06.11.10

Yesterday evening was out of the ordinary for us. We had to take Ayla to the Children's Urgent Care. Dean was giving her a piggy-back ride but had her by the hands while she hung down his back. He bent backwards to let her off and when she got to the ground, she just layed there for a few seconds and then started crying her "hurt cry." We couldn't figure out what happened...she cried for an hour while we tried to narrow it down to where the pain was. This is so unlike her. When she gets hurt, she'll cry for a couple minutes and be done with it. We knew it was somewhere in her right arm. She finally calmed down but refused to use that arm so we decided to bring her in.

Turns out, it's something called nursemaid's elbow. The info sheet they gave us says this:

"Nursemaid's elbow is also called subluxation of the radial head or a pulled elbow. It is an injury to a ligament that keeps the two bones of the forearm in the correct place.

When the annular ligament is torn, a part of it slides upward and becomes trapped in the elbow joint. This is very painful.

It's caused by a strong force on the elbow. This often occurs when and adult pulls on the child's arm or the child falls away from an adult while being held by the arm."

They assured us that this is very common for kids under the age of three. It can happen when they're being swung by their arms or picked up by their hands instead of under the arm.

The doctor said she just had to do a one-second manuever to pop everything back in place. She also said that Ayla would scream and cry because it would hurt. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to watch but she did great...didn't cry or scream...but her little lip did stick out for a few seconds afterwards. Within minutes, she was using her arm again. We were told to be gentle with it for the next few weeks because once this happens, it can easily happen again. So in my mind, being gentle=not touching it at all. I'm so incredibly paranoid about it. The doctor said if it happens two or three more times, they would just show us how to pop it back in. I can hardly deal with a skinned elbow and they want me to pop bones and ligaments back in place?

Today, she seems totally fine...she hasn't shown any discomfort in that arm. They said it might be sore for a few days, but it doesn't seem to be bothering her at all. Thank goodness.

06.09.10

Today while I was getting Ayla ready for her nap, I could not find her little blankie. It's almost always in her crib or somewhere in the living room. I ran around to a few more spots and decided to give up. She has a second one (that she doesn't know about) so I grabbed that one for the time being. While she was napping, I. Looked. Everywhere. I looked at any possible place she could have stashed it while I wasn't paying attention--the fridge, trash, toilets, closets, cabinets, dishwasher...literally every place I could think of. I started to go crazy. I couldn't believe I couldn't find it. I double and then triple checked each spot I already looked...I even looked in my car and in the yard. Then I really started to go nuts. I was thinking crazy thoughts--"Did I flush it down the toilet?" "Did Kody eat it?" Did I eat it?" I reluctantly gave up and just told myself it would turn up. It had to be in the house somewhere. Before dinner, Ayla grabbed a bucket of lego-type toys and dumped it all out...as she did this, I heard her happily squeal, "Blankie!" Hmm...never would have looked there. I honestly don't think I would have slept well had we not found it.

And an exciting bit of news--Ayla pooped in the potty!!! First time! For the past several days, she has been consistently peeing in the potty before her bath and she has even, on a couple occasions, told me she had to pee while we were in the bathroom. I don't know if I'm helping or hurting by just having her go before her bath for now. She's a bit reluctant to go throughout the day. Any words of wisdom, moms (and dads)? Tonight, she didn't pee and I figured she just didn't need to go, but then she made her cute little poop face and went. It was so funny...she peeked down into the potty and exclaimed, "What IS this?!" She asked a couple times, so I told her but it didn't help her feel any better about it. She was actually a little freaked out and said, "all done" with more urgency than usual and stood up. But once I made a big ado about it and placed two M&M's in her hands, she was all smiles and kept saying, "Ayla, poo-poo potty!" Who knew I would ever be this excited about someone pooping?

06.06.10

This weekend came and went so quickly. Such is life, huh? We stayed in on Friday night and I somehow managed not to fall asleep on the couch while we watched a movie. Dean always teases me about how I can't ever make it through an entire movie before I'm snoring away. Can't help it.

On Saturday, we went to the Farmers' Market again in the morning. We've really come to enjoy this each weekend. It's a great reason to be outside in the morning and it's fresh, local-grown produce. You really can't beat it. After Ayla's nap, we went to Heidi's 2nd birthday party. Can you believe she's already two? Where does the time go? There were lots of little ones running around and Heidi received a bunch of fun things. The Gonzales basement is the mecca of all things cool to kids (big and small). Saturday evening, Ayla went to Grandma and Grandpa's (again...seems like we ship her off quite often these days) so we could attend a surprise 30 1/2 birthday party. :) Something no one would ever expect, so it was a success.

And this morning, we met Meghan, Chris, and Heidi at the zoo. They go pretty often and we've been wanting to make it there, but it just hasn't worked out until now. I think Ayla was a little overwhelmed by it all...halfway through, she became very quiet and out of it. I don't think she knew what to think of it all. It was fun to show her all the animals that she's been learning since we went to the zoo last year when she really had no idea what was going on. I think she had a good time though...we ended up purchasing a membership so we can go whenever we want. I'm sure she'll grow to love it.

After we got home, we tried getting her down for a nap, but for whatever reason, it is so difficult to get her to nap without a fight over the weekend. Since I've been home with her, she does great during the week, but come Saturday and Sunday, it's no good. What's the deal? She's usually in bed and nearly asleep by 12:30 or 12:45...today, she didn't fall asleep until 2:15. I say this knowing that I will kick myself when it happens, but I'm kind of looking forward to when she no longer needs to take naps. It's smack-dab in the middle of the day and you have to plan just about everything around it. Again, I know I'll wish differently when she's up for 12 hours straight, driving me bonkers.

Kody, taking a much needed break during Ayla's nap...poor guy gets tugged on, yelled at, pushed, covered with blankets, you name it.

This is my last full week at home with Ayla. I'm starting to get really bummed about it. I'm excited for my parents to come home, but I'm not ready to give up my Ayla-time. The first couple days, I always think, "ohmigosh, what are we going to do all day, every day?" And now, it feels so normal...like I've never worked and I've always been home with her. By the time my mom and dad come home, I will have been home for 26 days. Crazy that I feel like it just began.

06.04.10

After a big thunderstorm a few nights ago where the sky was blacker than black and my chin kept dropping as I raced home because it looked like midnight at five in the afternoon, the great weather has returned and we've had a couple of wonderful evenings.
We went on a walk after dinner on Thursday and last night, we went downtown to Marla's to grill out on the roof of her apartment building. Afterwards, we walked to Ted & Wally's for Omaha's best ice cream. Yum.

There are a couple of pictures of Dean, Ayla, and me that I love so much. I whine to Dean constantly about how we don't have enough family photos...especially ones that aren't so pose-y. So thank you, Barb, for grabbing my camera and taking a few shots. They are a couple of images that I will always cherish. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
And a quick update on the potty, numbers, and colors--

Potty--we've had several successful potties, but no poo yet. The pure glee in her face when she gets that one M&M for peeing just makes my day. It's so cute. I think she understands what the potty is, which was what I wanted. I don't know that I want to completely dive in to potty training just yet. I don't really know why. I think I'm afraid of it. She has become very anti-Pull-Up. I realize that many people are anti-training pants, but I figured we'd give it a try. I don't want to push it so much that she scraps the whole idea all together. We'll take it slow...when she's ready, she's ready.

Numbers--it goes a little something like this: "Two...four...six...seven...nine...TEN!" And then she expects applause. At least she's going in order...just leaving out a few numbers. :)

Colors--she knows what words are colors, but when we ask her what color something is, she always says pink, which in her world, is not always wrong. That would be my fault.

Memorial Day Weekend

We've had a busy, busy few days...it felt like we were going non-stop, but it was awesome. On Thursday morning, Ayla and I finally went on our walk. It was so perfect out. We stopped at the park for a little bit so she could swing and play in the sand.

Friday afternoon, Ayla and I went over to my brother's house to swim...she was much more comfortable in this little kiddie pool as opposed to the actual pool. Dean ended up stopping by on his way home from work...always a nice surprise to see him earlier than normal.

We headed home to change and relax for a bit before going to TGIFriday's for dinner out on their patio. It felt so good to sit outside and enjoy the weather.

Heidi and our little neighbor, Jack, came over to run in the sprinklers Saturday afternoon. They all had so much fun...and it was an excuse for the adults to make a few runs as well. :) The water was so so so cold but they still loved it. I think Ayla had a smile on her face the entire team...even while she was shivering.That evening, we went over to Jack's house for fajitas...so good. Unfortunately, they (our favorite neighbors) will be moving soon. We hate to seem them leave. They're only going to be a couple miles away so we hope to stay in touch. After the kiddos were in bed, we sat on the driveway for a couple more drinks...

Sunday morning, we got up and went out to breakfast...this is one of my favorite things to do on the weekends. Afterwards, we spent some time driving around and looking at houses. We're not planning on moving any time soon...we just like to look...and dream. We always end up in neighborhoods that have homes that could house ten of our houses.

Sunday night was our friends, Leah and Chris', wedding. We did not have a baby-sitter, so Miss Ayla went with us and had an absolute blast. She was running around like a madwoman. Such the little social butterfly she is. It was a beautiful wedding and Leah looked gorgeous...so classy and elegant. We were so busy running after Ayla, we didn't take a single picture. :( We let her go past her bedtime but decided to head out when she started to fuss a little bit. We figured it was better to go before a total meltdown ensued. Thank you, Leah and Chris, for a fun evening...we're sorry we couldn't stay late. Congrats to you both!

And yesterday, while Ayla was napping, I went on a solo-shopping trip. This doesn't happen too often...it felt so bizzarre to be out without her. I spent an hour and a half perusing the shelves and every single rack at TJMaxx. I left with only one dress and a book. Not too successful, but it was still fun.

We brought dinner over to Grandma and Grandpa's house (they had just gotten home from the cabin in Wisconsin) and had another nice evening. The weather has been unbelievably nice lately. I love it.

It was a fabulous weekend filled with family and friends...couldn't have asked for anything more.