Put A Sock In It!

I just had to document this story so I wouldn't forget it. The other day, I was lying on my stomach, propped up on my elbows, building something with blocks. Petunia was sitting next to me playing. I started singing songs while continuing to build my masterpiece out of blocks. I noticed Petunia getting closer to me, but figured it was so she could destroy what I was building (a particularly enjoyable pasttime for her). But the next thing I know, she's stuffing one of her little socks in my mouth!

It surprised me so much that I couldn't react for a full second. Then I just lost it. I was laughing like a mad woman. Petunia thought the whole thing was hilarious and started laughing and clapping her hands. It was just one of those moments that you hope to remember always, but you know eventually you won't because of all the other moments that are yet to come. Motherhood is great!

So, if you've ever wondered where the expression, "Oh, just put a sock in it" came from, now you know.

No Surgery On July 21st

Last year, on July 21st, I underwent surgery to have an infected gall bladder removed. I'd been home with Petunia only two months when I found out I was sick. I couldn't believe that, after being childless for so many years, I had to have surgery right after becoming a mom.

I'm happy to say that I won't be having surgery this July 21st. Unfortunately, I will be having surgery on July 22nd. Can you believe it? Two years in a row... and only one day apart. Blech!

For the past two years, I've been having severe pain in my right heel. The initial diagnosis (from a podiatrist) was a bone spur that had fractured. I wore a boot on two separate occasions for several weeks each time. I wore shoe lifts, wore heels instead of flats, took anti-inflammatory drugs, iced my heel, etc., etc., etc. Over time the pain has become not only severe, but constant. Even if I'm off of my feet completely, the pain is there. I decided to see another doctor because I just wasn't feeling very confident in my first doctor. The second doctor (an orthopedic surgeon) diagnosed me as having Haglund's Deformity, and referred me to another orthopedic surgeon who specializes in foot and ankle surgery. I immediately felt confident the third doctor knew what he was talking about. He concurred with the second doctor and told me the MRI also showed a second problem, a rather large calcium deposit in the Achilles tendon. It has to be removed, along with the piece of bone from my heel.

Dr. D will have to slice my Achilles in order to remove the calcium deposit, and my recovery will depend on how much repair work he has to do. The best case scenario is that I'm off the foot (and on crutches) for only two weeks. Then I'll gradually start bearing weight on it while wearing a boot or hard cast, and keep the boot or cast on for about six weeks. Worst case scenario is that I'll be on crutches for longer than two weeks, then see where we go from there. Dr. D. said it would probably take a full six months or longer to make a complete recovery. Apparently the pain is not going to be better for a while. I'm just hopeful that the surgery is going to take care of the problem. It's really hard to keep up with Petunia on a good day, much less when your foot is messed up.

My family and friends are once again coming to my rescue. My best gal pal, Mab, my younger brother and his family, Petunia's Aunt Lulu, and my mom and dad are all taking turns staying with Petunia and me to help us out. Petunia's Jen-Jen is going to keep her overnight for a couple of nights to allow me time to get over the anesthesia. (It hits me pretty hard.) Other friends are "on call" and have offered to do whatever needs to be done. I just don't know what we would do without all the people who love us. I'll say thank you in advance to everybody now. We love you all!

I'm not sure what Petunia is going to think about everything. Hopefully she'll adjust easily. No matter what, it's going to be interesting. Let's all pray that this is not going to be an annual thing for me. LOL.

Here are a couple of photos of my little Petunia in her July 4th dress. She did NOT want to cooperate, but what else is new?

Petunia Adopts A Baby

One month before I received my referral, I ordered a Cabbage Patch Newborn Baby for my daughter-to-be. I never removed the doll from the box, deciding to store it in my closet until Petunia was old enough to play with a doll.

Fast forward 20 months and I finally remembered there was a doll waiting to be played with. I retrieved it from the closet and opened the box. Petunia was so happy and kept saying, "Baby! Baby!" (Has anyone besides me noticed that it takes at least a hacksaw, dynamite, and the jaws of life to get a toy of any kind out of its box. Argh!)

As Petunia began holding her baby and giving her its bottle, I pulled out the accessories that came with the doll. One of the accessories was the baby's birth certificate/adoption certificate. First of all, the baby's name is Erica Nina. I'm thinking she must have been named after Petunia's Uncle Eric. But wait... It gets better... May I have a drumroll, please... The baby's birthday is October 10th, the same as Petunia's.

I realize that this information doesn't exactly rock everyone's world, but I thought it was sort of sweet. Anyway, I'm happy to have my daughter become an adoptive mom. I think Erica Nina may be very beneficial in helping Petunia relate to the concept of adoption. Here are a few photos of the new mom and her sweet baby girl.

Giving her Erica a little (very open mouth) kiss.

Feeding Erica her bottle.

Awww, it's always better to hold the baby while feeding her.

Rambling Thoughts

No pictures today, but it's past time for a little update. First of all, I discovered that Petunia is allergic to strawberries. She's eaten strawberry yogurt and things like that with no problems, but fresh strawberries make her break out and make her little eyes get red and puffy. It's such a shame because it's so much fun watching her eat and seriously enjoying those red berries. Maybe she'll outgrow it soon. The only other food she's had an adverse reaction to so far is shrimp. Her face and eyes got very puffy, which made me worry about her throat possibly swelling, too. Thankfully, she had eaten only one shrimp, so a dose of Benadryl took care of the situation pretty quickly. We're going to stay away from shellfish for a while. Everyone who knows me knows that isn't a problem for me, though. With the exception of crawfish, I truly dislike seafood.

The whining continues. I despise it. I truly and honestly despise it. Every once in a while Petunia gives me a break from it, but sheesh!

One thing you'll never hear me complain about is the fact that we've had a few good nights of GREAT sleep. For about four days in a row, Petunia went to bed around eight and slept until about six the next morning. Well, a couple of times she woke up and played in her crib, but then went back to sleep on her own. On those nights, I went to bed around 8:30 and slept nine hours straight (with the exception of hearing her on the monitor when she played for a few minutes). It was fantastic.... fabulous.... delicious... and every other wonderful word you can think of. The extra sleep I was getting even showed in my face. I not only felt rested, but I looked it as well. Since then we've had some issues with sleep, but all in all it's better than what it's been for the past 14 months. I have to say thanks to my mom who has been doing some serious praying about our sleep issues. I love you, Mom!

I don't know if anyone else has experienced this with their children or not, but all of a sudden Petunia has decided she doesn't want to use her words. Let me correct myself. She doesn't want to use words that everyone else can understand. She just wants to speak in her language that is known and understood only by her. She doesn't want to try to repeat words that you say. She either grins at you and says one of her words, or she looks at you like you have two heads and completely ignores the fact that you're speaking to her. I'm trying not to worry, but I don't want her to fall behind because she's refusing to speak English. I thought perhaps it's because she's now one of the two oldest children in her class at daycare and will be moving to the next class within the next month or so, and now there are mostly younger toddlers in her class. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please feel free to share.

Petunia is now willing to sit and watch a couple of TV shows. She was never one to be interested in TV until the past couple of weeks. She LOVES the Backyardigans and Wonder Pets. (I like those, too.) I always said that I didn't want my child to have a TV for a babysitter, and I definitely don't want her turning into a television junkie. However, I must admit sometimes it's really nice to have a few uninterrupted minutes to do something I need to do.

My sweet girl is enjoying her kitchen and its accessories. She plays with it every single day. The great thing about this particular kitchen is that she'll be able to play with it for several years. Right now she's still mostly interested in pressing all the buttons and emptying the drawers and cabinets. She plays with her dishes, pots and pans a lot! As she gets older, she'll enjoy "cooking" and "washing dishes", etc. I love watching her imagination work.

She's also been playing with her Little People barn and animals. I didn't know how much time she'd spend with them, but she plays with them daily, too. I plan on getting her additional Little People toys. Oh, and I need to say thanks to everyone who made toy suggestions. I'm definitely going to try out all your suggestions. I know Petunia is happy to have big girl toys now.

I was planning on writing more, but I've run out of time. I'll try to finish up within the next day or two. Hopefully I'll have new photos to post then.

20 Months Old - Let The Countdown Begin

Today Petunia turned 20 months old. She's getting closer and closer to the 2 year old mark, and I really feel like the countdown has now begun. I'm experiencing mixed feelings about her getting older. I love all the new things she's doing and the increase in vocabulary, but the whining and the repetitive "No!" and "Mine!" are things I can easily do without. I suppose one just has to take the good with the bad.

She can be so loving and sweet, then turn around in the next minute and be a little patoot. If my mood changed that fast, I'd have whiplash. It doesn't seem to faze her, though. I just hope it doesn't get to the point that I begin calling her Sybil.

One of the things I love the most is how she laughs with me so much. When we chase each other, or when we play silly games, her giggle box turns over quickly. Her sense of humor gets better and better each day, and I love to watch her trying to be funny. She's so shy around other people that few ever get to see her in the same light I do. I definitely wish that weren't the case.

She's doing a little better with her eating. She is slowly realizing that she enjoys eating some meat -- mostly chicken. She still loves her veggies and fruits, so I can't complain about that. She also love Cheetos and sweets, but I try very hard to limit those. Ice cream and popcorn are definite favorites.

Her sleep habits are changing some. For the past week or so she's had a difficult time falling asleep. That was never an issue in the past. Most nights she doesn't go to sleep until 8:30 or 9:00, and sometimes not until 10:00. The real kicker is that she's truly wide awake, not stumbling around like a drunk person because she's fighting sleep. The good part of this is that, because she gets such a late start, she sleeps through the night on some nights, so here and there I get a decent night's sleep. Prior to this, I almost never slept through the night uninterrupted. Again, I suppose one just has to take the good with the bad.

Regardless of the trying moments, I love my little Petunia to pieces. Happy 20 months, my sweet girl!

I adore this photo! I'm not certain why it's one of my favorites, but there's just something about it.

No Whining, No Crying

A few years ago, my younger brother enacted a new rule in their house. The rule was simple and effective, at least in theory. No whining, no crying. In reality, though, it didn't always work. The children knew the rule. They could tell you what it was. There was just a little difficulty in following it and enforcing it.

I remember laughing at this because it was a joke... sort of. Could it really be that bad? I'm not laughing so much right now because I know the answer to that question. The answer is a big resounding YES! Oh, the whining that goes on in my house is powerful enough to bring down the most heinous terrorist in the world! It actually grabs onto your spinal cord and squeezes until you become paralyzed, and you want the world, as you know it, to end immediately.

Petunia has turned into a world-class whiner. If whining were an Olympic sport, Petunia would take the gold medal with ease. She would make all the other whining athletes melt into an embarrassing puddle because of her superior whining. She would stand, with her hand over her heart, and whine through the playing of the National Anthem.

How did my sweet girl transform into this... this... this... WHINER? I don't know, but I want the former Petunia back. Now! The only whining done in this house should be done by the mother, not the child. Okay, so the truth comes out. I'm envious of Petunia's whining abilities. I could only aspire to be that good with my whining talent. I know I could never measure up.

I hope this is only a (short-lived) phase, and my sweet Petunia returns to me. I don't think I'm going to be able to continue living if the whining (by Petunia, not me) doesn't end. Please tell me it won't last much longer. If that isn't the case, please make a call to the men in the little white coats, and tell them to get their big butterfly net ready. They'll need it soon.

Speechless and Four-Wheeling

Very seldom am I speechless, but I'm convinced that God has a sense of humor and He evidently thought it would be fun to give me laryngitis. This is day number two of not being able to speak above a soft whisper. I don't feel sick, I just can't make a sound. Petunia thinks it's a hilarious game, and I think people at work are secretly enjoying my silence.

Now on to the good stuff. Petunia went home with Jen-Jen and Evan this afternoon because I had a birthday dinner to go to for someone at work. Evan and Petunia rode around the yard on Evan's toy ATV, and my sweet girl had the time of her life. If you don't believe me, take a look at her face in these photos. My favorite is the last one.

I'm thinking that Evan needs to marry Petunia when they grow up. Not only is he a sweetheart, but he's just so darn cute. Thanks, Jen, for sending the photos to me. You're the best!