Busy Week

It's been a busy week with alot of things going on.  Gracie has been healthy and happy for the most part.  She's been a very good sleeper and I've really been appreciating this.  It gets pretty cold in our house at night and she has been snuggling under the covers.  I've found not to dress her too heavily at night - just a one layer set of cotton pjs...otherwise she gets too hot and tosses and turns alot. 

We found out last week that Gracie's daycare provider (who we all love immensely) is going back to her nursing career and we would need to find a new daycare for Gracie.  I'm thrilled for her as the job that she has taken will suit her perfectly.  I am sad for us, because she is AWESOME and we've been so blessed to have her taking care of Gracie this last year and a half.  She has provided so many learning experiences and opportunities for Gracie and she has blossomed with this care.  So the task we had was to find a daycare that could accommodate all of Gracie's special needs (seizure disorder, meds need to be dispensed, developmental delay, severe food allergies, etc.) and be open the appropriate hours to accommodate my work schedule.  This was not an easy task and we soon figured out that an in-home daycare was no longer an option.  I found a daycare center that I just loved and felt very comfortable with, only to discover that due to the set-up of the parking lot, the school bus would not pick her up there.  This caused a little stress for me. 

The next visit was to a daycare center that came highly recommended by a colleague.  We arrived and there was a group of kids lining up and Gracie was very adamant that she wanted to line up with the group.  When I wouldn't let her she was very upset with me.  The center was very accommodating and although Gracie would qualify to be in the pre-K room, they gave us the option to have her be in the pre-school room as there are only 4 other children there and they are sweethearts.  Gracie responded well to the director and to the classroom teacher.  The only real concern I had was all the buttons, pom poms, and other small crafty items that were a little too accessible.  Gracie is still very oral and they have choking hazard written all over them.  They were accommodating about those as well.  Gracie seemed to like this center, so we've reserved a spot for her starting December 5th.  Now I have a ton of paperwork to do, but I am relieved that we have found a place that I am happy with and I think Gracie will be too.  It is much closer to work for me to, so that will be nice.  Jeff hasn't given his stamp of approval yet, but he was immersed in a big conference at work with long hours, so he left this decision up to me.  I think he'll be pleased as well. 

Gracie has been very resistant to getting on the school bus lately.  This was happening at daycare, so I contacted her teacher at school and she said that Gracie was doing very well at school and was enjoying most activities (still refusing to do some things that are hard for her, such as cutting with a scissors, etc.) and seemed happy to be there and is becoming more and more verbal.  She did indicate that she is reluctant to get on the bus at school too.  Gracie's teacher was as concerned about this as I was and she suspected it may be do to some behaviors by other children that ride the bus.  She confirmed this today after talking with the bus drivers.  These are children she has in her class, so she will be working with the drivers and the para professionals that ride the bus to see if she can assist with some behavior modifications.  I'm thankful that she was willing to investigate and act on this.  Gracie used to love seeing buses, now when we see them or if I tell her she is riding the bus today she says "no".  She is always happy when I refer to school though, so that is a good thing. 

I think I've rambled on long enough.  I hope you are having a good week.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

A Good Week

Here it is Friday already.  Gracie has had a good week, she has been in a great mood, and it feels like she is learning all sorts of new words and things.  I love getting home after work and seeing that beautiful smile of hers.  It just brightens my whole day.

On Wednesday Gracie had a fun day at daycare.  They had a campfire in the afternoon and roasted marshmallows and made smores.  Gracie attempted a smore, but she doesn't have the chewing power to get through the whole thing, so ended up eating alot of graham crackers instead.  She especially enjoyed sitting on a big chair by the fire with older kids.  She loves to hang with the big kids. 

On Thursday it was back to school for Gracie, although she didn't have much to say about it.  She did bring home a new library book and that is always exciting for her.  She asked me to read it, then escorted Jeff over to the couch and told him to sit, she wanted him to hear it too...actually I just think she wanted us all together.  She really seems to enjoy that time. 

Today (Friday), Gracie woke up at 3:30 a.m. and at 5:00 a.m. (my time to get up) she had still not fallen asleep, but was getting sleepy again.  She ended up falling asleep from 5:15- 6:15 a.m. and then was up for the day.  Gracie had an appointment first thing this morning with a speech pathologist that follows her.  Gracie is making good progress with both her receptive and expressive language skills.  She is still obviously delayed in both, but is doing well.  I was concerned about her articulation of words, but the speech pathologist was not.  She felt her articulation was right on for her developmental level.  Gracie was not super cooperative and really didn't display alot of her verbal skills at the appointment.  The S.P. put a book in front of her with pictures -- all words she knows, but she would not say any of them.  Her attention level was not great, although she did cooperate on a few things.  The S.P. felt that it would not be worthwhile to do individualized speech therapy at this time and that we should continue on in a group setting with peers at school.  She also indicated she could tell we are doing everything right with her, based on the interaction she saw between Gracie and I.  (That was nice to hear - validation is a good thing.)  So I felt good about the appointment. 

After her appointment, Jeff took her up to the peds floor to get her weighed.  She is 54-1/2 lbs.  Once she gains 1/2 lb. we will need to increase seizure meds.  I think it's getting to be time, she's had a few staring spells that have concerned me, although I wouldn't classify them as absence seizures as I could bring her out of them fairly quickly. 

To close today's posting, I worked late last night and when I got home I got a very warm welcome.  Later in the evening.  She was sitting at the computer, heard me come into the room, turned around, put her thumb on her nose with her fingers up toward the ceiling and wiggled them...you know the sign for "na, na, na, boo, boo!  We have never shown her this, so I'm not sure where she got it, but it cracked me up.   Such attitude and she is only 4!

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Trick-or-Treat

Gracie had a great weekend with lots of activity -- just how she likes it.

• Saturday - Our day started bright and early at a local clinic where we got Gracie's flu vaccination.  We went with the FluMist for her and she decided not to cooperate, so we ended up with a battle on our hands.  We got the job accomplished this time, but as she gets bigger and stronger I'm not sure what will happen.  Then we headed to the grocery store where Gracie greeted each and every customer that strolled by.  So many of them were super sweet to her and stopped to say hello and give her a few kind words.  Later in the day, Gracie and daddy went outside to play so I could bake some bread and cut veggies for vegetable beef soup.  On Saturday night we dressed Gracie up as Minnie Mouse (a hand me down costume that my sister Cheryl made 25+ years ago for her daughters) and headed to "Trunk or Treat" at Jeff's church.  Gracie had a meltdown having to get her clothes changed, she was in a snit of a mood and I almost just said "forget it", but we forged on and in the end Gracie had a great time.  She enjoyed the music even more than the treats.

• Sunday - Aunt Sheila and Jason came over for a visit.  Gracie had a great time and was thrilled with our visitors (Jeff and I were too).  As they were leaving, Gracie wanted her coat on to walk them out...we ended up saying goodbye and then taking a walk around the neighborhood.  Once she tired out, we put her in the stroller and continued on and weren't surprised to see that Gracie fell asleep.  Then we went and picked up some pizza and just had a quiet evening at home.

• Monday - Gracie had school in the morning and I got a note that she became quite warm and they had to cool her off a bit with a cool cloth and a drink of water.  She seemed fine later, so not sure if perhaps she got too warm on the bus with her winter coat.  At daycare she decided a nap wasn't necessary and enjoyed the afternoon getting her fingernails polished and doing a craft with colored sand.  She also came home with some yummy treats.  Jeff picked Gracie up early and made sure we got some good food in her before trick-or-treating began.  We got her all dressed up as Minnie Mouse and she was pretty cooperative.  As soon as the first trick-or-treaters hit our door, she was ready to be outside.  Jeff and Gracie were out trick-or-treating for over an hour.  She had a great time and was even invited in for a visit at one house.  Gracie was so tired by the time she got home, she ate a lollipop, we read a couple of books and she was ready for bed.  She had a very restless night though. 

• Tuesday - When it was time to wake Gracie up this morning, I could not get her to wake up.  I tried and tried, but she was sleeping so tight it was next to impossible.  When she finally did wake up she was in a good mood and went off to daycare.  I got a call from daycare shortly after she was to get on the bus, that she was having a really rough morning and pretty much refused to go on the bus.  She was very tearful and unhappy.  Our daycare provider made the decision to keep her there to give her extra TLC today rather than going to school.  A decision that I wholeheartedly support and I love our daycare provider even more for recognizing she needed a day with a little extra care. 

Happy Halloween...hard to believe it's already November 1st.

Love,

Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Thursday/Friday

Not too much to report today.  Gracie had a good day at school and daycare yesterday.  She got to play outside for a while yesterday afternoon.  She also had a baby visit daycare for a while yesterday so I got to hear all about the baby last night.  Gracie had a good night and slept well.  She did wake up a couple of times, but went right back to sleep.  I think the cooler nights agree with her. 

There was remnants of chocolate pudding on my pillow and I knew it was from Gracie -- that's how we get her meds in her in the morning and many times she is still in bed when we give them.  Anyway, last night I said, who got chocolate pudding on my pillow.  She giggled and quickly replied "Jason".  Jason is her cousin that we hear alot about.  :)

Gracie is not a big eater in the morning, matter-of-fact, she eats the pudding for her meds, but many times that is it.  Last night Gracie's daycare mom sent home some homemade banana bread that Gracie just loves.  Breakfast this morning consisted of 2-1/2 pieces.  Guess I'll be needing that recipe.

Tomorrow Gracie gets her FluMist vaccination bright and early in the morning.  Hopefully that will ward off the flu germs for the season.

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

"Nuthin"

Gracie had a great day yesterday and a great night last night.  She spent the day playing and just hanging out at daycare.  I think she needed one of those days.  She was a happy girl last night, but would get really irritated, like she was frustrated and kept rubbing her back.  I'm always hyper nervous when she rubs her back, because her meds can cause kidney stones if we don't keep her hydrated enough.  I finally pulled up her shirt to see what was going on and there was a big ole bug bite.  Now what bug exists in the middle of October that can get under two layers and bite her.  Good grief.  I offered to put some Calamine lotion on it, but she declined.

The rest of the evening we just played and hung out.  She seemed extra tired and at one point, she took Jeff's hand and my hand and walked us to her room, pushed us onto the bed, crawled inbetween us and just relaxed...oh yeah, and requested a tent.  She loves when we all put a blanket over our heads and pretend we are in a tent. 

Gracie slept great last night.  She did wake up around 1:30 a.m. with a coughing attack, but it was short-lived and she went right back to sleep.  This morning, she was all snug as a bug in bed and did not want to wake up.  When she finally did wake up, she was not ready to get up, so she was laying on the bed playing with a train car that has a conducter on it.  She kissed the conducter.  Shortly after that, Jeff came in the room and she gave him this huge smile.  I said "Gracie, you gave the conducter a kiss, you gave daddy a big smile, what do you have for mommy?"  Without missing a beat, she looked me right in the eye and said "Nuthin".  I didn't even know she knew that word.  Now how do you keep a straight face with that type of response? 

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Catching Up

Gracie is doing well and has had a great week so far.  Here are some highlights:

Saturday:

• She enjoyed a lazy morning with mommy and daddy at home.  She promptly dragged both of us to her bed and then snuggled inbetween us.  She was one happy little girl.
• She visited Aunt Sheila, Uncle Chris, and Cousins Kayla and Jason who took care of her while mom and dad went on a date.  She had a great time.  When we went to leave she started to fuss because she thought we wanted to take us with her and was only too happy to say goodbye to us.  As bedtime approached she wanted to "See Mama", but when I actually returned to pick her up the emotions were a little overwhelming for her and she burst into tears.

Sunday:

• Gracie was tired out from her fun day on Saturday and didn't have a ton of energy.  It was a beautiful afternoon but the only thing she wanted to do was be pushed in her stroller.  Jeff and I have been dealing with colds and I think Gracie was perhaps feeling a little under the weather as well.  A telltale sign that she has a sore throat is when she puts her hand down her throat and tries to make herself vomit and she tried that a couple of times on Sunday.  Other than a cough, she seems to be fine now though.
• Gracie and Mommy just hung out as daddy was working all day. 

Monday:

• Gracie wore her pumpkin shirt to school.  One of the words on their word list this week is pumpkin and during story time, Gracie was the example of pumpkin.  She played outside at daycare and had a good day.
• At bed time I asked Gracie what her favorite part of the day was, she told me "music" and "school".  I took that to mean she liked music time at school.  She also said "daddy" and signed "playing".  Jeff has been working long hours, so I think she really enjoyed playtime with him when he got home from work.

Tuesday:

• At school during story time they made a witch's stinky soup.  It was a song about how they would throw bats, or pumpkins, or scarecrows, etc. in the soup and after they would put the new ingredient in they would stir and plug their noses and say "P.U. Stinky Soup".  Gracie enjoyed that immensely.  We did it at home last night too and she really got into it.
• Shortly after getting home we had some fun visitors that dropped off a pumpkin filled with goodies for Gracie.  Thank you to Julie and your three little goblins.  It made Gracie's night.  She was so thrilled to have little visitors that she kept giving them all hugs!

Gracie hasn't been sleeping great as she is still coughing all night long.  Poor little bug -- although she has been in a great mood.

Hope you are all having a great week.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

A is for Apple

Gracie has been having a really good week.  On Tuesday she had a fun day at school and at daycare.  She was in quite the happy, teasing mood when I picked her up at daycare and that just continued into the night.  Gracie, Jeff, and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary by ordering pizza and just hanging out and playing.  Later Gracie and I were talking about family and I told her that daddy, mommy, and Gracie were a family.  A little bit later she called Jeff into her bedroom where we were hanging out and she gave him a big hug, then she pulled me into the hug, and then her little voice said "family".  It was so sweet.  A little bit later, she signed the letter A and then verbally told us that "A is for Apple".  They are learning about apples at school this week. 

Yesterday Gracie and Jeff joined Gracie's class for a field trip to an apple orchard.  It wasn't Gracie's day to go to school but she was invited along.  I am a little envious as I would have loved to have gone along.  She had a fun time, she brought an apple home, she also got to go on a wagon ride, pet bunnies and goats, and got to see chickens.  Jeff said that EVERYONE knows Gracie.  Jeff met the bus load of kids at the orchard and many of the kids and the adults too all greeted Gracie.  They also got to go through a corn maze and stamp a card at various stations through the maze.  The only thing that really didn't sit well with Gracie is that they were all sitting in an area to learn about apples, but the plan changed and they decided to have the wagon ride first.  Our dear Gracie doesn't do well with transition and she was very unhappy as she wanted to sit and hear about apples.  She made a fuss about getting on the wagon, but once there enjoyed herself.  The apple orchard was covered in walnuts....ugh.  So Jeff ended up having to be extra diligent about washing her hands after she pet the bunnies or touched anything. 

Last night Gracie and I were home alone when she went to pull a crystal dish off of one of our stands, I very firmly said "Gracie no", but her listening ears weren't working and it fell to the floor and just shattered everywhere.  This on carpet no less.  I was so scared she would step on it with her bare feet that I picked her up and put her in a chair and I told her she had to stay there.  Gracie stays no where, she just doesn't have it in her to sit anywhere for any given amount of time and even though I didn't get mad, I think she thought she was in trouble.  It was quite a mess to clean up and it took a while and she didn't move a muscle.  When I was all done, I went over to her and I said "Gracie, I'm not mad that you broke the dish, it is just a thing, but I'm disappointed that you didn't use your listening ears when mommy told you no."  We've been talking alot about using listening ears and she touched her ears when I said this.  Her face was very sober.  Then I told her the reason she had to sit and not move is so that she wouldn't get cut while mommy cleaned up the mess and that I loved her very much.  I got a smile then.  I think this was a very good lesson for her and I don't think it is one she forget quickly. 

Gracie is home with daddy again today and they went to the library for story hour and then came and visited me for a few minutes.  She was all smiles.  I think she is enjoying her time with daddy. 

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

The Weekend and an Allergic Reaction

Gracie had a good weekend and got alot of mom and dad time.  On Saturday, it was just Gracie and I and we had a good day playing outside, we even did a little shopping for some necessities and some food.  Gracie kept telling me "store" and "food".  When I asked her what kind of food we should buy, she told me "chicken".  Which just happens to be her favorite food in the world.  She took all of a 20 minute nap and was ready to play some more.  We had a good day and Gracie was in a great mood. 

On Sunday, Gracie was quite grumpy in the morning, so we sent daddy to church, as I was pretty sure that she wouldn't go to Sunday school.  We watched church on TV - the Sunday Mass.  It's amazing how she will sit on my lap for that, but doesn't do so well in actual church unless it is music time. We met daddy at the mall for lunch, helped him pick out a new winter coat -- which Gracie found to be very fun.  Gracie wanted to wear all the men's coats and walk around.  She was quite the little goofball.  We went home and took a 90 minute nap and she was in a good mood all afternoon.  When it was time to go to bed, she kept telling me she was awake and she was.  She finally fell asleep at 11:00 p.m.  This was a mere 2-1/2 hours after her regular bedtime.  I'm not sure what was up with that as she was in a great mood.  She was restless all night long, but awoke in a fairly good mood.

On Monday morning as I was about to get her dressed, I noticed she kept itching her neck, then I noticed hives all over her stomach and back as I went to take her pj's off.  The hives had a welt like appearance as they were in big patches.  So her neck, stomach, and back were covered but nothing else.  I have no clue what caused them, the only thought that might be a possibility was that she wore Jeff's new coat around the house, perhaps there was something on that, although she was totally clothed when she did.  Knowing Gracie's history with anaphylactic reactions to some allergens, I kept her out of school and daycare to monitor and be ready to get medical attention if need be.  I gave her some Benadryl and other than it making her tired and grumpy that seemed to do the trick.  She didn't have much of an appetite at all for lunch.  She did inform me she didn't want her banana, but she wanted "pears".  So I got her pears and she ate some of those.  By about 2:00 p.m. her hives had pretty much cleared up.  We went outside for a walk, but she wasn't very energetic.  She enjoyed a stroller ride as well.  At one point she wanted to go "bye, bye" and was so tearful about it as she went to the car, that I put her in her seat and we just took a drive around town.  I even got her an ice cream cone at McDonalds and her appetite was nice and hardy for that.  She also was very talkative all day.  I loved that. 

Gracie ate a huge supper last night and I could tell she was feeling so much better.  She still had a bit of a hard time falling asleep, but had a good night and did not want to wake up this morning.  She is back to school and daycare today.

I hope you had a good weekend too!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Healthy and Happy

Gracie has been healthy and happy and we've had a peaceful existence the last couple of days.  She is so observant these days, just today on our way to daycare she informed me there was a flag.  I couldn't see any flag.  So when I questioned her on it, I was shown that it was way off into the distance and indeed there was the American flag flying proud.  Last night she was watching a hand me down video that she hadn't seen previously.  It had a couple of songs in it that are on a cd of hers, when she heard them she got all excited and pointed to her room, which is where she usually listens to her cd player of kids songs.

Gracie has really been enjoying the Halloween decorations around town this year.   The other night Jeff and Gracie took a walk, she came running in the house all excited saying "Mom, see. Mom see." She was pulling on my hand that I had to go outside. I asked her what I needed to see and she said "Corn Candy." The neighbors two doors down have a ton of Halloween stuff in their front yard and one is this giant blow up piece of corn candy. So I had to go see it. Last night when we got home that was the first thing she wanted to go check out again. I love how excited she gets.

Gracie has been sleeping pretty well, she was up alot last night coughing, but would fall back to sleep very quickly.  

I have a hard time finding winter boots that aren't too heavy and awkward for Gracie, but offer good support for her.  I had been researching and researching online, trying to find something that would work for her.  I came up with this pair made by Crocs that looked like they fit the bill.  I ordered them online and they came yesterday...perfection!!!!  Gracie loves them too.  I just know we'll be spending more time outside this winter than we have previous years.  Now I need to find the perfect mittens...we've got some that will work, but I think we need some with zippers...her fine motor skills are a struggle for her so she doesn't do so well helping put mittens on.  I've found an online site that makes mittens for people with special needs - I think I'm going to check into those.

Gracie got a new book at the school library yesterday:  "The Diary of a Worm".  Gracie really likes it and Jeff and I have found it to be a hoot.  I thought the humor of it was a little over Gracie's head, but she really likes it.

We're looking forward to the weekend.  Have a great one.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

She Slept the Whole Night Through

Gracie has been having a good week, her nose has stopped running, she still has an occasional cough, but it is soooooo much better, and she has been enjoying her days at school and at daycare and enjoying the mild Fall weather.  We haven't been able to take our evening walks because it is turning dark too early.  By the time supper is done, it's dark out.  This does not sit well with Gracie and I've been letting her watch a DVD in the evening.  We're going to have to figure out some fun things to do indoors. 

Gracie has been participating a lot more in school this week.  Not only repeating words when asked, but commenting spontaneously at times as well.  This is a big step for her and means her comfort level is increasing.  I wish her teacher and speech therapist could hear her talk at home, she is quite the jabber box when she wants to be...I love it.

Gracie Skyped with Grandma and Grandpa D. last night and had a few things to say, but was mostly quiet.  She is so funny, she can't wait to Skype with them, then becomes very shy at times.

The best news of the week for me is that Gracie slept through the night last night.  She did wake up briefly at 4:30 a.m., but that doesn't count because she immediately fell back to sleep and I'm up by 5:00 a.m. anyway, so I got a full night sleep for the first time in at least three weeks.  It felt AWESOME!!!!

Gracie was in a great mood this morning and was so happy to see her buddy Kayla (9 years old) when she went to daycare this morning.  She was stuck to her like glue.

Hopefully the week will continue to be a good one.  I just love having Gracie feel good!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

A Weekend Outside

We had a very fun weekend of outdoor activities.  We pretty much spent out whole weekend playing outside.  On Saturday we woke up and headed out the door shortly after breakfast.  We took a walk, we played in the leaves, we mowed the lawn and leaves and bagged them up for the compost pile. We took them to the city compost pile.  Upon arriving there, Gracie got all excited and said "a farm".  Well not quite. 

After nap, we decided to take her to this little zoo and hiking area about 10 miles away, but when we got there at 4:10 p.m. we were disappointed to find that the zoo closes at 4 p.m.  So we hiked a little way to a picnic area with a playset that had a slide and swing.  On the walk through the trees I kept telling Jeff to watch for walnuts (I'm even more cautious about us even stepping on them being I saw Gracie licking the bottom of her shoe the other day).  We get Gracie up to the top of the slide and then Jeff spies a walnut right by where she would come down.  I of course go to investigate and find walnut guts smeared down at the bottom of the slide.  Okay there will be no sliding all the way down this slide.  We let Gracie go halfway down and let her go to the swings instead.  A little girl named Haley spies us and comes over, she goes down the slide through the walnut juice, now she is contaminated...Gracie is excited to see this little "friend" and goes to hold her hand.  We work so hard to help Gracie have peer interaction and here she is very social with Haley, and she is contaminated with walnut guts that could send us to the ER.  So I wipe Gracie's hand down and explain to Haley why I must do it.  Haley seems to get it and then points to a big allergic reaction around her neck from her necklace.  Haley asks if Gracie can talk and how old she is.  I tell Haley that Gracie is 4 and I watch Haley's eyes get very big.  Haley is 7 and a little smaller than Gracie.  We didn't stay very long and part of the reasoning was just my own nervousness with the whole walnut thing.  I hate that I have to be so careful about that.

We were outside until well after dark, we did a little garage cleaning and Gracie had great fun just hanging out in the garage and listening to music.  We would occasionally have to take a walk to the end of the block and look at the big blow up pumpkin or the Halloween lights and decorations along the way. 

On Sunday Jeff had to work, so Gracie and I went back to the zoo to see the animals.  Her favorites were the eagles that kept giving her a stern talking too.  Gracie loved this, she would laugh and give it right back to them.  The turkey vulture seemed to be putting on a show for Gracie and I think that might have been her most favorite animal of the day, followed closely by the owls and the cow that licked her hand. 

After the zoo we headed to the mall to pick up socks, Gracie is outgrowing all of those too.  Then lunch and home for a 20 minute nap.  Then it was back outdoors, but it got too hot for Gracie.  I put her in the stroller and took her to the local schoolyard playset that she loves so much, but she didn't want to get out and play.  That never happens, so we zipped back home and I stuck her in the tub to cool her off a bit.  That did the trick, suddenly she had a ton of energy again.  Gracie was excited to see daddy come home for supper and she had a good evening. 

Gracie fell asleep very quickly last night and slept through until 3:30 a.m., she was awake for 30 - 45 minutes and then fell back to sleep.  She is sleeping so much better and doesn't cough all night long.  She is breathing much easier too.  She did wake up with a bloody nose this morning and every time I thought I had it stopped she would blow her nose and it would start up all over again. 

Gracie was excited to go to school this morning.  With smiles she told me "Gracie bus". 

I hope you had a great weekend too.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

A Six Word Sentence

The most exciting thing happened earlier this week and I forgot to write about it.  Gracie, Jeff, and I were taking a walk.  It was almost dark out and there was a very loud continuous quacking type sound.  I'm pretty sure it's from some bugs, but it kind of sounds like ducks.  Anyway, I commented on the noise, Gracie thought it was ducks and said "I want to see baby ducks!"  A full six word sentence!!!  We were so excited.  We are hearing more and more 3 word combinations, but this was a full sentence. 

Gracie had a good day yesterday.  When I went to pick her up she had her school pictures.  Could the photographer not have tamed her hair a bit...she has two pieces of hair sticking up on either side of her head that look like horns...or does my precious angel really have horns???  Hmmmm.  I don't think so.  I also want to know what is with her sort of stoned look.  She's not even really looking at the camera.  However, to you frequenters of my blog, you know what a hard time I had picking out her outfit...well I did great there, the color looks fantastic on her.  Anyway, she was very excited to show me her pictures so I made a big deal out of them and she was very excited to go home and show daddy them too.

Ever since my boneheaded move of not buckling Gracie in her car seat early this week, Gracie and I have a chuckle when I pick her up at daycare and put her in her car seat.  She sits back in her seat and I say "Gracie, what do you think?  Should we buckle you today?"  She laughs and adamantly shakes her head yes!!!!

Gracie's cough continues, as does her runny nose, but she slept much better last night.  I am so thankful for that.  She did wake up once to "chat" a bit, but it was short-lived, oh yeah and she also woke up to ask for her "blankie".  I thought she was cold so I covered her up.  She then looked at me and said "Gracie's blankie".  Ah-ha, yes, the very one that is tucked under you, girly-girl!  :)

Gracie has a no school day, which I think will be good for her.  I think we are all ready for the weekend.

Have a great one.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

The Cold That Just Won't Go Away!

Gracie continues to be in a good mood despite her cold.  She had a fun day at daycare, even got to go to the library to pick out some new books.  When I got to daycare to pick her up she was hanging with the big girls listening to tunes on the computer.  She loves hanging with the big girls (third graders) and they are soooooo good to her. 

Gracie's nose continues to run and she sounds like a faucet with every breath she takes.  Her cough is still quite bad, although it continues to sound productive.  I just hurt for her though.  Last night we were taking a walk around the block when a coughing attack hit, she had such a hard time catching her breath and was doubled over, I was sure she was going to either faint or throw up.  I scooped her up and she got a piggyback ride the rest of the way home. 

Gracie had only one pair of shoes that fit her and we realized that after she spilled water all over them the other night that we probably should have a second pair, so Gracie and I headed to the shoe store last evening.  We were the only ones there and it is the only shoe store we go to...you can't beat Stride Rite in my book...so they know us.  She ran into the store, ran up to the counter and was so excited to see both of the sales staff.  They treated her like a queen, she loved it.  We had our punch card full - which means a free pair of shoes so we got a plain pair of black dress shoes along with a pair of colorful tennis shoes. 

Gracie slept very well last night until 1:00 a.m., then woke up and was little miss chatty.  She finally fell back to sleep at 2:30 a.m.  YAWN!  She awoke in a good mood this morning.  I hope she had a good day at school.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

A Good Day, Despite Her Cold

Gracie had a really good day yesterday despite her cold.  I got a note from her teacher letting me know that Gracie independently climbed up the slide at school and went down it all by herself...twice.  She said she wanted to do it more, but they ran out of time.  When I told Gracie that Ms. Linda told me she had done this, she got all excited and started clapping, so I'm pretty sure they made a big deal out of it at school too. 

Gracie also brought home a picture that she painted using apples.  It was cute and she is always so proud of her projects.  It doesn't hurt that Jeff and I ooh and aaah over them.  Gracie also had a good day at daycare and when Jeff picked her up, she wanted to go for a ride and listen to tunes with daddy. 

When I got home she was in a great mood, but wasn't very hungry.  She didn't want supper, but did help me eat my blueberry bagel.  Later she had room for applesauce and pudding.  I suspect with her cold, nothing really tastes all that great.

I love laying down with Gracie at the end of the day, as that is when she is most talkative and I get to hear things about her day.  Last night she told me "It's Tuesday".  Yes, I said in shocked surprise, it is Tuesday!  I think they go talk about what day it is at school and she remembered.  Last night she also kept yelling "I love you" to Jeff who was in another room.  I will never tire of hearing her say those words.  Her pronounciation isn't perfect, but her tone is pure sweetness.

Gracie slept a little better last night in that when she would wake up coughing, she would fall right back to sleep.  She seemed to be having a fair number of dreams or nightmares though.  At one point she let out a blood curdling scream.  I'm not sure she even totally woke up with that one.  I just assured her that mommy was there and she calmed down and continued sleeping.  The cough is still very intense and now she has some major nasal congestion too.  She seems happy though and awoke in a great mood.  The hug I got this morning was exactly why I love being a mommy.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie "cough-cough" girl

Cough, Cough, Cough

Gracie has come down with another virus of some sort.  I initially thought it was the remnants of her last one, but she has a sore throat, congestion, a runny nose is starting, and the cough is just nasty.  She coughs all night long and if that doesn't keep her up, she has trouble sleeping because she can't breathe.  Last night was rough to say the least.  We slept with her sitting up on me for awhile, then we bounced, but her 53 lbs. is getting difficult for me to bounce too long.  Then we slept on the couch for awhile with her sitting on top of me, we tried different pillows, and the bottom line is we both got little sleep.  Thankfully she awoke in a good mood.  The first thing she showed me upon waking was her pretty pink fingernails.  Her daycare mom polished them yesterday (all except the thumb, since Gracie is a thumbsucker) and Gracie is soooooo proud of them.  They do look pretty. 

Gracie came home from school in her "extra set of clothes".  Not sure what happened and school doesn't either.  They said she must have sat in something.  They also said she had a good day.  When she got off the bus she looked very sad and just not herself.  She ate lunch, took a nap, was pretty quiet for awhile and then started to be happy again.  We're not sure if the cold was just getting her down or if something else happened.  Oh how I wish she could tell us. 

On the way home from daycare, I did a totally boneheaded move.  I put Gracie in her car seat and we headed down the road, all of a sudden Gracie stands up and starts coming toward the front seat.  Ahhhh yes, mommy forgot to actually buckle her in.  I said, "Oh no Gracie, did mommy forget to buckle you?"  Followed by a quick "Could you please sit down?"  Gracie was very obedient and sat right down.  She also found this terribly amusing.  So as soon as it was safe to do so, we pulled over and got her buckled.  This is a first for me. 

Gracie had a good evening.  She ate a good supper and then we went out to play for a little bit.  She loves to stand up in her play set and drive it (it has a movable steering wheel attached) and play either boat or train.  She always asks us "tickets please?".   Our neighbors down the street have a huge lighted pumpkin in their yard - she loves that.  Next door to that is a ghost on a stick, she's not as fond of that.  Or maybe she's just not fond of mommy saying "boo" when we are next to it.  Hmmmm. 

Gracie brought home from school a cute little tool box she made out of construction paper, it had a paper hammer, wrench, and paint brush in it.  She loves showing us her projects. 

It's supposed to hit 80 here today, we'll have to get outside and enjoy it this evening.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Outdoor Fun!!!

It was an absolutely beautiful Autumn weekend with colorful trees and mild temps.  We decided to take advantage of it, forget any house work or projects that needed to be done, and just enjoy it.  You'll see from Gracie's face, she had a great weekend.

We went to the pumpkin patch and picked out some pumpkins to take home, went through the corn maze, had a great time watching butterflies and grasshoppers, and just had a blast running in the open space.  At one point when in the corn maze some boys were running around (a little too closely for Gracie's comfort level as one almost knocked her down), one yelled who wants to be the corn maze monster now.  Gracie yelled "me".  Although they didn't pay any attention to her, mommy did.  So Gracie practiced saying "GRRRR" and pretending she was the monster.  It was great fun.

On Sunday we were invited by our friend Carly to visit her family farm, complete with miniature horses, chickens, a dog, a cat, apple trees, and some wonderful people.  Gracie had a blast!  She loved feeding oats to the horses, even though in some of the pictures she looks a little tentative.  She enjoyed the chickens and the louder the noises the animals made the happier she was.  She talked about the horses and showed me how they ate out of her hand all night long.

Then Carly treated Gracie to her very first convertible ride.  I wasn't sure how Gracie would respond to it, but she absolutely loved every minute of it.  To those of you who know her well, Gracie does a sort of happy dance when she is really excited, this consists of her sort of flapping her arms and legs.  Well she was doing the happy dance!

We had a fantastic weekend!  Gracie has had some rough nights as she seems to cough all night long disrupting her sleep, but she must be getting enough rest as she is ready to go during the day.  I enjoyed all of the smiles I saw from her on the weekend.  I got alot of voluntary hugs and kisses during the weekend, I think that is another sign that she was having a great time.

Enjoy the mild week!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Just Can't Sleep

Gracie had a good day at school yesterday and she returned her book to the library, only to get another one about Fall and pumpkins.  I can't wait to read that one.  Jeff read it to her last night and said it was pretty good.  Gracie had a good day at daycare, but wasn't hungry and didn't eat much for lunch.  She did play outside after naptime and enjoyed the day, even though it was pretty windy.

Gracie and Jeff were on their own last night while I was off getting some pampering at the hair salon.  First they checked out a couple of restaurants around town and went to talk to them about their food allergy info and if they make accommodations for severe food allergies, could they tell us the ingredients in their foods, etc.  They found a new pizza place and they tried it out.  Gracie LOVED it and ate three pieces of pizza!  I guess she was making up for not being hungry at lunch. 

Jeff and Gracie also took a drive and ran into their friend Wayne. So they went to Wayne's house and visited for awhile.  I understand that Gracie was a very good girl.  When I got home, Gracie was very happy to see me and was in a good mood.  It wasn't long before it was bedtime and she looked tired, yet it took her a while to fall asleep.  Then at 1:30 a.m. she awoke and stayed awake until 4:30 a.m.  She tried to fall asleep, and occasionally she would for 5 minutes here or there, but she would always wake right back up.  She fell back to sleep around 4:30 a.m., but was still very restless.  Jeff came and layed down with her when I got up at 5:00 a.m. and at 6:00 a.m. she was sound asleep, there was no waking her.  Finally at 6:30 a.m., I began dressing her while she was asleep.  We have to leave the house by 7:00 a.m., so we needed to hurry.  She awoke during that and was in quite a good mood.  I hope she stays that way through the day.  Not sure if I should wish that she has a good nap this afternoon or if I should wish she wants to go to bed early tonight...I know I do! 

Have a great weekend.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie wide-awake girl

Lots of Outdoor Time

It was a beautiful day yesterday and Gracie got to enjoy a lot of outdoor time at daycare.  They went to the park and she enjoyed playing with her friends.  She did get a little grabby at one point, the frustration of not always being able to express herself comes out in this way.  So she got removed from playtime for a bit. 

Jeff picked her up at daycare and wanted to go for a walk, but she wasn't in the mood yet.  When I came home I was disgusted to see a squirrel had brought another walnut to our house and deposited the debris on our driveway -- the very driveway that Gracie likes to sit and use sidewalk chalk on.  So I swept up the chunks and will have to soap and scrub the area yet.  I am so not happy with these squirrels thinking our house is the walnut party place.  GRRRR. 

After supper Gracie was excited to go for a walk with Jeff and I and after that we put her in the stroller and went for an even longer walk.  I hate that it gets dark so early.  It cuts into our outdoor play time at night. 

The night was pretty uneventful.  Gracie slept well until the wee hours of the morning and then had a more restless time where she kept waking up, but continually fell back to sleep.  She was grumpy when she woke up for the day.  I made her go back in her room and I snuggled with her a bit to get her in a better mood.  That helped immensely.

Today is a school day and she had to return her library book.  Kind of a bummer because we really like this one about pumpkins crashing out of a wagon and the main characters having to make pie out of them. 

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Very Tired

So yesterday Gracie decided she didn't want to go to school.  She decided she wasn't going to allow her shoes to be put on and she wasn't going to go out to the bus.  The bus was waiting and just as our daycare provider was about to hit the button on her phone to call me for my thoughts, she decided she would go.  I sent a note along to school for her teacher to let her know she had a rough night and she might be tired.  I received a response back that they could tell and that she did not want to participate in many of their activities.  After she returned to daycare and had a nice nap, she was a new child and the world was a happy place again. 

Gracie was in a good mood when Jeff picked her up at daycare and had a nice evening.  She enjoyed her bath big time and really enjoyed splashing Jeff.  She was a little upset that she couldn't go outside after her bath, never mind that her hair was wet, it was cold out, and it was 8:00 p.m. and just about time for her to go to bed. 

After we read a book (her library book from school about pumpkins - we are really enjoying this one) she was more than ready to go to sleep and it didn't take her long to fall asleep, me either.  I didn't wake up until 3:30 a.m., which is virtually unheard of with my little restless sleeper girl.  I awoke to Gracie's head laying on my lower stomach, applying pressure to my full bladder!  After a quick trip to the restroom and a diaper change for Gracie who was now very awake with a very full diaper, I walked and bounced her for a bit and thankfully she fell asleep again at 4:00 a.m.  She kept having dreams that would disturb her though and she would cry out.  I would reassure her that I was right there and then she would go back to sleep.  She snuggled with daddy from 5:00 - 6:00 a.m. so I could get a shower in and get ready for work.  When I tried to wake her up at 6:15 a.m., she really didn't want to get up, but once she did, she was in a very good mood.  She was very happy at daycare and the smiles she flashed me and the eager wave goodbye told me that today will be a good day for her.  I think they were going to head to the park and enjoy the mild day.

Hope you have a great day too.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Monday - Neurology Appointment

Gracie started out her day on Monday at daycare giving our daycare provider the cold shoulder.  We think it had to do with the fact that she was gone on Friday.  Didn't make it easy on her going to the bus for school, didn't get off the bus easily, but then after that all was fine.  She is such a funny kid.

She did have a fun day at school, they did some new things on the smart board and also had gym class.  I'm told that Gracie loved gym time.  I'm not surprised.

Jeff picked Gracie up a little early and we headed to the clinic for her three month neurology appointment.  Gracie loves going there, loves everyone she comes in contact with, and pretty much considers it her second home.  She loves taking her friend Rachel around the desk area for walks and she loves Dr. N., her neurologist.  She always has a hug for her and sits on her lap to draw, talk on the phone, or play on the computer.  Gracie was very verbal and active.  Gracie has been doing so well since being on brand name seizure meds, her negative behaviors have improved greatly and we have had no seizure breakthrough, which is a first.  So Gracie is 6 months seizure free with the brand name meds.  Now if our insurance company would only acknowledge the fact that she needs these and let them go against our out of pocket maximum we would be very happy.  We are still in the appeals process for that request. 

At one point during our appointment, Gracie had just finished a drink of water and burped very loudly right in Dr. N's face.  Dr. N. is so great with her.  She just asked her "What do you say?"  And I think much to Dr. N.'s surprise, Gracie didn't miss a beat with her reply of "Excuse me."  It was so cute.

We walked away from this appointment really feeling good, that we have things well under control...seizures, behaviors, and validation that we are handling any negative behavior appropriately.

Gracie had a good evening and slept great until about 1:00 a.m., then she became very restless.  She tossed, turned, and coughed til about 2:30 a.m., when she totally awoke and stayed awake until about 4:00 a.m.  YAWN.  I think she may take a nice little nap after school today.

Gracie was in a good mood when I took her to daycare and was happy to see her daycare mom again!  :)

Have a great day.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

The Weekend

For those wondering...Gracie had a great time with her friend Aubrey on Friday.  When Jeff went to pick her up, Gracie and Aubrey were dancing around and had a famously wonderful day!  She was in the best mood that night too, so that is always a good sign.  On Friday night she also told me she had to go "poop" and when I took her to the bathroom, she did!!!  So we had a big celebration about her going to the bathroom on the toilet.  We have to get her trained soon, she is outgrowing all the diapers.  I ordered her some youth diapers for special needs -- they have to get better options, they are huge and ugly and can't be comfortable.  I'll smoosh her into the size 7 Pampers for as long as I can.  Do you think I could talk Pampers into making a size 8????  :)

On Saturday we got up bright and early and took a drive to Grandma and Grandpa B's.  Gracie was a little shy at first, but it was so nice for Gracie to have G&G to herself.  Usually we are there for family gatherings so there are so many people to play with.  We had lunch with them and stayed until mid-afternoon.  Gracie had lots of kisses for Grandma & Grandpa and was a busy little body exploring their house.  We had a great time.  On the way home she even fell asleep for about 30 minutes and that was the extent of her nap for the day.  We played outside in the evening and we all enjoyed the mild fall day.

On Sunday, we had a lazy day.  We went to church in the morning and took Gracie to Sunday school.  Gracie didn't want to have any part of that, but Bonnie, a wonderful woman who is awesome with Gracie, slowly coaxed her to stay.  She enjoyed listening to music and dancing and had a good time.  The rest of the day was pretty low key.  Gracie took a 90 minute nap (so did I) and then we spent the rest of the afternoon outside, just walking and playing. 

Gracie was very verbal all weekend!  We heard a lot of three word sentences!  She talked about Grandma and Grandpa a lot.

Today it is back to school and we have her routine Neurology appointment this afternoon.  I don't suspect much for changes, other than a possible seizure med increase with her growing as fast as she is.

Have a great week.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

"I Love You"

Gracie had a good day at school yesterday and a good day at daycare.  She came home in a great and silly mood.  We had a very fun evening just playing and when it was time to go to bed, I way laying next to her when she said "Chicago".  I asked her if that was where daddy went.  She agreed, then verbally said "airplane".  Yes I agreed, he went there on an airplane.   Then she verbally and using sign language said "work".  Yes, I agreed, he went there to work.  I then said that he's home now and she smiled and said "daddy home" in the sweetest voice.  We then snuggled in and this little voice said "I LOVE YOU!"  I melted.  She doesn't verbally say "I love you" very often, she usually signs it, and it is always in response to it being said to her.  But this time it was all on her own, unsolicited and it made my heart melt. 

Gracie had a pretty good night, but was quite agitated after being awake for a little while.  I'm not sure what was wrong, but she just fussed and fussed that she wanted to be held and close.  So I picked her up and just held her close and walked and sang with her for about 5 minutes and then all was fine. 

Then we headed to daycare, today her friend Aubrey was there to play with her and it was Aubrey's mommy (her normal daycare mom's sister) that was taking care of her.  She loves to play with Aubrey and Aubrey's mommy is great too, but Gracie was very unsure that she wanted to stay.  I think it has to do with that love of routine.  I'm sure she will be fine and have a good time. 

Have a great weekend!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

A Good Week

Gracie has been having a really good week.  She seems to be really enjoying school and gets all smiley when I tell her it's a school day.  She also has been extremely verbal this week.  I'm hearing a lot of 3+ word combinations this week.  I even received an email from her school speech therapist/pathologist commenting on how Gracie is really becoming a verbal communicator at school.  I love it. 

Gracie has missed Jeff this week, but I think she has been coping a lot better having gotten to take him to the airport.  She also got to Skype with him a couple of times.  One of the biggest stressors for me when Jeff travels is getting a shower in.  I've started the practice of gating everything so that Gracie can only travel from her room to the bathroom (which also has a gate at the door).  I put a slippery Tinkerbell sleeping bag (a sensory delight for her) on the floor in front of the bathroom door and her piggie pillow pal, as well as some books.  Gracie just hangs out there if she is awake.  However, when she wakes up after I'm already in the shower and discovers she is alone she used to have a big ole fuss.  This week, she has started to get up and go lay on the sleeping bag, but I don't hear a peep out of her.  When she hears that I am out of the shower, she just gently taps on the semi-closed bathroom door.  One less stress for both of us...YAY! 

Jeff arrived home from Chicago yesterday and was home when we got home.  She was so excited to see Jeff and pretty much didn't leave his side all evening.  I heard "daddy, daddy, daddy" all night long.  It was great to see her so happy.  She was having so much fun playing with daddy, that we barely got her to eat any supper.

Grace has been learning about girls and boys at school.  Just the labeling of them and so last night she was talking and said "girl".  I told her that she was a girl and she got her little comedian face on and said "no, boy".  Then she laughed when I of course told her that she was a girl.  What a little goofball!

Gracie likes her routine, really seems to need her routine at times.  When I pick her up at daycare I always have a glass of Gatorade for her to drink in the car on the way home.  I learned early on that this saves us a major meltdown and the drive home is much happier.  I always use a certain type of sippy glass that holds more liquid, otherwise she drinks it down and wants more immediately...while I'm driving.  So last night, all of those specific glasses were in the dishwasher waiting to be washed, so I used just a basic type of sippy cup that we use at home regularly.  She became very distressed about this and kept insisting she wanted juice, but not that cup.  An all out tantrum was beginning, so I said to her and showed her "Gracie, look it is the same juice."  Then I continued "Mommy is so sorry, I know you like the other glasses better, but they are all dirty and they are in the dishwasher and we need to wash them.  How about if we wash them all up tonight so we can use them tomorrow and tonight you use this one?"  Now just a few months ago, she would not have listened to this explanation, she would have had an all out tantrum, would have thrown the juice, and the ride home would have been screaming and flailing.  She is growing up so much and her listening and reasoning skills are getting so much better...and to my absolute surprise she agreed to use this cup this once.  We had a pleasant ride home.  To those of you thinking that I'm spoiling her, I would argue that you come hang out with a special needs child who has a very hard time regulating emotion and self-soothing techniques, and you would probably come to the same conclusions I have.  You don't parent a special needs child the same way you would a child without those challenges.

Gracie awoke in a good mood this morning and was so excited to see her daycare mom this morning, she ran to the house when she saw her through the window and had a big hug for her.  I think she's going to have another good day.

I hope you have a good day too.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

The Zoo, The Weekend, and a Five Word Sentence!

On Friday, Jeff and I both took the day off of work and headed to the zoo.  Gracie had enjoyed it so much for her birthday, that we decided to go back on a cooler day.  It was in the high 50's, low 60's, but with jackets on it was perfect and Gracie enjoyed herself immensely.  She was running everywhere and really was in her glory.  We got down to the family farm/petting zoo area and ended up not being able to go in as they have a requirement that you if you were out of the country within the last 7 days, you couldn't go in.  This is to prevent hoof and mouth disease or something similar.  With Jeff just back from Paris, that eliminated our ability to visit that portion of the zoo.  Gracie has about a 4 hour window to enjoy the zoo, then begins getting too tired.  Since the zoo is only an hour away, we ended up buying a membership (this is a deal if you plan to visit more than once a year) and will just plan to visit more often, it's so big we'll just see it all in parts.  Gracie's favorites were still the fish, sharks, turtles, and pretty much anything in an aquarium.  She also loves to ride the monorail or as she calls it, the "choo choo".  We had our seats picked out for the dolphin show, but it was evident that Gracie was too tired and she began hitting, scratching, and pulling my hair.  That was my queue that she was done!  So we headed to the car and drove home.  She was very good on both the way there and home. 

On Saturday we were supposed to attend a wedding, but Gracie had the explosive diarrhea just as we were ready to leave.  There was poop all over her dress, her legs, her hands, so we sent Jeff to the wedding without us.  I took Gracie straight to the tub.  She took a good long nap and acted like she didn't feel good for a good 4 hours and then she got her second wind and seemed to be fine for the rest of the weekend.  We went outside Saturday evening and had a good time until we decided to go to Gracie's slide and swing playset.  Just as she was climbing up it I spied walnut debris.  A squirrel had decided to use Gracie's playset for a dining area.  This would be no big deal for most kids, but it IS a big deal for a child who is severely allergic to tree nuts.  So Jeff had to remove a very upset girl from her playset and I set about the work of removing all the nut debris and then scrubbing down the whole playset with soap and water.  It was a mess.  I think this squirrel needs to learn to be a cleaner eater. 

On Sunday we took Jeff to the airport and got to go up and wait with him for awhile so Gracie got to see some airplanes, although she was mostly thrilled at seeing a little motorized cart down zipping around the airplanes.  Then we headed to Target and home.  We spent the morning just hanging around the house as it was a rainy day.  After a 90 minute nap, we were going a little stir crazy so we went to the mall.  We got a couple of new books for Gracie and we also got to ride the escalator which is cooler than anything in Gracie's mind.  Later we went home and read and played.  Gracie was sad that she couldn't go outside.  We watched a little bit too much TV too, but at least they were educational videos.  At one point, we were reading books and I had to go to the bathroom.  I told Gracie to start reading the book and I would finish it when I got back.  Usually she just sits there and looks at the pages, but lately she has begun to talk as if she is reading it, sometimes intelligible words and sometimes not.  I about fell over when I heard her pretending to read and she said "Once there was a boy".  It pertained not at all to the book she was looking at, but I was thrilled to hear a five word sentence!

Gracie had a great night last night and slept very well!  She was off to school this morning.  When I told her it was a school day and she got to ride the bus she was all smiles.  This is a good sign.

Have a great week.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Daddy's Home & Appointment with Developmental Pediatrics

Our most exciting news is that Jeff is back home after his travels to Paris, France.  It was a long 8 days for Gracie, she sure missed her daddy.  Gracie and I had just arrived home when the taxi dropped Jeff off.  I took Gracie to the window to see him and she was mondo excited, then she ran to the steps, jumped into Jeff's arms for the biggest hug and she was not going to let go!  For the rest of the night she was daddy's girl.  She started to refer to him not as just "daddy", but "MY daddy", big emphasis on the "MY"! 

That evening we went outside for a walk and to play and she chattered the whole night long.  She was so happy.  At one point she wanted to swing on her swingset.  She looked at Jeff and said "swing baby swing".  That cracked us up. 

On Wednesday morning, she did not want to go to daycare.  Jeff was going to drop her off and she had a major meltdown, she layed on her bed and cried and cried.  Finally, in his infinite wisdom, Jeff realized that the day he left for Paris, he was the one that dropped her off at daycare and then he of course disappeared for 8 days.  So he sat down beside her and asked her if that was why she was so sad.  Of course it was.  He told her that he wasn't going to leave, matter-of-fact, he was the one that was going to pick her up that day.  It took a minute and all of a sudden all was well.  She has so much going on in that head of hers, and unfortunately with her speech delays, she can't express it.

Yesterday afternoon we met with a new developmental pediatrician and we love her.  Dr. S. and I sat on the local IEIC committee together so we knew each other, but not well.  She is only with our clinic for a year, but we will see her one more time before she leaves and we are welcome to contact her with any questions.  This visit was to see where Gracie is at developmentally and to see if we are on track with the right interventions and assistance for her.  Gracie performed beautifully at the appointment and really gave Dr. S. a true sample of her abilities.  Her language skills were assessed at a 2 to 2-1/2 year old developmental age, as were her gross motor skills.  Her inability to be able to jump brought her down on that a little bit, but she is doing quite well there and we were all ecstatic at how much progress she has made in both of those areas.  We will be meeting with a speech pathologist for a consult as Gracie has the words, but the pronounciations aren't always understandable to others.  I can understand her the majority of the time, but others cannot.  So that is scheduled for early November. 

Gracie's skill level for fine motor skills is really where her challenges are.  Although she can do many things she wasn't able to do a year ago, she still has alot of difficulty in that area.  She was assessed at a 14-month old level on her fine motor skills.  We talked about having her start back up in the occupational therapy program again at the clinic, but Gracie was very resistant to this when she was in the program and the one-on-one therapy frustrated her.  With the frustration level being so high, she became very resistant to do anything that was asked of her.  So essentially this boils down to it being a waste of her and our time.  She is more cooperative in the school setting when she is doing these activities next to peers, so we'll continue that.  We'll also continue to push more of those skills at home, although she does get resistant with us when we push those too hard. 

The appointment was a great validation for Jeff and I that we are handling behaviors correctly, that we seem to have a good handle on her development and know what we need to continue working on.  Gracie was her charming social self and loved all of the attention.  She even politely said "Excuse Me" when she let out a big burp! 

Today was picture day at school and for some reason I had a really hard time deciding what to have her wear.  The shirt that I decided on was new and hadn't been washed, even though I thought it had.  With her sensitivities she doesn't get to wear anything without me washing it first.  So I had to go to Plan B -- actually Plan C (as Plan B might have been a bit too colorful), which was a solid pink baby doll type top.  She did look adorable.  We practiced our smile, so now I'm anxious to see the photos. 

Have a great day...it got into the 30's last night here.  BRRRRRR!

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Monday/Tuesday - School Day

Gracie had her second day of school and I think it went pretty well, although she was one tired girl last night.  Her cold doesn't help matters.  She got on the bus again with no problem, but our daycare provider had to get her off the bus again.  She had a good afternoon with a short nap, but when I arrived to pick her up she was on Mandy's lap in tears.  She was playing nicely and then started hitting her playmate.  When she was removed from the situation and told that it was not nice to hit, she started with the uncontrollable tears.  I think the fact that she was mondo tired just escalated the tears and sobs. 

We had a very mellow evening.  She ate some supper, although she refused the casserole I made, ate all her fruit, and then opted for a peanut butter sandwich.  The rest of the night I just let her play with her iPod and watch videos.  She needed to just veg out. 

She slept great last night and was all smiles to hear that daddy will be home from Paris tonight.  She has missed him alot.  She's been good as gold for the most part, but you can definitely tell that daddy is missed.

Today was another school day for Gracie.  She loves to show me the pictures or projects she brings home in her backpack.  I say "Gracie, should we see what you brought home from school?" and she runs to get her backpack and smiles the whole way.

Have a great day...it's cooler here...a welcome cool.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Catching up...

First of all and most importantly we have seen no seizure activity from the Hepatitis A vaccination.  I was a little worried one afternoon when she had a lot of jerky actions in her sleep, but I haven't seen anything since so I'm hoping that was just a coincidence. 

Gracie had a great first day of school on Thursday, she was in the best mood when I picked her up and was all smiles and positive head nods when I asked her about school and riding the bus.  She got on the bus at daycare with no problems, she didn't want to get off the bus, so our daycare provider had to go on the bus and get her.  This doesn't concern me too much, Gracie has transition issues and getting out of a vehicle can sometimes be traumatic for her.  She was also very hot as they didn't take off her sweater at school and it had gotten quite warm out.  I've since talked with the teacher and she will make sure that happens in the future.  At 4 years old, I think we assume that she could take it off herself if she was too warm, but that is not the case with Gracie.  She has just mastered removing her socks on her own.  Which she loves to do!

Gracie is missing her daddy big time, but we got to Skype with him a few times over the weekend, so that has helped greatly.  We also are marking off the days til he comes home on the calendar in her room, so I think that helps as well.  Gracie has been so good the last couple of days.  It's like she knows she has to be on her best behavior.

On Saturday we went to visit Aunt Sheila, Uncle Chris, and cousin Jason.  Gracie was in the best mood and had a great time playing "chase" with Jason.  She also liked when puppy Sandy licked her fingers.  She also wanted Sandy to "shake" and to my surprise she did!  Aunt Sheila made us a yummy supper and we went home with very full tummies.  Cousin Kayla is off to college and I could tell that Gracie missed her.  She kept pointing to her picture and wanted the piano open.  Gracie would only play a key or two.  Gracie loves when Kayla plays the piano for her and Kayla is an awesome piano player.

On Sunday, Gracie's head cold came on full force, so we just hung out at home for the majority of the day.  We did make a quick run to Target as we were running out of food.  We read a lot of books, she played with her iPod, and just did quieter things all day.  She did want to go outside, but sat on the swing for less than 5 seconds, slid down the slide once, then took my hand and lead me to the garage, indicated she wanted the door open and then took me to her stroller.  She didn't have the energy to play, but wanted to be outside.  So I put her in the stroller and we took a long walk.

This morning Gracie was quite disgusted with me because she wanted me to take her to daycare in daddy's van instead of my car.  I would have agreed, but I had the car loaded up and we were running late.  She kept saying "daddy's van".  When I told her we were going in mommy's car, she quickly changed it and said "no, mommy's van". 

Today is a school day for Gracie, so I hope she is able to enjoy her day despite her cold. 

Have a great day.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Thursday - The First Day of School

Gracie had a good day yesterday and we've seen no seizure activity thus far from the Hepatitis A vaccination.  Thank you God! 

Gracie had a good day yesterday and was silly when I picked her up at daycare.  I love her silly days.  She was so excited to see daddy's van parked in the garage when we got home and her first comment was "Go See Daddy", but alas daddy is still travelling and was not home.  This made for a sad girl. We had the windows open last night and every noise that she heard, she was just sure it was daddy coming home. 

Auntie Cheryl Skyped with us last night and that was a big hit.  Other than that our night was pretty low key, she ate a big supper, and had a great time splashing in the tub.  Gracie's big discovery of the night was that she learned how to make the bathtub faucet switch to the overhead shower, she found this particularly amusing since the first discovery of this got mommy (yes me) soaking wet!!!

Gracie had a much better night last night.  She did wake up a few times but she would fall right back to sleep.  At 4:00 a.m. she woke up (sort of), said "Go See Daddy" and then promptly fell back to sleep.  So I'm pretty sure she is dreaming about daddy too. 

Gracie awoke in a good mood and I think she was looking forward to her first day of school.  We got her all dressed up in a little pink striped dress and pink leggings and she looked very cute.  I'm hoping all went well for her. 

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Lots to Say

Have I really not posted for almost a week?  Well here's a snapshot of what's been going on with Gracie over the last week:


On Thursday night of last week Gracie started having the diarrhea.  Her appetite subsided a bit, but she was still eating and had plenty of energy.  This continued once a day through the weekend.  So although we had thoughts of going to my parents for a visit, if it was a bug, I didn't want to pass it along.  We stayed pretty close to home for the weekend. 

On Saturday, Jeff had some projects he was working on, so Gracie and I went school clothes shopping.  She has grown out of pretty much everything from last fall, so we had to replenish her closet.  She is in size 7 or 7/8 for most of her clothes right now and for most stores that is the start of big kid clothes.  The styles are much too old for the age of 4, so I've been struggling a bit in trying to find her cute age appropriate clothes.  I found that Kohls has a line of store clothing that is from 4 - 7, so we were able to get her some fun things there and what they didn't have in stock at the store, I was able to order on line.  I think we'll be good for fall and winter now...we may have to add a few sweatshirts once the real cold weather hits. 

The rest of the weekend was spent playing outside.  Gracie is absolutely loving the cooler weather.  On our walks, she has been walking about a 1/2 mile before she gets tired out and wants to ride in the stroller.  Her favorite games are "racing" and "hide-and-seek".  So we've been doing a lot of both.  She has been a major daddy's girl lately, until bedtime...then I get my girl back again!  :)

On Tuesday, Gracie had a 4-year old well child visit.  We have a new provider for Gracie, a nurse practitioner that I am thrilled with.  Gracie's two cousins have gone to her for years, so when Gracie's pediatrician transferred to a new job, we begged for her to take us on.  Gracie loves her too.  Gracie had a good appointment, we'll continue to keep an eye on her eyes.  Dr. D. noticed what I've been commenting on and feels that it is a good idea to continue to have her followed in Ophthalmology on a yearly basis.  The developmental pediatric program at our clinic closed for awhile, they are back open and operating and we'll be seeing them again next week.  I'm very glad as I want to make sure we are on the right track and getting the right amount of services for Gracie. 

Gracie had her second Hepatitis A vaccination yesterday.  To those of you who know me well, this has been a worry resting on me quite heavily.  We are pretty certain that Gracie's Infantile Spasms started as a result of her DTaP vaccination at 15 months, coupled by epilepsy that wasn't well controlled at the time.  I've been very nervous about any additional vaccinations since then and have limited the ones we've given her since then.  She was supposed to get the Hepatitis A (part two) at her 2 year well child appointment.  It was just too soon in my book after having her I.S. under control. I've procrastinated this vaccination for 2 years, but with her being in school, knew that we needed to get it taken care of.  So we did.  Gracie sat on the exam table afterward saying "OW" every few seconds.  I think she said it at least 20 times.  So now I hope and pray that we don't see any adverse affects from it.  She had a horribly restless night from 2:00 - 5:00 a.m., to the point that I didn't sleep at all during that time as she needed to be constantly reassured.  She would fall back to sleep only to become restless all over again.  I don't know if there is any relationship between this and the vaccination or if it was just a rough night.  Jeff is travelling for work, so I know Gracie is missing him big time.  Perhaps that was a factor as well.  Because of the time difference, Skype isn't a great option for us this trip, but Jeff did videotape himself reading some of Gracie's favorite books and that has been a God-send.  She loves watching him on the computer and even reads along with him. 

Tomorrow is Gracie's first day of school.  I think she is excited.  Every time she sees a bus, she points it out to me. 

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie

Potty x3

Our excitement for yesterday (Wednesday) is that Gracie went potty (and poop too) on the toilet three times.  She told Jeff in the morning that she had to go.  Mandy at daycare got her to go on the toilet once and then last night I could tell she had to go to the bathroom and went potty and poop on the toilet.  So slowly but surely we're getting there. 

Gracie had a great day at daycare yesterday playing with her friends.  I am told she said a 4 word sentence, she also was very interactive playing with the other girls.  They played "ship" and she said "all aboard" with them and really got into the game.  They must have pretended that there were tickets, because last night Jeff and I were sitting in her playset with her outside and she kept handing us "tickets".  I didn't even know she knew that concept. 

We went to meet with the school nurse yesterday to drop off Gracie's epi pens and all of her medical forms.  I was told twice that we should come during meet the teacher time.  Only problem is the nurse wasn't there during the preschool meet the teacher.  GRRRRRRRRRRRR.  So we left the paperwork and epi's with another staff member who was going to lock it up for the nurse and I'll follow-up by phone.  Since we had already met the teacher earlier this week, we only stopped in to Gracie's classroom for a few minutes to pick up some paperwork and go see where Gracie's locker was.  It had a frog on it again this year.  Gracie likes frogs, so that was fun. 

We also went to the shoe store as Gracie's tennis shoes are just about too small and we wanted to be ready for school.  Gracie got to pick from a ton of different styles.  There was this one really loud purple and orange shoe that I thought she would pick, but would you believe she picked the exact same style that she already has only in a bigger size.  I didn't mind, I really like that pair too and they hide dirt very well. 

We've been spending most of our evening time outside and getting Gracie to bed a little later than we should, so she's been having a hard time waking up in the mornings.  We'll have to be better about that, especially next week when she starts school.

Love,
Lisa, Jeff, and Gracie