I mention Emily loves this book? We've read the book enough times now that she can finish the sentences for me. I thought she was doing a really great job grasping what the book was about (being thankful and thanking God for the things that we have) until she started pointing to the little boy that's in every picture. "DOD!", she exclaims while pointing at the little boy. So apparently the concept of God and not being able to see him is escaping my 2 1/2 year old daughter at the moment. She IS a mighty fine prayer though!
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While Emily loves her "Thank You, God" book, her absolute favorite at this point in time is a another book that she picked up off the shelf at our store. We occasionally sneak in to the store to surprise Daddy and while we're there Emily likes to kill time by looking at books in the kid's section. Prior to Christmas we were frequently stopping in the store because that was Daddy's busy season and we didn't get to see him at home much. Every single time, Emily pulled the "God and Me" book by Penny Boshoff of the shelf and would gently flip through the pages and look at the pictures. "God and Me" is a children's devotional book with a themed page for every day (yep, 365 of them!), a short 1-paragraph story, a full-color picture and a scripture verse to look up for further reference. It's probably intended for second to about fourth grade but Emily loves to look at all the kids in the pictures and talk about what they're doing, what they're wearing and we throw in the short story and life application for good measure. This has been her favorite book for over 4 months now... which is VERY long in the life of a 2 1/2 year old! And, guess what?!?!? You could also buy this one through our store. (My background is in elementary education and I highly recommend it for toddlers through about grades 3 or 4! Heck, I even like looking through it with her day after day after day!)
Yet another shameless plug and link where you can buy the book through our store!- - - - - - - - - - - -
This evening Emily broke stride and in the middle of watching a video she walked over to the coats, picked her's up and started to hand me mine. The following dialogue ensued.
Emily: Nannie's.
Me: Oh, are you going to Nannie's?
Emily: Nes.
Me: Am I going with you?
Emily: Nes.
Me: Do we need to go see her right now or can we call Nannie and talk to her on the phone?
Emily: Nes.
(You can see it's a very deep conversation already, can't you?)
We put the coats away and I ringy-dingy'd Nannie and Papa. I put the call on speaker-phone... enjoy.
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Emily: Nannie's.
Me: Oh, are you going to Nannie's?
Emily: Nes.
Me: Am I going with you?
Emily: Nes.
Me: Do we need to go see her right now or can we call Nannie and talk to her on the phone?
Emily: Nes.
(You can see it's a very deep conversation already, can't you?)
We put the coats away and I ringy-dingy'd Nannie and Papa. I put the call on speaker-phone... enjoy.
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And, I know you're just dying to find out about the body parts part of the entry today...
Earlier this week as I was getting Emily dressed for the day she happened to be stripped down to her diaper (no, we're not potty-trained yet... that's a whole 'nother topic for another day!) and she discovered her nipples. {Did I just type the word "nipples" on my blog?!?!} And, NO, there is no picture to accompany this little story!
She was running her fingers over her chest, felt the little nubbins and the look that crossed her face was very similar to the look she gave the first time she tasted a lemon. "Messy", she kept saying over and over. What followed is what I fear to be the first of many talks about human anatomy which will eventually lead us down the path of the big talk about the inhabitants of aviaries and hives. Ahem.
Our daughter, being part elephant, is not one to forget things easily. Every morning since, she has located her nipples and we've had some matter of fact discussions about who and what have nipples... (e.g., mommies, daddies, Emily, grandmas, grandpas, cats, dogs, etc.) The chuckle for the day came when she went through this routine tonight at bedtime. She said each of the previous examples and followed one of them with "biiiiiig" ....Was that exaggerated enough? I'll let your mind wonder as to who she thought had big nipples, but you can rest assured she didn't think it was Mommy! Ahhhhh, reminds me of high school all over again!
{Wow... there, I did it again and revealed a little TMI! And with that ...this appears to be a good place to end today's blog entry before I start blushing!}
Earlier this week as I was getting Emily dressed for the day she happened to be stripped down to her diaper (no, we're not potty-trained yet... that's a whole 'nother topic for another day!) and she discovered her nipples. {Did I just type the word "nipples" on my blog?!?!} And, NO, there is no picture to accompany this little story!
She was running her fingers over her chest, felt the little nubbins and the look that crossed her face was very similar to the look she gave the first time she tasted a lemon. "Messy", she kept saying over and over. What followed is what I fear to be the first of many talks about human anatomy which will eventually lead us down the path of the big talk about the inhabitants of aviaries and hives. Ahem.
Our daughter, being part elephant, is not one to forget things easily. Every morning since, she has located her nipples and we've had some matter of fact discussions about who and what have nipples... (e.g., mommies, daddies, Emily, grandmas, grandpas, cats, dogs, etc.) The chuckle for the day came when she went through this routine tonight at bedtime. She said each of the previous examples and followed one of them with "biiiiiig" ....Was that exaggerated enough? I'll let your mind wonder as to who she thought had big nipples, but you can rest assured she didn't think it was Mommy! Ahhhhh, reminds me of high school all over again!
{Wow... there, I did it again and revealed a little TMI! And with that ...this appears to be a good place to end today's blog entry before I start blushing!}
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Catching Up - Part 6 of 6
Emily had a Valentine's Day party with her friends at the babysitter's last Friday. She LOVED it. She wanted to look in her Valentine's box on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights before bed and carried it with her to Nannie and Papa's house for several days this week. Nearly a week later, she looked in it again this evening!
Showing off her first Valentine's box
that she decorated at her babysitter's party.
Enjoying her foam heart from Gracie.
(Don't look too closely, those are HER teeth marks in it!)
Treasuring her valentine from Debbie.
Her beau, Jared, gave her one
with a kitty on it.
Showing off her first Valentine's boxthat she decorated at her babysitter's party.
Enjoying her foam heart from Gracie.(Don't look too closely, those are HER teeth marks in it!)
Treasuring her valentine from Debbie.
Her beau, Jared, gave her onewith a kitty on it.
*Disclaimer and fine print... no hair products were depleted in the making of this post. This was one of those days that Emily declared a "No Babbies" day... which on this particular day meant no scrunchies, barrettes, clips, or hair bands. Hence, the crazy sasquatch hair photoshoot.
Catching Up - Part 5 of 6
Our church held a Valentine's Dinner/Fundraiser for our youth group. The youth group served a spaghetti dinner and then our friends, Keith and Jessica, did some praise and worship music for us afterwards.
Jessica with a very happy and handsome baby Jonas.
I "think" this is the result of telling Emily to
turn around and say, "Cheese" to Daddy.
Emily's friend, the beautiful Miss Kael.
Keith and Jess
Post-party clean up and then run around like a crazy woman
all sugared up with candy and all the leftover balloons!
Jessica with a very happy and handsome baby Jonas.
I "think" this is the result of telling Emily toturn around and say, "Cheese" to Daddy.
Emily's friend, the beautiful Miss Kael.
Keith and Jess
Post-party clean up and then run around like a crazy womanall sugared up with candy and all the leftover balloons!
Catching Up - Part 4 of 6
Emily LOVES to read books. She goes to the library about once a week with Nannie and Papa and we read books together nearly every night. There have been quite a few evenings or weekends when Emily disappears for a little while into her room and when I peek in, this is what I see...
Catching Up - Part 3 of 6
Here are a few pictures from home while we were on Christmas break...
Love this picture...
We spent a lot of time flopping off of the couch and
reading our favorite new book, "Dod -- Me!"
(Otherwise known as "God and Me")
We also spent a lot of time playing with our
new Elmo sticker book from Aunt Shell. Even though the sticker book has sheets of stickers and pages to put them on, the majority of her new stickers ended up on Em as "Ows".
(pretend bandaids)
Love this picture...
We spent a lot of time flopping off of the couch andreading our favorite new book, "Dod -- Me!"
(Otherwise known as "God and Me")
We also spent a lot of time playing with ournew Elmo sticker book from Aunt Shell. Even though the sticker book has sheets of stickers and pages to put them on, the majority of her new stickers ended up on Em as "Ows".
(pretend bandaids)
Catching Up - Part 2 of 6
Christmas morning was fun as usual this year. This was the first year that Emily really got into opening presents and was excited to see what she had received.
A fun pose in front of the tree.
Taking a quick break from opening presents to play with Daddy
(who's pretending to sleep in the background).
Once again, pretending to sleep until Emily got in his face,
then he'd jump at her and scare the begeebies out of her
and make her giggle.
Digging in for those good presents in the back!
Ooooooh!
At the end of the afternoon, Em wanted to eat an apple...
and I mean a WHOLE apple. This is all that was left when she
handed it to me and proclaimed that she was done.
No, she didn't eat the penny, it's just there for size comparison!
A fun pose in front of the tree.
Taking a quick break from opening presents to play with Daddy(who's pretending to sleep in the background).
Once again, pretending to sleep until Emily got in his face,then he'd jump at her and scare the begeebies out of her
and make her giggle.
Digging in for those good presents in the back!
Ooooooh!
At the end of the afternoon, Em wanted to eat an apple...and I mean a WHOLE apple. This is all that was left when she
handed it to me and proclaimed that she was done.
No, she didn't eat the penny, it's just there for size comparison!
Catching Up - Part 1 of 6
'Twas the day before Christmas and what's there to do,
but play with Mommy's ribbons and make things askew!
but play with Mommy's ribbons and make things askew!
The way I figure it, these ribbons had been on the spool in the closet for about 6 years and were feeling a bit left out of the holiday spirit. It was worth all the fun and mess of watching Em untwist it all and play with it for the rest of the day!
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