Merlin

We walked to 'Old McDonald's' this evening so that Elise could play at the playground there. On our way, she saw a Merlin Muffler sign. This was our conversation:

Me: Elise, do you see the man with the bubble beard?
Elise: Wow. He's strong.
Paul: Why is that?
Elise: Because he's wearing a birthday hat. It has one, two, three, four stars on it.

Hmmm. I didn't realize that birthday hats make people strong. Good observation.

The Greats

Elise and Julia's great aunts...."Rhonda the Great" and "Gail the Great" stopped by for a visit on Tuesday evening. What a treat, especially considering that Rhonda just happened to be in the Chicago area for a conference! Thanks for coming to see us!

Visit to Michigan

Last week, my sister Errin arrived by bus from St. Paul for a week's stay. She was brave enough to drive home to Michigan with me, Elise and Julia. If I remember correctly, it may have actually been her idea. After the whole hospital fiasco, I wasn't sure if it would be a good idea, but it was one of the few weekends where we'd be able to visit with lots of family so we took a chance. We left on Thursday afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning. Here are some pictures from our visit:


Julia met her Grandpa K for the first time. As you can tell, Grandpa loves his grandbabies. The two of them got along beautifully.




Elise had a fabulous time playing in Grandma and Grandpa's gravel path, watering Grandma's flowers, playing in the frigid baby pool water and walking around in Grandma's hot pink pumps. Very stylish, especially with only swim bottoms on.


Julia met 2 of 3 great-grandmothers. They were both so excited to see the girls....and Elise was happy to see them too. It amazes me that Elise remembers so much, like the fact that Great Grandma has cookies in the bottom drawer in her kitchen and that she keeps the toys in the basement (though I think Errin had more fun playing with them than Elise did).


We went to my cousin Elizabeth's high school graduation open house too. I didn't realize that my Uncle Paul had kept our coming a secret, so my Aunt Kathy and cousins Liz and Lauren were very surprised.


During the open house festivities, Elise had a 'ball' playing with Grandpa....and I was able to catch it on camera. It'll be a good reminder for her when we visit next time that he's not as scary as she thinks ;>)

Happy to Be Home

Well, we made it home. Julia was released from the hospital around 5:00 this afternoon. After blood tests, urine tests, a spinal tap, 2 EKGs, an EEG, a CT, and an echocardiogram, doctors were unable to determine the cause of her apparent seizure. This is a good news/bad news situation....good news in that every test she was given turned out normal but bad in that we have no idea why the seizure occured.

At the advice of the pediatrician at the hospital, now we have to try to get back to 'normal', though I don't know if I'll ever be able to do that completely. It'll be hard not to constantly look over my shoulder to make sure that Julia is okay. What a wake up call this experience has been!

We are thrilled to be home. Thank you for all of your phone calls, thoughts and prayers.

Connected

Julia's been hooked up to every possible machine to check her heart, brain waves and breathing. Her right arm is in a split to keep the IV and monitors in place and left foot glows red like Rudolph's nose along with having her baby LoJack.

Her hair is sticking up (more than normal) because of the glue they had to use for the EEG.


If that isn't enough, the hospital is afraid that she's going to try to escape, which would make sense based on what she's going through, so they use cages for cribs.

She's handled everything well, but will be happy to go home.

On the lighter side, Aunt Ernie and Elise have been staying entertained and having fun at the hospital...

'ists

Julia saw the neurologist a couple of hours ago and everything looks normal. We were relieved because this indicates she'll remain a White Sox fan. He wants to see her in 4-6 weeks to confirm that this is the case.

Since just about the only type of doctor Julia hasn't seen is an ophthalmologist, the neurologist decided that s/he shouldn't be left out, so Julia's eyes will be checked out tomorrow. They're also throwing in a cardiologist for good measure because one of the other 'ists thought she heard a heart murmur. (I guess this isn't something to worry about unless it persists for another few weeks.) We hope that the hospital is having its buy a doctor get one free summer sale.

Ambulance Ride

To celebrate Julia's six week birthday, she decided to take an ambulance ride. Around 4:30 pm yesterday, she woke up from a nap with what appears to have been a seizure. Laura called 911 and they took her to the hospital. She's had every test possible and then some (CT scan, EEG, blood work, spinal tap and a XYZ ASAP) and done really well despite being hooked up to lots of cords. We're still waiting to get the results of the EEG, but the others have not indicated any issues. The doctors are planning to watch her one more night and she should return home sometime tomorrow.

Week 6 in Review

Another quick week has passed, though I've thought some days would never end. Julia continues to eat, sleep and poop....and cry. We seem to have a really good day, followed by a more challenging one. I'm so grateful for the good days! Her eating pattern is stretching out some, usually every 3-4 hours, rather than every 2-3. This is particularly nice during the early nighttime hours when she'll sleep from 9 (give or take an hour) until 1ish. We're still trying to figure out how to help her sleep peacefully past 4:45-5:00 a. She'll wake up really fussy then and sleeps on and off fitfully after that. If anyone has any ideas, I'm happy to take them!

Happy Father's Day

For Father's Day, we headed for Lake Michigan for a morning of swimming and digging in the sand. Because of the hot, hot weather, we left early in the morning (9ish) and arrived at the Lake Ave. beach around 9:30. Perfect timing before it got too crowded.

We had a great time! Elise loved the sand and by the end, she was up to her neck in the water. Julia took a relaxing nap in her car seat in the shade. Paul took a ton of pictures, splashed around in the water with Elise and even managed to get a slight sunburn (even though I reminded him to put on sunscreen). Elise and I built a sandcastle and dug some holes to fill with water, all the while trying to avoid the thousands of cicadas lining the shore. Yuck!

Briscoe's Tail

Elise has been getting more and more into make-believe play lately. She's taking good care of her baby doll, feeding her and putting her to bed. But what's funniest is that for the last 2 weeks, she's been walking around with her left fist closed. If you ask her what's in her hand, she'll tell you that she has Briscoe's tail.

Elise 'stole' Briscoe's tail a couple of weeks ago when we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa S (they are graciously keeping Briscoe for us until we figure out life with 2 kids). She often talks about how Briscoe is sad because she has her tail, but washes it, takes it to the playground and gives it to Mama or Daddy to hold in their pocket when she needs to use both hands. It gives us lots of giggles, but also causes some conflict (like when Elise won't put it down when it's time to wash her hands). Funny girl.