Random Shots

 The family went swimming on Saturday at the indoor pool.  Afterward, Emily found this bucket of goodies in the kitchen pantry - her old sensory tub.  She still sits there and plays with it for quite awhile.  It will be nice when the weather is warm enough to move the tub outside and really make a mess.  Emily still requests lots of coloring - and has also figured out that she can climb the back of the dining room chairs like a ladder.  Uh oh.

So, I got a call from Emily's case manager from our health insurance (hmmm, I didn't even know that Emily had a case manager).  Nice enough lady.  She actually apologized for the company policy that was the reason for denying Emily the monthly thousand dollar plus synagis shots that are supposed to prevent RSV.  Maybe they were just sorry that they have to pay 4 times as much for her hospital stay as they would have had to pay for her synagis.  

Aaron is now referring to Emily as a little sponge these days - some of her new favorites are "Boon!"  (balloon), "thank you" "bad dog" and "Pat" (her daycare provider) .  And this morning she picked up a pair of her socks in the master bedroom and went to the door and told Aaron "off".  He opened the door and she ran all the way to her bedroom and pulled opened her sock drawer and put them away (it doesn't matter that it was a dirty pair!)

Thought it was time to make the move to a booster seat at the table.  It's a big hit - on the living room floor.  She was quite angry at me for daring to attach it to her coloring chair.  

Admiring her artwork from daycare.  We get a daily piece.  

Color!

Emily's new favorite is coloring.  She paints at daycare, but at home she wants crayons.  I'm pretty sure she'd do it all day long, given the chance.  It makes it even better that she can crawl up onto the dining room chairs independently now.  Be prepared if you visit.  She just doesn't stop when she's up on the chair, given the opportunity she'll keep going until she's up on the table.

Notice in the second picture that it's dark outside.  No, it's not bedtime.  We're coloring at 6 AM.  She's still not sleeping well, but I think we may have figured out the problem - ear infections in both ears, with the left one bulging.  Poor thing.  Looking back, she's probably had problems since the RSV... so she's on antibiotics now and I'm hoping that it leads to more restful nights ahead.  Although last night didn't seem to count, we'll give the meds a couple days to kick in.  Respiratory issues I know, ears I don't.  In 21 months they have never been a problem...

We also went to see our physical therapist yesterday, although I think this session was a waste of time.  Emily was in no mood to cooperate, although by that time of the day we had already been to the pediatrician, Target, the market, and Old Navy and powered through the afternoon nap.  Then to find out that Jan wanted to focus on balance... Emily wanted NOTHING to do with balance, until it came to practicing the ladder and the slide.  That was okay.  The balance boards, and tippy toe work, and kicking only led to what appeared as a terrible two temper tantrum.  But, hey, at least she's going down the stairs now.

Dancing

I mentioned in an earlier post that Emily loves music.  So, for part of our days we use pandora.com or toddler tunes on the tv to entertain...

Crazy Hair

Good Morning!

Now, stop taking my picture, and change me...

Don't be shocked I'm blogging...

Emily would have been 18 months adjusted on the 16th of this month.  She loves to "read, read, read" as she will say as she comes running to you with a book.  Then when you stop, "More read."  Her go to faves are a Touch and Feel Farm Animal book and Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the bed.

She's seems happy at the new daycare.  Aaron reports that there were even a few days without tears at drop off this past week.  They sing and dance and paint and play outside.  She takes one nap in the afternoon.  She's not always ready to go when I show up at 3.

She's repeating more and more words, and her speech is becoming clearer.  And she's helpful.  If she spills her "cheery-o" (Cheerios), she'll pick them up.  If she takes all of the kleenex out of the box, she'll pick up the box and throw it away, as well as all the kleenexes.  If there is clean laundry folded in the basket, she'll put it in the washer.  You get the idea, but it's a start.

And she'll lay down and roll over when she wants her diaper changed.  Or she'll tell you stinky and wave her arm.  On her way to potty training.


The next sequence is Emily singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider - one her favorite songs...

The kid loves music.

Nighttime is a little rough these days.  She still goes to bed smoothly, but she has been waking up nightly, SCREAMING.  Poor thing.  When you go into her room, you're either greeted with a "Hiiiii. (pause) Up!" and then she'll grab you with a terrified grip, or a "Whatisit?"  Either way, it's easy to comfort her back to calm, but she wants nothing to do with going back to bed in her crib.  I think it's hospital nightmares.  After all, she has had plenty of scary things wake her up in the middle of the night to be afraid of.  I talked with a good friend who was our NICU neighbor.  We relate it to a PTSD for NICU parents article that we read from the New York Times shortly after we were discharged.

Next week, spring break.  We need it!

Emily started at her new daycare yesterday, as planned.  First day went great.  No tears, happily played, painted, wasn't even ready to go when I came to pick her up.  

Today was a different story.  There were tears today.  She wasn't as happy about playing, painting, and being there.  Maybe reality set in after three weeks of just Mom and Dad (and a bunch of RTs, nurses, doctors somewhere in between) that she just may have to go back to daycare full time.  

whatisthat...

Okay, okay, you can stop sending those harassing inquiring emails, we're here and doing just fine.  Just one of those weeks I didn't get to blogging at all.  That happens when a certain bump in the road (RSV) happens right before report cards and parent teacher conferences are scheduled.

Emily had a follow up appointment last Tuesday and got a great report.  Her lungs sound clear and we were given a schedule for reducing the breathing treatments  down to zero, which will take about a month.

Her favorite new things to say?  "Emi" when she sees herself in the mirror or in a photograph, and (Aaron's favorite) "Whatisthat" said all in one word.  Very inquisitive these days.  And we're working on colors, but everything seems to be stuck on "ellow" (yellow, of course).

She starts a new daycare tomorrow.  During this RSV fiasco, she was supposed to have graduated from baby school and start elsewhere.  She is going from the oldest to one of the youngest, but I think she'll be okay.