handsful

TWO hairbows!  We’re still struggling with “Miss Grabby Hands” – as we like to call her – snatching them out of her hair in the blink of an eye. 

It’s been a while since I’ve done a “what Lainey can do now” kind of post.  And, since we now have an official two year old in the house, I figured this would be a good time.  At her 2nd well check-up, here are her stats:

• weight: 27.9 lbs. 65th percentile, American chart; 95th percentile, Chinese chart (about 1lb. less than Abbey at 2yrs.)
• height:  34.5 ” 70th percentile, American chart; 85th percentile, Chinese chart (same height as Marley at 2yrs.)
• head circumference:  19″ 69th percentile, American chart

Signs she uses regularly –

• more, eat, all done, shoes, want, drink, milk, bird, book, mama, daddy, Abbey, Payton (we’re working on Marley and Ethan), Lainey, please, ball, light, go (which, means anything with wheels, like her cozy coupe), balloon, dirty, and fish.  Swim in a new sign that she’s learning. 

Words she’s saying  –

• eye, mama, daddy (rhymes with mama – yaya), no (not the “n”, but just an “o” sound), more (sounds like “mu”), yes (“eh”), and bye (sounds like “my”)

What else is she doing?

• she can point to named objects in a book when we say, for example, where is the dog?
• she can follow commands, like go get your shoes or throw the diaper away
• she says “mama” when she wants me to pick her up.
• she growls (which sounds like she’s clearing her throat!) when she wants her tiger stuffed animal.
• she can say what a dog (she pants), kitty, and monkey says.
• she still loves all kinds of food.
• she loves playing with her stuffed animals…favorites now are tiger, baby tiger, puppy, and lion.
• she still climbs anything and everything…anything resembling a step stool (pack of water bottles, wipes box) becomes one. 
• she loves books, although rarely has the attention span for us to read one to her. 
• She now will take you by the hand, and pull you to where she wants to go/what she wants if she can’t get it across to you in signs or speech. 
• She still sleeps like a dream…in bed around 8:30 and up around 7:30.  Nap is still usually 2 hours. 
• She LOVES the pool and has zero fear.  A good and potentially bad thing, so we plan to teach her to swim soon! 
• she learned how to hold her own nose and blow raspberries…very ladylike, don’t you think?

We brought back a lot of these crackers that she loved in China, and she still loves them.  Let me tell you, they’re icky.  Very salty and strong tasting! 

Now for the bad news.  A week ago Sunday, we looked in Lainey’s mouth and saw a hole in her palate.  We have no idea how it got there, or how long it’s been there.  So, she’ll have to undergo another surgery sometime in the next 6 months – 1 year to close it.  They want to make sure that she is totally healed from the first surgery.  We were very bummed about this to begin with, but we always knew there was a chance that a fistula would develop.  We’ve heard that they are more common in older children, 2 and up also.  So, we’ll deal with this bump in the road and obviously do whatever is needed.  She’s worth the trouble :) 

A couple of random pictures…this was taken the night before they turned 10.  It’s a tradition that I take the kid’s pictures on the night before their birthday. 

A while ago, Gram and Pa-Paul sent a huge box of goodies…here the kids are going through all the loot.  They loved it! 

Yes, the obligatory “stairs” picture!  For some reason, that’s the place for group photos in this house.  This is my parents with their five grandchildren.  I’m an only child, and since we never intended on having more than 2 or 3 kids (God sure did change our minds…), they’re thrilled to have so many!

Granpa was really entertaining Lainey, making her laugh her little head off. 

And, granma was equally fun…here, Lainey is trying her best to steal her watch. 

We really enjoyed our time together…the girls went shopping (the guys stayed home so Lainey could nap), we all went out to eat, grilled out steaks and chicken, went swimming in the pool, were lazy during an afternoon thunderstorm, and finally took a trip to our local museum of science and history…here are pictures of that!

A, M, P, and E and L in her snazzy pink stroller

I love this picture!  Randy stood on the other side of the cage, so he could get Marley posing with one of her fav kinds of animals.  I think they’re both smiling!!

Payton, the cool big brother that he is, shows his little sis the fish! 

The museum had an exhibit called “Giant Insects”.  They weren’t kidding, these things were HUGE and had very life-like movements.  Lainey was freaked and only wanted me to hold her…until Granpa rescued her by taking her out in the hall! 

Payton and Ethan do a good imitation of fighting stag beetles!

They had a section that was a visual timeline of Florida history, which this homeschool mom enjoyed very much.  Abbey is really into the Little House series of books right now (she’s read all of them, and is now starting the Rose Years books).  So, she had to pose in front of this scene.  :)

This sign was in a room displaying the movies that have been made in Jacksonville throughout history…too funny. 

There was a beautiful fountain just down from the museum, so we stopped to see it.  Lainey loved feeling the mist coming off of it. 

A few more steps, and we were at the river…so, more pictures. 

Thanks for the wonderful time!  We’ll see you again in August :)

 

No room for their full names!  Oh, the injustices of being triplets…

With a two-day break from Lainey’s 2nd birthday, we were on to celebrate Marley, Payton, and Ethan’s 10th birthday on 7/7!  We opened presents after lunch, and then waited for Lainey to finish her nap AND for their friends to arrive so we could head to Adventure Landing Waterpark! 

Marley enjoying the half pipe ride.  Looks nice and relaxing, huh?  See her daddy on the same ride, with a wider view…

Yeah, like you could ever get me on this!?  You start out sliding down a REALLY steep hill on the other side.  All the kids (big and little) loved it. 

More my speed.  Lainey and I enjoy the wave pool.  Don’t be jealous of my deep, dark tan. 

Payton looks a little apprehensive here…wonder what this looks like in full view? 

Yowza!  An enclosed waterslide leads straight to this potty-looking contraption, where you go around and around until you fall in the hole at the bottom.  Sign me up…never.  Ethan, on the other hand, looks quite relaxed. 

Time for pizza and cake!  That’s Jon in the background, our good friend (and Emily and Julianna’s dad) who came to help us control the kids! 

Blowing out candles…they consented to only having 10, rather than 30 ;)  That’s E at the head of the table and P with his back to us.  Not our best photo to date. 

It was a great party!  The weather had predicted 70% chance of rain in that area.  It was sunny and beautiful…whew!  I can hardly believe my little preemie babies are 10.  They’re such awesome kids and we’re blessed to be their parents.  Love you, Marls, Pate, and EJ!   

Lainey, on the morning of her 2nd birthday, July 4, 2008.  She was greeted by very smiley parents and the flash of a camera.  She has momma and baby tiger both tucked safely under each arm. 

She was then whisked to the breakfast table for cinnamon muffins and blueberry cream oatmeal.  She loves using her own spoon to feed herself now…we delayed teaching her that prior to surgery, knowing it would only make it more frustrating for her when she couldn’t feed herself.  Clean up is a little more of a challenge, but our dog Jack is happy to help out if I miss something on the floor. 

Every birthday girl has to look her best for cake and presents, so we gave her a relaxing bath.  Don’t worry, pouring water over her head is her favorite part of the bath…she asks for “mo” (more!) over and over. 

Dressed and hair-bowed, she was ready for some presents!  Here’s something I bet you’ve never heard of…a two year old who is compelled to throw away, in the trash can, every single piece of paper that she pulls off the present.  We ended up bringing a trashcan in the room, to speed things up! 

Lainey do you like your new cozy coupe car?  I think she does.  We also got her a tricycle with a handle that we can turn to help her steer (great find at a consignment shop, actually!), a toddler computer toy, a Lainey-sized patio chair, and a shape sorter. 

She tried very hard to blow out her candles, but she just hasn’t mastered blowing through her mouth yet.  She either ends up blowing through her nose or sputtering through her mouth.  She’ll get it eventually, until then big sister Abbey helped her blow them out. 

She began tasting her cake, very daintily.  You can’t see it, but her bib is embroidered with “Lainey” under the cupcake.  A wonderful, online friend surprised us with her handiwork last week.  Thank you again, Kelly! 

Then, she started to enjoy herself. 

She usually hates to get her hands messy, but she made an exception…just this time. 

Switching gears to July 4th…we all dressed up and went to Jon and Anne’s house for a cook-out.  Despite Lainey missing her nap, she had a blast.  She kept Randy in the pool for over an hour, we had to get her out by promising her food!  Even though it was only her 3rd time ever in a pool, she was jumping in forwards AND backwards and the higher Randy tossed her the more she laughed.  She had the whole crowd smiling. 

Happy Birthday, Lainey.  We love you more than we thought possible.  God has given us a gift we are so unworthy of…you.  If only we could let your birthmother know how much you are loved. 

Lainey and Dr. Glassman

Lainey had her 5 week post-op visit today and all is well.  No more follow-ups, she’s been given clearance to swim, use sippy cups, try straws, etc.  Woo hoo!  He said the repair looks great.  Our next step will be to monitor her speech development…she could need another surgery depending on how that progresses.  If not, then the next surgery will be when she’s around 4 or 5, to revise her lip and nose repair.  Between now and then, she’ll be monitored regularly by the cleft palate clinic.

Tomorrow is the big day!  TWO!