This Little Light of Mine

My child is such a creature of habit (wonder where she gets that from?! ha!)...every night we have very specific routine and it's very important that we stick to our specific "duties" or she has a fit! Ha! It's really funny, actually. Jamey fixes her milk while I get her jammies on. Jamey sits in the recliner with her while she drinks her milk and watches Dora (goodbye, Barney...hello, Dora!). Jamey carries her in the bedroom and hands her off to me, then I get to rock her. She loves to sing while we rock. If I don't start soon enough, she'll say "I wan sing"...then she tells me exactly what to sing!

Her very favorite these days is "This Little Light of Mine". But we don't sing the original version. One night I happened to switch it up a little and sing "when I play with friends, I'm gonna let it shine...", I started something that night! So now every night she tells me how to sing it and we have lots of verses!

She loves to sing about Heath and Jack (when I play with Heath, I'm gonna let it shine...)
We sing a lot about Granny and Pap (when I go to Granny's house, I'm gonna let it shine...)

When I play with friends...
When I ride in Momma/Granny/Daddy/Pap's car...
When I take a bath...
When I read my books...
When I play outside...

Tonight I cracked up because we had to sing "When I shop with Momma..."! Ha! She is my child!

Conversations

I have to say that I have loved every single moment with MG and I have loved every single stage, but this age/stage has to be the most amazing! I've seen her first smile, first giggle, learn to roll over, crawl and finally walk. I heard her first word and first phrase...but the talking these days is amazing! It's like every single morning she wakes up a little more "grown up". I love it and hate it! Ha! It is so fun, though, to have an actual conversation with my girl. I can ask her questions...and she answers!! If something hurts, she can tell me. That, in itself, is a miracle!

I don't know why, but it always seems like these things happen overnight. She just woke up one morning and was ready to speak in sentences! I'm afraid tomorrow she'll wake up ready to go to high school!

And the Academy Award for Most Dramatic Goes To...

Molly Grace! Ha! I don't know if it's the sickness, the meds or the looong night we had last night (I finally fell asleep close to 1am and MG was still squirming and coughing), but it has been meltdown after meltdown all afternoon and evening. If we looked at her wrong or breathed in her direction she was on the floor screaming (and I don't mean a little girly scream; I mean face red, tonsils showing, hurt your ears screaming!) and kicking. I'm just praying it's one of the things above and not part of her new personality!

Another Ear Infection...Surprised?

We paid a visit to "Sick Call" at our pediatrician's office this morning. One of us cried...and it wasn't MG! She's had this nasty, croupy cough; snotty nose; and high fever. Last night she started pulling at her ear saying "ear huht". She looked in her ear and said it was just "awful". Yeah, we hear that word a lot when it comes to her poor ears! The surprising part came when she looked in her throat and said "oh no!". She hasn't been eating or drinking much and now we know why. Her throat was read and infected, too. That's when I had to bite my lip to keep from breaking down in tears! Her lungs were pretty clear, but she has a tiny touch of the croup - just based on her cough and breathing. We're hoping, praying and crossing our fingers that the next 10 days of antibiotics can just get her through and keep her healthy until her tube surgery on the 5th. If she has a fever, her ears aren't clear or her lungs aren't clear, they'll postpone the surgery. Which is the last thing we need!

I know that I am 100% blessed and lucky that my child doesn't have cancer or some other awful disease. But at the same time, it's so frustrating to see your child sick so often. I'm so tired of hearing the word "awful" to describe her ears! Just once I want someone to look in there and say, looks great! I hate having to keep her little body on antibiotics all the time. I can't even count how many antibiotics she's had just so far in 2012, much less how many she's had in her little lifetime. By the time she's 12, she'll be immuned to every one of them - like her momma!

The silver lining to this is that MG and I got to have a lazy day at home! When we got home from the dr and picking up her medicine, I asked if she wanted to lay on her couch or sit in daddy's chair and watch Dora. Her answer..."Momma's bed". That's how I knew she felt bad! We laid in my bed snuggled up watching tv, she ate lunch in bed, then we turned the tv off and she went right to sleep...for 4 hours!

She woke up feeling better - but super clingy and cranky. She did finally eat, though. I made chicken and dumplings hoping they'd feel good on her throat. We laughed all through dinner because she was hunkered over her bowl shoveling spoonfuls into her mouth! Then she turned the bowl up and drank the rest! That never happens - usually we have to bribe and play games to get her to eat!

I'm hoping she wakes up tomorrow feeling better. I have to go back to work tomorrow and it's so hard to leave her when she doesn't feel good!

There Were 5 In the Bed and the Little One Said...

"more, more!". Ha! I couldn't help but think of that little song when I was tucking MG in tonight. She is in her bed with:
1.)"Strings" - which is the scarf she carries around and sucks on the strings
2.)4 blankets (one we call "bwankie" and one we call "cubbers")
3.)Fluffy the dog
4.)Pink "Bear"
5.)"Baby" which is a stuffed cat wearing a diaper and sucking a passy - she was mine when I was little and MG found her the other day at Mom's and now loves her!
6.)Dora - because now not only does MG love her own hair to suck on, but Dora's hair is "mmmm nummy"!

Tubes again...seriously?!

Yep...seriously! MG had her follow-up at the ENT today since she finished her antibiotic. Honestly, I expected to go in and hear that everything was great and walk out with a smile! Yeah, not so much! Evidently, the tube in her left ear tube was pushed out by the major infection she had. It's sitting in her ear canal just floating around. She JUST had tubes not even 3 months ago!! WTHeck?! He is going to put titanium tubes in this time. They have a better grip and are supposed to stay in longer. Fingers crossed!

I asked him when she should start outgrowing this. I expected him to say around 3...Ok, I HOPED he'd say around 3! Nope, evidently, kids hit the peaks at either 2 or 5. We obviously missed the 2 year old peak, so we just have to hold on another 3 years! Can't wait!

On the plus side, she was the best little girl while we were there! She played in the waiting room, followed the nurse back to the room, talked to the nurse and doctor, sat in the chair like a big girl and let the dr. check her ears, colored while we waited...then acted like a little monkey while I checked out! ha! I guess she held it in as long as she could!

Happy Day (aka Valentine's Day!)

Hands down, this was the best VDay yet! I got to wake the sweetest little love bug up this morning and dress her up in heart tights, a vday shirt and a froo-froo bow! We got to color Valentine's for her friends last night and even made homemade heart-shaped crayons for her classmates (thank you, Pinterest!).

My "other" kiddos (my 1st graders) made me smile all...ok some of the...day! I got some sweet valentines and pictures from them. I always love the gifts that they obviously picked out or made themselves: a balloon weight, with no ballons; conversation hearts glued to paper; a tissue rose (even colored red with marker!)...those are the ones that mean the most!

I got to come home to the sweetest little love bug on a sugar high! She loved her balloon - she's easy! I had the sweetest date for the night...Kindermusik with my love bug! We were half way there and from the backseat I hear "mama...mama...happy day mama...happy day"! That made my day!

We got to sing Barney's song, play with the parachute, bounce balls, flash flashlights and sing Twinkle Twinkle, get a sucker and get handstamps...I'd say Molly Grace's night was pretty close to perfect!

And now my little love bug is in bed and Jamey and I are too tired to even talk! Ha!