Busy Bee

We've had quite a few days over here in Sweet B's palace. Without going into details, the last three days have been spent dealing with mice crap, sweeping said mice crap, being told by the rodent control company that we might die from cleaning the mice crap improperly, being told by this company that they would charge us $2, 300 to clean mice crap, and then us deciding to clean it up in the proper way by ourselves.

Other than that, Sweet B has been on the move! And by on the move, I don't mean actually crawling, but I mean jumping in her bouncer and shaking her whole body on the ground like a maniac and doing the River Dance. She so badly wants to move and explore and that is why her hands and feet are constantly moving in circles. Think about it: Most kids her age are crawling and even walking, and my Sweet B just can't get her body to do that yet. But oh man, does she want to. And oh man, she is going to get there!

Just look at her sitting on her new foam mat and playing by herself!

When I saw these drums used at her physical therapist's place, I had to get them. Let me tell you, she is quite the drummer.

She is the most beautiful drummer I have ever seen.

Of course, I have to torture her during the oh-so-important tummy time, so I strap her to her reflux wedge and she does her lifts. Little Miss Stubborn rolls over if we let her do tummy time on the floor.

Of course, it hasn't been all smiles around here. We had to see her eye doctor, who said that she is "visually poor" without her glasses. (Meaning blind. I think. He said that blind is a +7, and she is a +7.5 and a +8. I did not take that well.) This has nothing to do with her being a preemie. It is purely bad genes. Fortunately, we were able to catch it during her eye exam which all preemies are required to have. If she hadn't have had it, her poor eyesight would have been caught during her kindergarten screening like most kids, or we would have noticed it when her eye started to cross. But really, in hindsight, this is certainly not the worst thing in the world, and with glasses, she can see pretty darn well! So, moving on...

(That handsome stud muffin holding her is my husband.)

Then a friend pointed out to me that she is teething AGAIN, and her eye teeth are coming in, and her molars are swollen and HUGE. She is Miss Grumpy Pants in the afternoon. She screamed and screamed in the pool during our play date yesterday. I hope we get invited back.

I am painfully aware that summer is coming to an end. Usually this was a real bummer for me. As a teacher, once you start school in August, you really can't breathe until Thanksgiving break. I had thought that since I am no longer teaching, I would not care that summer is over. However, life is going to drastically change for us in the next few months. We will be going into hibernation mode once again. RSV is very serious for preemies, and has the ability to cause hospitalizations and death. She will still attend physical therapy, but there will be no more mom's group, no swimming lessons, no grocery shopping, no church, no eating out. I'm very sad about it and I am afraid that this is going to affect me in a negative way. This summer has had so many fun times. We are constantly at the beach and I love my mom's group at the park. I wish that I could take her to music classes in downtown, and I certainly don't like attending church alone. 

I will be talking with our doctor about just how strict I have to be. I think that play dates with children who I know are not sick will be okay and I think we can have visitors, and I know we can still go to the beach. Of course, this is also the season of judgement for preemie moms as many don't understand the importance of keeping your preemie well. It is embarrassing for me to ask if someones kid is sick and asking adults not to kiss Sweet B's head. I hate putting the blanket over the stroller because people probably think I am nuts. But I must remember that as a mother, I have to do what I have to do, and if that means being extra careful this fall and winter, then so be it. I'll try to make sure that we stay connected to society somehow. We'll read and exercise and watch movies and play with the poodles. I'll blog and I'll read. 

But I will miss these hot summer days and my sweet memories of Sweet B blossoming right before my eyes. Thank God that spring and summer will indeed come again, and Sweet B and I will emerge like caterpillars turning into butterflies.