Another Good Week of School

Kinsey enjoyed her second week of preschool! I wondered over the weekend what she thought - did she understand that she'd go back again or think it was just for a few days and over already? But she was happy to go back on Tuesday and enjoyed the whole week again. Now she's out until after Thanksgiving.

Here are a few pictures from school this week:

 
Turkey Hat Fun! 

   
Checking out the Snails!  

 
I guess she wasn't afraid to pick them up!


It seems the weeks go by much faster now that she's in school and we don't have as many opportunities to play and take pictures. We did have a doctor's visit today for Kinsey's annual check up and physical (required for school). The doctor said her weight (23.5 lbs) is actually on the growth chart at 2% and her height (35 1/4") is also on the growth chart at 8%. She said everything looked good, but she has suggested that we continue giving Kinsey a steroid treatment through her nebulizer twice a day through the winter months in an effort to keep her healthy. (We started giving her that in the hospital). I've also started giving her a multi-vitamin (liquid mixed in her water) each day, hoping that will help too. And we're also trying an essential oil called On Guard. I put it in a diffuser each day after we get home from school to ward off any germs she might have picked up at school. Who knows if that stuff works, but it's worth a shot!

There's not much else to report from this week, but here's a cute video of Kinsey playing with the egg shakers she got from the music teacher at her birthday party: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB6uI2uoGsE

We Have a Preschooler!

 
 
Kinsey started preschool on Tuesday and she loved it right from the start! We expected nothing less - she loves to be around other kids and they do lots of fun stuff. She isn't too crazy about getting up early, but got used to the routine right away and gets excited as soon as we pull into the parking lot at school.

Jamie and I both took her the first day (so Jamie would know the routine in case I can't take her or pick her up one day) then we went out for breakfast together before he went to work. I think that made it easier for me to get used to the fact that she was at school (I managed not to cry!) Anyway, Kinsey's not the only one enjoying school - I like it too. I have so much free time now with her at school in the morning then taking a long nap in the afternoon! I hardly know what to do with myself.

Kinsey's teacher (the one who used to be her speech therapist) is really great about letting me know how she's doing and sends me a picture just about every day. Here are the ones she sent me this week:


 
Playing with the dollhouse the first day with 2 of her classmates Tessa & Levi. 

   
Playdough yesterday with Tessa and some of the kids from the other preschool class next door (They do some activities together with the other class) 

   
 Playing with all the baby dolls today.

Kinsey continues to do well walking and I've been told she's been doing a lot of it at school. Today she cruised along some furniture from the kitchen around the corner and into her bedroom. She also likes scooting off the couch now. We usually hold onto her arm to make sure she doesn't fall, but she's pretty good at landing on her feet on her own. Tonight she scooted off the couch at Dairy Queen and cruised around a bit. She really likes the seats there because she can watch the cars go through the drive thru (and the people in the cars usually smile at her as they go by).  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv0aIJXK3hQ

Kinsey's been enjoying all of her birthday presents, although she doesn't have nearly as much time to play with them all now. She really likes the play kitchen that Pop-Pop bought her:



That's it for this week. Lots of fun planned for this weekend, then back to school next week! 

A Rough Week, But We're Ready to Celebrate Now!

Last weekend Kinsey started showing signs that she was getting a cold, but it didn't seem too bad at first. I thought she'd fight it off and handle it well like the last couple of colds, but this one wasn't the same. Saturday night she coughed all night long, although I think she slept (she was never crying or anything), but then Sunday morning she woke up pukey, coughing and congested. She was miserable and lethargic. We tried to help her through it for a few hours and even called the doctor's on call service to ask about giving her the anti-nausea medicine we had for her, but shortly after that she got extremely fussy (screaming her head off) and vomiting more, so we took her to the ER. Thankfully, a friend of mine who's a PICU nurse told me one of the local hospitals (PVH) is great with kids, so we took her there instead of having to go all the way down to Children's in Denver. I knew if we went to the hospital, we were definitely going to be staying the night.

Anyway, when we got to the ER, Kinsey's o2 levels were in the 60s (should be in the 90s) and she was still very pukey. They did a chest xray to check for pneumonia and bloodwork to check her white cell counts, etc and all came back normal, although her lungs did show lots of congestion. They gave her more medicine for the vomiting and got that under control and admitted us. It turns out my friend was right about PVH - they have a wonderful pediatric unit with a great pediatrician and nurses on staff! They were excellent with Kinsey and very accommodating with our requests (turning off the beeping monitors, finding a way to give her blow-by oxygen instead of trying to force the mask, etc.) And it was really nice to be closer to home so Jamie and I could take turns going home and stuff. Long story short, we spent 3 nights there with Jamie and I alternating nights with her. She started to perk up on Monday, but had a setback that night. She was slow to perk up again Tuesday, but once she did, she was on the mend for good. We got to come home on Wednesday and we were all really happy about that.

 
Perking up for the first time

   
Definitely feeling better and trying to escape

 
Waiting to go home and putting my boots on


Kinsey has been back to her normal self - playing, eating well and sleeping well since we've been home. This is her singing and dancing along with the CMA Awards on Wed night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-KBHenH7fY She still has a really nasty cough that will probably take a week or so to go away. They sent us home with oxygen to do blow-by at night and a suction machine to help clear her out. We also have to do a steroid treatment in her nebulizer machine to help reduce the inflammation. And in a follow-up visit with her regular pediatrician today, we learned we will keep doing that twice a day throughout the winter in an effort to keep her healthier. Hopefully that will help. The doctor also said it's still ok for her to start preschool on Tuesday (I wasn't sure if we should delay it now or not).

So, tomorrow (Saturday) is Kinsey's birthday party, even though her birthday isn't until Sunday. We are so thankful that she is feeling better and will be able to celebrate tomorrow! We have lots of friends coming and a great music-themed party planned. We're even having her old music class teacher come to do a private class for the kids!

It's kind of ironic because I spent the days, weeks and months leading up to her first birthday terrified that she would get sick and we wouldn't be able to celebrate her first birthday. With the statistic that only 5-10% of trisomy kids make it to their first birthday, I was extremely apprehensive, but she made it through that birthday totally unscathed. So it's ironic that she has been sick for each birthday since then! Boy oh boy would I love to get through another birthday without a sickness! But for now I will be thankful that we've gotten through this sickness and can celebrate this weekend :)

Here's a sneak peak at Kinsey's birthday announcement:

Halloween

Last weekend we went to The Farm at Lee Martinez Park for trick or treating. Kinsey's costume was a HUGE hit! And she was really into it this year - looking up we approached each door and reaching out to grab the candy from the people. She also really enjoyed being able to play with the candy in the wagon (I mean barn!).

 
 
 

  

  

  

  

   
 

Kinsey is continuing to do great with walking, standing, and cruising (on her feet and on her knees). She spends a lot of time standing and playing at her tables and walking around the tables and sometimes between tables without holding onto anything. She's been getting up on her knees a lot and playing at her tables that way too. She is also getting up on all fours frequently, but I haven't seen her crawl again since last week. She always goes up into sitting instead. She's been doing a lot of bending down to grab toys on the ground when she's standing at her table (holding onto the table with one hand) and she's also figured out how to sit down on the floor when she gets tired of standing. I'm not sure how she's doing it because I haven't seen her do it, but she's standing when I leave the room and sitting when I come back so she's doing it somehow. And it's not by falling because I can hear when she falls (when she falls now - backwards anyway - she bends at the waist and hits the ground with her butt first, tucks her chin under and falls back onto her back without hitting her head. So she can "fall" now without hurting herself and she just sits back up and goes on about her business.) Anyway, she's definitely enjoying her new skills and ways to get around. Here's a video of her getting up onto her knees while sitting on the couch so she can get into some trouble -which I was encouraging :)  http://youtu.be/Fc9HvTqmnQA





I think I forgot to mention that we learned at Kinsey's cardiology appointment a few weeks ago that she grew again - she's up to 35 1/4" now! (She's really almost a Yard tall now Aunt Linda)

Anyway, that's it for this week. We're in the countdown now to Kinsey's 3rd Birthday! Only 8 days to go :)