3 Minutes

Took Brooke to the bathroom and left trouble alone for threes minutes. He removed three keys from my laptop.

Sharing

Ryan has a Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde personality. One minute He will hug and kiss his sister ... The next minute he will push, bite or hit her until she cries. She cannot understand his behavior, as in her 3.5 years of life she has never had the urge to do such things. Now she finds herself angry an pushing back, and she doesn't know why.

We try to explain that her brother is a good boy who sometimes does naughty things. She doesn't buy it.

This morning he decided to share his cereal with Beauty. See Brooke! Look what a kind and loving person tie brother is! All she notices is that he got milk all over Beauties hair, and she gets upset that he is ruining her princess.

We have a long couple of years ahead ;)

Sunday She Said / He Said

When I grow up I want to be Ariel. Or Cinderella ... I want to be Cinderella.

**********

Chicken nuggets to the rescue!

**********

When I get bigger I get to walk all the way to Mexico. I'm a little small now, I cant walk that far.

**********

To Mom & Dad while in the car ...
If you're not whispering, I can't sleep.

**********

Ryan, big girls eat faster than little boys.

**********

Ryan leans over and blows on his plate. Food flies off.
"Did it!"

**********

She Did It!

Brooke went back to school today. Her teachers said she had a great day!

Not Back To School

The plan was for Brooke to go back to school today. I wasnt totally sure she was ready, but we have to start somewhere!

Then,
-She got to bed a bit late
-The storm started minutes after she got to bed and freaked her out
-She fell asleep really late
-She was coughing here and there at night
-She woke up really early

So, adding a short night of sleep and possible new cold/virus onto the fact she is still not really eating, physically weak, and emotionally volatile ... on top of the fact that I've been freaking out about her return ... I just kept her home.

Im not sure if she is really ready to go back to school yet, but I know that I'm not really ready to take her back yet ;)

Sunday She Said

"Guess what I boughted at the store today? A bunch of yummy cookies that are good for throats!"

**********

The Return of the (Emotional) Ballerina

Brooke had ballet today and we thought it might be a great way to start getting her back into her old routine and back out-and-about in the real world. Daddy took her, and Ryan and I met them a bit later. She had an emotional time. She didnt participate in a good portion of the class and started crying a few minutes after it began. Daddy did a great job of comforting her and she eventually got a little into class (about 5 minutes before it ended).

I've read that kids can have a really hard time emotionally coming back from tonsil/adenoid surgeries. Since Brooke is already a bit of an emotional kid, I expected her to have some challenges. She definitely is. I think we are all excited to get things back to normal ... eventually!

Learning the Lingo

Ryan is trying to brush up on princess culture so he can communicate with his big sister.

Surgery Day

The morning of surgery Brooke was excited, thinking we had some big adventure planned. Mom & Dad were nervous and worked hard on keeping the positive vibe. We arrived at the hospital at 8:00AM for a 9:30AM procedure. After checking in, we were put into a pre-op room where we talked to a bunch of nurses and doctors who checked Brooke out, took some information, and worked hard to keep us calm. All of a sudden they told us they were ready and it was time to go - it was only 9:00AM! They might have been ready, but I thought I had another thirty minutes to hang out with my baby and get myself mentally prepared for the whole ordeal.

Dad got to go into the OR with Brooke (dressed in a head to foot white suit) to reassure here while the anestesiologist worked his magic. When he got back to me, we had about 45-60 minutes to wait until we got to see Brooke again.

It was the longest wait ever, but soon we were escorted back to recovery. Unfortunately, Brooke did not wake up well from sedation. She freaked, jumped out of the bed and clung to the nearest nurse for dear life. It took about an hour to calm her down, during which time she ripped out her IV and had to be held down by three nurses (in addition to Mom & Dad) to get it back in. While that was a horrible experience for us, she doesnt really seem to remember ... and the next few hours flew by.

Post Surgery

Brooke drank about 4 containers of apple juice and had two servings of soup broth. She actually didnt like the popsicle, jello, or ice cream ... the whole supposed perk of getting your tonsils out in the first place :) She was supposed to be in recovery for four hours, but because she was doing so great they let us go early. She was exhausted, but ready to go home.

On Our Way Home

At home she was ready to eat the ice-cream. Turns out she just wanted plain-old-vanilla. All the hospital stuff was to fancy for her ;)

Ice Cream Dinner

Clearance for Surgery

This AM Brooke went on a scheduled tour of the hospital in prep for Thursdays surgery. We haden't gotten word as to whether or not the surgery will happen, but the Doctor's Nurse actually thinks it might be a go. I'm surprised, but we will see ;) Anyway, we went on the tour and it was really great. They have Brooke a teddy bear and let her perform a lot of tests on the bear - listening to his heart with the stethoscope, putting a mask on him (for anesthesia), checking his blood pressure, etc. She got to see the room where she will be waiting prior to surgery and the recovery area. She seemed to think it was all pretty cool and after the tour told me how much she wanted to go back. They gave her a bunch of doctors things - hats, masks, (etc) and she played doctor with Ryan and the sitter when we got home.

Then it was off to her asthma doctor to gain a required clearance for surgery. Her lungs checked out fine and there was no sign of wheezing or any other asthma complications. Her doctor cleared her, but suggested she thought they would cancel due to the fact she has had a recent viral illness.

We will see! She got clearance from the Pediatrician last week and her Asthma doctor today.

Later in the day I spoke to the ENT's nurse who got clearance from the ENT. She also spoke to an anesthesiologist and the hospital pre-surgical team and got clearance from them as well. So it looks like Thursday is on!

The Underlying Complication with Hand-Foot-And-Mouth

Brooke is always sick, technically diagnosed with asthma and a "chronic cough", it seems like she just cant get a break. We have been encouraged by an ENT to get her tonsils and adenoids removed (for a variety of reasons in addition to the possibility they are part of the cause behind her constant cold symptoms) and finally bit the bullet and scheduled the surgery a few weeks ago.

Of course, the surgery is this Thursday. And, of course, she now has a pretty serious and highly contagious virus. We arent sure what is going to happen but assume the surgery will be cancelled.

Today is much worse for Brooke. She is aware that she is covered in "boo-boos", whereas yesterday we kept her so busy she didnt have the time to really notice. Today, because of the amount of them, and the fact that all of these blisters have turned into scabs seemingly overnight, there is no avoiding them.

At least she finally has some on her feet, which makes the virus make a bit more sense. Unfortunately, because she can really see the ones on her feet, these are what most concern her. She wants to put bandaids on all of them. There arent a whole lot, maybe 4-5. I've agreed to put a Tinkerbell bandaid on the biggest one to keep her satisfied ... seems to be working.

So when you see this picture, it seems like its not so bad, right? Well, thats because the feet are not the biggest problem here.

This is what the whole rest of her body looks like. Her legs, her belly, everything!

Sunday She Said

Mom: Mommy has to make an important phone call and I need you to be very quit.
Brooke: Why?
Mom: Because I need you to have your quiet time while I have my quiet time.
Brooke: My friends are more important-er than yours.
Mom: Thats nice.
Brooke: When I am on the phone with them, you can still talk to me.

The Atypical Case of Hand-Foot-Mouth, Figures!

Hand-Foot-And-Mouth has that name for a reason, kids get blisters and spots on their hands, feet, and mouth. Ryan got them on his hands and feet, and we were lucky that nothing showed up in his mouth (which appears to be what makes this virus a nightmare). So I continue to watch Brooke's hands, feet, and mouth. Nothing. I think we are in the clear. But, then I notice she has some marks on her belly. Then her back. Then her legs. Then her ears. Really? This poor kid is covered in blisters. Pretty much everywhere but her hands, feet & mouth!