Blah Saturday

It's Saturday and we stayed inside all day. It's such crummy weather. I've really been itching to take her swimming to a local indoor public pool, or to the zoo, but I didn't feel great today after a mostly sleepless night. I can't shake this cold and last night had an itch in my throat that made me cough constantly. I got a few hours sleep, but felt terrible in the morning. I didn't even get out of my pajamas (should I be admitting this?) - I just pulled a sweatshirt on over the top and that was good for the day. I tried to sleep on the couch while Amanda was busy cutting up scrap paper, but she wasn't on board with letting me sleep (although one of the times she called for my attention was to tell me to go to sleep... thank you, dear.) I did nap when she did, and we slept for about 2 hours, so I felt much better after that.

I got this cold the Sunday before St. Patrick's day and it really knocked me flat. I just wanted to crawl into bed as soon as she was asleep every night that week. I was trying to figure out why I hadn't posted until April 1, and I realized that was why - I was totally out of commission that week. I don't usually take this long to get over a cold, but I guess the overall higher level of stress takes its toll. I hope I can shake it soon!

We listened to her music today, and spent a good amount of time having a tickle-fest. She wanted me to tickle her on and on... It seemed a little curious - kids like tickling but she didn't want to stop. I mixed it up with some twirling and holding her upside-down. We had one tickle session in the morning and another in the afternoon. Pretty boring day for her otherwise, so I don't blame her for seeking some kind of excitement! =)

Last weekend her new word to use constantly was "why". Oy vey. Enough of the "why" already! Put on your shoes - why? Wash your hands - why? This weekend she's making a statement with "I can do it" and "I did it!". She's communicated that before (loud and clear!), but not in an actual sentence. Actually, she also said, "I can't do it" some too. For instance, she finished an easy puzzle, but when I got out a tougher puzzle she wasn't keen on trying it - "I can't do it". But, she did help me with it and we finished it together.

I got her pictures back from the portrait studio and they turned out very nice. And of course, I immediately put one in a frame and on my wall at home - nope, still haven't gotten it done. I did get one in a frame for work, however, and took the pictures in to show off there. I'm glad we got the pictures taken, as the very next week, we were playing tag at the playground and she was watching me chase her instead of watching where she was going (and didn't react fast enough as I told her to stop!) and ran right into metal steps, earning a bruised lip and a lovely egg bump on her forehead, which turned a nice purple last week. She also had a scratch on her face from an accidental run-in at school with another little girl, and she keeps digging at it and breaking it open. I put some liquid bandage on it, but it's a painful application (I know, I've tried it - it hurts!), so I don't like to do it much. But as time went on and she kept opening it, I've been pretty consistent with it. It's almost healed. She was sitting in the naughty chair once and must have decided to "get back at me" (my interpretation) by digging at her scratch and making it bleed, and then saying, "Look, Mom". Yikes! Don't do that, kid! She gets pretty grouchy at me when I try to curb her behavior! Amanda = strong willed!!!

It amazes me how observant she is. Are all kids this way? 'X' was one of the first letters she learned (I gave her the physical, crossed index fingers version, so she's got X down pat!) and lately she sees it everywhere. We were walking home from the school playground and one of the houses had a front door with criss-crossed lattice - 'X"! We drive and she sees the Xs in the steel support bars which hold the interstate signs. Every EXIT sign - 'X'! 'T'! Sometimes I have to look around to find what she has seen.

Tonight during storytime she wasn't very observant, however. I wondered if she had gone near-sighted or if she was just being fruity. We were reading Curious George and every other page she would say, "Gde monkey?" (One of the last holdouts of Russian: guh-dee = where). Um, the monkey's right there in the middle of the page, honey. She's definitely fruity sometimes!

Because she started daycare toward the end of the "school year", the letters she's learned in class so far are T,U,V,W,X,Y. Letter 'U', of course, made use of a lot of pictures of umbrellas. We had some rainy days so she got to see an umbrella in action - I don't think she had a clue what they were before that time. She also sees pictures of Cinderella here and there, and I've told Amanda her name, but she doesn't know the story of Cinderella - just her name and the puzzle we have. Anyway, whenever she sees Cinderella she calls her "Umbrella"! Well, they do kind of sound alike, and she doesn't know the name "Cinderella" from any other word. Cute.

We visited the pediatrician last Friday for more vaccinations, and at the weigh-in I found out she hasn't gained any weight! She actually lost a few ounces. Not significant, but still! She weighed 27.5 on March 7th, and weighed 27.1 on April 4th. Depressing! I told Dr. Mike about my concerns of her noisy breathing (which sometimes sounds like she struggles to breathe and sometimes she stops breathing for a few seconds) and that I'd like her to see an ENT, so he gave me a recommendation and we have an appointment on the 18th. Another adoptive parent posted about her son - adopted at age 7 and by age 10 had made no weight gains and had terrible breath (sign of infected tonsils?). They put him on antibiotics and for the first time, he said his throat felt good (he's had a sore throat all his life and didn't know it because that's how it always was). He started gaining weight and actually had growing pains. Her story made me wonder about Amanda. She had terrible breath until we'd been home about a month, then it seemed better, but I still wonder about her swollen tonsils. Dr. Mike put them 2-3 on a scale of 5 (1 being normal). Maybe the ENT will say everything is fine, but at least I'll know. The pediatrician's office gave me a bunch of PediaSure (milk-type nutrition drink) for her to have once a day instead of milk, to give her a nutrition boost.

We had the 6-week follow-up eye appointment with Dr. Troia. He said her eyes were looking good, and he concurred with me about her right eye "floating" (my word) up a bit. He said that I might see the other eye do it also, and we could fix the right one, but should wait to see about the left one, as it will also do that (different set of muscles control the eye going up as opposed to side to side). So, she may have a second surgery in a year, maybe. He said she is also a bit far-sighted and has an astigmatism, but doesn't need glasses.

Here are some pictures for anyone who read to the end of this posting! =)

Mom, here's the picture I didn't take Easter morning.

Hanging with cousins Abby and Meagan, Easter weekend. Three pretty girls!
Fun in the tub with bubbles as a hat and a beard, with awesome ducks and jungle animal stickers from Aunt Barb. Thanks, Aunt Barb, and thanks for the bubbles, Aunt Patty!