October 1

Lately Sarah likes to bring our stroller to Amy’s school pick-up. Either Sarah pushes an empty stroller or I push her in it while she reads. I love that. I love how much she loves books. Every morning I give her a book to read on her bus. Most of the kids have ipads but I don’t want Sarah spending her bus time that way. She gets her iphone time while waiting for the bus and that is plenty of time since I like to have her ready 10-15 minutes early.

Sarah lost a tooth! On Thursday. It was a tooth that had gotten pushed by an incoming tooth so that the baby tooth was at a very awkward angle. I'm so glad it is finally gone. Her teacher said she sent the tooth home in a bag in Sarah's folder but it wasn't there when I unpacked her things. Since we had the tooth case left from Amy's school, Carl sneakily put a small piece of a cracker in the case and taped it shut so the girls wouldn't discover the trickery. This way the tooth fairy could still come. Sarah couldn't have cared less but Amy definitely cared that all occurred as it should have. 

As many of you know, Sarah got tubes in her ears on Friday. It was supposed to be Wednesday so I had cleared my schedule for Wednesday and Thursday. When the anesthesiologist learned more details about Sarah he decided she should be seen at the main hospital instead of a satellite location. I wish they could have determined that long ago. Fortunately, they had a cancellation for Friday at the main hospital with the same doctor. The reason for the surgery was her frequent ear infections last winter/spring and her audiology test in the summer that indicated fluid that wasn't draining. The doctor said a lot of old fluid was removed during the surgery. 

The hardest parts of the ear tube procedure were the bath/hair washing that had to occur Thursday and her waking from the surgery. You may have heard her screaming, wherever in the world you were. She desperately wanted them to turn off the lights, but she was in a large communal space. She had her own private corner with curtains, but they couldn't actually turn off the lights. She would have nothing to do with apple juice or pain medication. She was so upset that there was no talking or reasoning or getting her dressed. Rather than waiting for her to move through her upset, we collectively decided she could just leave, hospital gown and all. No need to drink fluid and keep it down. They took her to the car in a wheelchair and we were on our way. We detoured to Carl's work because she kept asking for him. Once she was in the car she was calm. Once she got home and had an apple juice popsicle, then she was sparkly and playful and HUNGRY. She ate 8 very small popsicles, a small dish of ice cream, half a bagel with cream cheese, 8 oz of apple juice, and a fruit/veggie pouch. Later we went out to do a couple of errands. She was able to have her usual time with G. All of this with no upset and no pain medication. 

As you are reading this I am driving from Montana to the Poconos with my dear childhood friend. I am super excited that she will now live within an easy day’s drive. We are each driving a vehicle so we get to see each other at rest stops and the start and end of each day. There are also cats. The drive is beautiful.