Friday, February 18, 2011
Potty Training Success
I am happy to announce that 32 stickers and 3 accidents later, Callie is potty trained! It was actually a relatively easy process. I definitely think she was ready. She is very excited to be a big girl and wear big girl undies. The only problem now is that she has the new name "Miss No-Bum-At-All." She is wearing 24 month jeans with adjustable elastic pulled as tight as it will go and her pants still fall down. Actually, her training pants fall down, too. So now I need to figure out a way to gather all of her pants so they won't fall down. I have also given some thought to making her tiny belts. Since she still needs assistance to use the potty anyway, I thought belts might be an option.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Bah Humbug
I don't do Valentine's Day.**Thankfully my husband is not a fan either. Unfortunately this year, Wyatt is in school and is having a valentine's party. That means we had to give in and acknowledge the day with, ugh, valentines. After perusing the isles for appropriate cards, we settled on a 27 pack of animal valentines. Perfect. There are 23 kids in his class so there would not be many leftover. Jason was also quite happy that were made in the USA. When it came time to sign the cards, I opened up my box of 27 and was promptly disappointed to find that they didn't include envelopes. It was just the cards. And the cards were barely larger than a postage stamp. They were larger when I was little. And my box of 27? Yep, it had a total of 18 cards. Lovely. Now what to do? Well, even though this was a few days ago and I had time to go back to the store to return them, I wasn't in the mood. So I improvised. I decided to make his cards using materials I had around the house. Yippee! No need to buy anything. So I used my friend Google to find a few ideas and settled on butterflies. Wyatt did a fantastic job signing his name and thinks they are the best cards ever. And I am pretty happy to use up a bag of dum-dums that have been sitting around since the late '80's and a bunch a brightly colored paper that I never use. I am pretty happy with the outcome of our cards this year.
** If anyone would like to convince me that this day is worth celebrating, I will gladly accept balloons, flowers, chocolate, diamonds and anything else that might change my mind.
** If anyone would like to convince me that this day is worth celebrating, I will gladly accept balloons, flowers, chocolate, diamonds and anything else that might change my mind.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Weekend Plans
My weekend plans include this child wearing these clothes, a bunch of stickers, and hopefully, a very patient mommy. Sound like fun?
Except for church on Sunday, we don't have anywhere to go until Thursday. If she doesn't potty train by then, she isn't ready. Hopefully we won't need until Thursday. Monday, at the latest, would be grand! I am kind of envious of people who can bribe their kids with candy to use the potty. My g-tube fed princess doesn't fall for such shenanigans. Thankfully, she has become interested in stickers so she gets to put stickers on her potty chart. Now our only problem is figuring out how to get my petite-sized friend on the toilet. She's so short, she needs a step ladder to climb up.
Except for church on Sunday, we don't have anywhere to go until Thursday. If she doesn't potty train by then, she isn't ready. Hopefully we won't need until Thursday. Monday, at the latest, would be grand! I am kind of envious of people who can bribe their kids with candy to use the potty. My g-tube fed princess doesn't fall for such shenanigans. Thankfully, she has become interested in stickers so she gets to put stickers on her potty chart. Now our only problem is figuring out how to get my petite-sized friend on the toilet. She's so short, she needs a step ladder to climb up.Thursday, February 10, 2011
Another month already!
Time flies.
I told Kelli that we should probably update the blog since it's been a while. I logged in and realized it's been a month already since the last post. Time moves in a hurry.
Here's what we've done over the past four weeks or so.
Kelli and took a birthday/Christmas/anniversary trip to Minneapolis/St. Paul. It was nothing fancy by any means - two nights at a hotel (Priceline!) and a lot of just hanging out sans children. But it sure was fun.
While there, we got to see A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. It was a great show - very entertaining. It took place at the historic Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Here's Kelli standing out front. Fancy place, huh?
And here's a shot of Garrison Keillor himself, with his trademark red tie and red shoes.
While in St. Paul, we also got some candy from Candyland. In case you can't read the sign, it's been famous since 1932. Homemade gumballs, jawbreakers, gummis, suckers, sours... I felt like a kid in a, well, candy store.
Prior to the show, we wanted a meal. Being on a tight budget, someone had suggested Mickey's Diner as an option. When we walked by, I knew we had to go in. It was very cramped inside, and crowded. The food, however, was cheap, greasy, and DELICIOUS! I noticed the cook had a metal kettle on the griddle and he'd pour out of it to grease the griddle prior to putting food down. I assumed it was some cooking oil. He also had a GIANT pile of hash browns that he'd dump a little of the oil into once in a while. It was only later that I discovered he was refilling the kettle - with giant spoonfuls of LARD! One hundred percent, pure lard. No wonder those hashbrowns were so good!
The next weekend, Kelli started helping Wyatt dig out igloo of sorts in the front yard. Here he is in the early stages, having dug in a bit from the sidewalk. Later on, I helped him with the tunnel so that it went about ten feet back into the pile of snow, then turned to the right and came out in the driveway. Now it's a popular hangout for the kids on the block.
He helped butter the bread.
I told Kelli that we should probably update the blog since it's been a while. I logged in and realized it's been a month already since the last post. Time moves in a hurry.
Here's what we've done over the past four weeks or so.
Kelli and took a birthday/Christmas/anniversary trip to Minneapolis/St. Paul. It was nothing fancy by any means - two nights at a hotel (Priceline!) and a lot of just hanging out sans children. But it sure was fun.
While there, we got to see A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. It was a great show - very entertaining. It took place at the historic Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Here's Kelli standing out front. Fancy place, huh?
And here's a shot of Garrison Keillor himself, with his trademark red tie and red shoes.
While in St. Paul, we also got some candy from Candyland. In case you can't read the sign, it's been famous since 1932. Homemade gumballs, jawbreakers, gummis, suckers, sours... I felt like a kid in a, well, candy store.
Prior to the show, we wanted a meal. Being on a tight budget, someone had suggested Mickey's Diner as an option. When we walked by, I knew we had to go in. It was very cramped inside, and crowded. The food, however, was cheap, greasy, and DELICIOUS! I noticed the cook had a metal kettle on the griddle and he'd pour out of it to grease the griddle prior to putting food down. I assumed it was some cooking oil. He also had a GIANT pile of hash browns that he'd dump a little of the oil into once in a while. It was only later that I discovered he was refilling the kettle - with giant spoonfuls of LARD! One hundred percent, pure lard. No wonder those hashbrowns were so good!
The next weekend, Kelli started helping Wyatt dig out igloo of sorts in the front yard. Here he is in the early stages, having dug in a bit from the sidewalk. Later on, I helped him with the tunnel so that it went about ten feet back into the pile of snow, then turned to the right and came out in the driveway. Now it's a popular hangout for the kids on the block.
My parents came to visit about a week and a half ago. We had a good visit. They ended up staying an extra day because of the bad weather that cut across much of the midwest. It was nice having them around. The kids love to play with them, and vice versa. They'll be coming back for Sadie's birthday, and Wyatt's. In the mean time, we've been munching on gifts they brought us from Alabama. It's things you can't get in Fargo - Golden Flake cheese curls and butter cookies - the ones with the holes in them that we'd stick on our fingers during vacation Bible school. If you're from Birmingham, you're nodding your head right now. If you're from Fargo, you're probably scratching yours. Those are good cookies, I tell you.
Earlier tonight, Wyatt wanted to help make supper. Kelli had made him an apron that she gave him for Christmas, so he had to wear it.
He helped butter the bread.
Here's a tip:
If you let your five year old butter the bread before you heat it in the oven, you'll have PLENTY of butter! In fact, you might even have to wring out each slice before you put it on your plate. If nothing else, the boy is thorough. He covered every square inch of the bread. Every. Square. Inch. Paula Deen would be proud. Maybe he's practicing to be a cook at Mickey's Diner...
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Callie
Callie has been doing really well since her surgery. She never showed any sign of pain after the procedure. I gave her tylenol for the first few days just to keep any possible pain at bay, but when we asked if anything hurt, she always told us "no." I don't really understand how my child can have something cut out of her throat and never exhibit any form of discomfort.
Callie's sleeping has markedly improved. I hoped that when she started getting a good night's sleep she would stop headbutting, but that is not the case. I think she headbutts less and for shorter periods of time but it is still incredibly annoying when she does it.
(If you didn't know about Callie's headbutting, it's something she does almost every night. It's a self-stimulation thing that's possibly related to her having been a micropreemie. Some other kids do it too, but it occurs more often in preemies. It doesn't do any harm, but sure irritates everyone within earshot. She bangs her head repeatedly for several minutes on the mattress and grunts loudly while doing so. How that actually helps her fall asleep, I have no idea. Maybe it just helps her wear herself out so she's more tired. Anyway, it's something she's done for a long time and should eventually outgrow. At least it's getting better)
We have once again put Callie and Sadie in a room together. It is going very well. We have had a few instances where the girls had a screaming competition to see who could be louder and endure longer. (Sadie is definitely louder but Callie has more endurance). For the most part, though, they sleep peacefully and seem to enjoy being in a room together. Sadie can now reposition without waking Callie and Callie can puke without waking Sadie.
Callie has done better with keeping food down since her surgery. She no longer gags and vomits every time she cries. In fact, we have noticed it is more difficult for her to gag herself on purpose. Aside from all the water and juice she drank the day of surgery, she hasn't really improved in that area. She will still drink small amounts but can easily get choked if she swallows too much. Now that Sadie is feeding herself beginner foods, Callie is more interested in trying to do the same thing. She can eat a handful of puffs or easily dissolved finger foods and she will often take Sadie's if she doesn't have any for herself.
Callie recently tested out of her verbal goals for speech therapy so we are now working twice a week with a therapist on eating. Somehow we will get through to Callie that eating can be fun and pleasurable and I still think that one day she will get it. On Friday I watched her from an observation window at therapy and she was happy trying to munch on puffs and pretzels. When the therapist worked with her on chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, bbq sauce and french dressing, it was incredibly interesting to see how uncomfortable and uneasy it made Callie to try to even touch those foods.
Now that Callie is 3, we have moved her up to her new Sunday School class and she absolutely loves it. She sings, does crafts, has a story time, and plays games. There is more structure than her previous room and she is really doing well. It is still all new to her and she is pretty cautious with it all but she enjoys going and is in a great mood when we pick her up.
Callie's verbal language continues to explode and she keeps us laughing a lot. The other day Wyatt did something to make her cry and Sadie found it amusing. Callie looked at Sadie and said, "Stop laughing Sadie-bug. It's not funny. Stop laughing." ("Sadie-bug" is our occasional nickname for Sadie. It seems to be Callie's permanent name for her sister.) During bathtime, Sadie is fascinated with Callie's mic-key button. I often hear, "No, Sadie-bug. Leave my mic-key button alone. Mommy, Sadie-bug's grabbing my button." She is my little informant who will let me know when Sadie is eating paper or playing in the dog bowl or when Wyatt is doing something he shouldn't.
Callie's sleeping has markedly improved. I hoped that when she started getting a good night's sleep she would stop headbutting, but that is not the case. I think she headbutts less and for shorter periods of time but it is still incredibly annoying when she does it.
(If you didn't know about Callie's headbutting, it's something she does almost every night. It's a self-stimulation thing that's possibly related to her having been a micropreemie. Some other kids do it too, but it occurs more often in preemies. It doesn't do any harm, but sure irritates everyone within earshot. She bangs her head repeatedly for several minutes on the mattress and grunts loudly while doing so. How that actually helps her fall asleep, I have no idea. Maybe it just helps her wear herself out so she's more tired. Anyway, it's something she's done for a long time and should eventually outgrow. At least it's getting better)
We have once again put Callie and Sadie in a room together. It is going very well. We have had a few instances where the girls had a screaming competition to see who could be louder and endure longer. (Sadie is definitely louder but Callie has more endurance). For the most part, though, they sleep peacefully and seem to enjoy being in a room together. Sadie can now reposition without waking Callie and Callie can puke without waking Sadie.
Callie has done better with keeping food down since her surgery. She no longer gags and vomits every time she cries. In fact, we have noticed it is more difficult for her to gag herself on purpose. Aside from all the water and juice she drank the day of surgery, she hasn't really improved in that area. She will still drink small amounts but can easily get choked if she swallows too much. Now that Sadie is feeding herself beginner foods, Callie is more interested in trying to do the same thing. She can eat a handful of puffs or easily dissolved finger foods and she will often take Sadie's if she doesn't have any for herself.
Callie recently tested out of her verbal goals for speech therapy so we are now working twice a week with a therapist on eating. Somehow we will get through to Callie that eating can be fun and pleasurable and I still think that one day she will get it. On Friday I watched her from an observation window at therapy and she was happy trying to munch on puffs and pretzels. When the therapist worked with her on chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, bbq sauce and french dressing, it was incredibly interesting to see how uncomfortable and uneasy it made Callie to try to even touch those foods.
Now that Callie is 3, we have moved her up to her new Sunday School class and she absolutely loves it. She sings, does crafts, has a story time, and plays games. There is more structure than her previous room and she is really doing well. It is still all new to her and she is pretty cautious with it all but she enjoys going and is in a great mood when we pick her up.
Callie's verbal language continues to explode and she keeps us laughing a lot. The other day Wyatt did something to make her cry and Sadie found it amusing. Callie looked at Sadie and said, "Stop laughing Sadie-bug. It's not funny. Stop laughing." ("Sadie-bug" is our occasional nickname for Sadie. It seems to be Callie's permanent name for her sister.) During bathtime, Sadie is fascinated with Callie's mic-key button. I often hear, "No, Sadie-bug. Leave my mic-key button alone. Mommy, Sadie-bug's grabbing my button." She is my little informant who will let me know when Sadie is eating paper or playing in the dog bowl or when Wyatt is doing something he shouldn't.
Christmas
We had a wonderful ending to 2010 and a great start to 2011.
All three kids were a blast this Christmas. Wyatt enjoyed opening presents for himself and his sisters, Callie yelled and squealed with every gift and Sadie tried to eat all the wrapping paper she could.
We were very low key with gifts for the kids this year, but by the time they recieved presents from two sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and assorted other family members and friends, they had stacks of presents to open.
Some of Wyatt's gifts were a train table, guitar/drum/keyboard lessons, a litebrite and a construction kit where he can saw and hammer and build with pretend wood.
Callie's gifts were more therapy related. She is now the proud owner of a therapy trampoline, a child sized medicine ball, and an assortment of chewy toys (associated with speech therapy). She also received a doll and gymnastics lessons.
Sadie would have been fine if we had just given her boxes and paper and bows but she did get a few new toys and clothes.
Christmas day we decided to make the jump and move Callie to a big girl bed. Callie has been sleeping much better since her surgery and we knew at some point we needed to do it. We were a little nervous about how it would go, though. We had been talking about it for a while and Callie watched as we converted her crib into a toddler bed. When bedtime came we tried it out and Callie did WONDERFULLY. She climbed in bed and stayed there all night long. We were amazed when she stayed in bed the next morning and waited for us to come get her up. Jason and I were expecting her to try to escape and pull out her feeding tube in the process but she didn't. Callie seems to like her new bed and continues to do well each night. Now if we could just keep her from grunting loudly in the middle of the night and waking up her sister...
All three kids were a blast this Christmas. Wyatt enjoyed opening presents for himself and his sisters, Callie yelled and squealed with every gift and Sadie tried to eat all the wrapping paper she could.
We were very low key with gifts for the kids this year, but by the time they recieved presents from two sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and assorted other family members and friends, they had stacks of presents to open.
Some of Wyatt's gifts were a train table, guitar/drum/keyboard lessons, a litebrite and a construction kit where he can saw and hammer and build with pretend wood.
Callie's gifts were more therapy related. She is now the proud owner of a therapy trampoline, a child sized medicine ball, and an assortment of chewy toys (associated with speech therapy). She also received a doll and gymnastics lessons.
Sadie would have been fine if we had just given her boxes and paper and bows but she did get a few new toys and clothes.
Christmas day we decided to make the jump and move Callie to a big girl bed. Callie has been sleeping much better since her surgery and we knew at some point we needed to do it. We were a little nervous about how it would go, though. We had been talking about it for a while and Callie watched as we converted her crib into a toddler bed. When bedtime came we tried it out and Callie did WONDERFULLY. She climbed in bed and stayed there all night long. We were amazed when she stayed in bed the next morning and waited for us to come get her up. Jason and I were expecting her to try to escape and pull out her feeding tube in the process but she didn't. Callie seems to like her new bed and continues to do well each night. Now if we could just keep her from grunting loudly in the middle of the night and waking up her sister...
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Prayers Answered!
Guess who is at home in her own bed and sleeping soundly? Callie was discharged from the hospital this evening. Just in time to go home, get a dose of tylenol, take a bath and go to bed. It was the quickest and most peaceful she has ever been while falling asleep. The day was amazing. She had a great time playing before surgery. She acted like she owned the hospital. She did well during surgery. It only lasted about 20 minutes and everything went as planned. The doctor told us that once he removed the tonsils he realized how large they were, and they were huge, especially for someone Callie's size. Once I could be with her in recovery, she did nicely. (She was a little spitfire giving two nurses a doozy of a time before I arrived). Once back in her room, it looked like Santa had visited. Callie had a new blanket, a tub toy and a new baby doll. That was quite a surprise. I think it is one of the perks of having a December surgery.
At 11 AM she received her first dose of heavy duty pain meds and it did not have the desired effect with Callie. It kept the pain at bay, of course, but instead of making her drowsy so she could get some rest, it made her goofy/hyper/restless and generally very very funny. I was exhausted, having to keep her in bed and attached to her pulse oximeter and IV. After that dose wore off, we switched to plain tylenol and that is all she has had. She has not complained of anything hurting. She has played, sung, talked, and been in a great mood all day. And most wonderfully, she has been drinking from a cup since surgery. She has been really thirsty and drank more today than I have ever seen her drink. It only totaled a couple of ounces over the course of the entire day, but that's still an improvement for her.
This evening we asked about the possibility of changing our plans and going home, rather than staying the night as originally planned. I didn't think the medical staff would go for it but everyone involved in her care thought it was a fine idea. It probably helps that we are only 5 blocks from the hospital. So we came home and Callie went to sleep. The only problem is I can't hear Callie breathing/snoring from the door like I always have. I have to go into her room, place my hand on her chest or under her nose to make sure she is breathing. Oh well, I think I can adjust.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers today. Please keep them coming. I figure her pain will eventually get worse, but it would be incredible if she sailed right through the rest of her recovery.
Here are a few snapshots of Callie today:
At 11 AM she received her first dose of heavy duty pain meds and it did not have the desired effect with Callie. It kept the pain at bay, of course, but instead of making her drowsy so she could get some rest, it made her goofy/hyper/restless and generally very very funny. I was exhausted, having to keep her in bed and attached to her pulse oximeter and IV. After that dose wore off, we switched to plain tylenol and that is all she has had. She has not complained of anything hurting. She has played, sung, talked, and been in a great mood all day. And most wonderfully, she has been drinking from a cup since surgery. She has been really thirsty and drank more today than I have ever seen her drink. It only totaled a couple of ounces over the course of the entire day, but that's still an improvement for her.
This evening we asked about the possibility of changing our plans and going home, rather than staying the night as originally planned. I didn't think the medical staff would go for it but everyone involved in her care thought it was a fine idea. It probably helps that we are only 5 blocks from the hospital. So we came home and Callie went to sleep. The only problem is I can't hear Callie breathing/snoring from the door like I always have. I have to go into her room, place my hand on her chest or under her nose to make sure she is breathing. Oh well, I think I can adjust.
Thank you so much for all of your prayers today. Please keep them coming. I figure her pain will eventually get worse, but it would be incredible if she sailed right through the rest of her recovery.
Here are a few snapshots of Callie today:
When she first got up early this morning, she decided she really wanted to wear her tutu. Not sure why. Maybe she thought it matched her pajamas.
Daddy stretched out in bed next to her to watch cartoons while waiting for the nurses to get everything set up.
Once she got changed into her hospital clothes, we took a walk down the hall. Next to the nurse's station are some whimsical decorations that Callie liked.
She enjoyed hanging out under the big tree and playing with Frosty the Snowman (not part of the normal decor, of course, but still a hit). Until she actually went back for surgery, she thought the hospital was a grand place to be.
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