Well, PHEW and hallelujah, I am done going through archives! There
were a number of months in late 2001 and early 2002 where I wasn't
keeping up with this website, but I wanted to have all of my posts about
Laurel on it, so I spent hours and hours crawling through the
ParentsPlace archives. I ended up adding a couple of other things that
I'd initially left out that were important to me too, like my visit to
my aunt before she died. I wanted to make sure I had everything I wanted
before PP tanked or killed the Nov. 2000 board or something. It's been a
pretty awful job - those weren't good times for either us or the board
in general and the format change made it a royal PITA. But I'm done, I'm
done, I'm done! Now it's not so important to me what happens at PP and I
can do something more fun, like post new pictures! 
Meanwhile, it took Laurel the whole weekend and the beginning of the
week, but she seems to finally be feeling better! I've been feeling flu-ish
myself, though, and I stayed home today but I've got a couple of long
days at work ahead of me. 
Hoping I don't give it to anyone else, though, and maybe we'll all be
better by the weekend!
Two-year-olds with multiple disabilities can still be effective at
getting one off the phone...Last night, during Laurel's last feeding, I
called my mom because we're going up there next weekend and I wanted to
talk to her about what Bob's eating these days (since he's on Atkins - I
think he's lost about 13 lbs so far 
) before she went to the store. During the feeding, Laurel pulled her
tube out, not once, not twice, but three times. The valve on her button
has failed again so that means dropping everything to quick get the tube
back in and mop up the mess before it runs too far. *Finally* the
feeding ended - but once I got her tube unplugged she started to cry!
And she cried louder and louder until I finally had to hang up because
my mom and I couldn't hear each other any more. The *moment* I hung up
she stopped crying. I'm convinced that the whole production was just
aimed at getting me off the phone, and I was pretty mad at her but
couldn't really think how to punish her. Although she wasn't too
thrilled at having her pajamas changed, which she had to because they
were soaked. I still sat with her till she finally settled enough to be
put to bed (which took forever) but didn't do anything with her, I just
read.
Anyway, although I tend to be perversely proud of her when she acts like a 2-year-old, at the same time I think I need to nip this in the bud - suggestions welcome!
Looking for books, videos etc. on a simple level about fall...Laurel
is so much more attentive when we talk to her about things these days
than she used to be, that for the first time we are really trying hard
to explain things to her like seasons and holidays and stuff. Probably a
lot of stuff that you guys started way back when - I didn't use to feel
like she'd get it, but now I really think she might. Only, my
explanatory abilities are not that great (especially since she can't ask
questions when I'm making no sense whatsoever 
). Mostly, I swear the kid is looking at me like I'm nuts when I try to
explain fall! Do you have any books, videos, etc. that you'd recommend
to help me out here? (Stuff about Halloween would be good too.) Thanks!
We're feeling discouraged about transitioning Laurel to more solids through her tube...(a bit gross)
She threw up twice on Sunday and then again this morning. We have so far (per the dietitian's instructions) added in 1/2 cup of oatmeal, 1 jar of pureed fruit (we're using pears) and 1/2 TBSP of canola oil (and subtracted about 7 oz of formula). At first we thought it was going all right, but now we're getting worried. If she can't tolerate this, maybe we'll never get her off formula and the tube! On the other hand, she's been on Amoxicillin for a week and a half now so maybe that's making her stomach touchy. On the other other hand, the Amox is not giving her diarrhea (actually, the food is making her poops the most solid they've ever been) so maybe it's not really affecting her. Ack! We are going to stick it out at least till we're past the Amox, but we're feeling down and could use some no-barf vibes here.
I called the dietitian and she said to go back to the last thing she tolerated (which would be the formula + cereal) and stay there until a day or two after she's gone off the Amoxicillin. I'll let you know how it goes!
So far so good...
I just don't know how much longer I can take the humiliation at work. Today I asked my boss if I could *please* stop recording what I do with all my time - I had been told I'd have to do it for a month or two, and it's been three. But I was told no, because the money to pay me was hard-won (never mind that I won a lot of it myself) and he has to be sure he's getting the most bang for his buck! I also got a lecture in courtesy - apparently it was incredibly rude of me to just let the secretary know when I was sick last week like I have for the past 9.5 years, I was supposed to call him personally and tell him. Especially since he's done me this huge favor by allowing me to work 30 hours a week when the money's not there (never mind that the money IS there, I thought one of my supervisors and I had convinced him of that). Apparently that's just a trial for 3-4 weeks anyway to see if I can bring my productivity up! I'm thinking what this amounts to is, I haven't spent enough time on the only project I've been assigned to that he cares about - never mind that there were other things with more pressing deadlines. So, I guess I know what I have to do in the next few weeks to keep my job. If only I actually wanted it at this point. The thing is, once in a while I get away from the office and back more to the sort of thing I used to do and I remember why I used to like this job. But right now I'm really wishing for another way to pay for the van...thanks for listening to me vent again...
So Laurel threw up at school again today and got sent home. Bob was
attempting to work at home, so now he's not. 
I have two meetings I have to go to, one an hour out of town, so I can't
leave early.
She was doing so well, too. We had cut back to formula + oatmeal like
the dietitian said and she was in a great mood and doing fine barf-wise
Tuesday afternoon and evening and all day yesterday. But she threw up a
small amount this morning (not very much, more like a couple of
spit-ups) and now this. We are going to go back to straight formula for
now, and today is her last day of Amoxicillin. Which I'm not totally
sure it should be - she's still coughing a bit. But I kind of feel like
her stomach needs a rest. I think I may call her ped tomorrow (today's
her day off) and discuss it with her, we're going to Pittsburgh for four
days though and would really just as soon not have to clean vomit out of
the car. 
I have to call her tomorrow anyway though to see if we can get another
copy of the summary she did on Laurel for the school, we're taking
Laurel for a functional vision assessment on Tuesday (the reason for the
trip) and they'd like some medical records. I don't think they want the
two books' worth the hospital has on her, though.
Guess we could use some more no-barf vibes...
[In response to a post about lying]
Laurel can't exactly lie, but she's a champ at pretending to be too
tired when asked to do something she doesn't want to do (therapy, say).
You can tell it's pretense because as soon as the threat is gone she's
wide awake again. Or, if she decides that maybe it would be an
interesting thing to do after all (apparently yesterday for her OT she
was "conking out" before she even really knew what she was
being asked to do) she'll also "wake up" again. I don't think
she learned this from anyone else - just demonstrating a fine grasp of
cause and effect. 
Rochelle (who needs to write a big ol' update on Laurel's vision eval, IEP, etc., in her copious spare time)
So we wait all this time for our Toyota Sienna...even having to wait
an extra week (a van came in a week ago) because the dealership was
having a big tent sale over at the mall and they were too preoccupied
with that to deal with vans they already had buyers for. Note that I
said *a* van. Because when we finally went to pick it up today, it
wasn't the van we wanted after all! Well, it was the right color and had
everything we wanted except...it was an 8-passenger van instead of a
7-passenger. Apparently the salesperson had forgotten to specify that
little detail. We *really* didn't like the 8-passenger van so we are not
going to take this one. Instead, the salesguy arranged a swap with
another dealership so we are supposed to get one in our second-choice
color tomorrow (our first-choice color would take another month). ARGH. 
OK, I know, there are really much much bigger problems in the world, but
given how long we've waited couldn't they at least have freakin' GOT IT
RIGHT?
We have a van! They got the one from the other dealership even faster than they expected, so we were able to go this morning and get it. It took almost three hours - I swear it didn't take that long the last time we bought a car! (Although we probably spent half an hour waiting for them to deal with a printer problem.) Anyway, we like it! I actually like the green color about as well as the light blue, although it would still be my second choice because now we have two green vehicles with tan interiors. It didn't come with floor mats like the other one, but for our trouble they've ordered us free ones along with a free cargo net and first-aid kit. OK, not much, but the market for Siennas is still really hot so I wasn't expecting much - at least they realized they owed us something!
So, I have it now. Bob's not allowed to drive it to work until we get
the floor mats, because they're putting an addition on to his building
and the parking lot's really muddy. Works for me.
Although honestly, I was a nervous wreck driving it here, and I parked
like a total dork with like 6-7 attempts before I was sure I was OK.
It's definitely a wee bit different than driving an Escort. It has so
many little features and cubbyholes and stuff though, I think we'll have
a lot of fun playing with it!