*Achoo, achoo, cough-cough*

After having a "virus" with symptoms similar to on-going allergies since November, we have finally pushed her primary care doctor hard enough to convince them to put some pressure on the allergist and move her appointment up. We were originally scheduled for after Valentine's Day, then the 7th of February and then, yesterday, I was informed that we have been switched to a different doctor and will see him/her (not sure which) on Friday. There is supposedly a huge packet of forms coming for me to fill out before this visit. Cara also can't have any medications other than Mortin beforehand. Something about no antihistamines, which I thought you couldn't give to children her age? Hopefully, an end is in sight for Cara's suffering and she'll be able to sleep peacefully at night and give our vaporizer a break. The poor girl coughs a lot and seems to have an endless supply of nose goo. If she has to endure an allergy panel to find out the cause of her misery, it will be worth it. I'm just wondering how my 18 month old will survive a 2-3 hour appointment? How will I for that matter?
Updates to follow.

Orthopedic Consult

At the request of Cara's physical therapist, we met today with an orthopedic doctor to discuss whether Cara would need the assistance of leg braces or supportive shoes in order to walk. This appointment was booked back in December because Cara was not standing or attempting to crawl in addition to walking in our her feet, slightly.

I am proud to report that since then, Cara has improved greatly (another post with, hopefully a video, will be coming shortly) and the doctor believes that she is progressing nicely and will walk in the next 3-4 months, without assistance! I'm so thrilled, one hurdle overcome.

We are to meet with her again late this spring to reevaluate. If Cara is still not walking, we might need to re-think and come up with a new strategy. But for now, everyone seems happy with the amount of progress that Cara has made.

Let's do the "no braces dance"!

What does your DNA say?

This was a very interesting test. I read my results and a lot of them were right on. Here's a sampling:

You are practical and pay attention to the details that others tend to miss.
Even when problems present themselves, deep down you know you will overcome these challenges.
You're not one to force your positions on a group, and you tend to be fair in evaluating different options.
You are an independent thinker and don't get too worried about how others might perceive you—you are not self-conscious about being the active, engaged person that you are.

Wow, that's me...that's totally me, it's scary!
Thanks Lauren for the link!

Caitlin's Anatomy

Proof that Blue's Clues is very educational and that I'm not a bad mommy for occasionally telling Caitlin to park it in front of Nick, Jr--here is a conversation we had tonight.

(Caitlin & I are looking at a recent edition of Parenting magazine. On the opposite page of the article I'm reading is an ad for Advair, a drug for asthma.)

Caitlin: "Mom, those are your lungs".
Me: "Yes, honey, you are right, they are your lungs".
Caitlin: "You breathe air in and out, (pointing to the the veins (or are those arteries?) is that where the air goes?"
Me: "Yes, the air you breathe in through your mouth and nose goes through there and goes to the rest of your body. How do you know about your lungs and how they work?"
Caitlin: "From Blue's Clues. I saw it online! *smacks forehead like I'm supposed to know this* and it was on Nick, Jr this morning too".
Me: "You're so smart, it's not even funny!"
Caitlin: *laughs* "Oh, Mom? Did you know that these things *points to her eye* are called pupils and they get bigger when it gets dark?"
Me: "Wow, I can't believe you know that. I guess Mommy needs to watch Blue's Clues with you, so that I can get educated".
Caitlin: "Good idea, Momma. You need to be as smart as me, I'm four."

Apparently, I need to get my daily dose of preschool television so that I can show off to my mommy friends. I can just see me now..."Hey, did you see that episode of Dora? I learned that ____ is this and it does _____." Good ice breakers, at least!

Speech Therapy, et al

Cara started speech therapy through Developmental Pathways on Tuesday. While this was basically a "getting know you" chat with her therapist, Angela, I really got a good vibe from her. She seems to care about the whole picture, not just Cara's progress with her oral expression. There seems to be a well-rounded therapy approach, which I really think is beneficial, not only to us, but to the Developmental Pathways team too. The focus of her speech therapy, right now, is to get Cara "talking" more, especially in copying or mimicking sounds. I already do a lot of the things that were discussed, so it seems that we are going in the right direction. I read to Cara daily, talk about what I'm doing (brushing her hair, playing with her, etc) and encourage her to "talk" to me. We are learning animal sounds and common baby words. Also, her therapist wants to introduce some baby sign language into Cara's vocabulary to bridge the gap between her babble and talking. I'm excited, as I've always wanted to learn ASL. In case anyone is curious, I found great website for teaching parents some simple, every day signs. There are also some board books by Linda Acredolo which I am hoping to find at the library. It will be so nice, if Cara picks up on the signs, to know what she is saying, thinking, wanting. Hopefully, it will ease the frustration for both of us.
Her therapist is going to teach me 4 new signs every time we meet on top of whatever I happen to learn in between. I am also hoping to sign up for, and attend, some free sign language classes. I'm actually looking forward to not only learning to communicate with Cara, but to have something mind-simulating to do.
We will be meeting with Angela, in our home, bi-weekly for speech therapy and I'm looking forward to seeing Cara improve.

Cara continues to do well with her PT. We are working on getting her to stand for longer periods of time without locking her knees, getting her to shift her weight from one leg to another and begin to transition into side-stepping. I am happy to report that she stood, playing with her favorite toy, for about 15 minutes and did not lock her knees! In fact, she was kind of bouncing on her feet at times! Such of a big accomplishment for her. She also managed to side-cross step from one table to the other while reaching for a toy. It is so rewarding to see her making progress!

We have her second occupational therapy session scheduled for next week. Our goal in this department is to have Cara using her pincher grasp as well as getting her used to having her palm open. She still does a fist grab for objects and tends to ball up her palms when doing her commando crawl. She is getting better about opening them (as she is on all fours more and such) but still needs some help. We are also working on getting her to use her pointer finger to push buttons and such. She is loving the hand massages that I give her and playing with the Sesame Street pop-up toy that we inherited. "Therapy" is such fun for us!

Turning to something not therapy related...Cara will be going into to see her pediatrician on Monday to investigate why she always seems to be so stuffed up and full of snot all the time. She snorts, sneezes and coughs more than we think is normal. An allergy panel might be coming Cara's way. We will have to wait and see what trusty Dr. Quinn has to say. He hasn't steered us wrong yet. Keep watching for updates.

Holiday Re-Cap

The 2007-2008 Holiday season was a fun one for us. We are blessed with the best family & friends who helped make this Christmas one of the most memorable for our girls.

Christmas Eve found us gathered in the kitchen making peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for Santa (there his favorite, didn't you know?) and preparing a plate of treats for the jolly red elf and juicy carrots for his reliable reindeer. By the evidence left...
I'd say that Santa was hungry from his world travels. Reindeer teeth marks were even left on the carrots.

After the children were nestled all snug in their beds, Santa "elves" were busy wrapping the gifts Santa would bring. Thanks to the generosity of our wonderful circle of friends (including some Christmas angels from Freecyle)and family, our girls were very, very blessed this year.


The adults in the house (numbering 3) were awoken at 7:45 by four bright-eyed anxious children and we assembled around the tree for the opening of presents.

The unwrapping lasted a mere minutes in length only to be followed by precision assembly of children's toys. The day was filled with sounds of joy & laughter and our stomachs relished in the fixing of turkey and stuffing.

We awoke Christmas morning to not only evidence of Santa's visit to our home, but to a beautiful white dusting of snow. It snowed all day, leaving 7 inches of fresh powder. All the children decide that it was romp-worthy despite the cold. Bundled up in fleece PJs, snow pants, mittens, hats and coats, they voyaged out to make snowballs and angels. Returning indoors with rosy cheeks and requests for hot cocoa.

New Year's Eve we were traveling through snow and lots of wind, to the McLean family acres for a gathering. We made it through 60 MPH winds with lots of blowing snow, over a mountain pass as icy as a rink, to my parents house were aunts, uncles and grandparents were patiently awaiting. Soon, the living room floor was a fury of wrapping paper as Christmas, part duce, was in full force. Exclaims, laughter and joy could be heard throughout the house as Grandpa & Grandma surely spoiled! After a satisfying meal, a heated game of Cariboo was partaken by all the adults in the house. As the clock neared midnight, we all gathered around, the television to watch Carson Daly do the countdown, signaling, once again, that another year had past. Good riddance 2007, hello 2008! Resolutions, we're still contemplating, but there are sure to be a few. Meanwhile, as we look back at 2007, our blessing were many. We look forward to 2008 and what it may bring.

So, to all, I say, may 2008 bring you & your family much peace & happiness!

I'm under a rock

Okay,not really, but one can dream, right? Things have been a tad bit on the busy side lately. I know that I have a lot of updating to do and I will do it, one of these days when I get to sit down in front of my computer for more than 15 minutes at a time; when I can compose a rational, coherent thought that just might be of interest to others to read. Stay tuned, updates on the holiday season coming your way. That's a darn promise!