So today is the first day that I am beginning to see that we may be nearing the end of this "recovery" time for Rylin. She is acting a little more like herself, a little more active, a little less clingy and a little less whiny!
On Saturday I refilled her prescription and asked for a medicine dropper, and my life has been so much easier. Now when it comes to medicine, I'm in charge. (Something you will see, I'm not in much of lately!) We now get medicine down in one drink, but this has not always been the case. Read on if you would like to see what my first week of medicine time was like... A little humorous the farther I get from it, but in the middle of the night, believe me- it's not funny!
1. She wakes up screaming. Nothing soothes her, nothing calms her down, just constant screaming. She refuses to use words to explain anything, just screams. I get frustrated-I'm half asleep and fearing the screams will wake up the rest of our house.
2. I bring her out to the kitchen to give her medicine. I put her on the counter to put the medicine in the spoon. She throws a fit, she wants to sit on the floor this time. Wherever I put her, it is the wrong place. If I start off holding her, she wants the counter, if we start on the counter, she wants the floor, if we start on the floor, she wants me to hold her..... This goes on, and on, not with words, but her pointing her finger and me trying to read her mind. My frustration builds.
3. I bring the medicine to her mouth. She either covers her mouth with her hands, turns the other way, or just down right refuses to open her mouth. I once again discuss that although the medicine tastes gross, it will help her to fill better. One big gulp and she can be done. Still I am met with refusal, at which point, I typically begin to crack.
4. She won't start without a drink. I grab her juice that is still on the counter. Wrong choice, she wants milk. But if I start with milk, she wants water, and the cycle continues. I can never be one step in front of her.
5. She finally takes a "tiny sip", which is immediately followed by a drink. And her need to be in control remains. She has very strong opinions as to where the drink sits in between sips, her right side, her left, if I hold the cup when she drinks, we do it together, or she does it by herself. And as far as the spoon- she is adamant about using the tablespoon. So I have to measure the medicine in the teaspoon and then pour it into the tablespoon. And she refuses to drink from anywhere but the upper left corner. Why these things matter to her I do not understand, but she will not budge. Her stubborn side appears to be even greater when she is sick (or is that just me being desperate?). I decided to count how many sips it takes to get this one teaspoon of medicine down- the average was 13! Each sip (1/13th of a teapsonn) is followed by a drink, in which she takes her sweet time swallowing.
6. 10 minutes later, the medicine is down. She typically wants a bite of something to eat. I give in because I'm tired and want to go back to bed, and anything to prevent another fit is desirable. I willingly scoop a small amount of ice scream into the bowl that she has picked even though I know she will only take the one bite, so I don't need the bowl, but she insists. And then finally, I pick her up and carry her back to bed. And as I start down the hallway, I feel horrible that through this process, I have allowed my frustration to get the best of me, often times more than once. Why can't I be more patient? Why can't I be more compassionate? And then, my heart softens, and as I am alone with my thoughts in the middle of the night- I am grateful. Grateful that at least for now, the process is over, grateful that my 3 year old weighs less than 30 pounds and I can carry her, and grateful that in another week or so this will be past us, and that my children are in all things considered, very healthy. How fortunate and blessed I am that this trial is so temporary, and I pray that God will keep my kids healthy, but if illness comes, may He grant me the strength and kindness to handle it- even at 3 o'clock in the morning!
7. I place her in her bed, and put the blanket on top of her. She kicks it off and wants the other one, even though, she'll kick that one off and when I re-tuck her in ten minutes later, she'll want the first. I give her one of the 3 stuffed animals that are on the floor, and she of course wants a different one. I sing her a song, or if she's lucky 2, we switch animals again, and I attempt to go back to bed.
So now, I am so thankful for the medicine dropper that I should have had all along, but then I guess I wouldn't be so grateful for it if I had not known life without it! And now I am stuck wondering if my little girl is thinking that she is always going to win every battle now, that we will allow her to have such strong opinions about stupid stuff. (Why she cares so strongly still baffles me!) Because believe me- the fits are not typically tolerated in this house, and when good health returns, so will the previous consequences!
(**Note the new, much needed haircut on my handsome boy!)
Sometimes he takes a break from crawling and attempts a somersault. Kevin and I keep reminding him that he will be a ballplayer, not a gymnast, but for now, he is just too cute!
Oh, look at that drool!
So once again I have managed to not take a single photo on Thanksgiving. I don't know why this day always seems to get "camera neglected". Maybe we don't want documented proof of how much we truly eat this day. But despite the lack of pics we had a great, over all relaxing, stress free day with our family and best friends. We are grateful that Kaitlin & Ian drove down to spend their first holiday with us, and so thankful for another year of God's great goodness and provision! What a truly generous and faithful Lord we serve!
So my little Rylin had her tonsils and adnoids out on Friday. She has been quite miserable ever since. I must admit that by today (day 4) my patience are wearing thin with all of the whining and clinginess, but that's probably due more to sleep deprivation than anything else. She has been a pretty good trooper overall. She hates the medicine and that is a struggle every 4 hours, but considering how bad it smells, I can't say I blame her. She is very hungry (I can hear and feel her tummy growl), but she takes one bite of something and never wants a second. Kacia is so compassionate and kind when someone is sick (I'd be surprised if she didn't end up being a nurse or something like that), but I think she was glad to go back to school today. Lincoln did really well on Friday and Saturday, needing me only for food, then he decided to cut his 1st teeth, so yesterday and today (and last night!) have been difficult. But the overall goal is more and better sleep, amongst other stuff, like the ability to swallow food comfortably. So for now, one day at a time, and hopefyully in another week or two, she'll be feeling better than she has in a very long time!
So Rylin is now 3! We were able to celebrate her birthday on her birthday this year (the 22nd), since it managed to be quite a few days before Thanksgiving this time. She was quite funny about her day and trying to understand what the day meant. When she woke up and Kevin told her "Happy Birthdday", she said "no not yet, not my party yet". Kevin told her that her birthday lasted the entire day, not just her party, but she kinda understood. We did a no-prep, no clean-up party at Chuck E. Cheese's, so as we are pulling into the parking lot at 5 o'clock, she starts clapping and exclaims, "Yeah, Chuck E. Cheese, its my birthday!!!" She was also funny after she blew out her candles, she cups her mouth and whispers to me "Mom, me 3 now?" "Yes, honey, you're 3." "But right now, now me 3?!" "Yes!" "Okay."