Snoozing and Cruising

We have been asked numerous times throughout this process whether Keziah needs to be careful while cruising/running around, in case she bonks the expanders in her head and cheek. The picture below was taken in March, before her expanders were put in.


As I am sure you can tell by the picture, her landing was, er, not really graceful. Let's just say it wasn't a perfect 10. She ended up with a mouth and face full of mulch!


We howled, as it looked quite funny. That was then, when grabbing the camera was more important than running to make sure she didn't pop an expander.

We will admit that when the expanders first were starting to fill up, we would consider ourselves in a category with some other parents, known as the 'helicopter' parents. We definitely hovered around her a bit more, making sure areas where she was running about was safe. But she is 2.5! She IS going to bonk her head. She WILL run into things. And she has.

One of the first times she ran into something was a few weeks ago at our friends' house. She was running to me, crying for whatever reason (she's a girl...it happens :o). I was sitting at the dining room table and wouldn't you know it, just before she reached me, she ran straight into the corner of the table. I saw the corner go INTO her cheek! My heart stopped and my stomach dropped to the floor. I quickly picked her up, very fearful of what just happened. To my surprise and relief, I could tell right away that nothing happened. That's right! Nothing!! She didn't even notice herself!! If anything, I think more damage was done to my heart than to her cheek!

That incident really proved to us that those expanders are not thin little balloons. They are thick and durable. It's almost like we needed her to do that to get over our hovering. We are more relaxed about it now, not quite as relaxed as a few months ago, but a little more at ease. But as her expanders get larger, our ease wanes. I mean, look at her....wouldn't you think she would just topple over from her head being so unproportionate to her body?! We are still fearful of her falling onto pavement and scraping her forehead or cheek, also known as the "good" skin; the fact that there is a risk of it popping, we still keep an eye on her. At church, kids often like to run after her, playing. This definitely makes us nervous because she is crowded around by kids which can make her trip and fall. So at church we tend to keep her close by.

But for the most part, we let her be a regular 2.5 year old, letting her do what 2.5 year olds like to do. She has learned now how to swing on the swing more carefully and continues to love it!



The other day it was raining, and this child LOVES to run in the rain! And look at the happiness in her face! How could we NOT let her enjoy this moment? Sure she could slip and fall (and she did as you will see), but we just couldn't deny her this much joy. Besides, then we would have denied ourselves the pleasure of watching her run about without a care in the world.






And to her, life looks even better upside down!! :o)

(yes, I absolutely cringe when she puts her head upside down. I just don't like it as I think the pressure of being upside down will do something to the expanders. I mean, my head feels like it's going to pop if I'm upside down too long, so wouldn't hers actually??! I know, it won't but it just looks uncomfortable.)

It does help that Keziah is not a hyper child, but one who is cautious (usually) and likes to do quiet things too. Below are some "safe" activities she likes to do, and I don't mind because it means no more heart failure! Heart melting, but not heart failure :o)

Reading!


(looks like Lincoln is trying to figure out what is that on his sister's head)

Baking! No problems with opening her mouth up to lick the beater....funny how that is :o)



Feeding her brother!


Painting....and even FINGER painting!!



So as you can see, life continues on for her like any other child her age. Other than dealing with the procedures, our little girl continues to be happy, usually smiling and singing, enjoying each and every day. She is a blessing I tell you. A real blessing.


As her cheek gets bigger, the question of how she is able to sleep is posed to us on a regular basis. Well, you tell me. What looks more uncomfortable, her sleeping on her cheek expander or the fact that she is in that position??! I don't know about you, but I think for me, sleeping on a bubble that goes into a pillow would be a whole lot more comfortable than with my legs like that!! And yet she continues to sleep. With no problem. :o)

Fill #7

Didn't I just write a post about the last fill??! That's what it sure feels like, especially because we went today instead of this coming Wednesday. After the fill on Wednesday last week, Keziah did very well. She even had a sleepover at Oma and Opa's with her brother until Saturday so her mom and dad could try out the camping trailer to get it ready for the summer. So we really didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare for today, other than talking about it a bit. I'll be honest, I don't usually like to do anything about preparing her until the day or two beforehand, giving us all a few days "off" from hospital talk. This time, I still wasn't ready by Saturday to work with her as I myself was not in the right frame of mind....meaning, I was not looking forward to Monday. By Sunday I snapped out of it, clueing in that once Monday is done, we don't have to worry about going to the hospital until 10 days from now!! And it'll be another fill done! Yahoo!!

And so today came quick and early but was met with peace and strength. Prayer is such an amazing means of communicating with our heavenly Father. We knew we were being lifted up in prayer for today and that helped immensely.

We woke up earlier today, anticipating that driving to Toronto on a Monday would be a bit busier. Keziah was no worse for wear for having to get up early. She promply got dressed and then made a picture for Shaindy, her Child Life Coach.




She enjoyed a breakfast for Champions, eager and excited once again to go to the hospital (I find that so amazing, because of how she is during the procedures)


Then off we went. No accidents and no tickets! Yay!! But let me tell you, I never knew I could crave Oreos at 7 o'clock in the morning! I guess following this truck for over an hour would do that to any sane person!


I was secretly hoping that the truck would tip somehow (carefully so no one would get hurt) and lose its load. But that was not to be. Oh well.

Shaindy met us again in the waiting room, where Kez gave her the picture she made. But all interest in the picture was lost once Keziah saw what Shaindy brought to the hospital!!






Again, everything went well until the words "Okay Kez, time to sit in mommy's lap." were uttered. She fought it again, yelling "I don't like the doctors, Mom!!!!" over and over. Thankfully they only had to fill one expander, that being her forehead, so it was over fairly quickly, putting in 25 cc's. As soon as the doctors were done, she was done her fit. They left her cheek alone for this time. They will see if they fill it a bit more next week, depending on how everything looks.

Once done, Keziah waited patiently for more bravery beads to be added to her necklace.




Other than that crying spell she had two fills ago, she has always recovered very quickly. This picture gives you an example of how quick she recovers. I know it's blurry, but that's the point.....she was jumping all around, happy as a lark!


Here she is with Dr. Tom. Dr. Tom is the one who has done most of the fills. He is a very kind, caring and fanTAStic doctor. Even Keziah thinks so...as long as he doesn't touch her :o)




Next week, Shaindy will not be there, so Keziah was introduced to another Child Life Coach, Riann. She will be with Kez for the next time. Looks like Keziah won't mind! Riann has pretty cool things, too!


And within the hour, we were going back home, looking forward to a break before the next fill.


Here she is, close ups of this last fill. She is definitely getting quite the bubble on her head! (she first wanted to do a funny face...this is about as good as she could get it without laughing!)





Quite something, eh?! Yeah. They are definitely expanding! We are thankful to know the end (of this phase) is in sight, because I am not too sure how much more her little neck can hold up!!

Our little man was once again taken care of by my mom. She has been here the last number of fills and it has been so helpful! Thanks, Mom!! Lincoln also says "thanks" with a great big smile.

And yes, he can be serious.....sometimes.


Some of you have asked questions in regards to her ability to sleep and the risk of the expanders popping if she bangs her head/cheek. I will address these questions later this week. If you have any more, either email me (see "contact me" tab at the top) or ask below in the comments and we will do our best to answer them. Have a great week!!

In other news......

the men in our house, meaning dad and me, both celebrated birthdays last week!

First, there's my dad. He had his birthday on Friday and he turned 38!!! I know, I know, so old! But even though he is old, he still loves to wrestle and play with Kez and me!

He LOVES to let me fly and then tip me upside down. I love it, too! I laugh a lot when he does this.

Kez and I are so thankful for our dad. He's the best dad ever. I can't tell him that with my words, but I do with my smiles.

But he's not the only one that had a birthday last week! You guessed it..so did I!!! I am now a big whopping.......5 Months Old!!!!

Oh, I was SO excited! I knew that mom made dad chocolate peanut butter pie for his birthday, so I couldn't WAIT to see what she made for me! Here I am, all eager and excited!

But wait a minute.....I don't think this is Peanut Butter and Chocolate!

What in the world is this stuff??

Let me try it again....nope. It definitely is NOT peanut butter and chocolate pie.

Seriously Mom, do I honestly have to eat it??

Oh wait a sec! I learned a new trick the other day! I learned how to spit! Yay!! That's what I'll do the next time she puts that stuff in my mouth again!

Hahahahaha!! I am so clever!! You should have seen my mom's reaction! I got it all over her!! Hahahaha!!!

Oiy. After laughing so hard, I got a cramp. Once I calmed down, wouldn't you know it, my mom kept letting me try the stuff and I actually did really enjoy it! I secretly hope that I don't have to wait till my next "birthday" of 6 months before I get to eat it again.

In the meantime, I'll just keep chilling, watching the world go by. Till next time, Linc! :o)