First Ear Infections

I meant to document this awhile ago...

Over Christmas break, Ava was sick w/ a virus, cold-like, that lingered on and on for about 2 weeks. She just couldn't rebound from it. It seemed like every child we knew was sick with this virus as well. We had her ears checked before we headed out of town for the holiday weekend and they were clear.

About a week after we came home, she was still stuffy and congested, but no fever. As we were driving home from the mall one afternoon, she said, "My ear hurts from the doctor looking in it." Well, I knew that was over a week ago and it wasn't from the pedi looking in them. Once we got home, she was so not herself; whiny, crying, not letting me put her down....for THREE hours. I had tried to get her into the pedi but it was late afternoon and they couldn't see her until early the next morning.

She finally fell asleep at about 5:00 for an hour or so and woke up in a complete 180! Back to her normal self. I took her in the next morning and noticed an orangish/reddish crust in her ear. Her pedi concluded that her she had an ear infection and that her little eardrum perforated, or ruptured. Poor thing! She was miserable! I know adults that have had it happen and say how painful it is...I can only imagine for her little 2 and 3/4 body how bad it was.

So she took a 10-day supply of her first antibiotic and all was better. Until....

She became congested again last week! I'm now hyper-sensitive to this snottiness and congestion for fear of not just an ear infection, but a perforated ear drum. So I noticed her touching her ears and she won't be straight with me if they hurt because she hates, hates, hates for the doctor to look in them. It's like notes of kicking and screaming and restraining are on her record....it's that bad.

So I took her in again. The first time, a dr. new to us said all was good. However, the next morning I noticed a crust coming out and her eyes a little goopy. They fit me in the next day, end of day, with the nurse practitioner. She was so thorough and finally used a machine to detect fluid behind her ear drum, confirming an ear infection. It hasn't ruptured this time and she is on her 2nd antibiotic.

My poor little girl has had a rough first month of 2010. Let's hope it gets better from here!

So much to love at 2 years, 10 months

1. I love that you are coming around to having a baby brother. Every once in awhile you'll say something like, "I'll share this with my baby brother when he is here." Or the other day at school, your teachers told me that you said over and over again, "My mommy has a baby boy in her tummy." Yay! The first step is to admit it, right?

2. I love when you put on performances for daddy and me. You'll arrange us on the couch and dance and sing until we clap. And when we do clap, you'll contend that your not done yet keep going and going.

3. I love your problem solving skills. You come up with the most clever ideas when you're stuck in a rut. The other day at the park, you joined a little girl in her quest to dig a hole in the sand. Pretty soon, you grew tired of digging and wanted to jump in the hole. The little girl was upset by this and told you not to get in her hole (can you blame her?). What did you do? You said, "I'll just dig my own hole and jump in." Well played.

4. I love sitting back and watching you make new friends at places like the park. Your social skills are getting up there and you are starting to venture out on your own without needing me to speak for you. SUCH a little girl!

5. I love your smarts! The other day we were listening to a CD with stories and songs on it. It was new and I wasn't sure what was on it. After hearing a story you asked what story was next? I said, "I'm not sure. I don't know if there are any other stories, we just heard one." You immediately replied, "There are more! It said to listen to the storIES, not story!" Sure enough there were more. You were so smart to listen to the narrator at the beginning of the CD and hear him say enjoy the songs and storIES (plural).

6. I love when you make accidental shapes out of something, like a cracker and excitedly tell me what they look like. You've been doing this for awhile now, something is triggered in your creative spirit.

7. I love when you just randomly call "Mommy?" or "Daddy?" and say "I love you."

8. I love snuggling you at night before bed. You love to have your books read, stories told, and a back rub. Oh, and a little lullaby helps too.

9. I love your curiousness. Everything is "I wonder" or "What's that?" or "Why?" Naturally at this age, you have a yearning to learn more.

10. I love your applications. What I mean is if you've read a book and another book reminds you of that one, how you can apply the same basic premise across those books. Moreover, when you use real-world applications and associate it with a text or experience, I melt. For example, you love the story Strega Nona and her endless supply of pasta. When we had more pasta than we knew what to do with the other night, you realized that was just like Strega Nona. And then we heard a story of the Popcorn Girl who couldn't make the popcorn stop and you said, "Just like Strega Nona!" It's just the beginning of early literacy and you don't even know it. You are just being smart little you.

Birthday Season

We are so lucky to get to experience a wide array of adventures for our friends' birthday parties! And, it's only just begun. Winter and Spring are exciting and busy times for us because we get to wish a lot of Ava's friends Happy Birthday!

We splashed and laughed at a swim party at Emler Swim School!

We jumped and ran at Pump It Up bounce arena!

We sang and celebrated Mommy's birthday at home with a YUMMY ice cream cake!

We got painted and tattooed at an Ariel birthday party!

We don't have pics from cousin Abigail's bowling bash, but we rolled and ran around at the Main Event for her celebration.

Can you believe that we have many more birthday parties to look forward to? Aves is one lucky little girl to have such caring and considerate friends to ask her to take part in their special day. I take pictures at most of the birthday bashes and never get around to posting them, so I wanted to show Ava how special she and her friends are.

Goodbye to our fun,furry friend

We received some sad, sad news a few mornings ago. Our beloved stray kitty and fun, furry friend, CJ, is no longer with us. I won't go into details since it's Ava's blog, but we were told by our dear neighbor who knew we had "adopted" her. We are very thankful to have such caring neighbors who thought about Ava first. So, so grateful.

Captain Jack had lingered in our neighborhood for almost 10 months or so. No one knew where she came from, but she was so friendly and outgoing, that we couldn't believe she was a stray. After a few months passed, it was evident that Ava started forming a bond with her. So we got her spayed, got some shots, and fed her daily. She would sleep in our laundry room on the cold nights and come in our house whenever we opened the door. She was the sweetest, cutest, prettiest kitty EVER and we really miss her.

Every morning and each time we pull into our house, Ava still asks about her. We talk about the fun times we had with her and how much we miss her. We are happy that she went to go live with her mommy cat though.

We love you, CJ!

Ryan! She's NOT in her BED!

A few weeks ago I went in to check on Ava before calling it a night myself. A slowly and very quietly opened her door and peeked into her bed to watch her peacefully sleeping. I couldn't see at first, so I turned on her nightlight turtle.

Hmmm, she wasn't in her bed. Don't freak out, she's probably on the floor somewhere.

Looking, looking. Don't freak out. She's probably in her chair.

Okay, when do I panic? Thoughts of kidnapped children who have reportedly "not been in their beds" when parents check on them crossing my mind.

I run into Ryan in half-panic-mode, "She's not in her bed. Her room". "What?" "How?"

We look in the guest bedroom. No dice.

Okay, our home isn't that big. She's got to be here somewhere.

Go in the laundry room.

There. Laying on the floor after having done some laundry it appears, is my little angel. Asleep. How she snuck out, I don't know. But she was safe and sound.

This was a turning point because she has now decided that she wants to sleep in a BIG bed and accommodates herself in our queen size guest bedroom every night.

What a scare that was Aves!

I know we will laugh about this someday....

Yesterday we found out that Ava will have a BABY BROTHER!!!! Mommy and Daddy were beyond excited, almost shocked, to see the "boy stuff", as the ultrasound tech named it. I just knew, along with everyone else it seems, that it was going to be a boy. Seeing him moving away in there was just as amazing as it was with Ava. Just about the only person who thought it was going to be a girl was Ava. And when I say *thought*, it was more like she demanded that it was a girl.

We have tried to prepare her for the baby to possibly be a boy, but she'd have none of it. "No, it's a girl" or "I'm going to have a sister".

So last night when we showed her a video of the baby's sonogram and broke the news to her that it was a boy, we were not surprised at her dismay. However, we were a bit shocked at how strongly she reacted to the news. I mean, so much so that she cried for 10 minutes about how she wants a girl. Like REAL tears.

After watching the video about 50 times it seems, I am starting to be able to laugh at it, but I still get a lump in my throat. You see, I was doing the filming and bawling behind the camera at her reaction, but I had to hide my face, so I couldn't comfort her. Daddy did an excellent job of trying to help soothe her. We both were speechless at first because we didn't know how to handle her reaction. Our reactions and impromptu speeches are a bit comical however.

I know she will love and adore her baby brother, so I'm not worried. A little boy will be a perfect addition to our family. I think my emotions were based on seeing her disappointment and the guilt I have, that every mother of more than one child has, of preparing to turn her world upside down with a new baby.

So here is the video of how we told Ava she was having a baby brother....

Umm...princess much?

Ava had been eyeing the princess dress-up outfits leading up to the holiday season, whether in magazines or stores. She had a few dress-up things prior to THE Disney Princess collection, but the obsession was nothing like it is now. After an unfortunate biting incident (she being the inflicter) at her cousin's house in demand for a certain dress, it was time that we widened her princess dress-up collection.

Mommy and daddy bought Aves a chest of 4 princess outfits for Christmas: Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Cinderella, though she hasn't technically seen any of the movies. She hasn't taken them off since!

Oh Aves, you wear them to bed, to school, to play, to dance, to run errands, etc. I have to say, it is rather cute and since we've agreed that clothes have to be put on underneath, it isn't worrisome. It's just that this girly-girl came out of left field. Yesterday you asked me to paint your fingernails and toenails! So fun.....as long as you continue to kick a soccer ball while wearing princess heals, I'll be fine with it. Stay well-rounded my dear. Drinking our sparkling grape juice on New Year's Eve.
Giving her best fake smile while being snow white.
Beautiful Cinderella.
An ensemble that could only be created by you.

Oh! And it has been made perfectly clear that while she does look beautiful, each princess also has a meaningful quality/characteristic whether it be creative, smart, hard-working or kind, daddy and I brainstormed those after we found that was all that was being said to her when she'd wear the outfits..."You look BEAUTIFUL! But did you know that Ariel was very creative and smart. You are so creative and smart too!". LOL, I take this stuff WAY too seriously.

Christmas 2009

What a magical Christmas it was this year! Ava really understood what was going on and got a dose of the "Christmas Spirit" with Santa coming, leaving out cookies and awaking to a roomfull of presents.

We did a trial run on Christmas Eve morning with a big present from Grandma. When she woke up, we told her that she got to open a present early from Grandma. When she came out to the living room, still half asleep, she said "my dollhouse!" and ran to it. Since this was one of the things that she had asked Santa for, she was a little confused that it was from Grandma, as she declared, "No, it's from Santa" very matter-of-factly. Grandma said she can't compete with Santa on that one. Nevertheless, after we turned off the video camera, Ava gasped, "We forgot to say THANK YOU." So, eventhough I haven't uploaded the video, THANK YOU Grandma!


Then we drove Christmas Eve day up to Dallas (a day early) because, more than anything, we all needed a change of scenery. Ava had been sick and we were pretty much home-bound w/ all the shopping and last-minute crowds that were out. It was neat to surprise Gigi and Poppy also.

Christmas morning was such a special time. Ava was excited to open all her presents and see what Santa left for her. Of course, it was a little difficult to explain how to stop and savor each present and not move on to the next so quickly. But it typical 2 and 3/4 fashion, that's pretty much what happened. Besides, what is one to do with three rubber duckies out in the living room? Needless to say, she requested to go take a bath shortly after present time.

Opening her Cinderella bath toy.

The new shopping cart and food that Gigi and Poppy got her. Yes, we've already been to the grocery store with it as she told me that "Gigi said I could take it." Thanks Gigi. No seriously, this is such a nice and sturdy (i.e. HEAVY) grocery cart and we are very thankful.

I would have to say that the theme for this Christmas was "princess". She got princess dress-up, dolls, jewelry, etc. Not a day has gone by on this, January 4th, 10 days after Christmas that she hasn't put on a princess get-up of some sort for her everyday attire. Pics soon to come.

What a wonderful Christmas we had and we are so thankful for all the friends and family we have in our lives.

Some December Activities

How is it January already? We had such a busy December, that I've barely posted all the fun that we had. Here are some pics of the activities we enjoyed.

Playing at the Children's Museum.

Making a Gingerbread house at the Children's Museum.

Cousins enjoying a rainy day stroll.

Ava's first Christmas program at school. It was the CUTEST thing ever! Her class sang "Jingle Bells" and "Happy Birthday" and she did marvelous!

Making Reindeer Food to spread on the lawn for Rudolph and the other reindeer to see.

I'll have to post Christmas pics soon also. Both cameras are having "issues", but I'll get on it as best I can.

What I LOVE at 2 years, 9 months

1. I love witnessing the slow transition from being TWO to being THREE. It's like you aren't really a two-year-old any more, slowing gaining the ability to reason without putting up as much of a fight.

2. I love your out-of-the-blue "Mommy? I love you's". When you say this, usually several times a day, sometimes in the car, in the bath, or wherever, it makes me melt.

3. I love how adaptable and resilient you are. We don't leave you (with a babysitter or family) very often, but when we do, you are just fine. In fact, you have so many stories to share with us when we see you again, we wonder why we don't do it more often to get some "mommy and daddy time".

4. I love your made up songs. And that you request that we not sing with you.

5. I love your sense of creativity. Whether it's while eating Christmas dinner and exclaiming "It looks like an armidillo!!!" to the crescent rolls, arranging goldfish in a design and explaining that it's a "stingray" or making up stories to share and act out, you amaze me.

6. I love the above. I would have never guessed that I could bear a child who is so creative. I'm somewhat creative, but pretty analytical and/or methodical. I love the surprises that you hold for me.

7. I love when you want to dance. Which happens to be anywhere you get the urge. You did some booty-shaking in Target yesterday and Ikea today. What can you say? When you hear a good tune and moment hits you, you have to take advantage. Oh! And I love that the booty-shake is BACK! You used to do it when you were about one and then it slowly faded into a simple hip shake, but now the shoulders are back and it's full-fledged booty shaking!

8. I love your manners. You are great about asking "please" and saying "thank you", for the most part.

9. I love how much of a say you have in what you wear. Lately, it's been princess attire, even to the grocery store, but it boldly displays who you are. Yesterday, Cinderella accompanied me to the grocery store, pushing her new grocery cart down the aisles alongside me.

10. I love your snuggles. You weren't much of a cuddler as a baby, but now you seem to be making up for lost time. I love just laying there and snuggling with you.

The other day we were searching for the beloved and borrowed, penelope peapod baby doll. I'm loving ava's sense of humor...

Mommy: " penelope peapod where are you?"

Ava: "oh penelope soybean where are you?"

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Here's a conversation we had about money....

Ava: "where's daddy?"

Mommy: " he's at Dell today, he had to work today."

Ava: "why?"

Mommy:"he works so he can make money for our family."

Ava: "why?"

Mommy: "so we can have things like a house and food and clothes."

Ava: thinking:: "do you work mommy?"

Mommy: " yes, I do. We are lucky enough that mommy gets to stay home and being with you is my job."

Ava: "do you make money?"

Mommy: "not really, there is noone to pay me, like there is at Dell"

Ava: ::thinking:: "hmmm, I don't have any money to give you."

I guess she knows who my boss is!
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Lately aves has really been into princesses and pretending to be one.

Ava: " do princesses have bb's(blankets)?

Mommy: "they sure do!"

Wordless Wednesday: The Girls and Our Boots

Decorating the Christmas Tree

We had a pleasant morning of singing Christmas music, decorating the house and eating chocolate chip honey wheat pancakes w/ bananas on top, YUM! Ava was a wonderful helper and helped put ornaments on the Christmas tree, even if she clumped 3 or 4 on the same branch, hehehe.

Lovely Christmas memories!

That night, the finished tree.

The Polar TEXpress!

We had the honor of being invited to attend the 2009 Polar TEXpress organized by a mom in Ava's class. Ava was so excited to take part in it and see one of her best buds from school (she talks about him all the time), another friend from school that she plays with, and a whole bunch of their friends and family.

This was their 2nd year (our first attending) of hosting the party which entailed hot cocoa, Christmas music, a trainride to the "North Pole" and seeing Santa. It was so much fun. Also the weather cooperated and the rain stayed away leaving us with a perfect mid 40's winter day.

Sitting with Santa

And even smiling about it!

On a whim, we decided we needed to go to the mall before leaving from our Gigi and Poppy visit in the big D. We had no intention of visiting Santa because we had already seen him a few times this season and Ava just wasn't interested. Santa happened to look upstairs and saw Ava at one mall and waved and blew a kiss and she was on cloud nine!

So on this particular morning, we coincidentally ran into Santa's Workshop. She grabbed Daddy and said, "C'mon, let's go see Santa". We followed along right beside her and she didn't even blink, just walked right up to him, sat on his lap and told him what she wanted for Christmas. He was a great Santa too. They took lots of pictures for us and we narrowed it down to this one.

Challenges

Whew! It's been that kind of week. A very challenging week (and it's only Wednesday). A week that has shed light on a whole new set of challenges of parenthood, just when I think I've got it under control.

Control.

That's an interesting struggle between us. Both of us negotiating and manipulating to gain power of the situation. I should know better. You are wise beyond your years and have me nervously anticipating the years ahead. Seriously, are you seriously just two-almost-three-years-old?

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-What works for some, doesn't work for others.

-Remember to see each child as their own individual.

-Praise the action, not the child.

-Be fair, consistent.

-Acknowledge the child's feelings, resist the urge to give immediate feedback. Listen.

These are recommendations that I've read and implemented, among many more; always searching for advice on what to do next because you've found that loophole in my reaction or your consequence. And for the most part, the advice from friends/books/family/Dr.'s does work; some put a band-aid on it, some are more long-term. Either way, I'm grateful. I just really need to add more to my tool box. I also know that there is no "right way". No one book alone, that I've come across, has all the answers. I just take bits and pieces and run with it.

I was reading a book the other night and it helped me to see one of your "challenges" in a different light. It said:

"Look carefully at what you consider your child's weakness; what may at first appear to be a weakness may actually be a strength for that child."

One challenge I am faced with, for which I consider(ed) a weakness, is your lack of urgency to please others (especially me, lol). Sure, you want to do the right thing and respect others and the rules, but I feel like your motivations to do so are unique. Motivations that are not necessarily embedded in my personality, so it's relatively new to me.

What if that lack of desire to please others is because you don't want to please others, for others sake. Let me clarify. Somehow, in your 2+ years of life, you've made the discovery that you don't have to do what you are told, which isn't unheard of for toddlers. But I've said it before, you have a mind of your own, you are not known as the compliant one. I'm not saying this is necessarily a positive attribute, it will present challenges to you in the future, trust me. However, you do follow rules and are respectful of others (as much as an almost-three-year-old can be), so you aren't necessarily defiant, moreover, your motivations for completing a task or following a rule are "special." You are not doing it because it makes me (mommy or whomever) happy, you just don't have that need to please.

Maybe I need embrace this challenge. Maybe I need to foster the idea that you can't really feel a sense of accomplishment if you do something by yourself just to please others. You do something, the right thing, because you do it for YOU and the sense of pride it brings to know that you did it yourself, for yourself. Being a people-pleaser and compliant may get me what I want as a parent, the easy way, but it isn't truly who you are.

Now I realize that this is way beyond your level of thinking. But it just made me see that sometimes when I am at my wits end with challenges presented to me by a child, that someday, when you are a happy, confident, self-reliant adult, you possess a(n) (apparently innate) quality that I may have once tried to deny and change. Silly me, you are who you are.

You are your own person.

A truly unique and amazing person.

Letter to Santa

We read a story about writing a letter to Santa.

Ava "wrote" her own letter to Santa AND told to me what she wanted to say, so I transcribed. I wrote word for word what she told me (up until Merry Christmas and thank you-those were prompted by me, lol). To summarize, she wants a spotted dog, spotted bunny (though we haven't heard this one since the letter writing), and some new rubber duckies.

Funny enough, she told Santa the same things (dog and duckies), as well as a doll house, and a sailboat (what?) when she sat on his lap. YES! She finally sat on Santa's lap and wanted to do it. We didn't want to make her do it this year, but after many mall sightings, she asked to go see him.

Pictures to follow soon.

Hot Chocolate....YUMMY!

To kick off December, we savored and celebrated the colder weather with a nice hot cup of hot chocolate. Ava's favorite were the tiny little (fake) marshmellows.

It was a YUMMY treat!