My Christmas Spoiler

Today we spent a lot of time wrapping gifts. With Annabelle's help, my mom wrapped a few presents for me while I was busy elsewhere. When I returned to the kitchen they were knee deep in ribbons, tape, and paper. My mom handed Annabelle a few presents to place under the tree... The gifts that weren't for me went to the tree. But when Annabelle was handed a present that she remembered held something for me, she handed it directly to me while telling me what it was for:

"Here momma, knitting."

"Here momma, digging."

"Here momma, shirt."

Oh, my little elf. You make me smile.

Lactating Gorillas at the San Diego Zoo

Today we took a day trip with our good friends to the San Diego Zoo. After Annabelle cuddled with me while we watched a gorilla nursing her young baby we came upon several bronze statues of the zoo's gorillas, and a couple of the females were lactating. Both (recently weaned) girls cuddled right up to the statue with the nursing gorilla baby. It was so sweet and entirely hilarious all at once.

PS Sorry about the light quality of the photos. I don't have access to Photoshop right now...

Pediatric ICU - a whirlwind 24 hour visit!

In the ER, an hour after painfully dislodging the last of three chunks of apple from her blocked trachea, Grampa arrived having just flown in from Mexico. A much needed and fun treat for our sweet girl...

Showing me her IV (big white bandage on right arm) and the red light on her left finger that was tracking oxygen levels... everything is still new and uncomfortable. We are waiting to be admitted to Pediatric ICU for overnight observation.

Getting her vitals checked for admission into ICU. A little scared and extremely tired. The nurse's watch says it's 10pm... She watched two Elmo videos (her first television!) and then passed out and slept all night until the nurse woke us both up at 545am to start her on clear liquids.

Playing with the dancing Christmas penguin in her ICU crib, waiting to be discharged. After three hours of successfully and happily drinking lots and lots of apple juice, she was allowed to try solids. A few hours after happily shoveling big spoonfuls of Grama's homemade chicken noodle soup into her mouth while loudly saying, "MORE NOODLES PLEASE!" between each bite, she took another two xrays to show that there weren't any errant food particles in her lungs that might lead to pneumonia. We were finally allowed to go home.

A word of advice: Get your CPR certification. The ICU doctor congratulated me on being able to save Annabelle from something much worse by successfully performing CPR on her. The Red Cross offers four hour training classes that are worth the small price they charge. Make time to learn this important information!!

Bath time

Our yard :: a fungal microcosm