A Thousand Points of Cuteness

 Point of Cuteness 1 - Presleigh hard at work perfecting the Jedi-mind-trick:

This morning, amidst the playing, she looked over at Mommy and suggested "Pway cards, Mommy?".

Mommy clarified "Do you want to play cards with Mommy?"

Presleigh replied, as if it was Mommy's suggestion all along: "Okay, Mommy." [Subtext: "Great idea, Mommy. Glad you thought of it..."]

Point of Cuteness 2 - Potty Training Milestone

For context, sometimes two year olds take immediate interest in potty training, the novelty of it wears off, and they just default back to the ease and simplicity of diaper use. Presleigh has her little training potty in the bathroom next to the big potty. But, she also has a step stool we use to help her up to the big potty only when we're trying to reinforce proper potty etiquette and only when she's being supervised by an adult. (To which she usually puts up a straight arm and a talk-to-the hand and commands "be back". She's kicking you out for some privacy when she does that.)

Was that a fairly couth way of putting it?

Great. From this point, tact evades us.

Today, Mommy and Papa were feeding and changing the twins while Presleigh eased off into the shadows for long enough to set off Papa's "She's Too Quiet" alarm. As Papa set out on a search and rescue mission, Presleigh came running (naked, of course) out of the bathroom to announce "poopie in the potty!" It turns out Presleigh not only decided to go to the bathroom on her own, but did her thing in the big people potty... with no help from the step stool.

Impressive. Well done, little lady!

Point of Cuteness 3 - "You okay?"

It's fun to try to predict what new verbal invention may come out of the mouth of a two year old. They're constantly refining their words, forming partial sentences, and stringing sensible phrases together in amazing collages of proper communication. Last week, Presleigh got a boo-boo. No surprise there.

Cue the tears and sympathy cry...

As the water works and sound effects kicked in, Papa asked "You okay, Presleigh?"

Presleigh's reply, a cry-coated "Yeah, mokay." Utter adorableness, packaged in a 2 year old child's body.

Recovery Update

Presleigh's made a fantastic recovery and has even returned to her favorite playground shenanigans, visits with Miss Paula, and (thanks to a one month scholarship) even Mother's Morning Out! We're thrilled that she's back to her usual self - full on or full off!!! Recently, she visited the Marietta fair with a family friend and even got a new babysitter (who Mommy gives two enthusiastic thumbs up).

Mommy's needed some relief and we're glad that it came in the form of an affordable, trustworthy babysitter. It also came in the form of a great, new (to us) stroller. See, when Papa's out at work, it's hard for Mommy to just pack up the van and go with three kids, two and under, especially if that means trying to push a twin stroller and the Presleigh stroller, right? So, Papa did some digging on Craigslist and found a used Baby Jogger triplet stroller for sale, cheap, reduced, and eventually free... What?! With some washing up of the liner, a couple replacement parts from the manufacturer and (soon) four new tires to replace the bald, leaky ones, it'll be as good as... used.

But, heck, free?

Well, Presleigh thought it was a cool stroller, but she wasn't to excited about getting into it the other day. With a little coaxing, Papa loaded all three into the blue bomber and went for a run around the neighborhood. Alright, more of a walk-jog. He ain't running 10 minute miles while pushing that thing around, you know? Well, after a brief hobble around the hood, the foursome arrived back home only to see the "no WIKE it" girl fast asweep in the stwower. Changed her tune a bit, huh? I won't be an "I told you so" - I'll let the picture say that for me.

My hope is that we'll find an equally good deal on a tandem stroller for 3 or a sit & stand for 2+. Why? Well, the only drawback to the mammoth baby machine is that it's a bit like a Hum-V in size and not so flexible. The point was to get Mommy something she could just throw in the van and tote the kids around in, not to shackle her to a boat anchor that has to be partly disassembled and then gingerly hoisted by crane into the minivan fuselage.

For now, Aunt Sarah was nice enough to loan us her double tandem to use as the babes get more accustomed to the sit up position - it still means carrying around two strollers, but it's nice to know they can sit up as they're getting bigger.

Speaking of Aunt Sarah, Presleigh had a great visit from our friend, Shae, Sarah's daughter, last week. Shae just loves to dress Presleigh up and do her hair. Could be a real BFFL, no? This was such a cute photo, I couldn't resist putting it in. Proud Papa.

Oh, yeah, and Presleigh's going in, in about another 2 months for a follow up with the Pediatric Urologist. Hopefully, he'll just be telling us "I got'r'dun, and she's all good to go." Keep it lifted up and your eyes on Jesus. We all get to meet Him one day and account for what we did with what He gave us.

Grace and peace,

AP

Well, THAT'S Great News!!!

Yesterday, the doctor(s) visited the room and checked in on Presleigh. Their comment surprised us for two reasons 1) we thought her surgery was fairly simple and 2) recovery would be 2 to 3 days. Reality check - on a 2 year old child having four ureters snipped from their places in the bladder and reinserted in new places is not so simple. It's actually quite extensive. We would assume the next statement is only true as a response to all the many prayers in multiple countries lifted up on Presleigh's behalf: "Presleigh can be discharged immediately."

Woo-hoo!!!

So, last night, Papa got to make one more trip down to Scottish Rite (with a quick stop off at Northside for a surprise visit on some friends that just had their first baby!!!) and pick up Mommy, Presleigh, and all their belongings! The trip home was a bit extensive, since the pharmacy did not have the bladder spasm meds we needed on hand and we had to play some rapid-fire phone tag to find another pharmacy (that was still open at 8:45PM) that did have the much needed meds. After some searching around and some tedious waiting, Papa emerged from the store, victoriously clutching a bag of dark chocolate peanut M&M's and the vital prescriptions that will be a regular part of Presleigh's diet for the next week or two.

Presleigh, however, was not as amused by this visit, as it was wayyyy past her bedtime and we still needed to do a diaper change and feed her three meds before she could enjoy repose in her own bed again. This may sound simple to some parents and to most non-parents out there, but let me tell you: wrestling an octopus on their own home turf can be an easier proposal than keeping flailing arms and legs down on the changing table while an injured toddler screams "No WIKE it!!!" and you have to change not one, but two diapers.

Side note on the diaper thing - to guard and protect Presleigh's ouchie bladder, the docs made the following call: they'd insert an "indwelling" [as in Holy Spirit, right?] catheter. Not to get too graphic here, but this catheter has a balloon on the end that holds the bladder's shape as it heals, preventing Presleigh from having to use her bladder muscles as the surrounding tissues heal. This requires us to put one (size 4) diaper on, cut a hole in it to pass the catheter end through, and bring the catheter to a steady resting place inside a second, larger diaper.

Okay, staying away from TMI, it's quite a rigamaroll to have to change her diapers right now, especially when you add the flailing and fussiness on top of it. Hey, you'd be fussy, too if you had a hoobajoo in your doodlie-doo, wouldn't you?

Needless to say, Presleigh's got a week or two of limitations ahead of her - no rough play or straddle toys. What?! This means, no playground, no riding horsie toys, no climbing over the bedroom gate, no fun! BOR-ING!!! But, in her best interest, right? Yep. This also means she doesn't get to enjoy the last week the neighborhood pool is open, either... MAJOR BUMMER, you know? I mean, it's 90s here and complain, complain, Daddy, but your two year old just got safely out of the hospital after extensive surgery and you could start off with a little gratitude!!!

Glory to God, thank you for your prayers, and all honor and praise to the Lord Most High, who brought our little girl home early!

in Christ,

Happy Papa!

P.S. As you can see from this photo, Presleigh is back to her old, sly tricks. Don't you just love that grin?!