Victory!! (and Shots...)

Breaking news: Ava allowed me to brush her teeth tonight! She opened her mouth and I actually brushed all of her teeth without having to hold her down. It was glorious. In other news, we all had our flu shots today and Lucy had her 6 month check up. That wasn't pretty. Ava had to be held down by Jeremy and 2 nurses while another gave her the shot in her leg. It was a quick shot, but the process had her screaming so loud that the entire office wondered who was torturing her. Afterward, she went back to playing with the toys in the office like nothing happened and told the doctor all about her Tiny Pteranadon costume for Halloween. Weird. Then we went to Coldstone and got her some chocolate ice cream. Lucy did not like her shots at all either, poor baby screamed until her little face was red as a tomato. Then she crashed in the carrier while we walked with Ava around Grossmont Center. Dr. Boone is a little concerned that Lucy isn't sitting up well yet, but she thinks it could be the harness or her hips. By December she should be sitting stable and all caught up. We are keeping an eye on it and giving her more "tummy time" and encouraging strength in her torso. She is constantly held by everyone so I guess it isn't a surprise. She is just so snuggly that it is hard to put her down!

Tonight when I was putting Ava to bed I was reminded of why I love being a mom. We were laying in her bed having just finished singing "Twinkle" and "Abby's Flying Fairy School" when she closed her eyes and put her little arm around my neck, pulling me right up to her face, and fell asleep. It was just such a precious moment that I forgot about all of my frustrations with the potty and tantrums and all of the 2 year old struggles and just felt so extraordinarily lucky to have my little girl.

Bright Eyes

Ava just said, "Lucy has bright eyes just like mommy! And me!"
I love it :-) WHat a crazy day with the kiddos. Ava and I were reading Where's Waldo and she found Waldo before I did...what a smart girl! But then she reminded me she was only 2 when she told me she pooped on the floor and hid her poo. She proudly proclaimed, "I hid it! Mommy find it!" That was something. I finally found it in one of her toy bins. Great. She is something! Ava made a small stride in her acceptance of Lucy. She pretended the stuffed fish was Lucy and covered her to, "keep her warm" and put her in the cart and pushed her around. She gave "Lucy" toys and a paci and tucked her in. Too cute! Of course, she doesn't want any part of the real Lucy, but I consider it a step in the right direction.

Lucy continues to be the cutest thing ever! She is just the most loving, sweetest baby in the world!

Potty Time...part deux

So, Ava is now interested in the potty...for a price. She has figured out that she can up the ante and basically get whatever she wants if she sits on the potty and manages to expel even the smallest amount of, well, you know.  She is currently wanting "paige muffins" which are a muffin recipe my friend Paige makes much better than I do, but Ava wants them none the less. They aren't the easiest recipe, but I think I am just going to have to keep making them until she gets better on the potty. Words can not express how much I want this little girl to get back in big girl panties! Hopefully she will be trained for good this time. Ava is such a talker!! She constructs the most complicated sentences and is very specific with her ideas and with expressing her needs and wants. It just astounds me! She is also vocal about how she doesn't like Lucy. She says "I don't like her!" "Put Lucy down and play with me! Pick me up! Mommy hug MEEEE!" "No Lucy Lu!" "NO Lucy Goosey!" Argh. How do I help her love her sister? She is so jealous for attention. Poor Lucy. She has no idea her sister can't stand her.

Lucy is adjusting to her harness as well as can be expected. She gets really frustrated with it sometimes though and she arches and tries to stretch but can't. That is hard to see, but she eventually accepts it. When we take the harness off she is the happiest baby ever!! She kicks and rolls and has a grand old time on her mat, then gets super angry when we have to put it back on her. Before we got the harness, in the Ortho doc's office as a matter of fact, she rolled from back to front for the first time and hasn't done it since. She doesn't even try to roll over anymore, in either direction, and has a really hard time on her tummy with the harness on. I think she is uncomfortable. Again, I keep reminding myself that if we can get through this and that is the worst thing that happens, we are very lucky. I am just enjoying Lucy's baby stage. She is so lovable and loves hugs and kisses. Since Lucy is my second baby, I know how fast this phase goes and I am taking particular time and attention to appreciate every second of her coos, gargles, and baby sounds. I love to hold her and snuggle her as much as I can, especially when she is on a harness break for an hour a day. My girls are so different, but they are each amazing and wonderful in their own ways. We are so lucky!

Tiny Pteranadon and Solid Food

Ava and Lucy's Halloween costumes came in the mail today and they are just so cute! Ava has been asking to be Tiny Pteranadon from Dinosaur Train for weeks and today she tried it on and wouldn't take it off. She doesn't really like the "head of Tiny" hat that goes with it, but hopefully she will change her mind before Halloween. Otherwise she will look like a headless dinosaur. Lucy is going to be a daisy and she is too cute in her little petal hat! Ava is also mildly interested in potty training again...after her potty strike over the last couple of months it was exciting that she wanted to try the potty again. She went back into diapers after 3 solid months in big girl underwear and said she wants to be in diapers because, "Lucy wears a diaper, put ME in a diaper!" We were in denial about it for a few weeks during which she unabashedly went on the floor like an overgrown puppy and I felt like I was living in a world of poop. Finally we accepted her regression and bought diapers for her again. Ouch...for both the wallet and the environment as our weekly trash has doubled since she decided the potty is no longer for her. Hopefully she continues to become interested in it again. Uncle Joey had a good idea: to tell her that Lucy goes on the potty and to hold Lucy up so she looks like she is going on the potty. Ava said, "No! Lucy is not a little girl, she is too little to go on the potty!" Hmmm...I'll try that one again tomorrow and maybe she will be convinced...not likely.

Lucy has been eying my food lately and opening her mouth, reaching for it so I decided to try a couple of spoonfuls of rice cereal. She loved it! She grabbed the spoon from me and was just going crazy for it! Unfortunately, she doesn't sit up very well, so we had to stop after a few bites because she was tired of sitting, but I know next times she will be even more excited because she has had a taste of it. It was really fun to see her get so happy about it. She has been a little more cranky lately because of the harness, so it was especially wonderful that she was in such good spirits about her first bites of solid food.  The harness was in the washer, so it was a good opportunity to try it. As she continues to become better at sitting up, she is going to love trying different foods...time to break out the food processor and start buying sweet potatoes again!

Lucy harness-free for a little while

Lucy Harness, Day 1 of 60

Well, Lucy has had a full day wearing the harness and she is ok during the day, but not quite the same happy baby as before. But at night, she really struggles. She was up every half hour last night...and so was I. Poor baby. She is frustrated with her new inability to move her legs very much. But she is a trooper and I can tell she is making the best of it. I am getting her a bunch of Baby Legs leg warmers in cute patterns and fun onesies to wear since she can't wear her cute outfits. She is now a lot more maintenance to take care of in terms of dressing and keeping her clean and comfortable. We go back to the doctor for a recheck in early December and I am praying we can wean her from the harness at that point. But, things could be worse, I know, and I count our family's blessings everyday, regardless of this little hiccup.

Ava has been extra jealous lately, if that is possible. But yesterday we had a special "Mommy-Ava day" where we went to Target and she got some tiny Pteranadons from Dinosaur Train and we shared a hot pretzel and visited the train table at Barnes and Noble. We had a great time together! She was just in her glory running around Grossmont Center with her tiny dinosaurs. I am just completely blown away by the things she says and how observant she is becoming. I love to just really listen to her and be fully present with her without being distracted by anything else. She is amazing. So incredibly smart. I think I need to have more special outings with her since she is sometimes put on the back burner, especially lately, because of Lucy's needs (ie. her reflux, hips, and general neediness as a baby).
I keep telling myself that everything is temporary, both good and bad. All things considered, I think we have it pretty good.

Everyday is an adventure!

Daddy and Ava

Pick me up!

Godfather Joey and Godmother Steen Baptizing Lucy

Well, I never thought I would be the type of person to start a blog, but here it goes. I decided to start a blog to record all of the cutie things the little girls do so I don't forget them. Everyday they say or do something just so amazing. Ava is growing and changing everyday and she just astounds me with ow smart and observant she is. Lucy is just the most wonderful gift, such a sweet, cuddly little bundle. She is so happy now that her reflux is under control, her true, beautiful nature can shine through. Today, after weeks of struggle and holding her down to do it, Ava was FINALLY interested in brushing her teeth and we asked if she wanted to brush Lucy's teeth. She said, "No, Lucy doesn't have any teeth, she has a tongue only." Silly me.  Then she said, "I have pretty teeth!" They are just too cute! Ava is ever so slightly interested in Lucy, beyond commanding me to "Put Lucy down and hold Ava!" She likes it when Lucy holds her finger. One day they will be best friends I hope!
On Monday we found out that Lucy has hip dysplaysia. Just goes to show, you never know what can happen. Tomorrow we have to go get Lucy fitted for her Pavlik Harness. I can't believe we have to go through this again with poor sweet Lucy! I was devastated yesterday when I got the news. I thought maybe she would escape this, but no such luck. I am trying to be as positive as possible, but I can't help but think about what we went through with Ava and how hard it was both emotionally and physically for all of us. Poor Ava hated it, she could only wear onesies and leg warmers, and it took forever to get her in and out of it. Since the day she was born, every time I changed Lucy or dressed her I thought about how lucky and easy it was that she didn't have a harness and that I would take her acid reflux over hip dysplasia any day, and that is saying a lot! I never took for granted how lucky we were that she did not have to have a harness. Well, at least I had 5 months of snuggling, changing, dressing and bathing her without that dreadful harness. I know it is what is best for her and we are so lucky to be able to have a chance to fix her condition, but it is still hard to watch your sweet little baby in a crazy contraption that limits her movements. No more cute outfits, no swaddling her close. Hello long, involved diaper and outfit changes and the endless sound of Velcro. There are support groups for 'hip' babies online and reading those moms' posts makes me feel better. Like I am not overreacting when I lost it in the doctor's office and cried on and off all day that day. And this morning. And this afternoon. It really is a hard thing for the whole family to deal with. We will all get through it though. I am trying my best to stay positive. I am dressing her in all of her cute clothes now and taking pictures to be sure she gets some wear out of them and I am snuggling her like crazy. On the whole things could be worse, much worse! Especially when you go into Childrens' Hospital and see some of the absolutely tragic problems plaguing some of the kids in there. We are very lucky to have two healthy, happy girls. Thank God! Best case scenario, at her next ortho appointment in two months, her hips are at or below 25 degrees...she is at 30 degrees now. Then we can begin to wean her off of the harness over the next few weeks after she shows progress. I say a prayer everyday for that! I can't even begin to think about what will happen if the harness doesn't work. Traction, surgery and a cast are too much for my tired, overwhelmed brain to handle right now.  One day at a time.

Ava toss!!

Mommy Nonna & Ava at Lucy's Baptism

Lucy and mommy just hangin out

Gramps and Lucy, they have the same eyes!

Ava at the Children's Museum creating a masterpiece

Hi blue eyes!

Yummy fingers

Ava is so excited to decorate cookies with Nonna!

Bubbles!

I love my Nonna!