Memaw's here!

Memaw came to help us by painting the kitchen cabinets. The day she got here was beautiful, so Samantha got to play outside with her. Yeah!!!




And Daddy is lots of fun, too!

Riding with Daddy

Since the weather has been nice part of the time lately, Brent decided to go ahead and install the child seat on his bicycle a few weeks ago. This afternoon when I got home, the weather was beautiful and Samantah was begging to go outside, so out we went. Then Brent brought out the bicycle and she absolutely loved riding around with him. My only question is, should she be wearing a helmet, and if so, where can we find one small enough?

All Done

Samantha has finally learned a new sign. We started trying to teach her "all done" at the same time that we started teaching her "more". Months and months and months ago. She has been signing "more" since August or September, but she never would sign "all done". She would respond with a smile when I signed it, so we knew that she knew the meaning, she just never did it herself. Today, she signed "all done" for the first time. Woohoo!! And she did it at two meals. I will attempt to get a picture tomorrow. Maybe she will even cooperate on film (I guess that should actually be on megapixels) and my camera will actually focus when she does. Keep your fingers crossed!

The only problem with her signing this sign is that she didn't eat very much before she signed "all done". But if we didn't take her out of the high chair when she did it, it would counteract the meaning of the sign. So we decided that would be the end of her dinner, but that maybe she would drink more milk right before bed. Hopefully that was a good decision...this parenting stuff is hard!

And since I am telling you about her new sign, I might as well tell you all of her words that I can think of. Some you have already heard about but I can't remember for sure what I have already said, so we will start from the top. Dada, Mama (and yes, she does call me mama more often now, but I am still Dada at least half the time), uh-oh, da doo (Thank you), bye-bye, uic (juice), ca-ca (get your mind out of the dump, she is saying cracker!!!:)), eas (please), si (spanish for yes), ishy (fishy), dida (diaper), eez (keys), die (outside), dah (dog), ah ah (what does a dog say? arf arf. She actually did the barking long before the word dog. She would just hear Cori or any other dog and copy them) She hasn't said bah (book) or baba (Benjamin) for a while. I expect she will probably say Benjamin again when we see him at Easter, but I have no idea why she has stopped saying book. Books are still her favorite toys. I'm sure we will start hearing it again sometime, it just seems weird that she would drop that word rather than one of the others...I guess there is no understanding a 1 year olds mind.

Adventures in parenting...at the hospital

It all started Tuesday night, March 10. Samantha started throwing up at about 8pm, and kept on all night long...at least every 45 minutes other than a break from 3 to 6 am, all the way through 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday. She even threw up as I was putting her in her car seat to go to the doctor's office. Dr. Ramirez said that she had a stomach flu that is going around and to expect the diarrhea to start within the next day or so. She also said that Samantha needed to stay home for 3 days, so I called in sick for the rest of the week.

Dr. Ramirez was right. The diarrhea did start that afternoon, but it didn't get bad until Friday. She continued vomitting, but only once per day on Thursday and Friday. However, we were changing her diaper and pajamas constantly on Friday because the diarrhea was so bad. At about 8:30 Friday evening, we noticed that she hardly produced any tears when she was crying, so Brent called the nurse line that we have through the insurance company. The nurse said that Samantha did need to be seen, and recommended going to an urgent care center. So we did. We chose the one that was closest to our house and got there at about 9:30p.m. Once we saw the doctor, she said that it appeared that Samantha had mild dehyrdration but that it could quickly become severe. They did not have the equipment to do a pediatric IV, so she told us that we needed to go to the ER.

That was about 10:30pm, and we went straight from the urgent care clinic to the Plano Presbyterian ER. Samantha fell asleep on the way, but woke up as soon as we walked into the lobby. We got back to a room and waited a while to see the doctor, and Samantha finally fell asleep again. Not too long after that, the doctor came in, so she had to wake up one more time to be examined by the doctor and have her IV put in. We had to wait for about an hour after that to get the result of her bloodwork. Thankfully she fell asleep while we waited. The doctor came in at about 1:30a.m. and told us that her bloodwork showed severe dehyrdation and that her bicarbonate level was low enough that she had to be admitted to the hospital. She kept on sleeping as we went up to her hospital room, but woke up when we transferred her from the ER gurney to the crib in her room at 2:20a.m. Oh well...she would have woken up a few minutes later when the nurses had to examine her, take her vitals and check her IV. They found a problem with her IV. The needle had somehow punctured the side of the catheter, so they had to take it out and put a new one in. That most definitely upset Samantha.

Everything was finally done at about 3a.m., and I began the task of trying to calm her down and get her to sleep. She wasn't happy, though. She screamed from 3 until 5. Not just crying, but actually screaming. It was horrible. Her voice is still hoarse today as a result of all the screaming she did. I could not comfort her at all. I was holding her and trying to calm her, but she kept pushing away from me and arching her back, refusing to be comforted. It was as if she didn't even know who I was. I started crying several times myself. Brent had gone home to get some sleep, and he was going to be coming back later to let me go home and sleep. I was just about to the point of calling him and saying that I needed him to come back now, when she finally fell asleep.

She slept until 6:30a.m. After that, she alternated sleeping and crying for most of the day. Thankfully she didn't scream and act like she didn't know me anymore. I'm not sure I could have handled that again. In fact, she was very clingy and wanted to be held all the time. On Saturday, she still looked awful. She didn't feel too great, either. Her face was very puffy, her eyes were just slits in her face, and she was super lethargic and still whimpering and crying. She ate a cup of Jello, but then refused to eat anything else and refused to drink anything at all. It probably didn't help much that she was on a clear liquid diet, so there really wasn't anything that she could attempt to feed herself.

The doctor came to see her that afternoon and said that we could be dealing with some other things since the IV fluids hadn't perked her up, and he ordered some tests. One of them required getting a stool sample, which we still did not manage to get by Sunday at lunchtime. At least she was over the diarrhea. The doctor also said that we didn't need to worry about her not drinking yet, that at some point hunger and thirst would win out over remembering the stomach cramping and vomitting, and in the meantime, the IV was giving her all she needed to stay hydrated. I asked if she could change to having crackers or something that she could feed herself and he said yes. That we could advance her diet as tolerated. Which meant we would start out giving her bland things like cheerios and bread, and then if she did well we could keep on moving to other foods. Samantha was very happy to have Cheerios and a banana for dinner that night, and we even got her to eat a little bit of other stuff as well.

She still wasn't drinking, though. And if we tried to push it, she got very angry with us. She slept a lot better that night, even sleeping through one or two of the times that the nurse came to check her IV. Even the times that she woke up, though, she went back to sleep quickly.

On Sunday morning she ate a huge breakfast! She had scrambled eggs, half a banana, Cheerios, a little bit of bagel and some yogurt. She still refused to drink anything, though. And we had everything out...apple juice, grape juice, pedialyte, formula and water. All in different containers...sippy cups, regular cups with straws, and a bottle. Nothing worked, though. The doctor came by midmorning and said that she could be discharged that afternoon...IF we were comfortable with her drinking. He went ahead and wrote the discharge orders, but made it conditional. If she still wouldn't drink anything, she would stay another night. He also decided to lower the amount of her IV fluids so that she would be more likely to get thirsty.

Right around lunchtime, I went home for the first time since we left Friday night and Brent stayed with Samantha. When I came back, I brought her formula from home and another sippy cup and bottle. She still refused it. I said something about the fish to Brent and Samantha heard me and kept saying "ishy" and pointed to the door each time. So we took a walk to the fish tank, and I decided to take her cup with us. We sat on the floor by the fish tank and I put her cup on the floor beside us. She FINALLY decided to pick up her cup and drink. She didn't drink a lot, only about an ounce, but she did pick it up and drink several times, so we decided that she would be OK and told the nurse that we were ready to go home. Yeah!!!

We got home at about 2pm, and within 30 minutes, she had a huge poopy diaper. It figures! Oh well, the doctor said that since she was over the vomitting and diarrhea, getting the stool sample didn't matter any more anyway.

Then during her nap, she started having lots of diarrhea again. We were definitely worried. Then she threw up. The she had another diarrhea episode, but it was smaller. Then nothing else happened other than reflux issues. I kept waking up all night to check on her, but she slept fine and didn't have any other problems. She woke up doing great on Monday morning and went to her babysitter where she had a great day. I guess that it really is all over now. Wheeeew!

Here are a few pictures of her hospital stay:

Sleeping in her crib with her IV line coming over the rail. She didn't have very much room to move around at all since they had to keep the line short enough that she couldn't get tangled in it. It was definitely tricky getting her into a good position in the crib.

A close up of her sleeping in the crib. I'm almost glad she kept her lambie in front of her face while she was sleeping. She really did look bad, and I would kind of like to forget about that.

Sitting on Daddy's lap on Sunday morning. She was still lethargic and clingy, but she was definitely much improved and looking more like her normal self.

Playing with the music table after getting her IV out. She was almost completely back to normal at this point :)

Even babies wear hospital gowns in the hospital...and their hineys stick out of the gowns a lot...see the diaper poking out the back. At least it is cute on a baby :)!

Catching up

I realize it has been entirely too long since my last post. I'm sorry. I have no excuse. I will try to do better.

I had decided not to keep doing a post on (or around) the 7th of every month since Samantha is already a year old, and I figured that there isn't that much to say each month, right. Well this month has proved me wrong.

Since her birthday, Samantha has gotten 2 more teeth, stands almost all the time, stood on her own, started cruising and says several words now. The teeth were another bottom incisor on 1/28/09 and her first molar on 2/4/09. She is working on some top teeth, too, but I think they will still be a while in coming.

She stood on her own on 2/7/09. Of course, she was VERY highly motivated that day. She had something in her hand that she didn't want to let go of, and Aunt Kathy was holding her container of puffy stars just out of reach. So after thinking about it for a few minutes, Samantha finally let go of Kathy's leg and reached up for the container. Yeah!!! We haven't seen a repeat performance yet, but I'm sure it will be coming.

Samantha was also very highly motivated on 2/12/09, the day she cruised along the couch for the first time. You see, Samantha loves to sort laundry. And we had a pile of clean clothes I had taken out of the dryer on the couch. She pulled up on the edge of the couch, and we moved the clothes to the other end to see if she would cruise or crawl. And she did cruise down to the other end of the couch. Woohoo! BUT, I still say she is NOT a toddler. Crawling is still her mode of transportation, so she is still my baby...NOT my toddler, no matter what her doctor says. :)

Samantha's vocabulary has taken off this month, and so has her ability to imitate sounds. She says Dada, (and once in a while Mama, but she usually just calls me Dada, too), bye-bye, uh-oh, Da doo (Thank you), Baba (Benjamin), Bah (book), and today she started saying uice (juice). I think she says doggie, but I can't remember what sound that is. I will have to write it down the next time I hear her say it. She does it every time she hears a dog barking. Brent thinks she may have said diaper, too, but we havent' heard it again, so we aren't sure. One of her favorite games is to make a sound and then have us copy it, and she starts giggling like crazy if we say a different sound, then she will copy that sound. She also signs thank you, more and milk, and blows kisses and waves bye-bye. She will still give kisses occasionally, but usually only to Daddy. I fact, if we are both right by her and I tell her to give Mommy kisses, she will promptly give Daddy kisses, then giggle at me. Little turkey!

Samantha has gotten very adventureous. She loves to be tossed in the air, to fall down onto the bed or a pillow, to crawl over things and she attempts to climb. Once she figures out how to use her feet and legs for climbing, we will be in real trouble. She would rather be outside than anywhere else, and starts to get very upset when we bring her back in before she is ready. And if she is inside, one of her top priorities is to find a window to look out.

I haven't been able to get very many pictures lately because somehting is wrong with my camera...most of the time, it doesn't focus. But here are a few that we have managed to get from the last month or so.


These first two are from Kathy's bridal shower. Samantha definitely remembered what presents are and decided to help Kathy open them.



Looking adorable in her sailor dress and hat.


Playing outside with Mommy.


Watching at the door calling for Daddy to come home. Really. She went to the door and started calling his name. I was very glad that he came home a few minutes after that because I was starting to think that she was going to get upset that he wasn't answering her.

Thoughts

We had a day and a half off work for ice days. It was so strange that after extra, unexpected time off work, it was so hard to go back. It made me wonder...am I always that greedy, wanting more of something I have been given rather than being grateful for what I have received? I'll have to think more about that.


When I was driving down the street yesterday afternoon, I noticed that in my rear view mirror, the trees all sparkled with ice, but looking ahead, they just looked like normal trees. As I passsed a tree, I looked back, and noticed that it, too sparkled with ice. The side of the tree in the shade still had ice on it, and sparkled beautifully in the bright sunshine, but the side in the sun was dry. Another metaphor for our lives? Going through the shadows causes us to grow and become more beautiful, and gives us reason for joy when the sun comes out. And as a result, we have something beautiful to show those around us.


When we went to Samantha's one year check up, the doctor referred to her as a toddler. I denied it, she is not a toddler! She is my baby. And she isn't even cruising yet, so she can't be a toddler! But her age is what matters for the doctor. My baby is growing up and is now a toddler. How has a year gone by so quickly? Where did my snuggly baby go? Now she is a vastly independent little girl, who only snuggles when she is very tired, or not feeling well. And beleive me, I DEFINITELY take advantage of those snuggle times now.

A Natural Disaster?

I am thinking that more than just hurricanes and tropical storms should be named. Tornados should, too. Here's why:

After Samantha woke up from her nap this afternoon, I gave her medicine to her. Since she has to wait 15 minutes to eat after taking her medicine, I left her in her room and went into the kitchen to wash a few dishes and get dinner ready. This is what I found when I came back 20 minutes later. (The total silence from her room SHOULD have been a clue to me...)

And here is the view of the entire room.

When Brent got home and saw it, he asked what tornado hit the house. I say it was tornado Samantha. It was a quick and sneaky one! I'm also thinking it may be time to clean out the toybox a bit.