Great Mood!!!

Gracie has been in a great mood all week and she has been so well behaved at daycare. Everyone at daycare has been commenting on it. She's been helpful, cooperative, and a good friend.

Yesterday it was water day at daycare and Gracie got to bring her swimsuit along and run through the sprinklers. She loves this. I'm told she had a ton of energy. When I picked her up last night, she was in the middle of storytime, so I let her sit on my lap while the teacher finished the book. I noticed she had quite a cough, but she still seemed happy enough. Her cheeks were a bit flushed too. We got her a drink on the way out. The hacking cough continued and became quite severe all the way home. She was breathing, she was able to swallow, but she was definitely having an allergic reaction to something. I think I watched her more closely on the way home than I did the road. When we got home I gave her some antihistamines, some food (as she was starving), and a bath to make sure any allergen that might be on her skin was removed. It took about an hour and a half...and lots of prayers and the coughing finally subsided. I slept with one eye open all night, but she fine and was in a fantastic mood this morning.

I talked with everyone at daycare this morning and we have no idea what may have caused her allergic reaction. I have asked them to only use our sunscreen, as I have been noticing that her skin reacts to theirs a bit...even though there are no nut products in it. They were happy to comply with my request.

I'm hoping there will be no more weird reactions today. I also hope Gracie stays cool today...it's supposed to get to 95 degrees today. A real scorcher!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Great Mood Gracie

Healthy, Happy, and Having Fun!

I am happy to report that Gracie is healthy again!!!! We had a pretty low key weekend. On Saturday we hung out at home, played outside and enjoyed a visit from Grandma & Grandpa D. On Sunday we hung out at home most of the day. We brought out the sprinklers to keep Gracie cool and she had a great time playing outside. Jeff discovered a nest of baby bunnies so Gracie was super excited about that. Gracie has been so much fun lately. She gets so excited about things. On Saturday she found a video of a whale swimming on her iPad and kept showing this to Jeff and I excitedly. Then we put sprinkles on her ice cream cone. That was major excitement as well. It makes me smile to hear and see her expressions. Yesterday when Jeff picked up Gracie at daycare, he was told she got the gold star for being the best behaved kid in her classroom. She had a great day! They had a dance instructor come in and teach the kids zumbatomic dancing. I'm told Gracie LOVED it!!!! Today at daycare it's water day, so the kids will get to dress into their swimsuits and run through the sprinklers...another favorite of Gracies. It does my heart good to see her healthy and happy again. Last night she kept eating and eating and eating!! Then she woke me up this morning at 4:00 a.m. and told me she wanted chicken, boop (her word for ketchup), and french fries. I told her to go back to sleep! YAWN!!!! Stay cool...I hear we are headed into the 90's for the rest of the week. UGH! Love, Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie Good Girl

The Stomach Flu....EWWWW!

So last Wednesday, the very day I posted about what an awesome week Gracie was having, I got a call early afternoon from daycare...she had the diarrhea and had vomited. I picked her up and she seemed happy enough...then as we were driving home, she threw up again...all over herself and the car. That was the theme for the rest of the afternoon. By Thursday the vomiting had stopped, but the diarrhea continued. We thought we had it under control over the weekend, when it began again later on Sunday. I stayed home from work with her on Monday...and at midnight on Monday night/Tuesday morning, it all began again. She was vomiting and had the diarrhea constantly from midnight through til 4:30 a.m. when she finally was able to fall asleep. The poor little munchkin just moaned through it all and was so restless. She never moans unless she is REALLY sick. I stayed home with her again yesterday and it was a pretty quiet day. She would drink Gatorade, but nothing else. She would eat just enough applesauce to get her seizure meds in her. In the evening she started to perk up a bit and wanted some crackers and did have a piece of toast. Gracie slept great last night and was still sleeping when I left the house. She is at home with daddy today. She is eating a bit more today, but I'm told the diarrhea continues...not as frequently however. She has asked to go "bye, bye" so that is a good sign. We're hoping that she is feeling better and soon! Love, Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie Gurgly Guts

Awesome Week

Gracie has had an awesome week at daycare.  We've been very good about getting her into bed for story time at about 7:45 p.m., so she is asleep by 8:00 p.m. and this has done wonders for her mood and ability to cope at daycare.  She loves daycare and asks every morning about going "bye bye daycare". 

I think I've mentioned in previous posts that when Gracie is feeling overwhelmed or kids get in her personal space, she doesn't have the words to communicate, so she will hit or scratch them.  We've been working with her on calm down techniques and behavior modifications.  It's working!  Her teachers at daycare have told us that they see her make the hand motion as if to hit, but catches herself midway and puts her hand down and stops herself.  They've also indicated that they have a "calm down corner" both indoors and outdoors and have found Gracie going to these spots on her own when she is feeling a little overwhelmed or just needs some time away from everyone else.  YAY GRACIE!!!!

Gracie was in such an awesome mood last night.  She was happy, silly, smiley, just in fantastic mood.  She brought home a project she made in daycare last night for Jeff for Father's Day.  I just love it...she made him a trophy that says #1 Dad.  It is so cool. 

Gracie was in bed and sleeping by 8:00 p.m. last night, but awoke at 2:00 a.m. and try as she might she couldn't fall back asleep.  I "bounced" her (me holding her and bouncing) for a while, but I can only bounce a 60 pound child for so long before my back feels like it is going to break.  We snuggled, we rocked, and at 3:30 a.m., she finally fell back asleep, but it was a restless sleep.  She awoke at 6:30 a.m. and was a happy girl this morning, so I hope she's having a good day at daycare. 

It's water day at daycare today...this happens once a week.  The kids all bring their swimsuits and they get to play in the sprinklers.  It was so much fun hearing all the kids ask each other if they brought their swimsuit.  I even told Gracie to ask her friend Maddie if she brought her swimsuit and she did.  "Maddie, did you bring swimsuit?"  Then Maddie's dad asked Gracie if she brought hers (she had just heard me tell someone else it was pink) and she said "yes, pink!"   I hope it's warm enough out for water day...it's looking kind of cloudy and cool out there.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie in the pink swimsuit!

School's Out for Summer!!!!

Gracie has officially graduated from year two of preschool.  The last day of school was a lot of fun for her.  The school had a DJ playing music on the playground and Gracie LOVES music and LOVES to dance.  Parents were invited to join the class for the last hour of school for a party and a little graduation ceremony.  It was a lot of fun to see Gracie with her classmates.  Many of them will go on to kindergarten next year, but since Gracie will be a very young five, we decided another year of pre-school would be the best thing for her.  We've met her teacher for next year and we are very pleased.  We've also found out that the director at Gracie's daycare (who is going to school for her early childhood special education degree) will be student teaching in Gracie's class.  Gracie loves Sara, so that is very exciting too. 

So Gracie will be officially hanging out at daycare for the summer.  They are bringing in alot of fun things for the kids.  They also have "water day" once a week.  We've found that if Gracie is in bed by 8:00 p.m. or before she usually has a good day at daycare.  Later than that...and she has a really rough day.  She really is a kid who needs her sleep. 

This morning she was very happy to be there...I'm hoping she has a great day.

Our weekend was spent trying to keep cool..Gracie got to hang out in her inflatable pool in the backyard and loved every minute of it.

Have a great week!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Gracie and Mommy Weekend

Jeff worked all weekend, so Gracie and I had a great, yet mellow weekend together.  We had a playdate planned for Saturday morning, but a g.i. bug hit the home of our play buddies, so we took a raincheck.  We hope you are all feeling better playmates. 

On Saturday morning we did a little shopping.  First stop...the shoe store where I was assured she still had enough room in her sneakers.  Next stop...the mall.  We got Gracie some shorts that were on sale in a size bigger than what she wears...just in case a growth spurt hits before the summer is over.  Then we stopped at McDonalds for some chicken mcnuggets and french fries.  We took it home and added some healthy fruit to the lunch menu.  We played outside after nap and into the evening.  Jeff made it home at supper time and we grilled hamburgers and ate out on the deck. 

In the evening Gracie was having a great time climbing up the slide and going down all by herself with no one catching her.  She then thought it was great fun to play puppy by crawling on all fours on the grass with her tongue hanging out of her mouth while she pretended to pant.  I made sure to wash her hands well after that in case any squirrels had left any nut debris in the grass.  Unfortunately, this didn't help her seasonal allergies at all and her eyes were bright red before bed.  When she awoke in the morning, her right eye was so swollen she could barely get it open.  We used prescription eye drops and nasal spray, and gave her the daily Claritin and they were looking a lot better by noon, but they were definitely swollen all day. 

On Sunday, at Gracie's request, we went to Target "to buy chicken".  Gracie LOVES going to the store.  We also stopped at Old Navy where she is in love with the little kid and dog mannequins.  She was holding their hands and hugging them.  There is one just a little bigger than her that has the cutest piggy tails and she was sporting piggy tails too.  I wish I would have had a camera to take a picture of the two of them together. 

Other than that our day was pretty lazy.  Gracie pepped up when daddy got home about 7:30 p.m.  She was definitely missing him.  Unfortunately bedtime came way too soon for her liking.  We try to get her in bed by 8:00 p.m. on school nights...but she needed some daddy time, so it was more like 8:30 p.m.

Gracie had a great day at school today and was very verbal.  She kept telling her classmates "good job" on the playground.  She did accidentally ingest a small amount of ice cream that was manufactured in a facility with tree nuts before staff realized it.  So school monitored her for about 45 minutes and the bus staff and daycare are now on monitoring alert as well.  I'm pretty sure that if there was going to be an allergic reaction we would have seen it by now.  I'm hoping and praying that all is fine. 

It looks like it is going to be a beautiful week.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie