Sorry I haven’t updated in awhile but things have been crazy around here. Now with Mike recovering from the election and Sophia recovering from her ear infection I have some time to catch you up on what is going on here. All I can say is, “Sophia, Sophia, Sophia!” I guess I should backtrack to September and fill you in on EVERYTHING that has been going on with her. Back at 12 months when Sophia had the reactions to her vaccines her pediatrician did some blood work to see if there is something going on with her immune system. At her 15 month appointment, after Sophia was checked out the doctor was supposed to look at her results. Well 15 min went by the nurse came in and said she spoke with the doctor. When I was leaving and asked for a copy of the results the doctor went to review, they couldn’t produce them. Well, Sophia was already given the polio and DTAP shot. Two days later she developed a fever, a bad cough, and diarrhea. We visited the GI doctor the week before her vaccines and Sophia was doing awesome so they wanted Mike and I to come in and meet with the team to lay out a game plan for introducing proteins into her diet. Well, when we showed up 1 week after her shots and 2 weeks after the last time they saw her Sophia had lost more than 2 pounds was still coughing and looked awful. The GI doctor reviewed the blood work, I finally got my hands on, and recommended that we see immunologist. We met with her allergist, who is also an immunologist a few days later. He confirmed that Sophia immune system has some flaws. Sophia has a low IgA level. At this point it is not alarming, but it is something we need to watch carefully as she gets older. If your immune system makes low levels of IgA antibodies, you may have a higher chance of developing repeated infections in the areas of the nose, breathing passages, digestive tract, ears and eyes. Sound like Sophia? He said NO MMR vaccine is to be given until at least 24 months. I felt wonderful after that appointment because my suspicions about her immune system were finally confirmed.
Jump ahead 1 ½ weeks. Friday October 17th, Sophia hadn’t pooped in 4 days (this is not uncommon for Sophia). Diarrhea went straight to severe constipation. Thursday (all) night was a flashback of the first time we brought Sophia home…the rocking, holding, uncontrollable movements, her sleeping in a warm bath, laxatives, EVERYTHING was the same. Needless to say, I took her to her GI doctor at Mass General early Friday morning. She did some x-rays and it showed that the situation was extremely dangerous. Sophia was so backed up that she was in risk for a ruptured colon and/or becoming septic. I brought her home with strict instructions on how to take care of the situation and if she hadn’t gone to the bathroom by dinnertime we were going to have to take her to the hospital to be admitted. Luckily she went and by Sunday was on the road to recovery…until Halloween. Mike took her to the doctors on Halloween because she was pulling on her left ear. Well she had a severe ear infection in her left ear, perforated left ear drum and an ear infection in her right ear. We ended up back at the doctor’s Monday with a new infection in the left ear and still one in her right. So, they doubled up on a new antibiotic and kept her on ear drops. We thought everything was fine until….yesterday when she started pulling again. I called the doctor and they said to keep giving the meds and hopefully all will be OK until we meet with the doctors at Mass Eye and Ear on Friday of this week. I will write soon after the appointment to let you know how it went.
After all that you would never have know that Sophia went through all that over the last 2 months. I am so happy that she inherited my high tolerance to pain. She is such a strong little girl. Having said that, Mike, Sophia, and I enjoyed being outside and enjoying the fall weather. We spent a lot of time outside gardening and cleaning the yard for the winter. We went apple picking but Sophia was still not feeling her best so it was a short quick pick.
Sophia and Daddy spent a lot of time riding bikes outside the house and we went for a lot of family walks before we changed the clock ahead.
We didn’t make it pumpkin picking this year due to everything going on so my students donated the class carved pumpkin to Sophia so that she could put a light in it on Halloween. She LOVES lights! Halloween was awesome (even with a ruptured eardrum.) Sophia was Raggedy Ann.
Seeing her with hair was hysterical. Trick-or-treating was 5-7 in our neighborhood and with it being so nice out Sophia stayed outside the entire time dancing to her Wiggles songs, passing out candy, coloring and hiding candy in a red cup. She had a blast.
Developmentally she is still doing amazing. I was afraid with the fluid in her ears that she would have trouble learning new words but it hasn’t stopped her. She has begun to address people and objects by their names and put 2 or 3 words together. She can even answer the phone! Her favorite songs now are “Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee,” “Ring Around the Rosie,” and “The Wheels on the Bus.” She knows all the actions that go along with each song.
She also LOVES the wiggles. It is so funny watching her dance to them. She loves dancing. Every time a song comes on she dances and twirls. Her imaginary play is amazing. I watch her play with her dolls and it makes me laugh every time I see her do to her dolls what I do to her. For example, she will pretend to cry as if it was the doll then tell the doll, “Its otay(okay), its otay, mama dea(here)” then put the doll over her shoulder and rub her back and pat the dolls bum. She also will hold it in front of her face real close and rub her nose to the dolls nose and say, “hi my baby.” Mike bought Sophia a doctor doll when she was sick and now she will use all the pieces on Mike. She makes him lay down (she pushes him and says “down dada”) and then takes his temp, listens to his heart with a stethoscope and rubs his back to make him sleep while saying “shhhhh dada.” It’s so funny to watch. I will try to get a video of it to post. She mimics Mike all the time. If he fixes something she is right behind him with a tool.
Same with doing the dishes, sweeping, and riding bikes. As he says it, “She is my little buddy!” When he comes home she can’t wait for him to chase her around the house, play with flashlights in a dark room or play rough with her. They are crazy together. I sometimes have a 5 year old and 18 month old!
Though she is tons of fun she is also tons of work. She has learned how to undress herself…including her pamper. Once you think she is ready for bed she walks in naked. She is a good girl though because once she takes her clothes off she puts them in the hamper and her diaper in the pail. Potty training anyone?! We have to get her a booster seat for the table. She has learned how to stand in the highchair. I was in the closet the other night getting the broom to sweep the kitchen and she was saying “o oh, o oh mama…no no me” I knew she did something wrong and turned around to her standing on the chair holding on to the back looking at me. She did it to Mike the other night too! “Oh Sophia!” Along with those issues she also can get out of her car seat, take off her shoes and socks and throw them into the way back of my car and scream until I put her music on. Temper tantrums started but they have gotten better now that she understands temper tantrum mean time alone in her crib until she stops crying. That has been working so we will keep with it. I dread when she can get out of her crib!
Like always I could go on and on about her. She makes us so happy. Mike and I are so excited about this Christmas. I think that when you’re a child Christmas is wonderful, but as a parent it is so much more exciting and fun. Santa is getting her a kitchen set for her big gift. She loves playing with the one at school. When I pick her up she will always bring me a cup of something to drink. Mike can’t wait to have it set up for her next to the tree for when she wakes up. He also can’t wait to be something other than her doll or horse when they play. With the holidays coming up and her appointment as Mass General I will make sure to update more.
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