She Speaks

It was like the floodgates opened. Abby had tubes put in her ears in mid May due to chronic ear infections. The day after the surgery, Abby really started talking quite a bit. It could have been a coincidence, however, she had so much fluid built up in her ears and had developed a resistance to most antibiotics, that she probably felt like she was under water most of the time. She had a hearing test which was normal except she had some temporary hearing loss which Dr. B expected would be corrected by the surgery.

I should have had the surgery a few months before, however, better late than never. We arrived at the surgery center before 5 AM, Abby was prepped, and we waited for her turn with Dr. B and his team. The pediatric surgery center was first class all the way, and Abby's surgery went off without a hitch. I waited in the waiting room, and before I could even figure out which magazine to read, Dr. B opened the door and told me everything went great, and she would in the recovery room in 5 minutes. The entire time she actually spent in the surgery room was under 20 minutes. Abby came out a little groggy but in a good mood. The nurse took her vitals, gave her some juice, and we were on our way back home by mid morning. Abby did check off another first on her list - First Vomit. No need for details here except to say it was no big deal since she hadn't eaten in about 16 hours. The anesthesia clearly got to her. Other than being a wee bit startled, Abby handled it all with aplomb. It has been smooth sailing for 2 months now with no illnesses or ear infections at all.

Abby went back to school the next day, and a few weeks later at the beginning of June, Abby got moved up into the Early Preschool I classroom. I thought they didn't move her until she turned 2, but the director told me that Abby was "bored" (aka tearing up the joint) and needed more stimulation. Her new class is a lot different with much more structure. I have gone to Abby's school for lunch a few times and watched how the teachers interact with the kids. There are about 14 kids ages 18 months to 2.5 years in her class. Abby truly loves school. She loves playing outside, water play days, movie days, and drawing/coloring especially. She has gotten a few gold stars from her teachers because she is one of the best at putting toys away and cleaning up after meals, painting, etc. Actually, Abby will pick up every piece of trash in her path. I should get her on the payroll at the Parks Department because every time we go to a playground, she must pick up every piece of trash, no matter how small, and throw it away. The hygiene issue aside, it is hard to discourage a born environmentalist!!!

Abby has about 30 words in her vocabulary now. Her favorite words are shoes, baseball, momma, and outside. Her first official sentence with a subject and a verb came on 6/13 when she said "I poo poo!". Ok, maybe not Shakespeare but music to a mother's ears nonetheless. I love that she loves shoes and baseball since they are two of my favorite things as well. She doesn't sit still for much, but she will actually sit still and watch baseball with me. I love it! I can't wait until she is a little older to actually take her to a baseball game in person. They have a great double AA baseball team that plays a few miles from my house, and the experience is extremely kid friendly. We will be regulars at these games next spring/summer.

Abby is still taking music classes every weekend. She really likes it but is much more participatory at home than in class. I think the music teacher freaks her out with her theatrics, but she is a great teacher, and Abby is still benefiting from the class quite a bit. She loves playing the drums and the free dance period especially. We'll probably take a break for a few semesters and sign up for some Little Gym classes. Abby is all about climbing these days. She climbs anything and everything. I wish I was taller because I am like her own personal jungle gym. One of the other kids in her class started climbing on me last week, and Abby did NOT approve. Abby kept pulling the little girls hands off me until she got the message. Kind of ironic because Abby sat on someone last week in an attempt to "play" and promptly got bit by the kid. This is Abby's 5th time to get bit in school (she has not bitten anyone so far). No excuse for the biting, but Abby shouldn't have been sitting on the little girl either and not letting her get up. Can't overreact to these things becuase I know the odds are one day, Abby could be the "biter", and I would want understanding not scorn if that happens.