The Clinger

I think now that Hannah is a confident walker, she can now close in on us at all times and beg to be held. It’s cute and frustrating at the same time. 

Every morning I’m trying to pack up lunches and bags for the car and the whining and crying to be held is incessant! 

See? T21 doesn’t change toddler behaviors! Haha!

No you cannot. That door is forever closed.

Every. Day.

Christmas 2016

My office was closed between Christmas and New Year’s which was a nice treat. Although Tim still had to work Tues - Thu; booooo.

On the 23rd Alison took the kids to Krohn Conservatory - it was great to see Nora in clothes and not pajamas for the week off preschool!

Christmas Eve with my family was very quiet and laid back. Nora opened a few presents. 

Christmas Day was nice and fairly chill at home and the Krons. 

Christmas morning playtime

Monday the 26th... sucked. The plan was for me to go to Little Clinic at 8:30am to get my five-day sore throat diagnosed (presumably strep) then take my car to Subaru to get a few minor items taken care of. 

Well everyone and their Mom came out of their homes the day after Christmas sick. Every drop-in clinic in the area was a two-hour wait. Ain’t nobody got time for that! I could buck up and deal a little longer. That’s what Moms do, right?

Then I received the call from Subaru - what I thought were dash lights that needed resetting from a replaced battery turned out to be legit car issues. Firestone improperly installed my headlights and over-filled my brake fluid. The latter may or may not have contributed to needing the entire ABS Hydraulic Unit needing replaced. I literally cursed at the Subaru rep. 

So we had to pack up the family to go to Subaru so I could pick up a loaner Outback. 

I didn’t feel good. My day was completely thrown off and now we would owe Subaru a sh*t ton of money that wasn’t planned. I cried for a bit. 

Tuesday the 27th... sucked. I woke up okay then felt off. Out of it? Tired? I can’t even explain. But I had an appetite. I think I had a fever. Thank God for Netflix the Babysitter. I attempted a nap but Nora wouldn’t let that happen.

Hot mess everywhere.

Wednesday the 28th... was better. Thankfully my parents came down around 11am and I went to the Little Clinic with a book and waited 1hr to get in. My seven-day sore throat was not strep - what?! And I had the beginning of pinkeye - what?! So I got my eyedrops and headed home. I also learned - after 37 years - that you can take ibuprofen for a sore throat?! Life changing. 

Thursday the 29th - on my way up.

Friday the 30th - Tim had a minor outpatient procedure so we were at UC hospital from 8am - 1pm. It’s abnormal how comfortable I am in hospitals after three years of family procedures. I’m not ashamed to admit I enjoyed all the quiet reading time I had. 

Tim only had “twilight” anesthesia which was good, he didn’t feel so awful and out of it later. However, after having some cysts removed from the back of his arms, he couldn’t pick up Hannah until just this week. Tired Mama.

New Year’s Eve was a quick visit with friends and home by 8:30pm for Hannah’s sake. I haven’t seen midnight since Nora was born. And that’s fine by me!

New Year’s Day was the best I’d felt in a week and a half! No more sore throat! Play date with some good friends. 

I was so happy we had Monday the 2nd off - one more day to chill before back to the grind. 

The one lifestyle change I’d like to make this year is more strength - physically. Squats, jumps, etc. I think it’ll help my running and maybe chasing after a toddler : )

Ears to You, Kid

So yesterday we had our ENT follow-up based on Hannah’s hearing test. 

Dr. Willging found she still has fluid in her ears, however, it’s not infected and it doesn’t seem to bother her. 

Sooooo Dr. Willging said he’s going to wait another 6-8 months. If, at that point [three total months], the fluid has not exited, he will insert tubes to drain because this lingering fluid can - and is - affecting Hannah’s hearing. She can hear, but it’s muffled. 

Boooooooo! I truly expect it to still be there in 6-8 weeks based on our track record. I was really hoping for zero medical procedures in 2017. 

I mean, aren’t there some home remedies for this? Warm sea salt in a sock? I just feel like this is another excuse to shove tubes in a kids’ ear : ( 

So we’ll take any prayers, positivity, and voodoo to get this fluid out. 

Vain Hannah

I mean, can you blame her for enjoying herself in the mirror?

Adulting: New Fridge

We have owned two homes. Both homes had “old” fridges. Side-by-side doors. Water & ice dispensers that were always broken and we never fixed because you can survive without those things.

House/Fridge #1 - with adorable Baby Nora and her “cool babies” on!

We think our current fridge could have been early 90s Frigidaire - ? At the time, I’m sure it was great. It’s done its job for a family of four.

Well, said fridge started literally losing its cool the first week of December. We vacuumed behind it - because you know, you’re supposed to regularly do that - yikes. This thing had never been cleaned behind.

Oh hell no.

Gave it 24 hours - still too warm. So, instead of repairing we decided to just get ourselves a new fridge. I’m a firm believer in repairing instead of landfill, but sometimes you just need to upgrade (and hope once the old one is hauled, it’s broken down for further use!).

Well, thank heavens we’d been bestowed with a beer fridge for the basement just a week or two prior. We did not lose any food, but it was a pain hauling it into the basement.

Tim and I had a knee-jerk reaction to find a new fridge that weekend. Girls at Nana’s... we hit Best Buy and Lowe’s with our awful, awful dimensions.

Yep. Terrible design.

Our fridge is tucked into a very specific nook built around this old fridge. Sigh. Essentially over an inch shorter than standard fridges nowadays. Thanks, jerks.

We were finding we had one option and it was basically what we already had. Meh.

So we paused and took a step back.
Had a friend bring UP the beer fridge temporarily while we solved this puzzle.
Looked around the kitchen for a hot second because it was poorly designed in our opinion.

- Do we relocate the fridge where the double ovens are?
- We don’t need double ovens
- Then if we pitch the ovens, we need a new range!
- But the flipping gas range is built into the horrid tile counter
- Then we’d need a new counter!!

The double-but-only-use-one oven.

The gas range built INTO the awful tile counter.

Thankfully the very handy friend who has been hauling this beer fridge around said “Guys, I can just cut UP into that pointless shelf hindering your fridge height.”

:: hands to heaven ::

SO after one long, loud, dusty night, Tim and his buddy got the shelf height to accompany a standard fridge. *I won’t go into the drywall dust that covered my kitchen. Serenity now.

Beer fridge + adjusted shelf

After another Saturday with girls at Nana’s, Tim and I hit Best Buy, Sears Outlet, Sears, Lowe’s and then back to Sears to ultimately land on a Kenmore. It’s a reputable brand and it was half off - which because of the deal, we will now have a fridge with that crazy “easy access door” within a door. Bonkers.

So it finally arrived Friday Dec. 23rd around 5:30pm - convenient. But it went in - JUST. We’re very happy and so is Nora with her easy-access door. 

And ultimately down the road the plan is to replace the range and tile with a range/oven combo and solid surface counter. The double oven space eventually will become a much-wanted pantry.

Yay homeownership!

Preschool Christmas Program

Nora came home with her preschool Christmas program script: she was a Narrator with about three lines - ! You don’t understand - that’s a LOT for this little play. Most kids who even have a line have only one.

I was worried and then proud - I mean, those teachers had to have a lot of confidence in Nora and her speech abilities!

Let me tell you - ol’ Christine Batty back in high school was quite the speech student. Won myself a contest or two :: puffy chest :: Haha!

My Dad is also a lector at his parish - a very good speaker - so I kind of see Nora as taking the Batty Family speech baton : )

We practiced with Nora a lot at home and thankfully the school practiced a lot. Nora’s memory is amazing, so she had no trouble memorizing those lines. Except for the word “registered.”

Nora was very comfortable up on stage [big surprise] and delivered her lines very well - except for “registered.”

Special Nativity

Happy heart but watch your mascara! ; )

He Came Down

Christine: A Hair Story

Hair History:

Grew up with a pageboy cut. Oh you don’t know what that is?

High school - long, straight, limp hair. I have my Mom’s hair - lighter brown, thin. The little sisters received the luscious dark, thick wavy hair.

Enter the movie Sliding Doors with Gweneth Paltrow and entry to the design department at DAAP:

So this haircut, in variations, was basically it until Nora was born. At this point, I was more serious about running, running longer distances, and wanted a ponytail. So I started growing out around Nora’s 1st birthday. 

Then from about my pregnancy with Hannah to just this past October, it was long. I didn’t particularly like it down and it was hard to work with because it was just limp. I preferred it in a ponytail, but sometimes it felt a bit harsh with my face.

After this past Queen Bee half, I chopped it a bit [see photo #5 in the lineup]. Then just two weeks ago I went back full “Stine hair,” and am so happy with the result. I feel like myself ago, more confident in my hair and feel it just flatters my hair type and face shape/features better! Just go with what works! My hair will never work beach waves, and that’s okay. 

(Click to enlarge if you so care)

Five!

Nora is five?!

Five feels so BIG... she doesn’t quite feel like a preschooler even though she is. The words and phrases out of her mouth are becoming more inquisitive with slightly larger words... 

Awwww little Nora!

 

Birthday morning with her new Calico Critters house

More independent but more opinionated.
More dramatic but funnier.

We finally had a “real” birthday party for Nora with six girlfriends. The poor kid has only been celebrated at Thanksgiving gatherings! 

I refused to go into “Pinterest” mode, and simply laid out some crayons and coloring pages. Because guess what? Kids. Don’t. Care. (In my opinion) They just run around and play and could care less if the napkins coordinate with the cups.

We also had snacks and drinks for the adults because 1. They’re our friends and 2. We all deserve adult beverages.

*On party “rules” - I’ve noticed a trend now that kids don’t open their gifts at parties sometimes. One instance was that there were SO many kids/presents it’d take too long. Or to avoid the dislike/duplication of certain gifts I’ve heard. 

We did open, which was fine until Nora didn’t want to share. Blergh!

The “lovely” gift of karoke with Trolls movie songs! Wheeeee! Haha!

Otherwise, I think it was a successful birthday party. 

*Edit - I forgot to add photos from Nora’s annual movie & lunch with Nana & Papa. Trolls movie [the start of it all!] and Steak & Shake:

Hear & Say & Eat

Hearing:

Littles with Down syndrome need routine hearing exams on top of all the other routine care : )

Hannah had her third hearing test about two weeks ago. 

She cooperated quite well while sitting in my lap. One audiologist was behind a window with the monitors and equipment while another audiologist sat in front of us with toys for distraction and to focus Hannah on a neutral position before she was signaled. 

Various sounds from various speakers came on and Hannah would turn to respond. 

Based on our observations, she hears well. 

Well, Hannah didn’t hear great at her exam. She missed some low tones and her eardrums had no movement - which means she had fluid in her ears. And she HAD just got over a cold. However the tool to measure the bone behind her ear did have movement. We were recommended for an ENT follow-up - * fists to sky *

Bah! We just dropped one specialist [G.I.] but now pick up another. I’m really really hoping it’s simply fluid in her ears [that maybe will be gone] and this doesn’t become another upkeep. We’ll find out early Jan. 

Saying:

On the upside, everyone is impressed Hannah’s communication continues to improve parallel to her improved motor skills - typically speech falls to the wayside when motor takes off. Also Hannah’s communication skills are actually on par with typical 21-24 month olds which made me feel good [she’s currently 27 months]. Her emotional-social [?] skills are around 18-21 months which sounds about right. 

Eating:

We are also working on self-feeding. Hannah can somewhat feed herself. When she wants. She’s a toddler and just isn’t interested a lot. She tries really hard with a fork, but just can’t. Quite. Pierce. The food. Scooping with spoons is a little trickier and takes more dexterity. We were recommended to buy curved toddler utensils, however we’re finding Hannah seems to favor her LEFT hand. Can you guess how easy it is to find left-handed curved utensils for toddlers? Right. $$

So Hannah is doing very well overall while we continue to work hard with her!