Tres médicos

Between the ear infection(s), the random febrile virus, and a regular pulmonology check-up, we have spent a lot of time in the company of medical professionals this week. We are so fortunate that A loves doctors and takes medication like a champ. Luckily, tomorrow is her last day on omnicef. Hooray! She even really surprised the doctor and nurse by saying she wanted a shot (more like she wanted the sticker and sucker!). She did really well with her flu vaccine, though and I am so glad I don't have to go through the hassle of scheduling yet another appointment. Hopefully we are set for awhile on visiting doctors. I do need to reschedule her dentist appointment, though...

On Friday, we went to her very favorite doctor, Dr. Droemer, in Tulsa. Their office was decorated for Halloween, which was very exciting and matched A's dress.

Sweet pea remains petite at 35.83 inches (2nd percentile) and 28.4 pounds (13th percentile). Her lungs sounded good and her ears were looking less inflamed. The pulmonologist recommended starting Flonase more regularly right now when she is coughing related to colds or allergies. He concurred that her ear tube was just hanging out in the canal. Over the past week, we have noticed that she is having significant difficulty hearing regular conversation, music, or television so we plan to take her to an ENT or audiologist to see if it was just the infection/congestion.

We like getting food that we can't get in Stillwater when we go to Tulsa. We had planned on going to a local place called Dilly Diner but at the last minute, decided that we really wanted Cracker Barrel. It was an excellent choice. And A ate an entire pancake and part of a grilled cheese sandwich. The doctor talked with us a bit about her eating (or mostly, lack thereof) and recommended he wasn't really concerned about her but that we might consider getting one of the "game" plates for her. I am not really a fan of things that reinforce the 'clean plate club' (though I think her new class does this; she often talks about making 'a happy plate') or using food as a reward (though we definitely do) but she would probably love this so we may try it.

She was really fighting sleep on the way home.

She lost.

This Cinderella light & sound wand is the most annoying toy we've ever had.

This morning we were excited to make it out to the Wondertorium for a fun birthday party with a very sweet (almost) 2-year-old. Such a cutie.

Superhero Mom

I saw a blog post on Momastery about how she had to make homemade play-doh for her daughter to take to school and it made her feel like a total rockstar. I totally know that feeling! One of her comments was that, for the first time, she had to buy flour and salt at the grocery store (her husband usually shops and they don't often bake). It made me realize how fortunate we all are to have our own talents and that we should cultivate those rather than bemoaning the things we can't do well. I am so incredibly impressed by the moms who can sew, in particular. Some days I think I would like to learn how to sew but honestly, I think I am too impatient and can't imagine being able to do it. I'm also impressed by moms who vacuum every day, actually scrub their floors, or go running. If you've been to my house or know me, you know that's not what I do well. In my house, I am a good baker and I am good at validating and am fairly patient. Outside my house, I am pretty good at my job and I am magical at finding things on the internet. But none of those things make me feel like a superhero. Those superhero moments come at the funniest times. I imagine moms of multiple kids have them much more often. Here are times I felt like a superhero:

• My first lunch date where I drove with a baby in the backseat. I drove. After a 6-week hiatus. And I had a tiny human in my backseat. We made it to Chili's alive.
• The first time I roasted a whole chicken. Any time I magically *also* am able to carve the chicken in a way that doesn't look like a wild animal got a hold of it before it hit the table.
• The day that I went to work, took A to get her flu shot, and made it back to work on time.
• When I made baby food in the food processor.
• Putting together toddler toys and furniture by myself.
• Packing a tornado bag and getting a baby and 2 dogs out the door when there was severe weather.
• Chad's first full week working out of town.
• The moment right before the first guest walks in to a birthday party.
• One time when every towel in our house was clean at the same time.
• Almost every time I'm leaving the grocery store with a child who isn't screaming or crying.
• Whenever a teacher or administrator suggest I am doing something right.
• Those moments when A wants a snack or needs a wipe from my purse and I have one!

Thinking about these made me smile and also made me realize that I need to focus on them more in the moment! I mean, who doesn't want to feel like a superhero?

pigcowpig

Sweetpea had her 2-year well child check on Friday. She weighed 24 pounds and 8.6 ounces (42nd percentile), was 33.5 inches long (27th percentile), and her head was 19 inches (76th percentile). She got the second Hep A vaccine and a Clifford the Big Red dog band-aid. She's doing great. Because she is being followed by the pulmonologist, we don't need to go back until she is 3. Yay! :)

We had been practicing for the doctor with our fun medical kit from Leo (and Asa and Eli).

Because her appointment was in the early afternoon, we all took the rest of the day off to enjoy some family time.

The Wondertorium had a "Museum Alive" exhibit with lots of animals to see, in addition to their usual fun.



She enjoyed watching the tortoise eating, though it initially caught her off guard.

She was more interested in playing than seeing the live creatures inside the museum (snakes, spiders, turtles, hedgehogs--SO cute!, dogs, kitties, chicks, macaw, guinea pigs, fish, ferrets).

However, once we got outside, she was very interested in the animals! She saw the pony, camel, alpaca, woodchuck, goats, and baby kangaroo (oh my goodness, the cuteness!!). But then she saw the pigs. And it was all over. She just wanted to watch "pig sweep? pig sweepin?" And then she started saying "pig! cowpig! pig cowpig!" and when I started to tell her that yes, there were pigs--I realized, the black and white pig probably does look like a cowpig to her. So stinking cute I can't even stand it.

cowpig sweepin'

There are a lot of pictures of the pigcowpig because that's all A wanted to see. She talked about them all day Saturday and Sunday as well. It was hard to pull her away, even for waffles, which we got from a new food truck, Stillwaffles. :) Yummy deliciousness.

Related to animals, Chad also found a snake in the yard. Baby A wanted to pet him, which is funny because she didn't want to pet any of the snakes at the Wondertorium. One of the herpetology students told me what kind of snake this was but I forgot what she said (possibly a rough earth snake)...Saturday I pulled a different garden snake out of Jasper's mouth. That was fun. It's been an adventurous weekend.

Speaking of adventure, on Saturday A and I went with Ricki to the Stillwater Emergency/Disaster Preparedness fair. It was even less exciting that I expected. But we got a free first aid kit, we got a child ID card for A (though the picture is terrible and her fingers were too small to fingerprint), and she got a pack of fruit snacks.

 

It was out at Boomer Lake so we took some time to play on their playground.

 







On Sunday we made a trip to the grocery store and to Chipotle.



You couldn't even tell that someone didn't take a nap yesterday...



We had fun playing outside. Apparently Oklahoma is the driest it has been in 120 years. I keep wanting to do more with our front and back yards but I know it is going to be a ton of work. 







We do at least need to get some herbs to pot again this summer.



I make a lot of silly mistakes in parenting that I don't realize until once it is too late (documenting them will perhaps serve as a warning for others?). Like making cloud dough and putting it in the sand table. I was sort of patting myself on the back thinking about how smart I was not making it in the house (it is very messy!) until I realized that baby oil can be toxic to dogs if ingested and to babies if aspirated (hooray, Oklahoma wind plus flour...). So if I ever decide to make it again, I'll probably use coconut oil instead (and you know I will because I just don't learn!). But yea, figuring out how to get this out of the table (when again, rain isn't coming anytime soon...) was fun.

On the upside, A did enjoy playing with it for quite awhile. Dogs are safe and baby is safe. Crisis averted.