Mimi's Boots

Potty Time!!!

As a first time mom I'm getting close to a time I've been dreading- potty training!!!! Mikayla is showing signs that she is ready. I have now bought her an Elmo DVD about potty time, and yesterday we went to Wal-Mart and bought her her first potty. She can tell you what it is, and when I'm not looking she'll sit on it (with clothes on). She will tell you that it is the potty. Just a minute ago I said, "Where is your potty?" She started calling for her potty. I followed her into the bathroom, and she said, "there it is!" A couple times she has actually pulled her pants and diaper off! Who knows when we'll actually start really trying- maybe during Christmas. I'm going to talk to the people at the Daycare on Monday about it- we'll see. I'll be happy not to buy diapers!!!!

Ho Ho Ho!

Mikayla and I just went to the mall. We went by to see Santa. I wanted her to see him and for her to see the other little children in his lap. Last year she had a melt down, and I ended up in the chair with her! My goal is to not be in the picture this year. She was waving at him, so that was a positive. On Tuesday night we are heading to the mall for pictures with Santa. I'm crossing my fingers. I'll dress nice in case I end up in the photo.

The picture above is from Thanksgiving day. Mikayla was sneaking her some crackers and dipping them in the veggie dip!

Snoring Away

Mikayla is napping at the moment, and I'm about to join her. I just wanted to let everyone know that Mikayla did get to go to the doctor this morning. She does have a bad cough and sinus stuff, but her ears are clear. The doctor even let me look through his little ear thing at Mikayla's ears. You could see the tubes! It was pretty neat. She got a shot and 2 more prescriptions- one for cough and one antibiotic. Hopefully she's on a fast road to recovery. At least we have the weekend to relax and recuperate!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mikayla and I are back at our home. Mikayla isn't feeling well, and she's just like anyone else- wants to be home when she isn't feeling well. I hated to leave our family early, but she's pulling on her ears, congested, and coughing! I did not expect her to have problems with her ears. Her doctor's office is open tomorrow from 9:00-12:00 for urgent care, so I will be taking her first thing in the morning. I'll update everyone then.

Having Fun at Mimi and Pop's!

Is It Christmas Yet?

Very Determined!

First, I will say we all survived the weekend. Originally when I posted after surgery Mikayla was doing great. She has run a little fever this weekend and has NOT been completely cooperative...especially with nap time and night time. We did spend time with family this weekend because I knew I'd need their help. Mom (or Mimi) was a huge help. I knew that washing Mikayla's hair after tubes was going to be really difficult, but I had no idea! I had bought some plugs, but she really wanted absolutely no part in that. I thought my mom was going to have claw marks from Mikayla. We tried to get her to lay her head back. She wanted no part in that either. I think my mom and I looked like we had been in the sink with her. Mikayla has said the word, "no" more times than I can count. At least she doesn't say it with an attitude, but you can tell she knows what the word means! Even if she was a little pill at times we all enjoyed the weekend. We'll go back in a couple days to visit more of the family, and Mikayla will get to be the center of attention! (as she always is)

I did have to take Mikayla to the eye doctor today for her checkup. She'll have to go back every year because of the eye surgery she had when she was 6 months. The doctor told me today that her eye sight seems great. One of her eye lids is a little droopy, but we can deal with that if we need to when she is older. Thank goodness because I can't deal with any more procedures or surgeries at this point in time! Mikayla didn't handle the visit well at all. As soon as she saw people in scrubs she started crying and saying "Nooooo." Bless her heart. I don't think she'll have to go to the doctor for a few weeks until she'll go for the follow-up with her ENT.

She's a Little Trooper

Mikayla had her surgery this morning. It took them about 20 minutes tops- to get her to sleep and to put the tubes in. She really did great. Mikayla was pretty mad at the world when she woke up, but Mimi and Auntie were there to help me. She has refused to take a nap and is having the best time watching a movie.

So, we made it through and she's on her way to a speedy recovery! If I had known how quick and painless it would be we would've done this months ago. Of course now I have to put ear plugs in when she gets in the bath because she splashes so much!!!

Thanks for all the prayers.

Friday

The picture isn't great, but she was enjoying her banana! It was hard to get a clear picture because my camera still isn't working right. This was the best I could do.

We went to the ENT, and as I knew would happen- she will have tubes put in. They wanted to do it this week, so on Friday she will be having tubes put in. If her adenoids are inflamed then those will also be taken out. I'm sure that this is all for the best, but I do hate that she has to be put to sleep again (this is the 5th time). I will always worry about my little girl.

I saw a quote the other day that said something like this- "Mothers hold their children's hands for a while but hold their hearts for a lifetime."

Sympathy Pain

Okay, so I've already said Mikayla had a bad ear infection in her left ear. I don't know if it was sympathy pain or what, but I have an ear infection in my left ear also. I will say that I am feeling better than I've felt in several days. You can't tell it by the way my voice sounds, but that may also be due to how much I've had to yell in order for my students to hear me :-).

Mikayla is doing much better. I don't know if her ears are still infected, but she's acting like they aren't bothering her. It's hard to believe, but her personality keeps coming out more and more every day. I get lots of laughs every night- even when I'm not feeling well.

Here are a few cute things she's done:
1. Yesterday she opened up my cell phone, pointed to her picture and said "Kayla." When she closed the phone she said, "bye Kayla."
2. She had her container of blocks. Every time she would hand me a block or if I handed her one she'd say, "Thank You", but it sounded more like "Tank You." It was absolutely Precious!!!! The first time she said Thank You was actually at the doctors office when they gave her a sucker.
3. We were leaving the house the other morning, and she looked at the sink and said "bye water."
4. Now if I open up the fridge and she's around she opens up the drawer where the cheese is and grabs her a slice because she loves cheese!!!!

Mikayla does go to the ENT on Tuesday morning, so we'll see what is going to happen with tubes being put in. I'm wishing they'll go ahead and do it during the week of Thanksgiving so I'll be off!

As for pictures. My camera is taking fuzzy pictures for some reason and needs to be taken back to Best Buy. As soon as it is fixed I'll post some more pictures. I'm lost without my camera.

Sick

First, I will apologize for the lack of postings. It has been more difficult to have time to do the "extra" stuff since becoming a 4th grade teacher. I have also had a horrible headache the last 3 days along with some other cold symptoms.

I took Mikayla back to her doctor yesterday, and her left ear is "really infected." They then made the referral and called me today with an appointment for Tuesday morning for Mikayla to see an ENT. I was told that they usually can do tubes the next week, so maybe they'll be able to do it while I'm off on Thanksgiving break. I'm already going to have to miss school the entire day this next Tuesday because of the time they made the appointment for. I've lucked out that I really haven't had to miss very much yet. I've only had to take 1/2 days- and I think I've only missed 2 of those. My 4th graders might could tell you that two 1/2's makes a whole :-).

Well, Mikayla is asleep, so I'm heading to bed too in hopes that I'll wake up without a headache tomorrow. Thank goodness it will be Friday!

Tubes

Mikayla began getting congested on Thursday night. She didn't sleep well for a few nights either. Luckily the ArkLaTex Pediatrics office is open on every Saturday and some Sundays. I went ahead and took her this morning. She had to see one of the other Doctors because only one Doctor is there each weekend. We had to wait for about an hour, but I'm glad I took her because she has ear infections again! Last time they told me that the next time she had ear infections we'd be going to the ENT. I'm supposed to call her pediatrician's office on Monday to get a follow-up appointment and at that time we'll get the referral. I've been dreading tubes, but I know she really does need them before permanent damage is caused. Mikayla is napping now, so I'm about to go take a little nap too. I have so much that needs to be done, but napping for 20 minutes or so may help!

Is It Christmas Yet?

I don't have time to write at the moment, but the picture of Mikayla is from just now playing in her room. The other picture is her Christmas dress. It's kind of fuzzy, but you can still see how cute it is!

Great Day!

First, I will say that I did have a day off technically. I didn't really take it off though. I went ahead and took Mikayla to Daycare today, and I went in and did stuff at school. Normally on a holiday we can't get into the school, but they used the school as a place to vote, so I lucked out. This is the first day that I've actually had to work in my room since changing to the new position.

When I went to pick Mikayla up they told me that she did great with her OT today. The OT took her outside to work with her, and the older children were outside playing. The teachers told me that Mikayla would do something right and then look to them for them to clap. They said she loved the audience. It doesn't surprise me one bit. When I got home the therapist actually called me to tell me how well she had done and that she was close to meeting several goals. Yeah!!!!!

Our First 911 Call

I'm almost ashamed to tell the story, but I now can really laugh about it. We went to TX today for visitation. We (Angela, Mikayla, and I) got to the meeting place in Lindale, and Angela left the vehicle to go into the gas station. I decided to let Mikayla get out of her carseat and stretch a little bit. I put her in the front passenger seat and was then heading around to my driver's seat when I heard the car get locked. Mikayla had pushed the lock button and locked the car with herself in there and the keys in the ignition. My heart started racing and the first thing I did was to hollar for Angela- she hadn't made it into the store yet. Angela has been a 911 dispatcher in the past, so she knew that if a child is locked in the car the police will come and unlock it. So, she called 911. They were on their way and in the meantime Mikayla was having the best time. She climbed over to the driver's seat and pretended to drive. She was pushing all kinds of buttons and even continued pushing the Lock button but never would put the windows down or push the unlock. Believe me- I tried to coax her into it, but she wasn't understanding what I wanted her to do. She was just a laughing at her mommy and Auntie standing outside the car. It was amazing the amount of people who just walked by us and just looked at us like we were crazy- not one person asked if there was something they could do. The policeman made it there and Mikayla really got a kick out of him sticking the thing in to unlock the car. Needless to say- Mikayla is safe and sound and never again will I make that mistake!