Artsy Audrey & A Health Update (for her and for me)
A friend told me recently that she could tell Audrey has an artistic talent. This friend teaches her at Sunday School and has noticed that Audrey can color in the lines with precision but also creates patterns on the Bible characters' clothing and the like. She told me that you can tell Audrey to draw something and she will be able to draw it and you will be able to tell pretty well what it is. I wonder if I should enroll her in art classes next......?
Here are some of Audrey's art pieces of late:
Left: Mommy, Audrey, and Daddy standing on some dirt. "I am holding a special treat and Mommy is holding a wig for me to wear." Right: Audrey and I painted this one together. She started with the ballerina in the middle, some grass and the sunflower. Then she wanted to draw an apple tree so we painted those together - mine on the right, hers on the left. I asked her what she wanted me to paint next and she told me to paint a fairy while she painted the sun. After I painted the fairy and told her it was Tinkerbell, she asked me to paint Vidia (a fairy from the Tinkerbell movies). Then I helped her paint some clouds and the rest of the sky.
Left: This is a dry erase board. Audrey drew a camel with two humps, an apple tree, grass and flowers, the sun and sky, and some raindrops. Right: Daddy/Daughter chalk art. They started with the monsters and then Audrey drew them in the sky. She asked Jeff to draw her and him and then she drew the ground and grass. The little blob to the right of them is Audrey's intretation of her preschool. She told me this is Audrey and Daddy going to preschool with monsters watching and a lion. (Daddy drew the lion)
This is preschool art! Left: Fireworks, "A spider on a spider web climbing a tree," and even though it say "What makes you happy? When Justin plays with me," she told us at Back to School Night that that picture is her playing with Daddy. (I'm not sure if you can tell, but she is really into giving her people plaid shirts!) Right: Audrey's name traced and then "What is your favorite..." She was the only kid who has five favorite colors - that hasn't changed since she turned three! And she ALWAYS says them in that order. The toy giraffe is her stuffed animal she got at the LA Zoo with Papa and Gramma back when she was just a year and a half. So special! Mac n Cheese was no surprise. When she says "Audrey books" she is talking about the yearly books I make her on Shutterfly. She has one for each year, plus some summer and Christmas editions. I love that my daughter's favorite place is McDonald's as opposed to the rest of her class saying Legoland or Disneyland. McDonald's I can afford! ;-)
I love my daughter so much. This past week going back to work was HARD. I had a big project left unfinished due to my emergency and when I returned, I was really under the gun to get it done. On Monday, I made the mistake of riding my bike for 35 minutes, doing some weight-lifting, and the plank before heading off to work. Then I was running around all day at work. I got a terrible headache - worse than normal. That headache lasted through Wednesday. That evening, I got results from my lab work. My blood count was still below normal. Duh. Why did I push myself so hard that first day? The headache was definitely related to my body not being fully restored from all that loss of blood the week before. I haven't exercised since Monday but have made an effort to at least move enough to get 10,000 steps each day.... except Friday. I had to sit and plan out a staff development presentation for Monday.
So anyway, I have a follow up appointment with an OB doctor on Wednesday. I'm still spotting (going on two weeks....!) but no more headaches. Life goes on but it's hard. My darling daughter and my family and close friends make everything so much more bearable!
On Sunday (before going back to work), I wanted to get out of the house since I hadn't left it for the past three days in a row. It was too hot to go to a park so we went to Ontario Mills and milled around for a few hours. We looked at jewelry at H&M, had pretzel bites from Wetzel Pretzel, went to the Disney Store where Audrey picked out a set of 101 Dalmation character figuerines, went to the LEGO store where Audrey built some LEGO people, and I bought some new shorts (to replace the ones I ruined...) from American Eagle Outfitters. Then we had a (very) early dinner at Rainforest Cafe.
The last time I tried to take Audrey to Rainforest Cafe, she cried during the rainstorm and just couldn't calm down so we left. This time, we eased her back in to going to this one. She looked at the alligator out front and noticed that "even the babies aren't scared!" Then we went inside and went to the gift shop and did this funny photo. Then we went in to eat and she was fine. I think it helped that Jeff was there. She hopped right in to his lap when the rainstorm started but no crying - just quiet observation. Jeff and I realized that Audrey tends to go to us for different needs. If she's hurt, she'll cry for Mommy. If she's scared, she'll cry for Daddy. It's pretty cute (but can also be frustrating if the one she needs is unavailable... Daddy can't seem to comfort if she's hurt and Mommy can't seem to comfort if she's scared....). All in all, we had a GREAT time!
Right: Rainforest Cafe. Left: Audrey slept in late on Thursday so I sent her an "I Love You" text message from work.
I LOVED the picture I got back and wasn't expecting it! It just made my day!!!
Update on Audrey's health: Skin & BM
I don't think I mentioned that we went to the pediatrician on September 4th for her 4-year-old check up. But before that, I took her in during the first part of the summer because of her skin condition. I had taken her to Higginbotham Park and watched her play. She lasted about 3 minutes before she started itching her arms like crazy. When I went to intervene, I noticed that her skin was raised with little white circles. I had seen this once before when we were at the Pasadena Nazarene Church's Easter Egg Hunt. All of that was outside, including a bounce house. She had a similar reaction under her arms. Something wasn't right. No amount of lotion helped, especially in the moment.
So I took photos of her skin at Higginbotham and went in to the pediatrician. (Remember we had impetigo earlier in the year? The raised white circles looked different from impetigo but concerning enough to warrant a visit.) The ped immediately prescribed allergy medicine. Audrey was having reactions to her environment, to being outside. How uncomfortable for her! I felt so bad I didn't bring it up sooner. We got the allergy medicine and she takes it every morning. I've continued using lotion from Arbonne - a fellow parent at Audrey's daycare recommended it for us:
With the medicine and the lotion, Audrey's skin cleared right up within the week! Now she is soft and clear of blemishes. Finally! I am so glad we got that taken care of.
Now on to the other issue. Poop. Audrey keeps having accidents in her underwear. It's not as bad as before - she doesn't take full on dumps in her pants but she gets smears big enough to warrant throwing the pair of underwear away... So I brought this up with the ped. It was the second time we talked about it. The first time was last year around end of May or beginning of June. He prescribed Miralax. When we used it then, it gave her the runs worse than before. That meant more dirty underwear for me to clean so I stopped giving it to her. Oops. Big mistake. Audrey's problem is actually constipation and holding it in too long. When she actually goes, her poop is so big, it clogs whatever toilet she is sitting on. At first I thought it was just our toilet at our house and we had bad plumbing. But no. It's happened at preschool, at her grandparents' houses, and even at our hotel in Tucson. Definitely not just our toilet... Audrey's internal plumbing is the problem. So we started the Miralax again and once again, Audrey keeps getting smears...
Here's the big change both Jeff and I are making. I googled "my four year old still poops her pants" and read several message boards of parents having the exact same problem as us. Some of them have it for their 5 and 6-year-olds too! I read about Encopresis - uncontrollable soiling of the pants. My doctor didn't diagnose Audrey as having that. He simply warned me to get this under control before it becomes a social situation. He told me it's just bad habits that have formed.
I'm actually glad he said that because that means a habit has formed that needs to be changed. Habits for ALL of us. Audrey was holding it because she didn't want to stop playing to go potty (not sure why she stops to go pee but not poop...). She may also be self-conscious about going poop on the potty because one of the first times she pooped in the potty, she clogged it, and I freaked out. But also lately, Jeff and I have been really loosing our temper with her soiled underwear. She's let little ones out in the bath too, which sends me in a rage because that means she bathed in contaminated water and the effort it takes to clean both the bathtub and her... ugh. If she has an accident at preschool, I lecture her all the way home about how embarrassing that is for Mommy. :( I feel awful about our behavior as parents. We need to change our habits.
Also online, I read that these kids stayed on Miralax for up to three months. It takes that long for the colon to heal, is what multiple people said (not doctors but parents who have gone through the whole experience). That was really good for me to read. I think the first time I thought Miralax would be a quick fix. Nope. I need to be patient with the medicine, NOT GIVE UP, and wait for Audrey's body to heal. Patience... Patience... Patience....
Thankfully, her teacher in her new class empathizes 100% with both of Audrey's conditions (skin and poop). Her own daughter went through both of those things. So the teacher is SUPER patient and supportive of us and Audrey. After Back to School Night and after reading about how other moms are dealing (or not dealing) with their older kids still pooping their pants, something just clicked in me. Why was I loosing my patience with Audrey? Why was I sternly lecturing her? This wasn't her fault. She didn't know any better. We need to fix this and that takes time. Patience... Patience... Patience...
In fact, when I went to pick up Audrey on that particular day, she had an accident at preschool. I just told her "we'll try on the potty when we get home" and nothing more. When she was on the potty at home, she had another smear in her underwear. I didn't say anything and just got her changed. After a few moments, Audrey looked at me with a surprised expression and said, "Mommy, are you not mad at me?" I told her I wasn't mad but just sad that her tummy was hurting her. I told her that her medicine is making her tummy all better and it was going to take time. I told her she needs to get used to trying to go poop every day and to listen to her body and try to get the poop in the toilet. It was all very positive. Sometimes she used to yell at me that she "JUST CAN'T!!!!" go potty. So when I was calm this time, she was calm. She stayed on the potty for a little while, entertaining herself with books, and when I checked in and asked if she felt a poop coming and she said no, I simply said, "That's enough trying for now." "OK Mommy." No tears. No frustration. That's how it's supposed to be. [Making a mental note in case I ever have to go through this with a second child...and also making a mental note in case this persists past the 3-4 months - I MUST NOT LOOSE PATIENCE!!!!]
So the poop situation isn't completely healed but I feel like we are moving in the right direction. I have to be okay with spending money on new underwear or spending time cleaning the soiled ones. I have to be okay with accidents at home and preschool. I have to be okay with the fact that this will take TIME and no amount of yelling or lecturing will speed up the process. Patience... Patience... Patience...