Just an update...

So, Sarah is now 22 months old, and will celebrate her 2nd birthday in just 2 short months. She is growing up, turning into our little girl and is no longer our sweet baby girl. How times flies. And she is totally forming her own likes and dislikes (quickly and strongly!). For instance, she no longer likes to sit in her high chair at dinner. She wants to sit in an adult chair, or stand in the chair, at the table with us. Also, she doesn't want to take a bath in her bathroom tub anymore. She wants to bathe in the "big bath"like she sees mommy and daddy do. The "big bath" is our large bathtub, in our bathroom. Also, she no longer nurses to go to sleep. She gives kisses and hugs to me, then sweetly lays her head on her pillow and falls asleep on her own.

She is also smart as a whip! She is doing things that are well advanced for her age. She is using 3 word sentences, while 2 word sentences is where she should be right now. One of the cutest things she says, which she hears me say all the time, is "I don't know". Its so stinkin' cute to hear her say it. This week she started saying "What is that?". She has said it three times this week when she hears something new or sees something strange. She is also very good at telling us what she wants. When she starts to melt-down, you can tell her to use her words, and she will think about it, then pick the words to tell you what it is she is whining about or frustrated with. Smart girl. Also, she can stack blocks 6-8 high--while usually at this age they can only stack blocks 2-4 high. She is a very good problem solver, too. If she wants something on the counter, she will push a chair over to the counter and climb up on it to get what she wants...all the while never asking for it! Its like if she just asked, I would give it to her, but in her head she would rather try to get it herself! See what I mean about how smart she is?

She is also already using scissors to cut paper, and easily able to maneuver twisting tops off of containers. Ms. Gloria says that Sarah's fine motor skills are greatly advanced for her age. She is actually doing things at Ms. Gloria's that the older 3 year old kids are not able to do yet.

In other Sarah news, she has finally gained a little more weight, and weighs a whopping 23 pounds! (This is still VERY small for her age). But seriously, she eats a ton! She eats two breakfasts every day, one with me and another when she goes to Ms. Gloria's. She also eats two lunches a day, once with all the kids around 12, and a second one before taking a nap. She has a snack when she wakes from her nap, another snack when she gets home, and then eats a full dinner with me and Stephen. Then, before she goes to bed, she will eat again. Usually its a bowl of cereal, string cheese, soup, or bite-bites. I mean, that child can eat!!! Where is she putting all of it? I'm happy that she is a good eater, and I'm also happy that she is on the small side for a child. She is still in 18 months pants, but for shirts she is wearing a 2T (she is tall for her age, too).

This week, Sarah has been totally interested in her puzzles. She will do each one twice, the second time I think to prove to herself she has mastered all the pieces. I swear every night she does at least 4 puzzles. She also is finally letting me read some different books than her favorites. She will pick random books for me to read, which I think is GREAT! I mean, you can only read a book so many times before you know all the words and seriously begin to hate it!

So, thats my Sarah update. :) I'll try to post some pics soon!

Another Sarah injury

I am starting to believe that Sarah may be more injury-prone than me...

Friday was my furlough day, so I was home with mom and Sarah for a fun-filled sunny day. We spent the morning lounging around, waiting for the stores to open at 10am so I could get some errands out of the way. Sarah was in a great mood...until it happened. The IT I am referring to is Sarah falling off of her changing table, and hitting her face (mouth) on the corner of her dresser. Ouch! There was a LOT of blood, but not so much crying. Sarah only cried for about 10 minutes, then settled down pretty quickly. Blood was all over me and her. She wanted to be in mommy's lap and watch her favorite show, Caillou. After about 15 minutes of this, I lifted her lip to look at the damage. I immediately started crying when I saw how bad it actually was. I told mom we had to leave, had to take Sarah to Childrens Healthcare immediately. I had no idea how bad it was, but I wanted to be safe and go ahead and have her looked at by a doctor. To me, it was bad enough that I cried at just looking at it. Her gums were bloody and black and blue. Her not-brushed teeth were coated with blood. It was so sad.

Once we got to CHOA, they took us back immediately, because apparently a mouth injury needs to be seen quickly. The doctor was very nice, and Sarah was a good girl for her, letting her look into her mouth and at her injury. The doctor said it was going to be fine, no smashed teeth, no nerve damage, just bad bruising, and advised us to not brush Sarah's teeth until it heals. Whew!

I'm still upset that this happened to Sarah. Its amazing that she climbs all over her changing table, getting up and down all by herself on a regular basis. I was standing right there when it happened- it just happened so quickly I didn't have time to react until it was over. This is just a reminder that no matter how confident Sarah is, accidents can happen and she has to be watched like a hawk all the time. Needless to say, the changing table is going to be moved out of her room. She is a big girl and no longer needs it anyway.

Sarah's Ear Surgery

Lot's of you have asked me how Sarah's surgery went last week- she had to have tubes put into her ears for her chronic ear infections. They are meant to allow air to circulate and fluid to drain, in the hopes that more ear infections do not happen. I tried to take some photos of the event, but I am not the best photographer (and I am using a backup camera since mine broke).

Sarah was a very good patient, more so , a very good girl for the whole experience. She was cooperative and happy the whole time. The entire visit to the surgery center lasted about 1.5 hours, from check-in to prep to surgery to recovery to coming back home.

Sarah in the waiting room as we waited to go back to prep for surgery.

Sarah right after surgery prep--where the nurse talked with us about the procedure, the anesthesiologist told us what was going to happen and how she may/may not react. Sarah had to wear a little hospital gown and non-skid slippers which she would not even let us put on her feet! After she was dressed, she was able to go to another small play area to wait and play before going back to surgery. She had fun playing with all the toys they had! Notice the wipe in her hand?...lately she has been asking for and carrying around baby wipes like they are some sort of security blanket!

This is Sarah right after surgery, back in her recovery room. She is passed out from the anesthesia. The whole surgery only took about 10 minutes. Stephen carried her to the surgery and laid her on the bed--I could not make myself go...I knew I would cry and then wouldn't be able to stop! Stephen said he had to seriously fight back the tears as he laid her on the stretcher and held her hand as they put the mask on her face. But Sarah was good as gold, she let the nurse do it, and just laid there looking at everything and everyone in the room. She didn't even try to get up or fight the mask. Here she is hooked to the machine that monitors her blood pressure and pulse.

At this point, Sarah had started to wake from the anesthesia, and the nurse popped her pacifier in her mouth so she would wake comfortably and securely.

After Sarah woke up, she wanted to nurse, and then she let us take her out of her hospital gown and put her clothes back on. Within 10 minutes of her waking, we were able to leave and come home! I'm so glad its all over! And I hope she stays healthy from her on out...no more ear infections!