Another Visit to Dr. Sadove - 2 months out

On Monday we saw the good surgeon for another follow up visit. He looked at Sophia and said, "she sure is cute, but I'm not really satisfied with my results." Honestly, we were expecting this. We aren't entirely satisfied either - or at least we had expectations that it would look even better than it does. It's been hard to know though, because my expectations typically get me in trouble.

She sure is a cutie though. He and we expected the lip to be smoother, without the mildly off center notch (coincidentally, or not, right beneath the spot where she developed her hole a while back which has closed completely thank the Lord.) I believe our surgeon's desire to get it perfect would have Sophia in surgery within the year, but we are going to wait to determine that until the fall once all the redness and healing is completely done. Previously, we anticipated waiting until she was 4-5 year old to do a second surgery, which still may be the case, but we will see. Yet again, a good lesson in 'it's good to hold things loosely'.

Besides all this Sophia is doing fine. She is comfortable going up and down the stairs, is attempting a lot of words (still not quite accomplishing very many, but it's cute to see her try!), and is generally communicating really effectively. Yesterday we were playing on the floor and I asked her if she wanted to go "nigh-nigh." She nodded her head, got up from the floor, picked up her blanket and walked down the hallway. What a good kid! On that note, she is an excellent sleeper, both at night and for her 2 naps every day. She doesn't make a peep when we lay her down and generally wakes up happy, playing in her crib. We are some very lucky old parents. The no-sleep thing would have been hard to readjust to after years of big kids. Our friends who adopted a little guy, Ethan, when we did are struggling a ton with getting him to sleep, so we are definitely counting our blessings!

Today is Lauren and Marcus' last day of school! What a wonderful feeling - no more homework. Marcus will be in 3rd next fall and Lauren moves up to intermediate school as a 5th grader! The goals for the summer: teach them to do their own laundry and get them to read every day. Does anyone have any tricks or good reward ideas?

In the mean time, David and I are very busy getting ready for students to come for our summer mission project at Keynote (where we work). Crazy yet fun all at the same time!

Sophia is getting molars?

The drooler, code for Sophia, is at it again. She is cutting teeth. She currently has 2 on the bottom and 2 on top, so we've been keeping our eyes on the next 2 on the bottom - they look like they are on the verge. Well, at supper tonight, David said he thought he felt something a little further back. I stuck my finger in to her reluctant mouth and proceeded to get bit! from the top and the bottom! Sure enough, she has all 4 of some big teeth on the sides. This is not the normal order, so I am not sure what's up. I'll be investigating this tomorrow with my friend Angie, the hygienist who's coming for lunch. No wonder she does such a good job chewing meat. Who knew?

Things are going great here at the Roux house. Sorry I've been so lax in blogging. A lot of fun stuff's happening, but we've been rather busy. There are 8 more days of school left (woohoo!) and the kids are feeling the itch to be done. Sophia experienced her first campfire on Friday with some good friends. No camping, as sleeping outside isn't my favorite without a 1 year old. That will have to wait a couple years. She loves to be outside and she loves s'mores so she had a blast.

Sophia enjoys the stairs. She likes to go up and down and sit on them and walk really close to the edge of them. She has the most experience with the carpeted, inside ones, but today she was all about the cement front steps (In my brain I have visions of a bloody lip, a screaming baby, and a trip to the ER where they tell me I'll just have to let it heal again.) She wiggles in my arms and attempts to launch herself out of my grasp if I attempt to carry her up or down stairs.

Right now, some of her favorite things: music and scrolling pictures on the lap top, her stuffed puppy, and "winking" (very cute 2 eyed squint with a .2 second grin). Her lip is healing. She is a touch asymmetrical and there is still a bit of a scab where the hole used to be, but otherwise, she is starting to look pretty good. I included a close up photo so you could see the progress. Continue to pray for healing. We will see the surgeon again on Monday.

Retreat for Me, Angel baby for David

Today, Sophia is 16 months old. As I predicted a couple of months ago, she is a walking machine!

I went on my retreat from Friday to Sunday. It was fantastic...girls were authentic and open, bonding was happening at every turn, there were a lot of tears, and we got very little sleep! All you could ever want in a retreat, right? Seriously, this is my 9th small group retreat in 9 years. This may have been the best one yet. I love these girls!

An interesting thing I learned while listening to these 18 great high school girls share their stories: Middle school stinks if you're a girl. That's where all the wounds are made. Good to know. Lauren will be entering 5th grade at Riverside Intermediate in the fall. Note to self: love your middle school girl like crazy.

While I was retreating, David was holding down the fort here at home. He always does a wonderful job when he gets to stay home with the kids. They sleep a little less, eat a little worse, and have way more fun than with Mom. How Sophia got wind of this Dad weekend mentality, I am not sure. She sure understands more than we give her credit for. She slept til 8 each morning, ate good, napped good, didn't make a peep at night, and the kids fed her breakfast while David slept.

It's like they know. They know when mom's there and that she'll just take care of business. Let's just take it easy on Dad, though. Let him sleep in! (I haven't slept in since January! I may have to make that my mother's day request!) OK, enough whining! I'm actually thrilled that things went great in my absence. Sophia adores her siblings and her daddy and it is wonderful to behold!

Walking Proof

Here is a video of Sophia walking around the house. It was shot on Tuesday. She actually is walking even more now. As you will notice in the video, she is having a little trouble keeping her pants up. She has no hips, butt, or anything to hold them up so we usually stick to leggings. Today she's actually wearing a pair of shorts that are 3-6 months! They fit this 16 month old perfectly! We are a bit worried that all this walking (sometimes running) will cause her to lose weight. I guess we'll have to butter the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and add a side of cinnamon roll.

If you think of me this weekend, pray for my time with my small group girls! - and maybe for David at home with the kids all weekend too! I know God will show up. He always does.

Life Continues...

It has been too long since I reported in! It seems that when you receive a baby and home-life becomes crazier, the rest of life should be put on hold, right? Nope. Life keeps happening.

One of those involvements over the past 9 years has been with a high school girls' small group from my church. Every spring, my co-leader and I host a small group retreat. This is such a fun retreat where we all grow closer to each other and to Jesus. It also creates a bit of busyness that is mildly complicated by the wonderful presence of a 1 year old! The retreat is this weekend, so I am really feeling the rush and demands of my regular old life. It doesn't slow down!

Sophia has lost her plastic nose place holder thingy. It came out a week ago. The stages were kind of funny to watch. First, it just started to descend a little at a time until it was almost touching her lip. She looked funny, but didn't seem to notice its presence.

Next, last Wednesday, one of the sides popped out. At first, this didn't seem to bother her either, but that afternoon she woke up from her nap very crabby. She kept brushing her hand against her nose (which she never does if she can help it.) She was so irritated by it that she allowed me to give it a slight tug and out it came!

The hole seems mostly closed at this point, but the healing continues. Slowly but surely her upper lip is returning to normal!

Sophia is walking all over the place these days. She prefers walking to crawling and is adorable doing it! Her arms are outstretched and often she's jabbering and drooling away! She is ridiculously fond of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and can eat a whole one! She's a huge fan of this little puppy in the picture and hugs it and gives it love with such enthusiasm, all the while making her very own "woof, woof" sound (mostly just an "F" sound.) She continues to enjoy the trampoline and the outdoors in general. Today, she was introduced to the Little Tykes sedan. She and her puppy loved it and didn't want to get out...until, of course, a ride on the trampoline was offered.

Broken Glass

I got the opportunity to go to a morning writing seminar today! As I like to write, this was a treat. Thank you, Cheri, for hanging with Sophia.

One of the activities in the seminar was to write a story in 6 1/2 minutes that happened in the past six days... Here is what I wrote: This happened yesterday!

I was scurrying around the kitchen, hoping to get the dishwasher unloaded before Sophia began to fuss. On my tip toes, I shoved my favorite baking dish and its lid on the top shelf of the cupboard on top of another dish and moved along to the next rack. About 2 minutes later, in a flash of sound, the dish and its cover reappeared in my life with a CRASH and shatter as pieces that looked like thousands of tiny (and not so tiny) diamonds flew everywhere – really everywhere! Kitchen, hallway, stairs, entryway, dining room, even under the piano in the living room! How did pieces get all the way in there?

So often, I work in the kitchen with Sophia at my feet, often standing right there at the dishwasher playing with the silverware. Miraculously, this time, she was in the next room! Not for long though…wanting to investigate the ridiculously loud distraction, she came crawling intently through the debris, so I swooped her immediately up, shook off the glass, and took her to her crib to wait out the extensive and potentially painful cleanup process!

To wailing in the background, I began…there was glass in the cupboard, in the sink, in the dishwasher, in the silverware tray, on the counter, under the rug, on the hardwood, on the carpet, and everywhere it could possibly find a way. I shook rugs, swept, and vacuumed, all to the accompaniment the confused cries. Finally, after 35 minutes, I was done – and so was Sophia – actually, she was done at the beginning!

Another Visit to Dr. Sadove

We had a another follow up visit today with our lovely surgeon. He thinks all is well.

Sophia's little plastic nose place holder is coming out (I wish I had a good close-up photo for you! Maybe tomorrow!) This was put in at the time of surgery and should come out sometime on it's own. The good doctor said that it is actually kept in with a stitch. So, that is why it isn't coming all the way out! It looks like it will soon, but that stitch needs to deteriorate or get snipped.

So, we are hoping it will take care of itself. If it doesn't, the current plan is to do a quick 15 minute snip in a month. This will require anestheasia (BOO) but a pretty mild dose. I am not sure I can handle a whole month of it hanging there... It looks a little funny, and Sophia doesn't seem too comfortable with it either.

This is mild compared to a hole in her lip or a 104 degree fever, but it is what it is and where we are at today...a plastic place holder! The saga continues!

I need my bed!