Outing

We finally feel a little more comfortable to take Lizzie a few places. The doctors said that this would be alright for us to do as long as we avoid big crowds. So, for the first time since she was born, we took Lizzie on an outing. We went to the Arboretum, and she was almost overwhelmed with trying to take it all in. She kept pointing and asking us, in her Lizzie way, what everything was. It was really neat to take her out for fun to someplace other than a doctors office.

First Haircuts

Both girls got their hair cut for the very first time. Ms. Deborah, Lizzie's favorite nurse, used to be a hairdresser. We fed Becca candy and sang songs with her to get her to hold still.

Brown-Eyed Girls

Lizzie now wears an eye patch two hours every day to help strengthen her left eye. The doctor told us that we will need to do this for about four months. After that time, she will need surgery to help correct the muscles in her eyes. Right now, the muscles in her eyes don't work in unison. She looks through one eye, and the opposite one crosses while it is not being used. She sometimes switches back and forth between which eye she uses, but she mostly favors her right one.

When the doctor initially used the word "surgery," my heart sank. This is not one that we were planning on. We knew that she would eventually need surgery to correct her clubbed right foot, but we had no clue about an eye surgery. However, it should be a quick one, and minor in comparison to the surgeries we have survived in the past. We will trust the Lord for this.

Baby Babble

When Becca was smaller she would lay in her bed in the mornings and just babble to herself. David and I would wake up to the sound of her sweet little voice as we heard it through the moniter. It was so cute.

Lizzie, on the other hand, does not have access to her vocal chords until I put a special valve on the end of her trach to allow her to speak. I've really missed hearing the sweet sounds of her little voice through her moniter in the mornings. Lizzie is also pretty speech delayed due to the decreased opportunity she has to practice talking.

However, she is a smart little girl, and she has done a really good job of picking up on sign language. She has about 8 or so words she can sign. They are mommy, daddy, more, please, eat, bird, music, her version of "I love you" and "wash hands" and "praise the Lord". She also points a lot for us to tell her the names of things. There are a few other word signs we are working on like thank you, dog, and help. And all of those are in addition to clapping, folding her hands to pray, pretending to suction our "trach" or feeding us a bottle, tickling us or herself, playing peek-a-boo, and blowing kisses.

Then yesterday afternoon I was sitting on the floor with both girls to play with them. Lizzie suddenly turns to me, holds out her arms, and starts randomly but intentionally wiggling her fingers and hands around. It was sign language baby babble! I wanted to cry. It didn't need a voice. It was music to my heart.

A Blessing From God

Becca caught a terrible cold with a cough this week. I’ve spent the past several nights up and down with her to give her cough medicine and to try to get the coughing fits to stop.

My next immediate concern was for Lizzie. If she caught Becca’s cough, it would mean a lot of vomiting, first of all, and a potential trip to the hospital with a respiratory infection. I tried to keep the two girls separate from each other the best that I could, but they are sisters and they love each other very much.

A day or two later Lizzie started showing symptoms of an oncoming cold. The pessimist in me thought, “Well, here we go.” However, the Lord had a different plan. Lizzie has a head cold!

Now, you tell me. How does a child with a trach and a sister with a cough end up with a head cold? That is almost unheard of, or as David said, “That is a true blessing from God.”