Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Binkie bunkem

Jade uses a soother.  She has since she was about three months old, when I forced her to take one because I realized that on long car trips a soother was safer than sitting with my finger in her mouth and leaning over the carseat with my boob out got old really fast.

I didn’t foresee her using a soother for this long but once her seizures started I refused to take them away.  Her sleep was bad enough as it was and I wasn’t about to remove something that was a source of comfort for her.

But now it’s time.  The seizures are pretty well under control.  And her two bottom front teeth appear to have  slight inward lean.  Yes, they’re just her baby teeth, but baby teeth are placeholders for the adult teeth.  And anyway, she’s four.  It’s time.  Right?

And so we have introduced the soother fairy.  On Jade’s birthday last Saturday, we made a big deal out of putting the first soother into a net bag and hanging it up somewhere conspicuous.  Jade chose the chandelier above our dining table.  In the morning — surprise! — there was a stuffed bear.  Jade was delighted and named him “Mine”.

Last night, we put in the second soother.  As we were climbing the stairs, Jade said, “The soother fairy will bring me a monkey, alright?”  That made me laugh.  (The soother fairy brought her a toy iron instead — thanks NaiNai! — but she was very pleased with that, too, and insisted on bringing it to her motor therapy class to show off.)

I didn’t laugh, though, at 5 a.m. when I returned to my bed after a Halia feed and saw on the video monitor that Jade had woken up.  Her hands were frantically raking back and forth along the bed rail, searching for the extra soother that is always — until last night — waiting there in case the first one gets lost in the sheets.  After a minute of searching she curled up in defeat and started crying for me.

“Swiper!  *sob sob* Swiperrrrrrrr!!!” she cried.  (She’s Boots and I’m Swiper these days.  Michael is Dora *snicker* and Halia is, for some unfathomable reason, “My”.)

Her last remaining soother was right next to her, but she’d missed it in the dark.  She took it gratefully, then wanted to come sleep in the big bed.  She never sleeps well there (and as a result, neither do I) so I offered to stay with her for a few minutes instead.

She was very relaxed and peaceful as she lay there snuggled up to me.  I could hear the “snck, snck, snck” sound as she sucked on the soother.  And I thought, “Oh man.  This sucks.  What is going to happen when the last soother goes?”

I am worried, my friends, very worried.  Honestly, if it weren’t for her teeth, I’d let her keep her damn soother until she was twelve.

Dear Jade,

I know I must have sounded like the Birthday Grinch yesterday, but I really didn’t mean it that way.  We didn’t have a birthday party with cake, balloons, and loot bags, but it still turned out to be a really wonderful day.

Right after breakfast you got to open up your presents.  There was a little puppy that barks from Amanda (which you immediately loved and named Dora), the pink pot and packet of sunflower seeds from Papa and me, and then there was the Playmobil farm from Nai-Nai and Opa which was the biggest hit of all.  (I can’t blame you.  I want to play with it myself!)

I like how you really appreciated all your gifts.  While Christmas was fun, there were so many new things to play with, they all got a bit lost in a big jumble.  Today you really got to play with your new things and you couldn’t get enough of them.

Amanda and I had to coax you out of the farmhouse to put on your snowsuit so we could go out and meet your friends for sliding.  With four kids (plus Halia), four adults, five sleds, one GT racer, and two crazy carpets, there was always something and someone to slide with, and not too much of that pesky waiting around.  All the adults thought it was great when the three oldest kids (you included) had a “safety meeting” under the shelter of one of the trees to talk about skidoos and how to avoid hitting them.

Everyone came over for soup and fresh bread.  You got an “apple pie” with bacon on the side and I decided to put some birthday candles on the pie, so we all sang happy birthday.  That wasn’t really a planned part of the day and I was embarrassed when one of the kids asked if they would get to have cake, too.  Oops!  I think next year you will be old enough to help bake a cake and serve it to your guests.

After nap time (during which you didn’t nap at all, but played with Dora the dog instead) you got to play some more and then we planted your sunflowers.  You were very pleased to be giving “Snake” the watering-indicator worm a new place to live.

Finally, before bed, we hung up one of your three soothers on the lamp in the kitchen so that the Soother Fairy can come and take it away now that you’re FOUR years old.  We’ve been talking about the Soother Fairy for about a month now and you seem pretty excited about it.  (We’ll see what you think of it when the third and final soother goes into that bag about a week from now…)

All day long there were phone calls: from Auntie Nem, Nai-Nai and Opa, and Uncle Tim.  There was the video that your cousins made for you.  And there was the crazy Skype call with Gran and Buddy and the whole Milne gang, and a nice long Skype call with Papa, who really wished that he could be home with you.

Let me tell you, Jade, I was so proud of you for being in such a good mood all day, remembering to say thank you for all the gifts and well wishes, and happily sharing your new toys with your friends and your sister.  You must have known how special you are with all these people calling you, singing to you, and wishing you a happy birthday.  You must have felt how loved you are.

I think if we could just have had Papa here with us, it would have been a completely perfect day.  Happy birthday, my big girl!

Love, Mama

The non-party party

Tomorrow Jade will be turning four.  She has been looking forward to this and asking about it since at least as far back as Halia’s birthday.  We’ve been discussing it a lot because we do a lot of counting and talking about ages, and also because we’ve been preparing her for gving up soother.  (More on that another time.)

To mark the day, I’ve invited some of Jade’s friends to go sliding in the morning, with the option of having a bowl of soup and some fresh bread afterward.  But it’s not a party.  It’s not a party because (a) Michael’s out of town, and he’s upset enough about missing Jade’s birthday without also missing the official celebration, and because (b) I’m pretty ambivalent about the whole birthday party thing anyway.

We did have a party for Jade last year (just a few of her little friends from 3 families, but with all the parents along, it ended up being quite a crowd!) and I even make her a keto cake and our friend Deb made matching chocolate cupcakes for the other kids to enjoy.  It was fun, but really I  just wanted it to be about Jade getting a chance to visit friends.  Because she loves playing with other kids.

I don’t think she needs the extra presents, nor the hordes watching the unwrapping of presents, and goodness knows she doesn’t need any hullaballoo about cake.  And the whole “princess for a day” mentality just doesn’t sit well with me; fortunately she’s not old enough for that yet, but I certainly don’t feel the need to set the tone.

I don’t want to ignore  her birthday altogether, but I think at her age and at this stage, a little “playdate plus” is more than enough celebration.  She’s getting a couple of great presents in the morning, plus she’ll be able to look forward to another couple when Papa gets home.  I think she’ll feel pretty special, just knowing she can officially say she’s four.  And I’ll be sure to give my big girl lots of extra hugs and kisses, too!

As if to prove a point

mentioned Halia is a climber?

Amanda isn’t feeling well today, so it’s just me and the girls at home.  This means a lack of supervision when essential tasks are taking place, such as cooking meals or making a cup of coffee.  (ahem

This morning I was washing dishes and realized that the girls had been very quiet in the living room for probably almost 10 minutes.  So quiet that I should have realized I needed to check on them.  I whipped off the rubber gloves and peeked around the corner.

Wouldn’t you know it?  They were sitting close together on the couch, each with her own book.  Books.  Even Halia, who normally needs more action than a book affords.  Colour me impressed.

So after lunch when I snuck into the office to check my messages for 5 minutes and then realized after that elapsed time that it was eerily quiet again, I primed up the camera, ready to get a shot of those two loving it up on the couch.

Instead I found this:

Not only did Halia climb over the arm of the couch, across a flimsy folding table, up onto the piano, and somehow navigate around the upright music stand and over an unstable stack of music, she did it all with a four-sizes-too-big-for-her shackle of a boot.

Clearly, my house is not as childproof as I thought it was.  And clearly, we have to work on Jade’s tattling skills.

Wild things

Jade loves the book Where the Wild Things Are.  We hadn’t read it in a couple of weeks, but she dug it out today and made Amanda read it to her twice in a row.

In the middle of the story, Max meets the wild things, and they “roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws” and we draw this part out so that Jade can fill in the actions.

That made me think that Jade would love to have some “terrible claws”.  So we made some!  Isn’t she fearsome?

She can pull off the gnashing of terrible teeth, too!

Halia can be quite the wild thing, too.  Have I mentioned that she’s a handful and a half?  She’s a climber and a screamer and an experimenter and a total ham.  I love it.  (When she’s not driving me crazy, that is.) 

Just before bed tonight she decided she absolutely had to have one of Jade’s Pull-Ups on.  I helped her with the first one.

She tried to put another one after that and got hopping mad when her foot kept getting stuck in the crotch.

May I also mention that I’m very glad it was garbage day today?  Because it meant that Jade’s garbage can was empty when Halia decided to do this:

(I know she looks grumpy in the picture, but she was quite pleased with herself before the camera came out.  You should have seen her grinning with just her little shoulders and head sticking out of the top.)

Yes, boys are supposed to be way louder and wilder than girls, but my girls can create a quite a ruckus when they feel like it. 

And now, let the wild rumpus start!

Inertia

I should really know better than to sit down at my computer after the girls are in bed.  Even if it’s just to have something to do while I eat my late supper. 

Michael left for Dawson City this morning and he’ll be away for two weeks, so I really need to be organized.  I have all the ingredients in the fridge for a great soup that would ensure I have lunch and dinner on time tomorrow.  I have a desk that needs to be cleaned off so that my laptop can go back there so that I can actually get some much-needed work done, not to mention back-up hundreds of photos and videos.  There are dishes to do.  Heck, I could even go to bed early for once and catch up on my sleep.

And yet here I sit.

Someone come over and kick me in the behind.

A Rogueish look

I like my hair.  It suits me and it’s pretty undemanding.  This wasn’t always the case — just check out my disastrous Grade 8 photo with the Perm of Doom, or ask my 7-year-old self why the heck she would pine for long blond tresses.  We have come to understand each other, my hair and I, and as long as I keep it trimmed we get along just fine.

I started getting gray hairs pretty early on.  In university, I would get a patch of gray just above each ear whenever exam time rolled around.  Now those patches have disappeared, but I have a new silvery one that has developed over the last 5 to 7 years.

Exhibit A: Taken with the crappy green-tinted camera on my laptop. Because I was lazy.

I know I’m supposed to hate my gray hair and all, but, well, I don’t.  I’ve often said that I wished it would just get stronger, darnit, because then I would look just like that X-Men character, Rogue.

Exhibit B: Yep, EXACTLY like that. (Pic stolen from http://extmovie.com/)

The natural silver streak has become slightly more pronounced over the years, but I’ve often toyed with the idea of going into the salon and playing it up through the magic of chemicals.  When I got my haircut a few months ago, the young hairdresser love the idea.  Last month, however, the 40s-ish hairdresser I had was adamant that she would never let me do such a thing.

Playing it up, I’d be joining the ranks of such greats as Cruella DeVil, and (God help me) Stacy London.  On the other hand, going natural fits much better with my general philosophy of low-maintenance hair care.

I know I have way more important things to worry about.  But once in a while it’s nice to indulge in some frivolous narcissism.  So, what say ye, bloggy peeps?  Care to cast a vote?

Hush little baby

Okay, I’ve been fooled before, I admit it.  But we’re now on the third night, so that’s a pretty good streak.  Still, I might have to whisper.

(For three nights in a row now, I’ve been able to put Halia into her crib wide awake and and she has rolled over and gone to sleep on her own, with no crying.  And even a giggle on Tuesday night.)

I’ve been sleep-training for about a month.  The truth is, I had had it.  Halia would nurse and nurse and nurse and often not so gently, either.  And then she’d flip her head the other way, arch her back and expect to be allowed to go play. 

The first night of “training” (unplanned beforehand) I stayed with her in her room and kept putting her on her back whenever she tried to get up.  I kept hugging her or rubbing her belly or back when she cried, looking for a boob.  It took an hour and a half, but she finally went to sleep.  After that night, I’d stay with her for a while, but if she kept sitting up, I’d tell her I would leave, and then I’d leave.  And then she’d cry.  And I’d go back in and we’d start all over again.

Going to Vancouver didn’t really help the process, especially as I made exceptions on a few nights and nursed her down.  We were all sleeping in the same room and Jade couldn’t be put to bed until Halia was asleep, so a compromise had to be made.

I am blabbering all these unimportant and uninteresting details because I simply cannot believe it.  How long with this last?  Is this it?  Will I now be able to nurse her a little, lay her down in her bed, and then actually go about my business for the evening?  Can it really be true?

(Also?  With the exception of last night, during which she obviously was having some gastric upset, Halia sleeps soooo much better when she falls asleep on her own.  Oh my, I’m really tempting fate by telling you that one!)

24-hour EEG

24-hour EEG: January 12, 2010

This is what Jade looks like when she’s just relaxing with some new toys (courtesy of my godparents K.C. and Janet!) while having her brainwaves recorded.

The lowdown

I was going to write an eloquent post about weekly blood draws and all the fun we had today, trying to get that particular chore done (it involved forgotten paperwork as well as getting stuck in soft snow which necessitated shovelling myself out, which is always a joy, of course) but now it’s almost midnight, so here’s the quick and dirty version for you worriers out there.

Dr. Huh’s hypothesis is that Jade got a virus that was sort of the last straw for her liver, which admittedly works hard on her high-fat diet.  Jade’s been having frequent bloodwork, and we can see that her liver enzymes are moving in the right direction since the change to 4:1 (hurrah!). Once the liver enzyme numbers stabilize, we’ll jump her back up to the 5:1 ratio where her seizure control was, we think, nearly perfect.  That can likely happen in just a week or two.

The 24-hour ambulatory EEG was informative, even though it didn’t happen at the 5:1.  For one, we found out that Jade is having NO SEIZURES AT ALL, during her waking hours, not even subclinical seizures.  Hallellujah!  That is wonderful news!  Also, during the EEG Michael and I wrote down every twitch and sigh we observed that might be a seizure in her sleep, but there were only a couple of real seizures — the rest were normal twitches that we all have in our sleep.  So that was more good news.

So here’s hoping Jade’s liver stabilizes quickly and that it stays happy (and that Jade does, too!) when we switch back to 5:1.  Here’s hoping!

(Thank you all for your good wishes and prayers.  Thank you for caring so much about us.  *smooch*)

Older Posts »