Hyper- Hypo-Chondriac and Her Mother

Over the weekend, Hailey started drooling like a geriatric patient without teeth and sticking her fingers into the back of her mouth. I figured she was teething, but a quick Google search revealed that she isn't scheduled to get any teeth at 24 months. What the heck could be wrong with her? At dinner tonight, she would put a piece of food in her mouth and then just start crying. This made me a bit nervous so I asked her:

"Does your mouth hurt?"
"Yes"

"Does your throat hurt?"
"Yes"

"Does your tongue hurt?"
"Yes"

Hmmm....that's no help. I started thinking that maybe her tonsils are red and irritated OR maybe her adenoids are inflamed (are adenoids in your throat?) OR perhaps, it's actually her uvula which is swollen to twice its size (your uvula is in your throat...you don't forget a word like uvula).

Ok. Time to pull out Mommy's secret weapon - the miniature flashlight. Why I insist on pretending I can see down her throat is a mystery to me!!! Regardless, after much coaxing, she finally opened her mouth and let me take a look inside. What is the cause of all of her pain and misery? A teeny, tiny cut on the tip of her tongue!

First Night!

Oh Boy! Hailey’s first night in her big girl bed (which is just her converted crib) was fairly uneventful. In fact, she got up only once when I put her to bed, but she waited right at the door of her room. She also woke up at 2:30am, but I just stuck her binky back in her mouth. Not too bad! Tonight we are taking her to see the new animated movie Wall-E. Luke has been showing her little clips on the computer for weeks. It will be her first movie in a theater. I can’t wait to see how she does. I bet she says “again” when it’s all over…just like at home.

Story Time

Did I mention that Hailey can recite the entire book Where the Wild Things Are? Of course, she won't do it for the camera, but if you listen carefully, you can hear bits and pieces. The clearest part comes when she's supposed to be reading Peter Pan at the end. Oh well. Close enough!

Big Girl Bed

On Monday night, Hailey made a startling revelation at bedtime – she wanted to sleep in Mommy’s bed. After much confused and garbled conversation, I discovered that she didn’t want to sleep in Mommy’s bed, she wanted to sleep in a big girl bed. Where is this coming from? I blame Luke because he let her lay all over the big girl beds at IKEA a few weekends ago. Still, she didn’t demand one at that point. Now, all of a sudden, she wants a big girl bed.

This comes at a particularly bad time for me because I had just won an argument with Luke that she should NOT have a big girl bed yet. I won on the premise of three key points: 1) She loves her crib; 2) I don’t think she’s ready; 3) we haven’t completely kid proofed her room yet; and 4) he’s not the one who will have to get up with her in the middle of the night. Do you see how Hailey’s sudden change of heart kind of negates my first two points?

Here’s what I was thinking last night… Ok, let’s not panic here. Maybe by tonight she will have forgotten that she wants a big girl bed. Guess what? She didn’t! She asked for it again! Eventually, she gave up and reluctantly climbed into her crib, but those days are numbered. Within the next few nights, we will have to do the conversion.

Monkey See...Monkey Do

Hailey Reading a Book at Barnes & Noble

Hailey is so easily influenced by what she sees these days. As an adult, I rarely see someone doing something that makes me think, “Oh, I gotta try that.” Hailey, on the other hand, wants to do everything that other kids or adults are doing. Sometimes that works to our advantage and sometimes it’s, well, a disaster. Take two examples from the past week.

First, Hailey watches a little boy learning to float on his back in the pool. She decides that she wants to try it too. When you put Hailey on her back in the pool, it’s kind of like trying to knock over a weeble wobble toy. She always bounce back the front, and she floats about as well. Still, it was good to practice because they say learning to float is the best way to keep kids safe around water.

Episode number two involved Hailey watching an older boy hang from this strange playground apparatus at our park. She decides that she absolutely must hang like that, and she cannot possibly receive any help climbing up the 6 ft high equipment. When Mommy would not let her do such things by herself, I was left with a tantrumy (but safe) little girl.

Oh, as a bonus monkey see episode, I should share with you Hailey’s first gymnastics experience. We had the gymnastics Olympic trials on TV over the weekend. Completely unprompted, Hailey got down on the floor and started to do forward rolls, only she can’t quite do the roll part. So, she basically stands there with her head on the ground until she falls over sideways. If we try to help her flip, she gets angry…Little Miss Independence!

Meltdown...Hers not Mine

Yesterday, Hailey was diagnosed with Roseola which is a fairly common viral infection characterized by a high fever for a day followed by a rash that lasts a few days. Thus, we were home all day together where she learned how to put on her own clothes (kinda…see picture).

In the evening we decided to take a ride up to a local shopping plaza where we went to Barnes and Noble. While Mommy was looking for coloring books, Hailey had a little altercation with an older boy who proceeded to rip book after book out of her hands while his father looked on and did nothing. Luke managed this situation quite well, but it still resulted in Hailey laying face down on the floor screaming bloody murder. Ok, clearly it’s past her bedtime at this point. Meltdown #1.

This morning she woke up as usual in a good mood, but things quickly soured when I put her in her seat for breakfast. For no reason at all, she just started scrying (that’s a combination of screaming and crying. You know it well if you’ve had a toddler). The scrying just went on and on all morning. She wouldn’t eat, didn’t want to get dressed, didn’t want to get in the car…you get the picture. It was rough. I pretty much let her carry on, but Daddy was the weak one this time (usually those roles are reversed). It was just so clear that she was in high manipulation mode. Either manipulation or she’s sick with something else now, but I can’t stand the thought of that possibility.

Anyway, I really just wanted to share this funny picture with you. Notice the shorts on the head and the two legs through one leg hole of the other shorts. Hysterical. Almost makes up for the multiple breakdown morning...ALMOST!

More, Please

More milk? Great.

More crackers?  Ok.

More crab legs?  Oh no!

It was inevitable.  Following in her Mommy (and Daddy's) footsteps, Hailey has taken a strong liking to crab legs.  She tried them for the first time last last night at our Father's Day dinner. She couldn't get enough of them.   I can feel my wallet getting thinner as we speak.  

I Scream, You Scream

Back to School

Today is Hailey's first day back at school after her little virus. We kept her home for two days after the fever broke just to give her a chance to recover and build her immune system back up. She was very excited to see her teacher and her friends. While she was out, she moved into the 2-year-old classroom. This classroom has a higher student-to-teacher ratio, but we absolutely love the teacher. Plus, her room gets to take 2 field trips a week during the summer. Oh, and they also start potty training in that room. I can't wait to not be buying diapers anymore!

It's Over...I Think

Hailey's fever broke last night (I'm pretty sure). When she woke up at midnight, she was drenched in sweat, but had no sign of a fever. She's also been waking up pretty consistently at 3am but not last night. We're going to keep her home today to watch her and get her on a good eating schedule, but I'm pretty sure that the fever is gone!

Change

When your child gets a cold or even the flu, you don't really wonder if they'll be the same after their illness as they were before. When your child has a fever and is sick for 8 days, you wonder how different they'll be when they are finally well again. I find myself wondering that now that I feel Hailey is finally getting better. Don't get excited; she still has a fever! However, she has eaten more today than on any other day, and she has a bit more energy. However, she doesn't talk nearly as much as she used to, she doesn't sing, she hates medicine and doctors (shocker!), she clings to Mommy as if Mommy is going to disappear forever, she wakes up 10 times in the middle of the night, and she just seems more insecure and whiny. I'm sure that this is all just the fever, but it made me pause today to wonder if she will be the same toddler that I remember when she finally does get better. I just don't know how parents handle having a truly sick child. I have always counted our good health as one of our many blessings and will continue to do so knowing that when this fever finally subsides, I will still have my beautiful child to hug no matter how different she is.

PS: It is with great reservations that I will be going back to work tomorrow and leaving Hailey in the loving and capable hands of her Nana. I am not worried in any way about her being home without me; I am more worried about me being without her. Wish us both much luck!

5 Hours, Countless Tests, No Answers

We just returned home from 5 hours at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (our children's hospital). After consulting with our doctor this morning, we decided that 8 days of fever was worth further testing.  So, we took her in at about 11:30am.  We had been trying to avoid going to the hospital because we knew that it would require a series of uncomfortable and intrusive tests.  Unfortunately, we were right.  She had her throat swabbed, her chest x-rayed, her temperature taken rectally, her nose swabbed, and was generally poked and prodded.  It was completely miserable.  After all that, we are absolutely no closer to understanding what is wrong with her.  What we do know is that she does not have an ear infection, strep, pneumonia, mono, or a ruptured appendix.  Their best guess at this point is that she has some type of viral infection which can not be treated.  We are supposed to keep her hydrated and manage her fever until she can give another urine sample tomorrow.