Tuesday, An Epic Saga In Bullet Points

- Picked up Avery yesterday afternoon, Lizzy said she refused to take a nap (but she seemed to be happy/fine)
- As soon as we walked out the door, she ran down the street and I had to chase after her and force her into the car, kicking and screaming for Lizzy
- She cried all the way home, saying irrational things like, "Mommy, you have a pink phone? NO MOMMY, NO. YOU WANT A BLACK PHONE. WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH"  (of course this is happening while I am  on speakerphone with the bank, so they can hear everything)
- We got home, and she refused to come into the house so I left her standing in the garage and went upstairs until I could hear her crying, then went back down to drag her inside (Josh was at school)
- Made her dinner, which she ate about 1/3 of and threw the rest on the floor. I told her she was done and took it away. She screamed and wailed hysterically, "I WANT MY BREAKFAAAAAAAST  WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
- Cried while I brushed her teeth
- Cried while I took out her braids
- Cried while I got her undressed
- Cried while I put a bag on her cast
- Ran and hid while I got her bathwater ready
- Cried the entire length of her bath
- Cried while I toweled her off
- Cried while I put lotion on her
- Cried while I put a diaper on her
- Cried while I put her pajamas on
- Told me "NO" when I asked her if she wanted to read the bunny book. So I told her to pick out a book. And she picked the bunny book.
- Finally got her down, and I got myself into bed immediately because I can't get rid of this cold/cough, and can't take my normal Nyquil cocktail due to pregnancy
- Spent the whole morning listening to, "NO DADDY, MOMMY FEED ME CEREAL.... MOMMY BRUSH MY TEETH. MOMMY CHANGE MY DIAPER" etc, etc intermixed with tears because she only wants me and not him
- She refused to come downstairs to get in the car, so Josh and I went down to the garage until she started crying, then he went and got her and put her into my car kicking and screaming
- She opened her lunch in the car as I was driving, ate half a baggie of goldfish crackers, then took a bite out of an orange (WHY??), peel and all, and started gagging and choking
- As I pulled the car over she threw up three times, all over herself, her carseat and her lunch
- I climbed into the backseat and started mopping up the oatmeal-and-goldfish-cracker puke with baby wipes while fighting my own morning sickness nausea as she screamed/cried/freaked out that she was covered in vomit
- Got out my new phone to call Lizzy, only to discover that Josh does not have Lizzy's number in the contacts (you have got to be kidding me)
- Started bawling my eyes out
- Called Josh (hysterical) and gave him an earful for not having her number in his contacts
- Called my friend Nikki to get Lizzy's number to see if Lizzy had a change of clothes for Avery, or if I was going to need to go back home
- Nikki didn't pick up, so I headed to Lizzy's
- Finally got a hold of Nikki, and then Lizzy, who tells me that she has no clothes for Avery
- Called my boss and left a rambling, tearful, incomprehensible voicemail about how I have to go buy clothes because Avery threw up all over my car (which just got vacuumed yesterday) and am going to be late
- Called Josh back to tell him that I don't know how to use Siri (as I have only had the phone for one day) and he needs to find me a stupid* nearby Target that is open at 8:15 am (*I may or may not have used words other than "stupid")
- Drove to Target in Garden Grove to buy a shirt
- Cleaned the streaks of mascara off of my face with more baby wipes
- Dropped Avery off at Lizzy's (who was rather pleased with herself, and shouted, "Look Lizzy! I have a new outfit!" as I sauntered after her with her lunchbag and a tear-stained face)
- Got to work an hour late, and the first person I saw was my boss, who says, "Are you OK?" (I found out he had not yet gotten my voicemail message so I had to explain the whole story again while fighting back tears)
- Went to break room to wash out vomit-covered shirt and asked myself why I thought it would be a good idea to have two kids when I can't even handle one
- Hung Avery's wet shirt over my file cabinet, plopped down at my desk and discovered what it feels like to be completely exhausted by 9:00 am



Easter Egg Hunt

Between Avery being under the weather and this pregnancy taking a harsh toll on my body and my energy levels, I have once again fallen behind.  I hope to get more pictures and stories up soon once I am feeling normal again.  Most nights I am in bed by 7:30 or 8:00 because I am either feeling nauseous, can't keep my eyes open, or a combination of the two.  And now I have caught Avery's cold so I'm basically entirely useless.  Our house looks like a tornado hit.

I have really been wishing I felt better because lately there have been a lot of cute things to blog about.  Avery's story-telling abilities are developing, and she loves to amuse me with entire episode recaps of Bubble Guppies or Dora the Explorer. She is also in a phase where she likes to watch the same cartoon episodes over and over, and likes to read the same book before bed every night.  The past couple weeks her book of choice has been "Flap Your Wings," a story about a little boy who finds an egg on the ground and puts it into an empty birds' nest. The birds come home to find a strange egg in their nest, but sit on it anyway until an alligator hatches out of it, whom they name "Junior."

So it should have come as no surprise this week when I asked Avery, "What should we name your baby brother?" and she exclaimed, "Junior!" without missing a beat.

Her other top name choices currently are:

Mommy

Cousin

Baby Brother (or as she says, "Baby Bruv-der")

Angie

So far she hasn't quite sold me on one yet...

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  Although she is doing better now, poor Avery was sick last Sunday on Easter and missed out on family festivities, so we set up a mini egg hunt for her outside our house on Easter morning:

VIDEO: AVERY'S EGG HUNT PART 1

VIDEO: AVERY'S EGG HUNT PART 2

Breaking the News

VIDEO: BREAKING THE NEWS TO AVERY (Monday, March 26, 2012)

VIDEO: BREAKING THE NEWS TO GAMMY & UNCLE AARON (Wednesday, March 28, 2012)

Avery's New T-Shirt

Coming October 2012....

Big Girl Dance Class

Avery had her first "big girl" dance class today.

She has graduated from "Tots & Tutus" into "2 Year Old Ballet & Tap."  

In addition to tap dancing, the major difference between this class and her old class is that the parents no longer participate. One parent per child is allowed sit in the room against the mirror, but most of the moms sit outside in the lobby and let the kids do the class on their own.  It is actually better, as it is quieter and makes it easier for them to focus on the teacher without the distraction of so many extra people in the room.

I decided to sit inside today, just to help her make the transition. But by the end I decided that my presence did more harm than good, so next week I am kicking the little bird out of the nest and she will have to fly solo while I relax and read magazines in the lobby.

Things started out pretty well. Although Miss Kate was a new teacher for Avery, the stretching routine was the same as always, so the class felt familiar to her.

VIDEO: AVERY LISTENING AT DANCE CLASS

But somewhere around the halfway mark, Avery grew a pair of red horns and completely stopped listening. She was over in my lap every two minutes, whining for milk, wanting to take pictures with my camera, and telling me "no" when I hissed at her to go back over with the girls and listen to Miss Kate. 

Avery was the big fish in the little pond in her "tots" class, but now she is the little fish in the big pond.  She went from being the best dancer in the class to being the worst listener. She was definitely the black sheep today, and spent a good portion of the class in a corner fiddling with something on the floor or admiring herself in the mirror.

VIDEO: AVERY NOT LISTENING AT DANCE CLASS

GGRRRRRRRRRRR!

Avery's Pink Cast

Don't feel too sorry for Avery. 

Josh and I felt so sorry for her last Sunday with that big splint on her arm that we took her on a shopping spree. First to Target for a bunch of new outfits and sweaters that could fit over her cast (at least that was how I justified it), then to Toys R Us for more clothes and a new toy, and rounded it out with a trip to Payless for new tennis shoes, boots, and tap shoes (and a Tinkerbell umbrella that she decided she couldn't live without). 

This girl is SPOILED!

On Wednesday Avery and I went over to the hospital to trade the bulky splint for a pink waterproof cast.  She was a complete angel and earned herself a few stickers from the nurses.

The waiting room:

The (very minor) damage:

Off to the elevator with the new cast:

Forced to pose for a photo op by Mom outside:

The doctor said she has a buckle fracture in both the right ulna and radius, at the wrist (but not near the growth plate, fortunately). This type of fracture is an incomplete fracture, which means that it does not crack all the way across the bone. These are common in children because their bones are still soft, usually from falling on an outstretched hand (which is what happened). The doctor said that it was just the way she landed on it that caused the fracture, and not a vitamin or calcium deficiency or anything of that nature.

And as you can see, she is doing just peachy and has even started using the fingers on her right hand, which is what the doctor wants her to do. 

More fun adventures ahead, as Avery starts her "big girl" dance class this weekend!

Diagnosis: Something Real This Time

I got one of those dreaded midday calls from Lizzy yesterday. Whenever I see her name pop up on the screen of my cell phone, I immediately assume that Avery is dying and I'm about to hear the worst news of my life.  Last week I got a call from her, and naturally the panic set in before I even hit the "talk" button. She was wondering if she could take Avery to the park, since it was a nice day outside. Sigh of relief... I've got to stop doing that to myself. 

But yesterday the call wasn't about the park. She was calling to tell me that something was wrong with Avery but she didn't know what. She had been acting whiny and sluggish, and was crying off and on and only wanted to be held.  She had also only slept for 20 minutes at nap time. 

I know my kid well enough (and Lizzy does too) to know that something wasn't adding up.  I left work early to pick her up and squeeze in a quick doctor visit before the weekend.  When I arrived, Avery was lying across Lizzy's lap, and as soon as she saw me, she burst into tears. Definitely not good. We hurried off and made it to the doctor at 4:30.  She was an angel during the visit, and was examined by the nurse and doctor.  No fever, no ear infection, lungs sound clear.  I told him it was possible that between the time change this week and her lack of nap, that she was just exhausted. He added, "Yeah, and she's two."  Good point.  So I decided to put her to bed early, and left with some peace of mind.  On the way home, I thought about what I would title my blog post, as I seem to keep having the same repeat experience of visiting the doctor and finding out that she's fine, and I'm just crazy and overprotective.

But as the evening wore on, I decided to hold off on writing. My gut was telling me that this story hadn't ended yet.  And I was right.

She had trouble sleeping, and after several episodes of waking up crying, I opted to give her a little Tylenol, which did the trick. This morning, she did seem a tad better. She wanted to climb in bed with me and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. So I snuggled with her while Josh got her cereal ready. I asked her if she wanted to go to dance class or stay home, and she said, "Dance class."

In the parking lot at dance class, I climbed into the back to get her out of her carseat. As I grabbed her right wrist to pull her hand through the strap, she burst into tears.

"Avery, does your arm hurt? Do you have a boo boo?"

"Yes."

I let her stay for class anyway, and observed her just to be sure my hunch was correct. She favored her left hand, couldn't grasp anything heavy with her right, and when the kids got down on the floor to crawl around, she wouldn't put weight on it and asked me to help her up.

So, off to Urgent Care... Again, she was an angel and the nurses cooed over her tutu and ballet shoes and what a good girl she was being. Two x-rays confirmed that Avery did, in fact, break her arm. At the wrist, in two places. 

Here's the sad, forlorn picture to make you feel sorry for her:

And here's how she's actually feeling, after a good nap and immobilization of the bones to stop the pain:

We will visit the orthopedic specialist on Monday or Tuesday to trade in the splint for a cast.

I'm hoping she chooses pink.