Where did August go?

It has been a super busy month. I started back to school. Lily started back to school and time just seems to fly by. Lily loves school. She goes to Ms. Lacrecia's class, which is right across the hall from mine. I have completely resisted peeking in the window because I know she's in good hands, but I get to see them in the gym. Lily is doing really well. Ms. Lacrecia's because concern is that Lily doesn't really want to participate in many of the activities. She is choosing to sit down and just watch. My girl is not much of a dancer. I told her that really Lily doesn't like to do things until she knows how to do them. She'll watch for a long time and then do the task just about right the first time. I told her that Lily doesn't like to make mistakes. Ms. Lacrecia looks at me and says, "I wonder who she gets that from?" I admit I don't like to make mistakes either.

New Things:

Lily can put together puzzles and match objects. I worked on this with her for so long and now she completely understands the idea of "same." She knows how to work the leapfrog toy that I got her for her birthday. I really thought it would be too hard, but she knows which pieces go together.

We were reading Elmo's opposites in the bathtub the other day.
Elmo says stop. She signs stop.
Elmo says go. She signs go.
Elmo says day. She signs day. I almost fall down. I didn't know she knew that sign.
Elmo says night. She signs night. Same thing happens again.
Elmo says up. She jumps up.
Elmo says down. She squashes down. See above for my reaction.
Then I kid you not. She says, "EIEI" without the o. She wanted to sing Old MacDonald.
Wow!!!!

Lily started gymnastics on Monday. Oh my goodness! I have never seen such absolute cuteness. The teachers were so nice and patient. Class started out with one teacher and 2 students. In a few minutes after the teacher had tried to get Lily to sit down 4 times, another teacher comes in. In the end it was 2 teachers and 3 students. That's a great ratio for Lily. She jumped on the trampoline, pulled up on the parallel bars, rolled and did flips down the soft ramp and played duck, duck, goose at the end. She didn't follow directions or stay with the group very well, but I didn't think she did so bad for her first class. Class is held in a smaller room with a window so I could see in. I think she'll do better in this than ballet. I was afraid that might be too structured and not enough activity for her. She loves to climb and tumble. The teacher gave her a sticker at the end of class. Last year she used to eat them. This time she just kept looking at it and lightly touching. She kept it on until she went to bed. I think she was proud.

McDonald's, Vacation Day, and Potty Training!

We went to McDonalds on Thursday and I let Lily play on the playground. EEEKS!!! Do you know how filthy that is? I realized I could wash her hands afterwards, but if she got sick, that was it. Never again. She was so excited. The one we went to has stairs, so she climbed all the way to the top and sat by the tunnel. She smiled as other children went by her. In a little while, she carefully worked her way back down. I left my camera at home or I would have taken pictures. She loved it! She screamed like a banshee when I made her leave.

On Friday we went to the beach. Lily loves the water so much. This year I put floaties on her. She can almost do it by herself. She is so big. Umm no pictures, I was too busy keeping her from drowning. She has no fear of water. She also loved walking down the beach. She would see someone, stop and wave, then walk on. My girl loves to make friends.

On Friday night we were all standing around in the kitchen. I hear J just laughing and giggling so I look up. Lily is standing in front of the water dispenser on the refrigerator. I hear J say, "Yiyi, Yiyi, do agan, do agan." Translation: "Lily, Lily, do again, do again." Then Lily would press the water dispenser squirting cold water down her arm onto the floor. Then J literally fell to the floor holding his stomach because he was laughing so hard. If Lily wouldn't push it fast enough he put her hand on the lever then stepped back and told her to do it again. Those two are serious trouble together.

The potty training is going so great. I'm so proud of her. Today she was dry all day. Yea!!!!

I went birthday shopping today. I wasn't going to buy her anything, because we went to Elmo Live in June, but really, what was I thinking. She has to have presents on her birthday. I think we're just going to have a little family party here or at a restaraunt. I can't decide but nothing big. Here's what I bought her:

She loves to stack, but we didn't really have any good stacking blocks. So I got her these. They were on clearance for $10.00.

Also from Target, I got her this Memorex digital picture keychain. It's not really for children, but she's pretty technology savvy. I think trying to push the buttons will be good for her fine motor skills. It has a hook, so hopefully I can keep it from getting thrown around. It's made to hook on backpacks and purses, so it should be pretty tough. It was on clearance for 10.00 too. Except I bought the pink one.

I got her this from Toys R Us. They had marked it down to 11.20, and they had sent me a coupon for 3.00 off so 9.20 was a good deal. She has such a hard time with puzzles. She finally understands where the circle goes, but that's about it. So instead of concentrating on shapes. I think we'll work on matching colors. I don't understand how a girl can know which direction the playground or music class is, can identify 4 different entrances to the mall, and can say eat when she sees McDonald's or Chick fil a can't put the horse in the matching horse spot. So anyway, another matching toy. I let her pick between farm animals or transportation. This is the one she chose.



That's it for now. I hope your enjoying your new car. It looks really nice.

I'm going to go ahead and tell you about Sunday before anyone else has the chance to do it. On Sunday, we were bringing the food for Michelle's baby shower for Jemma. Before we go any further you should know I was really tired. Mom and I had stayed up late making mini cupcakes. The color of the icing didn't look good so we had to go to Walmart at 9:00 the night before to get more. And getting up and keeping Lily clean, dry, and completely dressed is somewhat of a challenge in itself. Just so you know. Anyway after all the hassle of the morning we were finally in the car on the way to Susan's house. We had decided to go by Susan's house and then take the food to Betty Sue's house, where the shower was being held. Lily was wearing underwear because she's been doing so, so great. She did have plastic pants on to protect the carseat. She doesn't usually pee a lot at one time. However this morning, she had drank a whole cup of chocolate milk. She's also been waking up dry in the morning. She had already peed once, but on Saturday night she drank a ton of pool water. I should have been more aware of this fact at the time. When we got to Susan's she wouldn't sit on the toilet and finally wet her pants a little. Why didn't I go ahead and put a diaper on her? I don't know. We got in the car and drove to Betty Sue's, dropped off the food and decided to go to McDonald's for lunch. Lily loves chicken nuggets. That McDonalds was packed. It's one of the few places to eat after church in Bonifay. People were everywhere. I order our food and Lily sits down in the highchair. Why didn't I take her to the bathroom? I don't know. Our number is called, I open her milk, start to count out her chicken nuggets, when suddenly there is clear liquid all over the floor. I'm looking around trying to figure out what she is spilling, when I finally figure it out. Yes, the pool water has reappeared, all over my feet and her clothes. Great! I pick her up, take her to the car and try to change her clothes. We have stuff everwhere. I pop the trunk and put her in there when I realize I left my purse with her diapers and extra underwear in McDonalds. I actually left her sitting in the trunk while I grabbed the baby's diaper from the back seat. I changed her pants and took her back into McDonald's I get into McDonald's sit down and sigh. At least her shirt is clean. I ask Lily if she wants some milk. I start to shake it and whoosh. You got it, I had left it open on the table with the lid sitting on it. Milk all over Lily's face and arms. I don't know who was more shocked me or Lily. But Mom was practically on the floor in hysterical laughter. For the rest of the day everytime she looked at me she laughed. Good Grief, I needed a nap. The shower was very nice. Jemma is adorable.

Look at these shoes!

They are seriously so cute. Last year when I bought them for $2.97 they were too long and too flat. I couldn't shove her chubby little flintstone feet all the way to the top. Now there almost too small, but I think she can wear the once or twice more. I put them with this outfit. Yes, it came from Gymboree, my new obsession. But I only buy on clearance with a coupon. They have hair bows to match everything! And purses. And socks. And hats. And shoes, but you know Lily and shoes are kind of hit or miss. And bracelets. And just really too much. But's it's very fun. She was not in a mood to tolerate pictures today. I kept getting this look when she saw the camera.

Does my girl have some serious attitude or what? I finally got half a smile after singing The Wheels on the Bus and The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Lily did great on potty training today. She was dry all day except when I put a diaper on a nap time. She pooped and peed in the potty. I'm sure you wanted to know that. She's getting the hang of the candy thing. You know if you do your business in the potty you can have 3 m and m's. I was really only going to give her one, but she really only goes like 4 times a day. The girl can hold it. She also holds it while we go to the store. I've been taking her to the store in underwear! I'm saving so much money on diapers and wipes. I love it! I'm going to try to video some of her new signs tomorrow. She is signing eat and candy a lot. But you can never tell how Miss Attitude will cooperate. Today she ate broccoli with her fetucinni alfredo. Wow, those are hard words to spell. And I'm not looking them up. I probably shouldn't type posts at 10:37 because they become very stream of conciousness writing. And that's a little frightening. We're looking forward to your visit. I've been showing her your picture and trying to teach her your name. Now she points to you in the hallway. One time she said "me" after I said your name, but she hasn't done it again.

Does Chuckie understand sign language?

So finally the trauma and the drama of the tonsils is finally over. They are not kidding when they say two weeks. That was 9 days of pure torture for everyone here. Lortab was a saving grace and the worst enemy. It made her so dizzy she would almost fall down when she tried to walk. It made her tired, but she couldn't sleep. It also numbed the pain enough to let her drink. Let me start at the beginning. You've got time right?

They made us stay at least 24 hours at the hospital. Outpatient, but we had a room. The nurse came in just after Lily was brought to the room after surgery and gave us "the rules." In order to go home on Wednesday her sats have to stay above 90 and she has to drink 4 ounces every shift. I misunderstood that last one at first. I thought if you drink 6 on one shift then you only had to drink 2 more. No, it's four ounces every shift. So from 7-3 she drank 4 ounces. From 3-11 she drank 6 ounces, ate 2 pudding cups, some french fries, and a tiny piece of a chicken tender. At 10:30 she fell asleep. At 1 am her sats dropped into the upper 80's. Lily really only likes to fake cough, not real cough. She had junk in her throat that she wouldn't swallow or cough up. It was probably tonsils. (just kidding.) So it took two hours and a respirtory (sp) therapist to come to this conclusion. Also those toe things are worthless. She came in with her little portable one and it read about 6 points higher. I want one of those for Christmas. The nurse reminded me she had to drink 4 ounces before 7:00 to leave. I said she had drank plenty, look at my little chart. See my little lines for wet diapers and the little lines for ounces. Nope, 4 ounces every shift. So I woke my sleeping baby up. Turned on the television, dragged out the musical toys and the syringe and got 4 more ounces in her by 5:30 am. It was not a pretty sight. When we left the hospital after not sleeping, Lily signed chicken and lion. She wanted to go to the mall, eat chicken nuggets and ride the merry go round. What a trooper!

The big syringe and Chick-fil-a sweet tea is the only way we kept her hydratred that first week. I'm really thankful we stayed at the hospital with the iv that first day and night. Even though I was a little grumpy the next day. I think the iv got us over the hump of the second and third day when it was really hard to get her to drink. We gave her medicine and liquids in the bathtub, on the swing in the backyard, on the front porch, and in the middle of the night half asleep. Don't worry. I filled the syringe before I went to bed. Ask mom about checking the mail at midnight. I know our neighbors think we're nuts! But at least we wear clothes.

The results have been worth it. Now she is sleeping, eating, drinking, and trying to talk. It has been amazing. I have to get up and poke her sometimes at night to see if she's breathing. You can not hear a sound at all. Spooky. I was going to record it and post it here, but then I thought all you have to do is plug your ears up. Hear the silence, that's what it sounds like. Oh another thing, she's been laughing so hard lately. You know how Lily only kind of laughs a little. And it usually sounds forced or fakey. She's been doing these really big true belly laughs. It's hysterical. She also is crying louder and harder. Hmmm, double edged sword.

To celebrate we went to Chuckie Cheese. Lily loves pizza, large and small animatronics and people dressed as characters. Chuckie Cheese meets all those requirements. She loved Chuckie and ran up to him hugged him and started signing something. In this one she is watching the animatronic Chuckie at the stage. She did not want to leave him. We've got to get back to Disney World. People give Lily the most free stuff. It's really kind of sweet and funny. A nice woman walked up and smiled at Lily. She said she's so cute and gave her a coupon for a free ice cream. It was good, I ate half of it. Lily doesn't like ice cream very much. Mom and J ate the other half. Lily only licked at my half. It was probably a good thing the woman was on her way out the door.

The past week was really fun. We have been so patriotic. We went to the square in Headland for the patriotic concert. It looked like something out of a movie. The gazebo had red white and blue streamers around it and the church choir was standing inside. The orchestra was seated next to them underneath a white tent. There were people sitting behind tables with red, white and blue decorations passing out free fans (to keep the bugs away) and selling raffle tickets. Everything was lit up with little lights. I thought I had stumbled onto the set of the Gilmore Girls. The temperature had dropped into the upper 80's with a breeze and it was really nice. Everyone had brought snacks and they were sitting on lawn chairs and blankets waiting for the music to begin. We walked up. I was carrying chairs, mom was pushing "I" and dad had "J" and Lily in the wagon. As we walked up the fan lady said Hello Mr. Kirkland and chatted away. As soon as we walked away, she started talking about who everyone was and why they were there. The joys of a small town, very few secrets. On Saturday, we grilled hamburgers, ate homemade ice cream and brownies, then went to the fireworks at the ballpark in Headland. They fireworks were suprisingly pretty good, but I'm glad we didn't sit too close because a couple of them went sideways towards some of the audience. I saw people running, but as far as I know, noone was hurt.
Here is two of Lily watching the fireworks. She really liked them. Her new word is "eeeee." It's supposed to be see and she says it when she points. Too cute! Oh and her new favorite snack food is cheesy bugles. That's what she has all over her face.

Oh we've been potty training and she's doing so well. She's in big girl panties most of the time. Only it takes forever for her to pee. That's been the big thing I had to learn. She has to sit there for about 5-10 minutes. First she has to look at a book, then play with the tp roller, then tap the toilet lid, then sign all done, then fuss a little bit, then pee. It's crazy, but she really is beginning to understand. Last night she was in a diaper before she went to bed, suddenly she signed potty, then did the pee pee dance. I felt her diaper and it was warm and wet. Success! She understands what I want to happen. Now to put it all together and lose the crazy routine. I'll show you the pee pee dance in August. You may need it someday.

That's just about everything for now. I'll talk to you later!

We have to be at the Outpatient center are 6:00 in the morning. Yikes, that's early. She is the second case of the day, and they said the first one would be really short. Hopefully that's just someone getting tubes and they'll be done in fifteen minutes. We are to stay overnight in the hospital, but if they can, they'll discharge us before 6:00 am on Wednesday morning so it would be considered outpatient and no charge for a room. Here's hoping I'll be posting good news at 6:45 on Wednesday morning.

Yea!! The pediatrician called and said that Lily's neck x-ray looked normal. That's really good news. Tomorrow we go for pre-op at 10:15. We should find out what time her surgery is for Tuesday then. We'll spend Tuesday night in the hospital and should be home well before lunch on Wednesday. She's sleeping so much better the last couple of nights. She still sometimes does that little gasp while she sleeps. But she's so much quieter. I've stopped giving her the antibiotics and the Afrin. She only had three days on Afrin. I don't know what caused her head to clear up. But I've been able to sleep too. That's a blessing. She went to vacation bible school last week for three days. On Monday they lost her twice. On Tuesday she got a promotion to the three year old room where I was working. On Wednesday, I saw a sign saying that there was a confirmed case of hand, foot, and mouth disease. On Thursday and Friday, she stayed home. I'm considering three days at VBS a success. Now she has a weird rash on her arms and legs, but not her trunk. She's not runnning a fever or acting as if anything is bothering her. No sores in her mouth and since she's sleeping better, she's eating like a champ. My child is a big mystery. I've posted pictures of the others at Walmart.