Santa came and blessed us indeed this year. Lily was thrilled to see her new tricycle and doll house as she came downstairs. We were surprised to see how excited she was about the stockings. She went through everyone's stocking before even looking at the presents.
On Friday we took off for Chapin to celebrate even more.
What a wonderful day. Lily woke up a little on the crabby side, but came around rather nicely as the day progressed. Donna called this morning and asked if she could take Lily shopping. After they left, James, Sarah Ellen and I took off for downtown. I had some money left on a gift certificate at a cooking store. We had fun picking out things to buy. We even had enough left over to walk next door and eat lunch at Slightly North of Broad. Sarah Ellen was a perfect peach the entire time.
Lily, Donna and Snookie were watching Dora while Lily got a breathing treatment when we returned home. So I made the big executive decision this morning and did not give Lily the prednisone today. I figure if she seems to get worse, then we can give her a dose tomorrow and she will have only missed one dose. How is that rationalizing?
After nap time, we baked and decorated cookies for Santa to have when he comes tonight. Then we got ready for our church's Christmas Eve service. One of the main reasons I wanted to be prednisone free was to enjoy this service with Lily. She loves the music and I so enjoy this service every year. Lily was an angel the entire time. She played quietly for an hour and a half and I didn't even have to pull out the candy cane for bribery. During one of the songs Lily looked at me and put her hand on my cheek so lovingly and gave me a wonderful smile. It was such a special moment for me.
This has always been one of my favorite times of year, and I never imagined how much more wonderful it could be with children. I never thought I would be this excited in anticipation of Lily's reaction tomorrow. I'm not sure I will be able to fall asleep tonight.
Happy Birthday, Jesus.
It's only fitting that your children get sick during the holidays, and Lily made sure to not let us down. On Friday, I noticed she was acting a little crabby and told James that she was going to wake up with a fever that night. (I had a little help with this prediction since Porter had been running a fever for a few days). Sure enough, Lily was up at 2 AM burning hot. The cough came on quickly on Saturday and by Saturday night we were having to use the nebulizer because she was retracting.
So Monday morning comes and the big debate starts: take her to the doctor or wait it out? When she still had a fever and was still retracting, I decided we better get it checked out. I pack up both of them and head off for a fun adventure. Both girls actually did really well, but let's face it, is it ever a quick and easy trip to the pediatrician? I spend the time in the waiting room trying to keep Lily from touching anything. Why, oh why do they put toys in doctor's office waiting room. Really, you go in with a cold and leave with a stomach bug. As soon as we got back to the room, Sarah Ellen threw up everywhere. So I have to change her (into a Halloween shirt that was in the diaper bag) while still trying to keep Lily from touching anything. Finally, we see the doctor and are told that Lily's lungs sound pretty bad even after a nebulizer treatment (done in the office with a fussy baby). Then she said the most dreaded thing: she wanted to put Lily on PREDNISONE. We had to do this once before and it made her evil, but as the doctor said, you would rather her be evil and able to breathe ( I suppose so). Once we got home, I very timidly gave her the first dose (along with an antibiotic, motrin, benedryl, miralax and a breathing treatment - good grief). It wasn't long after nap time that the monster appeared. I didn't even bother with reasoning or punishment - there is no point, she would just keep screaming and throwing things. So instead, I tried to appease how ever I could and we finally made it to bedtime.
I woke up this morning with a horrible sense of dread and for good reason. The monster was vicious. I think James felt very bad for having to leave me and go to work this morning (but secretly relieved to escape). Just for fun, I caught a little bit on camera.
This afternoon wasn't too bad. She only threw a few objects around and actually had a few happy moments. I'm still not making any promises for tomorrow. Wish us luck!
On Friday Lily's school had a small program for the parents followed by a birthday party for Jesus in their classrooms. Of course I took video of the program and wanted to share a little snippet of it with everyone. Lily is on the far left.
The two year olds performed first followed by the three year olds. This is a picture on the younger twos and older twos classes. Lily is on the far left behind the railing.
I love that Lily is learning so much in school. I am amazed when she is singing a new song or saying a new prayer. My favorite is when she reads books to you. She will sit in front of you, "read" the page, then turn the book around so you can see the pictures. She is a little sponge and soaking up so many wonderful things in school. The other day in the car, she was singing a song that I didn't recognize, but after listening I figured out what she was singing and assumed that this would be one of the songs she would sing in her school program. She was singing, "Where o, where o Jesus star; Where o, where o Jesus star; Way up over Bechelham" Here is a clip of her solo performance singing this song one night before bed.
Another song she often sings is Mr. Knickerbocker (at least I think that is what she is saying).
This is an old clip of Margaret Anne, Lily, and Porter all singing Mr. Knickerbocker.
Sarah Ellen is following along in her sister's footsteps and is quite a good little eater. I haven't found anything yet that she doesn't like. Check out our little bird eating.
I'm going to "borrow" Caroline's post about our Annual Faith Builders Christmas Party that the Clums hosted last Thursday. I do have a few pictures to add.
My sweet little Sarah Ellen is six months old - half a year. How can that be? She just came screaming into this world and now she is rolling, sitting, eating solids, and flashing her adorable dimple. I am shocked at how fast her infanthood has flown by. I must admit, I was rather dreading those first few months, but Sarah Ellen made them so easy on us. She has always been a good sleeper and a good eater, and she has a very laid back personality - she certainly didn't get that from her mama.
Last week, we took Sarah Ellen in for her six month well baby visit. Here are her current stats:
length: 25 3/4 - 50th percentile
weight: 15 pounds, 11 ounces - 50th percentile
head circumference: 42 cm - 25-50th percentile
Everything checked out well and she was a trooper for her FOUR shots and fingerprick. I'm making James take her next time. I was rather bummed, however, because our pediatrician thoroughly checked her neck and head for quiet a while. I knew exactly what she was looking for because I had already diagnosed Sarah Ellen with it earlier: torticollis. Sounds scary, but it really isn't. "Torticollis is a condition in which the head is tilted toward one side, and the chin is elevated and turned toward the opposite side." This is caused by a tight muscle in her neck. The irony of the situation is that if I had a specialty as a pediatric physical therapist, it would have been torticollis and our pediatrician referred all of her patients to me. As she was examining Sarah Ellen, she looked up at me, and I just said, "yes, I know." She wanted to refer us to a PT and I agreed in the office, but as I mulled it over, I came to the conclusion that there is just no way I can stomach paying for a PT, when this is what I was trained to do. So, yes I do believe that Sarah Ellen has a very mild case of torticollis and yes I will treat it myself. I noticed it very early on and treated her for a while, then I became comfortable that is was gone and rather forgot about it. Oops! At least I'll get to use my training a little more - does that justify the student loans we are still paying off for PT school??
So, back to Sarah Ellen. She is a true joy. She is now sleeping through the night mostly until 7 or 8 in the morning. I'm sure hoping she keeps that up.
Last week she started eating solids regularly and it looks like I have another good eater. She opens her mouth like a little bird and waits for the next spoonful. So far, she has had rice cereal, peas and squash. Tonight we will try out some sweet potatoes. I have to start soon giving her solids for breakfast and lunch as well, but I have been holding off on this for a while. Once you start, there is no going back, and I will have to feed her three meals a day for the next eighteen years. She currently takes four bottles a day usually around 6 ounces each. She gets fussy taking a bottle in your arms, so I often have to feed her in her bouncy seat. It looks like neither of my girls are big cuddlers.
As of today, she has her first tooth. And of all people, the grocery store cashier was the first to notice. She was oohing and ahhing over Sarah Ellen this morning and said, "oh, she's teething too." I just smiled and agreed, then quickly checked when we got in the car and sure enough a jagged little tooth was sticking out on the bottom. I guess I'm not going to win any awards for being the most observant mamma.
Sarah Ellen can sit up some with the help of a boppy pillow. She is rolling all over the place and starting to get into everything. I'm still enjoying this time while she is not crawling, because I know pretty soon she is going to be all over the place.
Sarah Ellen has taken on tow nicknames so far: Bee Bug and Sarah E B. It is the cutest thing to hear Lily call her little E. B.
Our Bee Bug brings so much joy into our lives each day. I am thankful for every minute I get to spend with her and am so excited to watch her grow.
We love you bigger than the sky little E.B.
Molly, Thomas, and Parker joined us for lunch as usual on Tuesday. You know us moms - we couldn't resist trying to get some forced photos when saw the chance. I love how you can see each child's personality in these shots, even the emerging personalities of the little one.
Thomas - Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky bouncing all over the place. He was much too busy to pose for a picture.
Parker - Mr. Smiley. You barely have to look at him and his whole entire face lights up.
Lily - Miss Ham-It-Up-For-The-Camera. She's always ready for a photo shoot. Please excuse her mismatched outfit and crazy hair. I obviously wasn't planning on taking pictures this day.
Sarah Ellen - Miss Observant and Content. She is such a peaceful little baby, just content to sit back and take it all in.
