I'm right, you're wrong.

It was Monday. I was on my "A Game" and had been exclaiming my self admiration to PP all morning. There was a lot of dancing.

Well get this: The Speech Therapist had pink eye. It surely wasn't "day old pink eye." I could tell it was still fresh. Real fresh, as in just passed the non-contagious mark a few hours ago SUPER-FRESH. Her eyes were watering and very red, nose trickling, and she was sneezing up a storm. I wasn't very happy. 

PP thought it was funny. Every time the therapist sneezed PP would just start laughing hysterically. It's the cutest laugh. I couldn't help laughing along with her! On a more serious note, I would have to say the amount of frustration I felt upon seeing a sick employee coming in to work with my daughter was staggering. I didn't want to yell at her, so I laughed instead. A lot. 

Days went by with no pink eye. Friday rolls around and I am feeling more confident that we escaped the clutches of neon eye boogers and open mouth breathing. Time to get our play on! We planned to visit Great Grandma D's house and give a hug to our visiting Auntie K. During the visit, PP ended up getting into a city lake and was splashed in the face a few times, which really isn't the end of the world for how gross it is. We cleaned her up and she seemed just fine until Saturday morning. Her left eye was red and a bit puffy. She rubbed it a tad more than usual. It didn't take me long to come to a diagnosis, but I wanted to be sure. During the rush to get out of the house PP went head on with the corner of the orange curb chair, sending her into a frenzy of blood, boogers, red eyes and a very swollen nose. I felt so bad for PP! Not only did she have a giant owie on her nose, but I was sure that strangers would think she got in a bar fight! 

What a day.

I got on the phone with the voicemail for triage nursing. In a nutshell, I asked whether to bring PP into the ER or the clinic. I knew she had to go in and see a doctor regardless of what was wrong with her eye. That thing was nasty looking! I thought it would also be a good idea to get some advice on what to do about poor PP's nose. When the triage nurse called me back she just asked me a bunch of questions and then told me to wait three hours until I made a decision about bringing PP into a doctor. 

SAY WHA?!

The nurse told me to treat PP at home with hot and cold packs on her eyes because she suspected it was a cold. If (more like when) the symptoms got worse, we would go to the hospital. She reminded me of a 3 hour time limit. I was a bit annoyed. Not only did she circle around answering my original question, but she told me to wait until my daughter got worse. 

No, nurse, you're wrong. It seems as though you have absolutely no idea what your talking about. Maybe my question should have sounded more like "Pink eye. ER or clinic?" but who knows. I went ahead and drove PP to the ER at Children's Hospital. The doctor took one look at her and called it pink eye, remarking that this was the 6th case of it she has treated in the past few days. I was also told to wait until the swelling on her little nose goes down until I have a doctor do something about it, which makes perfect sense to me so I'll listen to that counsel. We got the eye drops and went home to recuperate. 

Thankfully, PP is on the upswing. I think that because of the results of her recent surgery, PP has a lower tolerance for infection. She was on a daily antibiotic for the past two years and just came off of it a couple months ago! She's got some sicknesses to catch up on. Yay. School should make things very entertaining around this household! 

Clean hands and tidy faces

XoX

I can finally wear a sweater!

It's been 43 days since my last blog post! Time just flies by when you're having fun...or really busy while having fun.

Rocking chair enthusiast in full swing

We have been thoroughly enjoying the summer weather and events. Going to the beach a couple times in a week and visiting different parks every day, just PP and I, fit into the routine so nicely. Frequenting the local Farmers Market, antique shops and garage sales were quite an experience.

Mornings in the park, ahh summertime. 

We went to therapy twice a week, every week, and have been going to various doctors appointments about twice a month. Having a few play-dates and adventures took up the remainder of our time. Here are some highlights of the shenanigans taking place around our house:

• The first event that pops into my head is a very gross one, so be warned. PP ate her own poop. Yep. Dug in her diaper and ate her own poop. Chris and I were standing with her in the kitchen, but were apparently not paying close enough attention to her. It was hilarious and disgusting to the tenth degree. I cried from laughing, I'm sure PP was beyond confused in more ways than one and Chris couldn't eat any more of his cranberry chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. 
• We spent lots of time with family, which created good vibes for re-entering school. Family time is always a good time!

Nelly and her cousin Kenny

• During one of those sweltering hot dog days of summer, PP and I ventured out towards Lake Harriet. Usually, there is a crowd of people trying to fish off a dock on our walking route, but today there was nobody there. Heck ya! I let PP out of the stroller and she bolted out onto the dock. I saw little sunfish swimming just under the surface of the water. I showed PP that when you spit into the water the fish think it's food, so they all come to try and get a bite! PP thought it was hilarious so we spent about 20 minutes spitting into the lake, giggling when the fishes came to see us. 
• PP discovered goggles and bike helmets. These are two of her many new obsessions. 
• Someone got a hair cut! You can pat Momma Lace on the back next time you see her.  

Aww! 

• A special plot of dirt in the yard is dedicated to the sensory awareness of PP, called the garden. PP loves the garden. She can rub the dirt in her hair, bury her feet, and practice scooping/pouring. PP also helped Momma plant some Rosemary and Sweet Basil plants for our indoor herb garden. 

"Maybe if I'm nonchalant, Momma won't be suspicious of me eating some..."

• Taking trips up to the Northern suburbs kept us busy. 

"We love riding in our Bluebean" 

• This girl is getting so big, I decided it might be better for her to not use a high chair anymore. She can sit in a regular dining room chair and eat off of the table, and she does well with it if she likes her food. Otherwise, she's running all over the house with it. Take today for instance, pizza was for lunch. PP loves pizza, but when she got a bit full she decided to run all over the house with it. The age of dirty walls, cupboards, curtains, bedspreads, shower curtains, et. al., is upon this household. Scared and happy face. I'm so excited my girl can walk and that she is progressing with gross motor skills, but I've become a tiny Neaty-Nancy and feel like I'm living in a frat house !
• PP was taught how to drive by her Grand-Babcock's. PP got so brave while driving the Power Wheel Jeep, she drove it up a tree! This was not the only time she took a real big tumble outside. She also fell off the slide at the park. PP fell only a couple feet, but I was close enough to break her fall. I think it scared her enough so now she hasn't been screwing around while on the slide! She also fell off the swing. Despite the mishaps she tends to be more of a daredevil. She loves the tire swing and scooting up to the edge of a flight of stairs. I wouldn't say that she is able to run, but she is close. PP has a tendency to get overly excited and trip over her own feet, and does not always catch herself when she falls. For now, we are focusing our PT work on going up/down stairs and running. The work in OT through Children's is focused on swinging, bouncing and self-cares. Going to the park is a very important task because we can knock off a bunch of daily therapy exercises in a short amount of time! 

"Mom, just give me the keys. I got this."

Sharing memories of this wonderful summer has got me thinking about all of the wonderful things that will happen this fall! Starting in one week we will have therapy every day, sometimes twice a day, with monthly doctors appointments! Bye bye, free time! Hello, friends and big changes! The biggest change is the deletion of PCA services and the introduction of services via a Consumer Support Grant. This program puts Momma Lace in complete control of the funds and services for PP that are not covered by her health insurance. It makes me feel like SUCH a grown up. Just call me Bossy Pants! It's nice to have resources like this available to use for PP. Having a disabled child has it's benefits, as does having a typical child. This method of service was not our personal Plan A, it was our Plan C, but it's always good to have a real backup-backup plan. Other events in the little clans personal biz didn't work out like we had hoped, but we found a different way to make something different work. I'm excited because my family dynamic is changing in ways that are out of our comfort zones. We are growing together! It's a good thing.


Now it's time for brownies.

Pretty flowers and summer showers
XoX