Staycation

Sean's work was closed this week (I know, random) so I took it off as well and we had a little staycation. It actually worked out well because it gave us a chance to deal with Hayden's ear troubles, which the doctor said were getting better on Friday. We didn't do anything too special, just took Hayden to two doctor's appointments, went to her weekly activities, took her to Art Soup (a drop-in art studio for kids) and spent a ton of time at the bookstore. Oh, we trained a new nanny, celebrated Becky's birthday and Hayden chose to go to pre-school one morning too. Overall, it was a nice break and I think Hayden liked having us around. Just a couple pictures from this week...

 Art Soup - Making a caterpillar

Art Soup - Painting her name on the glass wall 

Art Soup - Posing 

Swimming Class - Doctor said it was ok as long as she didn't dive 

Celebrating Becky's birthday with a beautiful, delicious chocolate cake

Bye Bye Gaby

Sadly, we have to find a new nanny again. We really liked Gaby, but she got another (GSA) job offer and what can I say...we don't pay enough to compete with that. It was a really short stint - only two months - but luckily we've been interviewing people and have some good options. Hayden knows and seems ok with it. We'll really see I guess when a new person comes in.

To make the transition, I thought I'd post some of the latest (and final) pictures Gaby has taken and sent to us.

The library/books/storytime:

The park:

Random:

And finally, lots from gymnastics:

Ballet Moves

Well, after three days of painful shots, we went back to the doctor for our fourth day in a row and she said Hayden is somewhat better. We have another appointment on Friday and are hoping that her progress continues and she actually gets totally better this time. She's still walking funny from the shots, but she is only complaining about the pain a little. And she was fine going back to the doc after we assured her (several times) that she wasn't getting another shot today. 

These pictures are pre-shots, but they show a set of t-shirts Sean got Hayden. One says "President Not Princess" and the other says "Doctor Not Diva." It's pretty much what Sean tells Hayden all the time; I can't believe he didn't make them himself. I also think it's sort of ironic that she wore the second one with a frilly skirt, which she used to do "ballet moves" in her room.

Back At The Doctor's Office

You aren't going to believe this: Hayden finished her third antibiotic this morning. (She also finished the steroid and her cough does seem somewhat better.) She was still complaining about her ear though and still waking up at night crying for more pain medicine. Because she wasn't doing as well as we expected, we decided to take her to the pediatrician again today to check. And guess what. Double ear infection. Again. And major ones too that were interfering with her hearing, so she was asking "What?" all the time.

There was one more oral antibiotic we could try, but they recommended that Hayden take an injectable antibiotic that we have to get at the doctors office for three days in a row. Hayden generally does well with vaccines, but the doctor warned us that this shot was going to be really painful: injected into her leg, which would hurt a lot for 30 mins and then it would continue to be sore all day. And apparently, pain medications wouldn't help much.

I was there with Gaby, who I immediately sent out to buy some treats at the pharmacy. I told Hayden she was going to get a shot and she was ok with it, since they didn't hurt much before. When they gave it to her though, she seemed surprised and cried for a good 10 minutes. Not too bad actually under the circumstances, but still heart-breaking. She calmed down before leaving the doctor's office (which is when I remembered to take a picture), but kept crying on and off afterwards whenever she had to use or move her leg. (So lots of time with Gaby on the couch again.) By dinner time though, she actually seemed ok.

We're dreading tomorrow, when we have to go back, and this time, she'll know what she's in for. I really would do anything to make it easier, but there are just so few options. This better get rid of the infection for good, helped I hope by the constant doses of Sudafed our doctor friend recommended. :(

Urgent Care

Hayden was still getting over the double ear infection she had last week and actually just took the 10th dose of her (second, in less than a month) antiboitic last night. Eight hours later, at about 3am, Hayden was up, complaining about her ear again. We tried the usual things - Tylenol, water, Kleenexes, bring her to our bed (twice), etc... By about 5:00am, we'd gotten up with her about eight times and she just wouldn't stop crying. So we decided to trust her and find the 24-hour urgent care facility in La Jolla, rather than wait for her pediatrician's office to open for the day. Turned out it was Scripps, which is the same place she was born, and once again, they were great.

We had almost no wait at all and before we were even done with the paperwork, we were in a bed. Turns out, Hayden had a raging ear infection in the left ear. (I still don't understand how it came back so badly while she was already on an antibiotic.) She also had a lung infection on the left side, which was causing her cough. Poor girl was just a mess.

The doctor was pretty good and gave her three new medications. A different, stronger antibiotic, a steroid for her lung and some Tylenol with Codeine for the pain. They actually gave her the steroid and the Codeine right there in the office, so that it would start working right away, which I was impressed with. Of course, the Codeine made her tired, so she slept from 9am-1pm when we got back. It took several more hours on the couch (see below), and some Advil, for her to act more like herself. But by the time she want to bed, she was a happy girl again. Hoping tomorrow is better and that she finally kicks this month-long bout of sickness.

Zoo Fun

This weekend we arranged to go to the zoo with Hayden's previous nanny, Brittany. Hayden had actually been saying that she missed Brittany and wanted to see her, so we thought this was the perfect opportunity. Hayden was actually a little shy when she first saw Brittany, which was surprising to me because it had only been six weeks or so. But she warmed up right away and then seemed to have fun.

Brittany isn't the tallest girl in the world and it was so funny to see her carrying Hayden because it honestly looked like Hayden was almost her size! She's just getting so big now.

The zoo was great, as always. Hayden hadn't been in awhile, so it was fun for her to see everything again.

Weekend Fun

This weekend was SO warm! In the sun, it was actually really hot, so Hayden played with her water table and we all enjoyed the sun. The water from the hose, in her sink, was actually pretty cold, but she didn't seem to care all that much.

We also did some writing. I read something about how you shouldn't have kids trace your letters, but should instead have them copy what you did. No idea if it's true, but I love that it made me try this, because this is Hayden's first attempt at making letters on her own. Not bad huh? I told her what to do on the paper, but outside, she did it without me even watching. So exciting!

Sick AGAIN

Well, this morning Hayden woke up with her third cold in about three weeks. The first one happened just before the ear infection, the second one while she was getting over that and the third today. She had a break of one or two days in between, but she's basically been sick non-stop. We started wondering if something else was wrong with her, so I took her to the doctor today and guess what? Double ear infection. They said she probably got over the first one just fine, but that it came back anyway because she kept getting sick. Poor girl. She didn't have much of a fever this morning, but after her nap, she had a 103 fever (on Tylenol) for a couple hours. That's when I took these pictures. She pretty much just wanted to sit still on the couch with her frog and read books. She seemed a bit better before bed tonight though, so I hope that the antibiotic is kicking in.

Winter Video

This isn't the most exciting video ever, but here is what it includes:

1) Jingle Bells, relatively on key
2) A tiny snapshot of our family Christmas (we did a terrible job with video this year)
3) Some Christmas morning footage (apologies that it's shot in portait, we'll do better next time)
4) Our New Years Day beach trip (we found a big hole!)
5) Swimming footage - diving and a little back stroke (my fav, of course)
6) Small amount of gymnastics footage - she's in gray and blue

Back Stroke

Here are some new swimming pictures - they are of the new push off and back stroke that Hayden is starting to learn. At this point, she is unsure of the mechanics, including the direction her arms are supposed to go. And of course, it's a lot to remember with the arms and the kicking and everything, but it's great that she's learning something new.