ENT appointment

After Olivia's pediatrician got her hearing test results (low normal to mild hearing loss), he thought it would be a good idea for her to see an ENT. We had an appointment set for over a month ago but we had to reschedule it three times due to her being sick. They want to see her when she isn't sick because otherwise they wouldn't know if the fluid in her ear is from a cold or if it's always there. We got to her appointment early and there was a little boy running around the waiting room, he kept Olivia entertained for a while. As soon as we got into the exam room, she was not happy. The doctor was trying to talk to me and Olivia kept yelling, I was getting a little frustrated because he could barely hear me. The doctor was very nice though, he was more patient with her than I was. They didn't do much besides check her ear pressure and look inside. Her left ear was fine but they said the right ear had some fluid, it may be because of her recent ear infection though. The doctor also said that some kids have fluid in their ear for the entire winter and then it goes away in the summer. She is having a repeat hearing test at the end of the month and they will compare the results to her last one. I was a little upset that they couldn't tell us much more information, I was hoping to know that day if she would need tubes or not. I don't want to rush her getting tubes but I am really hoping it will help with her speech delay. I just feel like this has been a long process, I'm ready for some answers and solutions.

Ear infection, pink eye, fever..

On Monday night, Olivia was absolutely miserable. She was coughing, her nose was running, her eyes were red and her breathing was labored. I had to call out of work on Tuesday and bring her to the doctor, she has an ear infection and pink eye. She was really cranky when we got home from the doctor so I put her down for a nap, she woke up in an even worse mood. I took her temperature and it was 101.4, it's always alarming to me when she has a fever. I gave her Tylenol and it went down but a few hours later, it was up again. All she wanted to do was lay on me or sit on the couch and watch TV, I let her because she just looked so sad. She started an antibiotic on Tuesday afternoon but it took almost an entire day to help. She barely wanted to eat or drink anything and I could understand why but at the same time, the doctor said how important it was to push fluids and I was getting nervous. I didn't want her to end up back in the hospital because she was dehydrated. I had to give her some water in a syringe because she didn't want anything to do with it. I am happy to report that she is finally feeling better, she's still not 100% but her appetite is coming back and she was even playing with her toys today. Although, last night she woke up and had a coughing fit for almost an hour, I hope that doesn't happen again tonight. Ever since she started daycare, I feel like she is constantly sick and so am I. It's a bummer but we really don't have much of a choice. I had to miss two ten hour days of work, which means I will be losing a good chunk of my paycheck next week. It stresses me out a little but there is really nothing I can do, Olivia comes first and making sure she is healthy will always be my priority. During all the craziness, I was making dinner last night and dropped boiling sauce on my thumb. It hurt so bad, I wanted to cry. I ran it under cold water for twenty minutes but it was still throbbing. I put some Neosporin on it but that only helped for a few minutes. This morning when I woke up, there was a huge water blister on my thumb. It looks really gross but from what I've read online, I'm not supposed to pop it. I've been trying my best to keep in clean, tomorrow will be a challenge at work but I'm planning on putting a bandage on it. I definitely feel like things haven't been going well lately but I'm trying my best to remain calm and positive that it will all turn around soon.

She's still adorable even though she's sick and miserable.

Mother's Day

I know Mother's Day was four days ago but things have been pretty hectic around here, I'll talk all about that in the next post. I woke up on Sunday with horrible pain on the right side of my face, I knew immediately that I had a sinus infection. I really wanted to avoid going to the doctor so I started doing all the home remedies that I've heard about. I actually took the advice of a friend and ran out to buy a Neti Pot. It was a little different than what I was expecting, definitely not a pleasant experience or feeling but it did help a little bit. What helped the most was using a heating pad on my face, the pain was almost gone and then I took some Tylenol which took care of it completely. We went out to lunch with my family, the restaurant was packed so were there for a few hours. Olivia was really good for the most part, she started to get antsy towards the end. After lunch, we stopped at a bakery and got some cookies, Olivia picked all the M&M's off and let me have the cookie part. It was a great day but when we got home, I started to feel sick again. I used the Neti Pot and heating pad for the second time and was able to fall asleep, I felt much better on Monday morning. Anyway, on Mother's Day I always feel very grateful. I've always felt lucky to have such an amazing mother who would go above and beyond for me and now I feel lucky because I have a daughter of my own. It's hard to understand the love your mother has for you until you have your own child but now I totally get it. I think having a baby has made my relationship with my mom stronger. I always look to her for advice and she is quick to help, whether it's to babysit, give me parenting tips or just listen to me while I vent. We are very close and I know not everyone has that type of relationship with their mom so I don't ever take it for granted. I hope all of you had a great Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom, you showed me unconditional love

and I wouldn't be the mother I am today without you. I love you.

This little woman changed my life in the best way possible.

I am so proud to be her mother. No matter how many challenges

we face, it will always be worth it. I have so much love for her.

Being silly at the restaurant with her cousin.

Some serious venting

I haven't blogged in a while so I have a little catching up to do. I'll start with the bad, Thursday was seriously one of the worst days I've had in a really long time. I had an appointment about twenty minutes away and I had to bring Olivia with me. I left my house at 2pm, I didn't have to be there until 3 so I figured I would have plenty of time. About halfway there, we got stuck in a traffic jam. It wasn't just slow traffic, we were at a dead stop for a good fifteen minutes. I called and said that I would be late and they said that was fine. Another hour went by and we had barely moved. I tried taking four different detours and every single way was backed up with traffic. They called me back and told me that I would have to reschedule my appointment, I was so annoyed because I really didn't want to do that. Thursdays are my only day off so I had to reschedule a bunch of other things to fit it in, I'm so busy every Thursday for the next few months. Anyway, I turned around and started driving home and of course we hit traffic again. At this point, I started crying hysterically. I just couldn't deal with it anymore, the stress finally got to me and I just let it out. I could hear Olivia in the backseat doing her nervous laugh so I composed myself and told her that it was okay. When we got home, I went to grab her out of her seat and noticed that she threw up everywhere. This is the third time that she threw up within the span of a month. I called the doctor because I was starting to become concerned and he said that she most likely got motion sickness from the traffic. We didn't even get home till 5pm. So I basically wasted my entire afternoon driving for absolutely no reason at all. Three hours just sitting in the car, it makes me cringe even thinking about it now. Once we got home, I had to give Liv another bath (I already gave her one that morning), do her laundry and clean her car seat (not as easy task). On a good note, her therapy visit went really well. Her speech therapist said that she noticed some improvement with Olivia since she started daycare. She said that her attention span is better and that she was gesturing along more while they were singing songs. She has been doing great at daycare, she plays with the kids and even eats at the table with them. She still cries when I drop her off but most of the kids do. The teacher told me some interesting things too, she said that Olivia says a few words (that I haven't heard her say at home) while she's there, like "eat" and "ball". I wonder why she talks more at school than she does at home. I also heard that she has a little boyfriend, she kept kissing one of the boys in her class on the head. I told Paul about it and he wasn't too happy, I think it's cute though. Yesterday they had a Mother's Day brunch so I went with her and it was really sweet. The presents that she made me just melted my heart. When I had to leave, she got really upset but I knew that was going to happen. I've been sick all week, I don't know if it's just allergies kicking my butt or if I actually have a cold. Today has been spent mostly at home, we went to the store to pick up a few things and got some ice cream for dinner. For the first time ever, I ordered Olivia her own ice cream cone. She made a huge mess but she thoroughly enjoyed it. Tomorrow should be fun, we are going out to lunch with my family for Mother's Day, I just hope I feel a little better.

Totally worth the mess.

An awesome breakthrough

I'm overly excited to say that daycare went much better today than it has the past few weeks! Olivia cried when I dropped her off but I was anticipating that. She kept crying for almost an hour and then she finally stopped. When I asked the teacher how she did, I wasn't expecting a good report. Every day she tells me that Liv had an emotional day but today she said that Liv actually had a good day! Even though she cried here and there, she was mostly running around and playing with the kids. She was smiling and laughing, hearing that just melted my heart. I am so glad that she is finally coming around to the idea of being without me and having fun with the other kids. The best part is that she ate her lunch and snacks, I didn't have to worry about her being ridiculously hungry when we got home. I am really shocked that she had such a good day but I'm extremely happy about it. I feel like a weight has been lifted. I can stop stressing so much now, I hope it only gets better from here on out.

At least she's not crying!

Good news.. kinda

I'm happy to report that Olivia hasn't thrown up since Friday. The bad news is that she still cries all day at daycare and barely eats or drinks anything. I'm wondering how long she is going to be stubborn for because it's been really stressful, on both of us. Luckily today was my day off so I took her to the park and then we went for a walk. She really loves being outside (except when she's at school) and she would stay out at all day if she could. There were a lot of kids at the park today (including some annoying teenagers). When I was pushing Liv on the swing, another little girl was laughing so Olivia started fake laughing. It was really funny, she just wanted to copy the girl. She's silly, she makes me so happy no matter how bad my day is going. I know I've been neglecting this blog a bit but I've been super busy. My job is absolutely exhausting and when I'm home, I like to spend as much time as possible with Liv. I have a lot I want to post though so hopefully I will have some time this weekend.

Sucking the life out of me

I hate to be negative again but yesterday was just a horrible, terrible, stressful day. It was Olivia's first full day at daycare. I was in the other class and I could hear her crying on and off (mostly on) for nine hours, it seemed like the day would never end. I knew she wasn't hurt, she was just upset and it was very hard to listen to. That's not the worst part though, I can deal with the crying and whining. Olivia is a very stubborn and strong willed kid so I'm used to that. What worries me is that she refuses to eat and drink while she is there. She was so hungry when we got home that she ate and drank everything in sight. An hour later, she threw all of it up everywhere and she kept throwing up. It was all over me, her and the floor. So after a truly exhausting day, I had to give her a bath (Which I wasn't planning on doing) and start another load of laundry (Which I REALLY wasn't planning on doing). After I gave her a bath and got her to bed, I had to take a shower. When I got out of the shower, I realized that my towels were in the wash. At that point, I just gave up. I went to bed and it was only 8pm. Luckily Paul was home and he helped a lot. He cleaned up Liv's mess in the kitchen and finished the laundry for me. I called the doctor today wondering if maybe Olivia still had the stomach bug and she said that if she's okay the rest of the weekend then it was probably due to eating too much, too fast. My concern is that she's going to continue to refuse to eat and drink at daycare, come home and eat like crazy then throw up. I'm scared this will become a pattern and I don't think I have the energy to handle it. The doctor told me to be in touch if she doesn't start becoming accustomed to daycare soon. I still don't know if this is going to work out but I'm holding onto a little bit of hope that it will. Today wasn't much better, she barely ate anything again. She was just grazing all day, a bite here and there but no actual meals. She was super cranky in the morning and after her nap. She was in a better mood later on but then started melting down again around dinner time. She has been sucking the life out of me this past week, I'm completely drained and her bad moods have been rubbing off on me. Everyone keeps saying she just needs to get used to it but right now that is very hard to imagine.

Puke and other disturbing things

Yesterday I had to work but my mom was home to watch Livy so she didn't go to daycare, which I'm sure she was happy about. A lot of the kids were sick with a stomach bug so I was hoping that we wouldn't catch it. Olivia seemed to be in good spirits when I got home. I gave her a bath, fed her dinner and put her to bed. At around 9:30pm I heard her fussing in her crib so I yelled upstairs to Paul so he could check on her. I heard him yelling to me about something, I ran upstairs and Olivia had puked everywhere. There was so much, it was all over her sheets, stuffed animals and even in her hair. I got her out of bed and gave her another bath while Paul cleaned up the mess in her crib. I felt really bad for her so I let her come downstairs with me and watch TV while I threw her stuff in the wash. After a little while she seemed to be okay so I put her back to bed, she fell asleep pretty quickly. I was exhausted at that point so as soon as her stuff was done drying, I went to bed. At around 2am, I heard her crying again so I went in to check on her and she was gagging. I picked her up and tried to calm her down but she was really upset. I don't want to gross everyone out so I'll just say, it was coming out of both ends and it was bad. Stomach bugs are the worst, she was just miserable and there was a lot of cleaning up involved. This morning I gave her some toast and water, I am going to hold off on giving her milk until tomorrow. She didn't want to eat much at lunchtime either, she only had a few spoons of soup and half a banana. She's napping right now, I'm hoping that this bug isn't going to last more than 24 hours. I'm also stressed out because I had to miss work today, I really could use the money but Olivia comes first and it will always be that way. It seems like I can't catch a break lately. I got a call from the hospital saying that we owe $3,000 for her overnight stay in January (when she had RSV). I called twice a few months ago to make sure that if the claim was denied, we wouldn't be responsible for the payment and they assured me that we wouldn't be. The claim was resubmitted and approved so now we are responsible for the deductible. The lady I spoke to on the phone today was so rude, she kept saying things like "You didn't think you would have to pay for services rendered?!". At one point I got mad and I told her she needed to stop talking down to me because I didn't appreciate it. Whoever I spoke to before obviously didn't explain things correctly. Anyway, that put me in a bad mood. We already have seven or eight other medical bills for Liv that we are struggling with, it just seems to keep piling on. I told them to add it to my long tab and I'll pay what I can every month, that's the best I can do. It's funny that they only help you out if you make less than $50K per year but they don't take into account all the debt you have from a medically complex child. I broke down and started crying at one point, something I rarely do. Olivia saw me, she got upset and started crying too. I gave her a hug and that calmed us both down, she is such a sweetheart when she wants to be. The cherry on top was this morning when I dropped my phone on the ground and the screen cracked, seriously though, why?! I spent $50 on a stupid OtterBox and obviously it didn't help at all, that really annoys me. I understand it's my fault, I'm clumsy and I drop my phone all the time but that's exactly why I invested in a case that would help prevent my screen from breaking. That was a fail, I'm going to try Gorilla glass this time but I'm not expecting much. I have to pay $170 for a replacement phone, I have insurance but that's the deductible. I know this was just a long post of me ranting but the stress has been building up for a while now. Now I am just keeping my fingers crossed that I don't catch the stomach bug and that Olivia feels better soon.



Daycare update

It was a long week for Liv, she doesn't like daycare one bit. I only left her for a few hours every day but she cried and whined the entire time I was gone. When I would pick her up, she would hug me so tight and cling to me. Yesterday, she woke up with a cold so I kept her home. I don't know if she got sick from stress or if she just caught germs from her class. Either way, she wasn't feeling great today either. I had to do a few things so my mom stayed with her and she just kept crying for me. She is usually fine with my mom so that is a bit concerning to me. I hope it's not because of daycare, she might just be fussy because she's sick otherwise this is going to be an issue. I'm really stressed out about it, so much that I'm having a hard time finding words. I just hope this week goes better, I will be working so she's going to be in class a lot longer and I'm not going to be able to calm her down. She can't cry all day.. right?! (Sigh).

This picture is deceiving.

The teacher took this before Liv knew I left.

The right thing

I think (or at least I hope) that every mother at some point in time has wondered if they were doing the right thing for their child. I've been having a hard time with a decision and I'm starting to wonder if it's the right one. I found a job at a daycare center and Olivia will be going too but she will be in a different class. This week I've been taking her for a few hours a day so she can be eased into this huge change. She has never been left with anyone besides family and usually not for more than a few hours. We left her overnight once with my mom but that was different, she was at home and comfortable in her surroundings. Yesterday I stayed with her in class and she whined from the time we got there, to the time we left. I don't really understand why she was so sad because I never left her side but she just wanted to cling to me. Today, she fell in the parking lot on the way in, she got scraped up pretty bad and that set the tone for the rest of the day. She was playing at first and I snuck out after about fifteen minutes. She was doing okay until they changed her diaper, then she started crying. She calmed down after a while but then I heard her screaming again, the teacher brought her to me and said that she just wouldn't calm down. I was hugging her and she was crying so much that she couldn't even catch her breath. That was so heart breaking for me to see. On the other hand, I really feel like this will be great for her in the long run. She will get to socialize with other kids and learn how to behave in a school setting. The problem is that she always has trouble starting a new routine, these next few weeks are going to be rough. My biggest concern is her lack of appetite. During snack time, she sat at the table with all the kids and she did so great! She really surprised me, she ate all of her food and didn't even cry when another little girl stole some. Unfortunately at lunch time, she didn't want to sit down. She had absolutely nothing to eat and wouldn't drink anything either. It really stresses me out because I'm worried about her regressing, it took me so long to get her to where she is. If she stops eating, I will feel like all the hard work was pointless and we will be back at square one. If she loses weight, her doctors are not going to be happy either. I honestly wish that I could be a stay at home mom but that's just not possible and there is nothing wrong with that. A lot of moms are in the same boat as me. I just want to fast forward to next month and not have to deal with this heart wrenching transition. I have a few irrational fears, like she is going to be mad at me for leaving her or that she is going to eventually like her teacher better than me. I love her so much and I am going to miss being with her 24/7. I know I sound like a psycho overprotective mom right now but it's so much harder than I thought it was going to be. So what is the "right thing"? There's really no answer for that, only time will tell. Parenting is all about trial and error, not every child is the same so you have to do what works for you and your family. I'm going to see how this goes but if she is really struggling, I have no problem rethinking my decision.

Stuck in the foam pit

Yesterday it rained but we still went to playgroup. Olivia was not in the best mood, she has been hitting again and it's really frustrating. One little girl was trying to share her ball and Liv started pushing her away. I don't know why, maybe it was just her bad mood. Sometimes she loves playing with kids but yesterday wasn't one of those days. I took her aside and told her that she had to stop hitting and then I said to her "If you hit someone again, we're going to leave. Do you want to leave?" and she looked at me and said "Yeah!", happy as ever. I almost started to laugh but I didn't let her see that, she even ran over and got her coat and backpack. I thought she was going to get upset and start behaving but I guess she really didn't care if we stayed or not. Today was another rainy day so I took Olivia to this place down the street called Sky Zone. It's basically a bunch of trampolines and a foam pit. On Friday and Sunday mornings they have toddler time for kids five and under. I was glad because I would be nervous that she would get knocked over by older kids. Although, some of the four and five year olds were a bit rough. There was one boy following her around and every ball she picked up, he would take it from her. She would scream so loud at him and then he would run away but a few minutes later, he would be back. It was a little annoying because some of the moms weren't even paying attention to what their kids were doing. I don't follow Olivia around constantly but I always watch her from a safe distance. One boy was yelling "mommy" for a good five minutes before his mom finally looked over at him. Anyway, Liv liked the trampolines even though she can't exactly jump. She tries her best, she bends her knees and bounces but her feet never come off the floor. The staff was pretty nice, a few of them played with Liv. They would build up a tower of foam blocks and let her knock them down. The foam pit was pretty cool, I think that was her favorite part. She was crawling all around it, at one point she started sinking and I could barely see her. I had to jump in and get her because she was stuck. I had a hard time crawling through there, obviously I'm not in the best shape. When we got out, I realized that she lost a sock. They make you pay for Sky Zone socks ($2) but luckily they let us have a replacement for free. We saw a few kids from playgroup there but Olivia didn't really care and neither did they, they were all off in their own little worlds. All in all, it was a fun time and I will definitely bring Livy again soon. She had an awesome nap when we got home so that makes me love it even more. When Paul got home from work, we all went out for dinner. Liv ate before we left but she had fun coloring (on the coasters, oops). She stole some of Paul's broccoli, she doesn't take after me because I hate most vegetables. It's great that she likes them though! It was quite and eventful day, I am off the relax now.

Distracting a toddler

We've been going to the playground a lot lately and loving it. We saw the same little boy there that we saw at the library (library adventure), he didn't remember Olivia but he kept saying how cute she was. He's a funny kid, Liv saw a dog and started running towards it and he said "don't go over there, dogs eat babies!". Then he was chasing Liv around and she was having a blast. Yesterday we just hung out at home in the morning and after Olivia's nap, I decided it was time to get out of the house. I needed to pick up a few things so we went to Target (my favorite place). I could walk around that store for hours, I got what we needed and a few things we didn't need. I let Liv hold a little cat plush and she hugged it the whole time. I was going to buy it for her but when I scanned it, it was $10! I can't believe it was that much and it was just a small stuffed animal, I figured it would be closer to $5. She got a little upset when I took it away but I gave her a box of goldfish to hold onto and distract her (works every time). When we got home we played outside for a while, I brought out Liv's car and ride on toy and she had fun. Today was a very gloomy and rainy day so we didn't leave the house. Luckily I got to nap when Olivia did, it wasn't for long but it was much needed. It's supposed to rain the rest of the week so that's kind of a bummer. It's hard to keep Olivia entertained when we are stuck inside, she gets bored and I hate when she watches too much TV. Anyway, off to relax and catch up on a few shows.

Happy Easter!

I wanted to post this yesterday but I just didn't have the energy, Easter was a lot of fun! When Olivia woke up in the morning, she got her basket from the Easter bunny. She took everything out and wanted to open it all immediately. She ate an entire (almost) chocolate bunny but she wouldn't try the Peeps, I'm sure she would love them but she was being stubborn. I wanted her to take a nap before we went to my aunt's house but she refused (too much chocolate). She played in her crib for over an hour and I finally gave up and got her out (otherwise we would have been late). I was slightly irritated because I knew that if she didn't nap, she would be cranky and it was going to be a long day. She fell asleep in the car (about ten minutes before we got there) and she was annoyed when we woke her up. As soon as she saw her cousins though, her mood changed back to happy! She gave them hugs and kept following them around, it's really cute how much she loves them. She also loved getting all of her baskets from everyone but she liked my nephews toy cars the best. She ate more food than I thought she would and I ate more food than I should have. It was raining out so we had to do the egg hunt in the basement, kind of a bummer because the pictures would have been much nicer outside. Olivia wasn't into it this year, she found one egg and then she just wanted to sit down and open it. She liked playing with the jelly beans inside and she was content with just one egg. All of the kids were running around and one of them accidently knocked Liv over and she fell backwards and hit her head on the floor. She was crying so loud and hugging me for a while but afterwards she seemed fine. She went right back to playing but after a while, she started to get fussy again. I knew it would happen but it took a little longer than I thought so by that time we were getting ready to leave anyway. I'm glad she didn't fall asleep on the way home, it's a long drive so I expected her to but she stayed awake. Once we got home, I gave her a quick snack and put her to bed. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, that rarely happens. She went to bed earlier than normal so this morning she woke up bright and early. I think I am going to stick to this new bedtime though because she didn't even fight her nap today. She fell asleep within minutes and it was awesome. I took so many pictures but if I put them all up, this post would be way too long so I'll just share a few of my favorites.

 

 

 

 

Happy Easter everyone!

End of the week fun

It got a little warmer out on Thursday afternoon so I brought Olivia outside and I pulled out some chalk from last year. I think I had more fun than she did, she kept handing me different colors to draw pictures for her. Then she went around and drew lines through all of my masterpieces. In true Olivia fashion, she wanted to hold all six pieces of chalk at once. By the time we were done, her pants were covered in chalk dust. Once Paul got home from work, we stayed outside for a while and then decided to go out for dinner. Liv got to sit next to me, they had a mini high chair that went right into the booth. She didn't eat much for lunch so she was hungry by the time we got to the restaurant. She kept doing the sign for eat and the food was taking a while so I let her have some goldfish. For dinner she got pizza and french fries (I know, super healthy), she was eating great until I got my food. Once she saw my salad, that's all she wanted and she didn't touch her food after that. As always, it was a little frustrating. I don't mind sharing with her but I also don't think that eating lettuce and tomatoes for dinner is very filling. I was too nervous about her choking to give her any of my steak. Anyway, despite her picky eating, it was a fun night.

Yesterday, Liv and I met up with my friend and her daughter (who is only three months younger than Liv) at a bounce house place. It was like Monkey Joe's but there wasn't an arcade area. There was a much bigger slide too and Olivia wanted to go on it about thirty times. I went with her a few times and that was a good workout. She went up by herself but I had to walk behind her and she was pretty slow. It was a little more work than it was worth. The last time she wanted to go, I just didn't have anymore energy so an older girl (around ten) said she would bring her up. I said okay but then I was so nervous, I kept saying "make sure she doesn't fall!", she did good though. Olivia loved running around and going in all the different bounce houses. She didn't want to leave, we will have to go back soon.

 Olivia kept hugging the dog, it was really cute.

Sunny with a side of snow

It was finally nice out yesterday! We played outside for a while and then I took Olivia to the park. It was pretty sunny out so I brought her sunglasses, she always puts them on upside down but I think it's adorable so I never fix them. There is still snow on the ground and of course she just wanted to play in that. After I coaxed her away from the snow, she ran around for a while and then I pushed her on the swings (she loved it). She went down the slide for the first time on her own, she was a little nervous and went down in a strange but hilarious way. She had one leg up and she went down backwards, I was laughing because it reminded me of the scene from Elf when he was trying to go up the escalator. The second time she did it the correct way, I was proud of her. After about an hour, it started to get cold because of the wind and I was ready to leave but Liv wasn't. I had to pick her up and she was yelling so loud but once we got in the car, she was fine. I'm excited for more warm weather! After the park, I had to pick up some groceries so we stopped at the store. Taking Olivia to the grocery store is always an adventure. She wanted to hold everything, first I let her hold the bag of apples but that ended up on the floor. Then I let her hold the bag of cucumbers, she opened the bag and put a cucumber up to her mouth and said "nom nom nom". I couldn't even be mad at her because it was so cute. The warm weather was a tease, today was cold again. We went to playgroup and she was good for the most part. She pushed a little girl away when she tried to take her toy but other than that, she didn't try hitting anyone. She also got a little upset when the teacher stopped blowing bubbles but she got over it pretty quick. This week flew by and now I'm excited for the weekend!

 

Liv's hearing test

Olivia had her hearing test yesterday and it didn't go very well. She doesn't like doctors and I knew it was going to be a tough visit. She was sick last week and I didn't know if that would affect the results, the doctor said she had some congestion in her ear but it shouldn't make too much of a difference. Then she wanted to put something that looked kind of like an earbud (that's the best way I can describe it) in Liv's ear for the first test but Olivia was crying and screaming so that didn't work. After we gave up on that, we went into the sound booth to start a different test. They played sounds and it seemed to be going well, Olivia was looking towards the sounds and the doctors voice whenever she talked on the microphone. We tried the other test again and we were able to get it done. Olivia cried most of the time so the doctor didn't get everything she needed but she said it was enough. During the test, Olivia kept doing the sign for "all done" and she had the saddest look on her face, it broke my heart. Her test results showed that she's in the low normal to mild hearing loss range. I was actually surprised to hear that, I guess I was just hoping that her hearing was fine. I even made the doctor repeat what she said because I was caught off guard a bit. She told me that we need to come back for another test in three months to compare the results. She also said that a hearing aid would be the solution for mild hearing loss. At first, the thought of a hearing aid made me a little upset but it's really not the worst thing in the world. We have been through much tougher times. I obviously don't want Liv to have any hearing loss but at least it would explain why she isn't talking much. I would be happy to know the issue just because that means we could fix it. The doctor said I shouldn't worry just yet, so I'm not going to.

High five for the Easter bunny

Over the weekend, we did lots of fun Easter stuff. On Friday, we dyed eggs. Well, I did most of the dying and Olivia added stickers and played with the eggs. She had more fun taking them out of the bowl and putting them back in over and over than actually making them look pretty. Then she learned how to break them, she started to take off pieces of the shell and that was the end of that. On Saturday we went to the mall to get her picture taken with the Easter bunny. I wasn't sure how she was going to react because Santa did not go well this year. She didn't cry with him but she just wanted to get off his lap immediately. The line was much shorter than it was for Santa, there were only two people ahead of us so I figured it would be quick. Nope, they wanted their infant son to smile and that wasn't happening so they kept trying but eventually gave up. It took almost ten minutes and it was finally our turn. Olivia did really well, she even smiled! She definitely liked the Easter bunny better than Santa. I kind of thought she would since she loves animals. After she got her picture taken, they gave her some jellybeans and she even gave the bunny a high five. When we were done with that, I brought her to the play area so she could run around for a while. She absolutely loved it, just like last time. Paul hates the play area because there's always a lot of kids and most of them are bigger than Olivia so he was getting pretty nervous. I don't worry because I've seen her get knocked down before, she gets right back up and continues to run around and have fun. We also took her to the pet store and she had a blast in there. She was going wild when she saw the rabbits, she wanted to hug one so bad, she was pressing her face up against the glass. The mall isn't my favorite place to go but it was a really fun day, I'm so glad we took her.

 

Playgroup bully

The last two days have been gloomy, it rained all day today. I took Olivia to playgroup this morning and she was pretty excited about it. When I asked her if she wanted to go, she said "yeah yeah!". She just started saying "yeah" and it's really cute because she usually says it twice. I remember when she first learned how to say cat, she would always say it three times in a row. I was getting a little frustrated at playgroup because she hit three different kids for no reason at all. She never really hit any kids before and especially not without reason. I told her no, I said "Olivia, no hitting!" and I told her to "do nice". We always say that when she hits the cats, she usually listens and then starts petting them. She didn't want to "do nice" to any of her little friends but she did stop hitting when I scolded her (at least for a while). I'm hoping this is just a phase because I don't want her to hurt anyone and it's a little embarrassing for me as well. I don't want her to be a little bully, I want to make sure that she learns that it's unacceptable to hit while she is young. She is still getting over her cold so maybe she isn't completely back to her sweet self yet (ha). Besides the few incidents, she had fun and played nicely. I might switch her to the older class for the next session. The class we are in now is for 12-24 month olds and Liv is 25 months old. I haven't switched her yet because she really loves this class, the other class is for two year olds but all they do is sing songs. She would probably miss the bubbles and marching around with instruments. I guess we can do one more session and then switch, I'll see how it goes during the next few classes. After the class, we had lunch and then we both took a nap. I haven't taken one lately but the rain always gets me. Sleeping while it's raining out is one of my favorite things to do. I just hope that I will be able to fall asleep tonight, napping really screws up my schedule.

Cranky little diva.

She's obsessed with wearing sunglasses lately.

Better speech therapy visit

Olivia has been sick since last week so she's been extra irritable. It's been a long week, I'm pretty much exhausted. On a good note, I think she is starting to feel better and get over her cold. Speech therapy went a lot better today, Olivia was actually in a good mood. She was playing with the therapist and listening to her directions, I was proud of her. After speech therapy, I had a dentist appointment and it was supposed to just be a cleaning but I had a cavity (ugh) so they ended up doing a filling for me. I hate getting dental work done, my mouth was numb for the rest of the night and I do not like that feeling. Anyway, I actually got a lot accomplished today but now I want to crash, it's early for me but I am more than ready for bed!

Library adventure

I took Olivia to the library today and it was quite interesting. There were a few kids there and they all were really sweet. This one little boy kept talking to Liv, he was probably around four years old. He even came up to me and told me that Olivia was so cute. They were playing together for a while and then Liv sat down and was playing with a toy carrot but I guess he wanted it. He told me he really wanted to play with it so I told him to go ask her if she would share. I watched him go over to her and she just ignored him and then put the carrot in her lap. He came running up to me again and said "she doesn't want to share, I asked nicely but she just put it on her penis". I burst out laughing, his mom looked at me from across the room like "oh no, what did he say now". It was so funny, I guess his mom hasn't told him that girls have different parts (trying to keep this G rated). Anyway, Olivia had fun and it's always nice to get out of the house. It's been pretty cold out and it's supposed to snow tomorrow, that seriously bums me out. Tomorrow is the first day of spring, snow is unacceptable!

Left: Sitting at the table like a big girl.

Right: Hiding from me because she didn't want to eat lunch.