The Plague

Well, I knew it was bound to happen, but I didn't expect it to be quite so soon or quite so intense. Caleigh entered preschool and she also entered a world of germs that she would not have necessarily otherwise encountered just yet.

It started with a small flare up of her asthma. She would cough and cough and cough and then sometimes cough until she sounded like she was about to spew out a lung (or two). So out came her trusty nebulizer and albuterol and pulmicort. Making her sit still long enough to take a whole treatment has gotten harder as she has gotten older. I used to be able to turn on a favorite show and put her on the couch or in a high chair and she was good to finish the whole treatment. Now, I do good to get her to make it half way through before I have to practically start bribing her to finish it!

Then, on this past Thursday, I picked Caleigh up from school and from her car seat she asks me "What are these dots on my hands?" I look at the tiny palms she is flashing me and see tons of tiny red dots on them. That morning she had made a comment that she had a "headache" when she woke up. Chad and I found this very funny since we didn't think she even knew what a headache was. She promptly told us that a headache is when your head hurts and her head hurt! A little later that afternoon, she tells me her throat now hurts. Ok, time to call the doctor.

By Friday morning when we enter the doctor's office, she has a headache, a sore throat, lesions on the inside of her cheeks and on her tongue, blisters on her palms and soles of her feet, and a smaller rash all over her shoulders and chest. Oh, and she is still coughing. Her lungs were clear but she has strep, a strep rash, and hand foot and mouth disease at the same time.

My normally good little medicine taker does not want to put anything in her mouth, at all. I have convinced her that ice cold water makes her throat feel better so she downs sippy cups full of it throughout the day. Her fever does not want to get itself under control so I am trying to not only force her antibiotic down her but fever reducer as well. Food is something she won't go near and sleeping is her favorite thing to do right now. She is just as pitiful, if not more pitiful, as she was post-tonsillectomy. Her breath is dragon-like and her whine seems to never cease. I can't seem to find the right combination of meds and comfort measures to keep her happy (unless she is sleeping).

She seems to be in a bit of a better mood this morning, although she is bummed we had to skip church. Tomorrow is Monday and she is wanting to go back to school but if that fever returns, she will still be right here with me then as well. She got all these illnesses from someone there and I sure don't want her to be responsible for making some other child catch this plague.

Three days of two

For the past three days I have got to live my life as if I were a mom of two. I have had my 4 month old niece with me while my sister is at work. Each day, Caleigh still attended preschool until noon. The logisitics of transportation and feedings and napping all had to be worked out with precision in order to avoid epic meltdowns from either child. I was only successful about 60% of the time. The other 40% of the time required me to soothe one or the other or sometimes try to soothe both at the same time!

Fits and tantrums aside, they were both pretty good kids. Caleigh wanted to "help" all the time. If only 3 year olds could make bottles and change diapers! LOL!

The green eyed monster of jealousy reared its ugly head through Caleigh at times and it was very heartbreaking to watch her want my full attention and not be able to give it to her. But it was good for her to realize that she must share me at times. IF I every had another child I can tell that I would be in for a long adjustment period with her.

I did have fun getting to play with them both and I did crash pretty hard on Friday night. And Caleigh was pretty wore out too!



And so did my A/C unit! Uggg! Well not crash totally but it is freezing up! So, now to work on getting that fixed so when I watch them both again next week (my dad is having his chemo treatments so I watch my niece for my mom) we won't sweat to death!

My Little Sponge

Caleigh has turned into a sponge, sopping up everything around her and questioning just as much. She is learning and is excited everyday when I pick her up from preschool. She even has what I call her "instruction voice". It is a voice that clearly is mimicking her teachers. She tries to give me directions about how to do something or a way to play a game with her using this voice. It is probably one of the first signs I got from her that she is totally immersing herself in her learning.

Additionally, she has picked up on some not so nice qualities. Unfortunately a little boy in her class stutters. Caleigh has picked up on this as well and has started to purposefully stutter at home. I have tried to tell her that she should not talk like anyone else but herself, however I don't know if she is remembering to talk like herself when she is at school. I have had to remind her quite a few times to talk like herself when she is at home.

And, speaking of home, Chad and I have decided that it is time that we become saints. Ok, maybe not saints but we do need to watch what we say and do at home because we now have a professional little copycat living with us. There are those moments when she says or does something and it is so cute to see her acting like her mommy or daddy and we comment as such. And then there are those times when she acts like one of us and we are so embarrassed that we try to blame the actions on the other! Therefore, it is time to shape up. No more saying what we want because we think she doesn't understand. Quite frankly, even if she doesn't understand, that doesn't mean she won't use the words (and sometimes even use them in public!). I am not saying that we go around using foul language but sometimes even the most harmless of words are like daggers in the wrong situation.

So, I must now pray that I keep my words and actions in check so that I set a good example for my kid. Since she is soaking in so much right now, I would rather the good stuff seep in deeper than anything else.

First Day of 3-K Preschool

It was a big day for this excited little girl. She spent the whole night before so wound up that she did not fall asleep until 10:30pm! Her excitement carried over to the morning when she awoke rearing to go. I kept waiting for the apprehension to set in, but thankfully, it never really did.

She was all about having her picture taken and even wanted to take a picture of us as we were taking her to school!



I have really been impressed with the level of professionalism and organization of the staff at this school. I hope this continues throughout the school year. I feel truly blessed that Caleigh is able to attend a place where she will get to learn about God as well as be taught basic skills.

There were no tears shed by anyone in our family on this day. Although I will be the first to admit that I was expecting a flood (from me, not her). I could not have been more proud of her.

When I picked her up, she told told me that she had leaned to "Turn her lips off and turn her ears on." So, that is exactly what I did. I turned my lips off and turned on my ears to listen to all the wonderful things she had to tell me about her first day of "school". She even said when she saw a little girl crying in her class she tried to tell her that it was "ok" and that "school is fun" and that her mommy would be back to get her in just a little while. This melted my heart. Here I was worried about her, and she is the one comforting others. She never stops amazing me!


So here's to a year of "turning my ears on" and listening to all of the adventures of my precious girl.

Too much vs. too little

In three more days, Caleigh will start 3 year old preschool. This will be the first time she has been in any kind of institution since she was born. She doesn't even know what a daycare is. Due to this fact, lately, I have been questioning the way I raise my child.

Have I been too hands on? Coddling her too much? Have I not taught her enough about life so far? Manners? How to act decently around other people her age? Will she respect the teachers and administrators in the way she should?

I somehow feel that all of her behavior will be a direct reflection of myself. I know that this is not entirely the case since I do not often find myself lying on a floor screaming because I didn't get my way (although I am sure there are times when I wish I could do just that). And just because one tantrum gets handled, that doesn't mean that another one isn't going to happen again. They seem to be just part of growing up.

I guess I say all this to say that I seem to be more nervous about her going to preschool than she does. All she seems to really care about is still her "own scissors" (see previous post). I want her to go to preschool and to experience all the exciting social interaction that comes with being a part of a group of similar aged children. I look forward to hearing about her daily adventures from her (and hopefully not from her behavior chart).