Vacation

I am back from a week long vacation and plunging head first into reality. There was a lot that happened so I thought I would give you the highlights of our Myrtle Beach adventure. So without further ado, here are the top ten things that happened on my vacation:

1) I burnt myself to a crisp. Apparently, people as fair as I am burn easily. Even with 50 sunscreen.

2) I peeled like a lizard and got burnt again. Apparently, the new skin underneath the burn is really sensitive even when wearing 50 sunscreen and a t-shirt over top the swimsuit. Who knew?

3) We stayed in a house named the Sea Unicorn. It looked like a mermaid from the 70's threw up all over the place.

4) The lady that owned the house owned a gazillion cats. Every time you stepped outside five or six would jump and run away. I had a heart attack everytime it happened thinking that some creature was going to jump at me and scratch my eyes out.

5) I tried to use self tanning cream. Me and self tanners are not friends. I look like a leopard. At least for the next three days anyway.

6) I hurt myself getting out of the shower. I have a baseball size bruise on my hip. I look like I got hit by a car. Don't ask, just know that I am a clumsy person.

7) Lauren learned to hold her nose and go under the water. The only problem is that she gets so excited that she laughs before her head comes back up and she chokes. Both funny and scary at the same time.

8) Lauren learned to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and Patty Cake and has not stopped singing them since.

9) It only took us 4 hours to get to the beach. Lauren was an angel down and back.

10) Lauren had a great time playing with her cousins. She is so bored now that it is just me and Ty. She spent the day asking for her grammy, pap-pap, and her cousins.

It's good to be home. Can't wait to get into my own bed where I hopefully won't get hurt now that I am on home turf. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Close call

The hearing aids are fixed! Lauren's audiologist fixed Lauren's hearing aids in about 5 minutes and I felt much better. She fit me in between patients, cut a new tube and sent me on my way. I have never experienced relief like I did on that day. I think I am going to duct tape oven mitts on Lauren's hands when she gets on the bus.

Don't call DSS, I'm just kidding!

Sick Little One

I've had a sick baby girl these past few days. She got off the bus Tuesday like a zombie with rosy, flushed cheeks. She had a fever Tuesday and Wednesday that finally broke around 10 pm Wednesday night. The cough that came with this little bug makes my throat hurt just listening to it. It sounds like it is coming from her toes. Needless to say, Lauren has not been sleeping well the past few nights. Every time a coughing fit comes along, it wakes her up.

We have a doctor's appointment later today. Better to nip it in the bud now before it gets a stronghold. One of Lauren's classmates was in the hospital for pneumonia. Something nasty is going around....

Sooner or Later

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later so I guess I should have been ready for it. Lauren decided that yesterday on the bus would be a good time to take apart her hearing aid into three pieces. The only problem is that she left the bus with only two.

I got a note in her book bag when she came home along with a baggie filled with the remaining parts. My heart sank to my feet. I know that she is only three and cannot understand the depth to what it took to get her those aids. To see it in pieces made me want to faint.

I called a couple of audiologists in the area to see if they had the replacement part at the office. I missed both audiologists by ten minutes. I am hoping that they will call back and tell me they have the part in the office and that they do not need to order it. I have to admit that I feel lost without that aid and I am not even the one that depends on it to hear.

So, duct taping them to her ears is probably not a good idea, huh?

Jelly Shoes

Ty and I went to go get Lauren a new pair of shoes since it is getting warm and her feet need to breath. I forgot how sad I get when shopping for anything other than tennis shoes for Lauren. Imagine that you walk on you very tip toes on your right foot. Also, as you are on your tip toes, your right foot turns in towards the center of your body. That is the way Lauren's foot is all the time. It makes wearing "normal" shoes almost impossible. For some reason, it never stops me from trying to get Lauren into a pair of sandals or flip flops hoping that somehow it just got better.

We went to the Children's Place in Concord Mills and tried on a variety of sandals with little success. She would walk and her ankle would slip out the side of the shoe and she would stumble across the store. It was not a safe situation. I almost gave up when a saw a pair of pink jelly shoes. Yes, I am a child of the 70's and had many myself. It's weird to see them again. Anyway, they had a strap that went around the ankle and enough jelly to wrap around her foot so it wouldn't slip out the side. We put them on and held our breath as she walked around the store. They seemed to stay on and she didn't fall once. They weren't my first choice of shoe to get her, but I wasn't going to be picky. She will get to wear something other than tennis shoes and I am happy. Now, we won't be going in long walks in them, but I won't complain. It will be the first shoe I can just slip on and take off. I feel a little better now.

A New Conversation

Now that Lauren has somewhat of a grasp of the English language, she realizes that it can get her what she wants. That is if I have it in the house. Lately, she has been consistently disappointed.

Here is a conversation we have been having for 5 out of the 7 days this week:

Lauren: Momma eat?

Me: Are you hungry?

Lauren: Yeah!!!

Me: Ok, what do you want to eat?

Lauren: Pizza!

Me: I don't have pizza. What else do you want?

Lauren: I want pizza.

Me: Honey, I don't have pizza. Do you want some soup?

Lauren: Applesauce.

Me: You're out of applesauce. I have chips.

Lauren: (three inches from my face and feeling her little hot breath on my cheeks) Choco milk?

Me: You want some chocolate milk?

Lauren: Yeah!! (as she jumps up and down like she just won the lottery)

I am very pleased that Lauren is finally having conversations with me. It has been something I have been waiting for a long time. It's weird how her conversations have just evolved. I don't think I could look back on this whole experience and pinpoint a date that she started talking. It just kind of happened naturally with no real beginning. I don't know if I was expecting her to just wake up one day and start saying "Well, hello Mother. So nice to see you this fine morning". I really didn't know what to expect at all. I just know that I am happy that she is able to communicate with us and I can finally see what's going on in the beautiful little brain of hers. It has been a long time coming. Now, if I can just get to to ask for something more than pizza, applesauce, or chocolate milk we will be fine.

Panic...Sort Of

There was a note that came home with Lauren the other day that said she was having trouble identifying and sorting her colors. I know, not a big deal. She's three and she is only now getting a good grasp on the English language. Normal people would say, 'Hey, we better work on that, no big deal'. I'm not normal (no laughing, you know what I mean).

Her teacher sent home a tub of different colored plastic animals for us to work on at home. She wanted us to sort and name the animals and colors. Once I started working with her, I saw a real problem. The only color she knew was yellow. She would say that every other animal was green or purple. For a split second I went into mini panic mode. The one thing I never wanted Lauren to deal with is a learning problem. I am in no way saying she has one, but that's where the panic sent me. This was the first time I ever saw her not catch on to a concept and master it instantly. Ever since we found out about the CP and the hearing impairment, I would always hold on to the hope that she still could rely on her cognitive ability to compensate for the other things she struggles with physically. It was the last thing that was untouched from the whole traumatic birth and I am very protective of it.

After I snapped back into reality, I was able to talk some sense into myself. This is the only thing I saw that she was having difficulty with since she got her hearing aids. I have to remind myself that she started hearing everything in October. That was only 7 months ago. She is learning so much so fast, that there is bound to be a time that something doesn't stick as fast. I just have to be good at reminding myself of that fact.

Video is Here

Here is the first ever school performance from little LC. The video has been put on YouTube and edited for time and cute face shots.

Unfortunately, linking it to blogger has proved to be a little complicated. The next best thing is to give you the address. You can cut and paste this to the address bar and it should go right ot it.

Enjoy!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOHVrWgeetw

Patience is a Virtue

One of the requirements for Lauren's bus ride to school is that I have to strap her in the Star Seat each morning. It is a five part harness that is sometimes a little tricky when all the straps are tangled. Legally, I have to do it. There is no way a bus driver is going to stop the bus, put the brakes on, get out of the driver's seat and strap my kid on the bus. So, I do it and I love the little extra time I get with her each morning.

Every morning, I help Lauren get up the stairs, lift her into the seat, and strap her in. By the time I get off the bus, there is a line of cars waiting for me in both directions. Most people have to only wait a minute or two for a kid to get on the bus and for the bus to start moving again. Most of the time, people don't really care that we take a little longer than the average kid. I guess my neighborhood is a little too impatient. There was a car the other day that didn't want to wait the three minutes it took to get my child on the bus and decided the he/she would just pass the bus with the flashing stop lights on. This person waited about 1 minute and grew impatient. I guess I wasn't going fast enough or they were in a big hurry because they just flew on by. I know they saw the lights flashing because they actually stopped and waited for a minute. Where's a cop when you need him?

Shame on you Mr. Neighborhood Impatient Man! Didn't anyone ever tell you that patience is a virtue?