August 8, 2009 – The stuff I forgot…

You may have noticed that Lera is missing some teeth. Two weeks after Caelia lost hers, Lera lost her front teeth. Three days apart. Unlike Caelia who paraded her teeth around like a pagan battle trophy, Lera swallowed hers. That’s right, SWALLOWED them. They were loose and then they were just gone. We never did find them.

Speaking of swallowing, Lera was raised in a good orphanage, was well nourished and cared for but she does have one really disturbing habit…she puts everything in her mouth. She doesn’t usually swallow but maybe that is because we make her spit out whatever we catch her with. She will also squat beside puddles like a little frog and drink out of said puddles. Its not because she is thirsty (we send her outside with a cup of juice) but because she really seems to like it. EWWW!

Caelia had her tonsils out and tubes put in her ears again. We spent 2 very long days in the hospital because in true Caeli fashion, she stubbornly refused to drink or eat. Actually, she refused to let them take her temperature under her arm either and anyone in scrubs was immediately cause for tears and kicking. She also very stubbornly refused to pee. She went for 10 hours without peeing and they were close to insisting on a catheter before she decided that she would go potty for mommy like a big girl. It was a wrestling match to get her temperature – I shudder to think what a catheter would have been like. Her doctors finally sent her home without the requisite drinking in the hope that we would not have to return in the evening because she was dehydrated. Of course, as soon as she was back to her domain, she started demanding popcicles and juice in true queenly manner. She really recovered nicely.

Both girls were seen at the Down Syndrome Clinic at Children’s Hospital and are doing well. Lera will be seeing an Endocrinologist very soon. You may have also noticed from pictures that Caeli is now several inches taller than Lera. We think she may be having thyroid issues – and yes, Caeli has been checked as well and her weight is the result of a love of nachos and a flakey thyroid. Not off enough to benefit from medicine but a constant battle with calories none the less.

Health is on my mind to today because everyone here is wickedly sick. Virus for most and bronchial pneumonia for Mom. Hopefully, we should all be recovered by next week.

I am also going to post more pictures from house on the rock. The kids had a really great time there and I discovered some really nice pictures that really show what an outing with the kids is like.