Tonsils and Adenoids

At Ainsley's 3 year check up, I asked the doctor again about her swallowing issues.  Ainsley has always had problems swallowing/choking/gagging.  We had a swallow study done on her a few years ago and at that time was said to have mild dysphagia.  The SLP told us then that we may need to see an ENT, but we never did.  We thickened Ainsley's milk and juice for a few months, and she seemed to be doing better.  She's always had a harder time drinking juice, and it can still be rough on her.  It's almost like she chokes on it.  She'll start drinking it and then start coughing to the point of throwing up. 

She also "chokes" on her spit while she's sleeping.  She's always done this, and I've had to clean up vomit from her car seat too many times to count because she would fall asleep, start coughing, and then throw up.  It has seemed to get better as the years go on, but it still happens.  She's also started snoring while sleeping.  The snoring can get so loud that it wakes me up in the night. 

After telling the pediatrician these things again, she thought seeing an ENT would be a good choice, and we set up an appointment with him in early March.  As soon as the ENT looked in Ainsley's mouth, he immediately said:  "Oh, yeah, she's got monsters."  He was talking about her tonsils.

He said with her past medical history, he would highly recommend having them removed.  He also recommended having her adenoids removed.  So, we're scheduled to have her tonsils and adenoids removed this coming Monday.  The surgery will be at St. John's because she has to stay overnight.  To say I'm not looking forward to it is putting it lightly.  Not only am I scared to death that my little girl is having surgery, but I'm also not looking forward to staying overnight in the hospital with her (even though that's best) and fighting with her the morning of surgery because she can't have anything to eat or drink.

Dr. Joos (the ENT) does surgeries that morning at Memorial and then surgeries at St. John's in the afternoon.  Ainsley will be first for surgery at St. John's that day, but the earliest it will start is 12:30, and she can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight the night before.  They did finally say she could have clear liquid up to 6 hours before surgery, but that's not really going to help.  Dr. Joos explained that all kids under the age of 4 have to stay overnight, and since Ainsley just turned 3, she definitely has to stay. 

We're hoping this surgery will help her swallowing, speech, snoring, and sleeping.  Dr. Joos said there could still be an underlying factor that we can't see that's contributing to her swallowing issues, but he thinks we have a good chance of fixing the issue with this surgery. 

Joel had big tonsils and adenoids when he was little also, and had to have them removed, so we were wondering if that was the issue.  I'm just hoping Lily doesn't take after her Dad and big sister!

Ainsley's also been going to physical therapy for a month and a half now.  We go once a week for 45 minutes.  She enjoys going, and usually cries when her session is over.  They have all kinds of cool toys and things to use.  The physical therapist told Joel last week that she is seeing some improvement, which was nice to hear.  Joel has taken Ainsley the last two weeks to physical therapy, and the first time he took her, Ainsley embarrassed her Daddy just a little bit!  I just had to laugh, because it serves him right!  Joel said Ainsley was standing on a rocker thing they use for her while doing a puzzle, when she farted.  He ignored it, because he said she just kept on doing her puzzle.  Then, she turned around with a big smile and said: "Daddy, I farted!"  Of course, the physical therapist heard it too, and ignored it.  I'm so glad he's finally getting paid back for all the times I've had to deal with his horrible gas problem!

We're headed to a podiatrist in a few weeks with the recommendation of the physical therapist about possible orthodic shoes or inserts for Ainsley.  I searched everywhere for "better" tennis shoes for Ainsley that doesn't flex in the mid sole, but they are pretty much non-existent.  I can get them in the pre-school size, but she's still in what are considered toddler size.  I'm anxious to see what they recommend, and even more anxious for this problem to be corrected!

Hudson! (and a little painting)

Thomas, Jamie, and Hudson came home for a few days around the end of February, and it was also the weekend I had "bunco", so we stayed at Dad's for the night.  The girls all get together once a month for "bunco", but we haven't actually played bunco in a long time.  It's really just a reason to get out of the house for a few hours one Friday night a month without kids!  February's bunco was a "wine and art" night. 

I thought there was no way that I could paint anything halfway decent, because I'm the farthest thing from artsy, but it ended up turning out way better than I ever thought.  We painted in steps, and had a painting to reference during the whole thing. 

It's amazing how everyone's paintings ended up looking similar, but different in its own way.  When I took my painting into Dad's that night, no one actually believed that I painted it.  I'm no Pablo Picasso, but it definitely doesn't look like a 3rd grader did it either!  It was a lot of fun!

Mine compared to the teacher's....I'll let you decide which one is mine!

By the time I got back to Dad's after painting, Joel and the girls were already asleep.  Both girls were snoring, and I couldn't fall asleep.  I thought it was Jake (Thom's dog) snoring, so I woke Joel up to kick Jake out of the room, but that's when we figured out it was actually Lily snoring, and once Joel got out of bed to check, both girls woke up.  Since I hadn't fallen asleep yet, I got up with both of them and they both thought it would be great to have a 1 a.m. party at Grandpa Bill's house!

Ainsley couldn't wait for Hudson to get to Dad's the next morning.  I'm pretty sure Lily was excited to see him too.  It didn't take her long to start attacking the poor little guy!

Two little hoodlums wanting some of whatever Ainsley was eating!

I watched Hudson for Thom and Jamie while they went to a visitation, and according to his Mommy he "would sleep a few hours that afternoon and then fall back asleep around 6 after he ate supper".  Yeah, that didn't happen.  Hudson didn't sleep one second for Aunt Trista!

He sure had lots of fun, though!  He thought Ainsley throwing balls out of the ball pit was hilarious!

They needed a bath after this!

He loved the mac and cheese!

All that fun quickly stopped when it came around to bath time.  Ainsley had finally fallen asleep on the living room floor right before supper, so we fed Hudson and Lily.  After supper, we woke Ainsley up so she could take a bath with the other two and that's when it all went down hill.  All three of the kids were crying because they were tired, and no one had fun in the bathtub.  I'm pretty sure we had all three kids in and out of the bathtub in under 5 minutes.  It was that bad. 

The girls sure loved having another little play buddy, and Ainsley started asking the next day when she'd see Hudson again.  She loves to watch the video of Hudson laughing, and she'll giggle right along with him!

Magic House

Ainsley's birthday trip to St. Louis to the Magic House finally happened toward the end of February.  We headed south late one morning with the hopes of Ainsley taking a nap on the way down.  That didn't happen.  We got to the Magic House and Ainsley immediately had a huge smile on her face looking and playing with everything. 

 

 

She didn't want to leave the different areas.  I had to keep telling her there was more to play with.  I think she could have stayed at any one area for hours without leaving.  She thought the supermarket store they have set up was really fun.  She even thought the muffins were real, and I caught her trying to take a bite out of one.  We were guaranteed to leave germ-y anyway, right?!  Checking herself out and pushing the buttons on the cash register was lots of fun!

Prettiest cashier in the store!

I went to the Magic House YEARS ago (like probably over 20 years ago now....man, I'm old!) and didn't remember much.  They have different "places" set up to look like real businesses, like a store, bank, pizza place, hospital nursery, mechanic shop, and lots we didn't see.   She liked going to the bank and pretending to be Grandma Eba!

We spent over 2 hours at the Magic House and missed an entire floor and the Sid the Science portion of it.  Ainsley could have spent the rest of the day there, but we were hungry!  We'll definitely be heading back at one point to see the rest.  I mean, the future President of the United States needs a picture of herself sitting in the Oval Office at the age of 3, right?!   (The Oval Office was on the floor we missed!)

One of the only things I remembered about the Magic House from when I was a kid was the big static ball.  I'm so glad Ainsley wasn't in one of her "I'm refusing to take any picture" moods and actually let me hold her for a picture with the ball.  She could see herself in the mirror and thought it was really funny that she had "crazy" hair!

 

I was on a mission to find her a pair of tennis shoes that afternoon when we left the Magic House, so we headed to the Mills.  We ate lunch there, and after a few tantrums from a 3 year old that was in desperate need of a nap, we headed back to the car with no tennis shoes and a very cranky little girl.  I have to say, I don't know who was more cranky, Ainsley or Joel at that point.  Mr. Debbie Downer was in rare form that day!

Even with all the crankiness, we still had a good day, and Ainsley really enjoyed it.  She looks through the pictures on my phone often and laughs when she comes to the picture of her "crazy" hair!



Potty Training=SUCCESS!

Ainsley was adamant about not going on the potty for the longest time.  After putting the potty chair in the dining room in front of the tv for a few days and letting her sit on it while watching tv, she changed her attitude.  I didn't put pants on her the first weekend we tried potty training, much to Joel's disapproval.  She also got a sticker to put on a Dora potty chart I printed off the internet and 3 M&M's each time she went on the potty.  Of course, I had little surprises for the first time went on the potty, and she knew she would get new Lalaloopsy underwear after she pooped on the potty for the first time. 

I'm so glad she decided to change her attitude on potty training, because she has done remarkably well.  I'm beyond proud to say that my little girl is POTTY TRAINED!!!  In the last month she's had one accident.  ONE!  And, it was while she was taking a nap one afternoon, so it doesn't really count.  She only wears a diaper to bed, and underwear the rest of the time.  I had bought a bunch of pullups, but she didn't have any interest in them. 

The only problem we ran into was a horrible rash that popped up around day 2 of potty training.  She was using her Mickey Mouse potty chair at first and it has a removable foam seat on it.  I thought she was allergic to the foam seat, so I took it off and she had to sit on the hard plastic.  It seemed to go away a little, and then we started using the little seats you can sit on top of the regular toilet seat.  That's also when she started wearing underwear.  When we put her in the bath tub one night, her entire butt was covered in a rash, and when I asked her about it, she would complain and say it hurt.  I figured she was allergic to the underwear, since she had worn a different brand that day.  We put Destin on her and a diaper for bed.  The next morning, the rash seemed to go away.  The next night we noticed it again in the bath tub.  It started to improve over the next few days, and would be gone in the morning after Destin and wearing a diaper through the night.  I still don't know what the rash was caused from, but I'm assuming it was just her skin getting accustomed to no diaper.  Even a month later, the rash is still very faint, but is there.  I have a feeling we're always going to have issues with her skin and rashes. 

She's even done awesome in the car.  The first time I took her into Jacksonville with me with underwear on, I was a little scared.  We were meeting Kathleen and Lani at the Frozen Penguin for celebratory frozen yogurt for going on the potty, and half a mile before the exit, Ainsley told me she had to pee.  I was ready to pull over along the interstate so she could squat, but when I asked if she wanted to go in the grass, she replied with:  "No, Mommy. I go in a big girl potty."  So, I rushed into town and ran into Burger Board to let her go.  She held it until we got into the bathroom.  I was so proud of her! 

We even went to St. Louis to the Magic House with only underwear on.  That day, we packed her Mickey Mouse potty chair in the car and she did end up going 3 times along the side of the road or in a parking lot in her Mickey potty, but she still didn't have any accidents.  I wish she would have been more interested in it sooner, but she's once again taught me a lesson.  She was going to do it when she was ready.  I won't be stressing over Lily not being potty trained.  She'll do it when she's ready!

10 months

Lily was 10 months almost a month ago, on Feb. 18th. 

Mama is definitely her favorite word, that is, when she isn't grunting.  We say she talks in "cave man" talk.  She grunts all the time, and if you grunt back at her, she'll grunt right back.  She hears Ainsley talk all the time, so I'm sure she'll start picking up words quickly.  The only thing I'm worried about is she may not talk at all, because big sister will talk for her.  If you've been around Ainsley lately, you'll understand what I mean when I say the girl talks all the time.  Lily won't be able to get a word in if Ainsley's around!

Sister hugs

Lily can cruise up and down the edge of the couch like a pro.  She's able to get down by herself now while standing and holding onto something, rather than crying because she's too scared to go the foot to the floor.  I've caught her a few times lately letting go of whatever she's holding onto and standing by herself for a few seconds before falling to the floor.  I don't know if I'm ready for her to start walking yet!

She loves cleaning out the pantry

I put up a barricade so she couldn't get under my office chair and she didn't care for it!

Watching the wind one night....there were corn stalks flying everywhere!

Lily can definitely hold her own around the house.  She's got to be a tough little girl with Ainsley as a big sister.  Lily's figured out how to get a handful of Ainsley's hair and give it a pull if she doesn't like what Ainsley's doing to her!

Eating is one of her favorite times of the day.  I know, you never would have guessed by the size of her thighs, right?!  She'll usually slap at a spoon of food if I try to feed her, so she's pretty much feeding herself everything, which leads to one very dirty girl after supper. 

Ainsley wanted her picture taken like Lily

So big!

Ainsley can't be left out of the "So Big" routine

Daddy's turn to give her a bath!

Crazy hair and a change of pants one afternoon after lunch (she loves to rub her dirty hands in her hair while eating)

Lily (and Ainsley's) absolute favorite time of day is bath time.  Ainsley never wants Lily to get out of the tub, and I think the girls would stay in for a few hours each night if we would let them. 

If you look close, you can see her "fangs"

Lily discovered books a month or so ago, and will sit and turn the pages.  Her favorites are the animal books that you can feel the different textures.  She's even started crawling back to Ainsley's room and sitting in front of her bookcase looking at books.  Of course, that's only when Ainsley is busy doing something else or isn't at the house.  Ainsley used to do the same thing when she was younger.  She'd crawl back to her room and sit looking at books for half an hour at a time.

Lily had a terrible cough almost a month ago, and she'd cough to the point of throwing up.  Of course, it all started on a Friday so we went into the weekend with only the tele-nurse.  Luckily, Mom kept Ainsley for us Friday and Saturday night.  We ended up taking Lily into Prompt Care on Sunday morning, and she had an ear infection.  It didn't take long after we started the antibiotic for Lily to start feeling better.

Smiling even when she didn't feel good.

I never know what I'll find Ainsley and Lily doing.  I was cleaning up the bathroom one night after bath time and walked out to find Ainsley dressing Lily up in different hats.  Lily was loving all the attention from Ainsley!

 

 

Both girls have had coughs and runny noses for what seems like forever.  That's meant lots of snuggling, extra attention, and love. 

She's not punching me....just has a handful of Mommy's hair