Potty Talk!

For obvious reasons, we haven't really been discussing potty training our soon-to-be three year old. What would be the point, right? She will not be "peeing" in a potty until she is old enough to be taught to catheterize herself into a toilet. According to the nurse at MUSC, this could be achieved when she is between 8 to 10 years old. And, from what we were told at the Spina Bifida clinic, Claire would most likely experience difficulty controlling bowel movements due to the same nerve damage that causes her to have a neurogenic bladder. When she is older she will need to be put on a "bowel management plan" to achieve social continence. Sounds lovely, doesn't it. But we are prepared to do whatever it takes to insure that Claire can have what is termed a "normal lifestyle". We committed ourselves to it when God said "that one, she's the one"!

That being said, toileting is something that has recently peeked Claire's interest. There are a lot of people in this house and she's seen some of them using that potty thing. Also, I personally noticed that Claire has been able to tell me that she is going to soil a diaper before she does so on a regular basis. I mentioned this to the experts at the spina bifida clinic and they brushed it off as if I was a wishful mother that didn't know any better. Okay, whatever! Claire and I can figure this out without them.

So, as we strolled through Wally-World the other day, Claire spotted potty chairs in the baby department. I asked her if she wanted one. She is a pretty decisive kid and general knows what she wants. If we are in the toy department she will spot a toy, I hand it to her, she plays for a few minutes and then hands it back and says "No". Not that I intended to buy it anyway, because we probably already have it at home! But, this time she wanted it so I loaded the posh pink potty into the buggy and away we went home.

As soon as we got there she insisted sitting on the potty until dinner time, proudly showing anyone that would pay attention. The boys were thrilled! :) "Mom, did you have to take her diaper off! Eewww!" She wanted the diaper off, she knows what is supposed to happen here. She kept saying "Claire go potty". Paul's parents were called to come over for viewing pleasure (they live across the street). Claire was only too happy to show off!

Well, first thing this morning Claire announced that she "go poopy". Now I knew she hadn't yet, because I had just put the diaper on and was holding her, so I asked if she wanted to sit on the potty and poopy. I sat her down and told her I would go make her oatmeal. I returned to check on her and she pointed to the door and told me to "go make oatmeal"! When I returned in a few minutes she said, "put diaper on". Okay, so I picked her up and what do you know, SHE WENT IN THE POTTY!!! We danced and sang and clapped and she looked nervous at us like we each had three heads! It was great! Then I gave her chocolate candy....... because that makes sense right? Then she danced and sang and clapped her hands! "CLAIRE GO POTTY"

Maybe this is a milestone, one the odds said she would never achieve. Maybe it's a fluke. Maybe she will do it again. Maybe she won't. Either way, we love her! Either way, we celebrate her!


No potty pictures but here are some new bath pictures! Is this the same girl that fought like a cat to get out of the tub and screeched when water touched her skin! Unless, it's rain, which she loves!?!?!

Still isn't crazy about having the shampoo rinsed out but doesn't scream anymore! Just whimpers and boy will she fuss at you if you get it in her ears!

She can't get her left foot wet yet so we are still taking modified sponge baths, but she loves putting her right foot in the sink (something that would have brought tears and shouts of "no, no, no" only a month ago).

She loves to make it "rain" and will even let me do a little on her head!

It's been a long day!

Tried a little standing in the hotel yesterday. This was before the pain medication wore off!

It's been a long 36 hours, actually. Airtran had "mechanical difficulties" and was not able to get a plane into St. Louis to get us until 8:15, too late to get our connection in Atlanta. At least they were nice enough to give us a voucher for a hotel and breakfast. So, we got into Atlanta after 10pm, caught a shuttle to the hotel and collapsed into bed at midnight. Of course, Claire slept for 3 hours at the airport terminal and another 2 on the plane, so she was ready to PLAY! That did not go over especially well! Fortunately, she is such a compliant kid that I put her to bed anyway and she was quiet as a mouse.....except that she would move around and hit or scape her metal brace against the metal hotel crib! The poor thing had a hard time trying to get comfy in that contraption she has to sleep in for the next 3 years!

This morning I found that she had turned on her side and one foot is stuck up in the air because of the bar that separates her feet at shoulder width!

We caught our home-bound ride this morning and arrived tired, but happy. Well, I was happy. Claire was cranky and Paul had to race home, switch suitcases and hit the road. He had made plans with a cath lab in Myrtle Beach and had to get up there pronto!

Claire's feet look great except for some swelling in the foot that had the pin removed. As a matter of fact, the swelling is bad enough that we had to call the nurse today to get some advice because her Dobb's Brace was not fitting that foot. We have been told not to put her in it for a day or two and let the swelling go down first. She has very little muscle tone left so we have a lot of work ahead of us to get this girl back in shape for walking! Also, she still does not actually move her feet much or her toes at all. This has to do with nerve damage due to her spina bifida. We are not sure what help there is for this, if any at all, but if there is something out there, I will find it!

This is BEFORE!

Keep in mind that the foot on the right (her left foot) was turned out and rigid, not just laying to the side, the way it looks in this picture. She could not have turned it forward if she had wanted to without turning her whole body. That is the foot that had vertical talus. It is not the same as club foot but the treatment was similar and successful, thanks to Dr. Dobbs!

THIS IS AFTER!

Aren't these cute little feeties! Both feet face forward just right! You can see the swelling in the left foot and the place where they took the pin out. She only had a pin in the vertical talus foot. The other foot was club and was corrected with 3 casts and a tenotomy! This is amazing folks! I know of parents who's children have major surgery or try serial casting with an inexperienced doctor and end up with a dozen or more castings! Dr. Dobbs was well worth every mile we have traveled in the last three months! He is worth every mile we will travel in the coming years for follow up. I will credit him and the help of the Shriners when this baby walks, and she will walk!

She had very chubby legs when we got her in China, but look at these skinny things! If you look around her knees, you can see all the dead, dry skin that I can't get off yet. I have scrubbed, but not all of it comes off. It looks like dirt and she looks like I never bathe her!!!

I don't have to tell you that Claire LOVES having her casts off. She wants to try out her legs and feet but they are very sore right now so she stops herself. We went into Walmart this afternoon and as I pushed the cart past the shoe department, that kid went nuts! "SHOES, MOMMY!" She wants a pair of shoes, real shoes, not soft leather slippers like she's worn all her life! I tried a few pair but I think we will end up at Stride Rite or Kassies Bros. Shoes. She has wide little feet with a large fat pad on top that won't seem to squeeze into regular shoes. Isabel had that fat pad too and she went barefoot for the longest time because I could not find shoes for her! So, our next quest is to find a pair of shoes that will make this baby happy!

Just for cuteness sake, take a look at this video of her singing "The Wheels on the Bus". I taught her the verses about the wheels, the driver saying "move on back", the baby crying "waa, waa, waa", and the mommies on the bus saying "Shh, Shh, Shh". She just likes the wheels and the mommies parts and gets very upset if she thinks you are going to leave out the "shh, shh, shh" part! (don't forget to turn off the music)

Drum Roll Please!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pre-surgery smiles

We were up-and-at-um way too early this morning, O'dark 30 if I recall! Anywho, we scooted over to the hospital via a catwalk from the hotel, through the Jewish Hospital and over another catwalk to St. Luke's! Dr. Dobbs stopped by the room just before she was taken back and we caught a quick picture with our hero!

Shortly after that, she was whisked away to the OR to have her casts and ankle pin removed. This took less than an hour from start to finish and Dr. Dobbs called the waiting room to tell us how thrilled he was with her new x rays and the how her feet looked! He said she may be too sore to put much weight on them for a few days but that she should be up and running quickly! She was then brought back to us and David from the brace clinic came by to bring us her specially fitted Dobbs brace. She will wear this brace at night but we were asked to have her wear it a little bit in the day for the first few days so she will get used to it.

She was thrilled at seeing her feet and kept lifting them up to look but when Mr. David put her brace on and she was NOT happy with that development! It is definitely different than having casts on and she was not as compliant as usual because the Anesthesia was still wearing off. Let me just say that she is not the same child when the Anesthesia is wearing off and poor Mr. David got an earful from her! She kept saying, "take shoe off!" but we distracted her with a popsicle and it wasn't long before she was investigating her new equipment.....or maybe she was trying to figure out if she could get out of it!

Investigating!

Playing!

She can still move her legs but there is a different sensation because of the bar that keeps them at the same distance from each other. She is also extremely concerned because she can not see the toes of one of her feet. Her feet are placed at different angles because of the different deformity. The right foot is turned out because that is the position for a club foot and the other foot is positioned straight out because that is the position for a vertical talus. She can see the toes on her left foot but not the right one easily and this bothers her!

Now we are back in our room at the hotel getting ready to go. She is still in her brace and has recovered from the drugs for the most part, although she is still having a few moments. She sits in the window looking for buses and bicycles (her favorites) and singing the Wheels on the Bus but the next minute she bursts into tears and we don't really know why!

She also insists that she needs to "go for walk, NOW!", and she means she wants to WALK! So, I am about to take this brace off and if I get a chance I will update again today with pictures of her feet!

Safe Landing!

We landed safe and sound in St. Louis and I have to say, Claire is a wonderful traveler! Of course she is a veteran at this flying thing. Let me see....she has now been on 14 different planes! That's 14 take-offs and landings! Hello, that's a lot of frequent flyer miles, baby! And, she loves it. as you carry her on the plane she swings her arm and sings "going on da pane". When you set her down in the seat, she exclaims, "my seat, I buckle!"

Reading her books in-flight!

Anyway, we are here, we have eaten. We walked around in a lovely area downtown and found a Greek restaurant for dinner and a crepe place for dessert. YUMMY! Well, Paul ate Greek, I had a St. Louis treat-Toasted Ravioli. Ever heard of that? Well, I'm sure you have if you live out here, but that is not something this chick from South Carolina has ever feasted on until I came to St. Louis. I had to ask a waitress what it was back in June. It's breaded and fried ravioli and it is scrumptious! And, I don't even eat fried foods! Then we found a crepe place and I haven't had good crepes since I was a little girl. I Used to spend the night with a girlfriend, Marleen, and her mother made these amazing crepes on Saturday mornings. Well those were good breakfast crepes, but I had a dessert crepe tonight that was to die for!! It was Strawberries with chocolate and cream...............Oh my! I may have to go back there tomorrow before we head to the airport!

Now we are heading to bed.....because 6AM comes early out here, that's why! Actually, it will come an hour later but since we have to be at the hospital at 6AM then we really have to get up at 5:15, which is really 6:15 and that is close to 6AM which is TOO EARLY no matter where you are!

So, here is Claire, all squished up in the teeniest port-a-crib I have ever seen!

But I can't wait to see those feet.........I can wait for the smell though! Because that is not going to be lovely, I bet!!!! :)

And, here she is going to sleep....yeah right, who are we kidding!

Surprise weekend visitor!

It's a COLLEGE STUDENT!

Always studying!

As usual, I emailed to check on our Lizzie this week. Instead of getting a comforting reply about classes keeping her busy and a general "all's well" report, I got a one liner about a sprained ankle that was laced with desperation........ or exasperation, not sure which! Either way, it didn't sound good. "Grace" stepped off the curb to get into her Nana's car and got into a drainage hole instead! That is apparently what you get for trying to do your laundry off campus!

I checked in on her the next day and it was worse! Her ankle was really hurting her and she was going to hobble blocks to get to her classes. Her first class that day was near-by, but she was worried that she would not make it to her second class, several blocks away, without being disrespectfully late!

It so happened, her Daddy was working at a hospital downtown anyway! One quick call to him and he did exactly what I knew he would do! Yep, he raced over to the college......... because he was a man on a mission now! (insert Mission Impossible theme music here) Using the latest in technology, (a cell phone) he located the target, then circled on the one way streets near the campus until he got "the signal". At precisely the right moment......or close, he pulled up to the curb and whisked Lizzie away and around the corner to drop her at her next class. I half expected him to call me blurting out the code "Papa Bear has the cub, I repeat, Papa Bear has the cub" ! This would not be out of character for him as he frequently called me with similar codes when he would drive to the meeting spot to pick Lizzie up for weekend visitation. Yes, Lizzie comes by her humorous side, naturally! He then went in search of our college student's prefered lunch, Subway! He managed to find one, get the lunch and get back to the street corner in time to shuttle her back to her dorm. In the mean time, we issued the invitation that she was welcome to come home for the weekend to be "nursed" back to health with the help of her four loving, yet nutty brothers and sisters. She actually took us up on this offer! Of course, if she hadn't she may have had to survive off of Easy Mac because there was no way she could have gotten to the cafeteria for her meals without starving to death first at the rate she was moving!

We ended up having a really nice weekend! We took full advantage of the opportunity to indulge in a seafood extravaganza and I served crab legs and shrimp cocktail for Friday night's dinner! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and it cost less than taking our whole crew out for chicken! Lizzie, ever the comedian, had us in stitches all through dinner and Noah almost managed to make root beer come out his nose....or should I say Lizzie almost made root beer come out his nose! Yep, we've got a talented bunch! The best part of her visit was actually getting to visit! She put in a lot of needed bonding time with Claire and I got our first ever pictures of ALL FIVE KIDS!!

A little ice, a support brace and some rest has done wonders for Lizzie's ankle this weekend and I am happy to say that though she is still gimping, she is doing much better. We sent her off well fed, well loved and well rested. She managed to visit, make us laugh, watch a few movie and get all her homework done!


I recently encouraged her that blogging could be a creative outlet for her....after all, she is a writer and a talented artist. I thought she could post her poetry or short stories and upload scanned drawings. Lizzie firmly believes that her dorm is haunted by playful ghosts and so she decided to start a blog that chronicles paranormal activity at the college! It is aptly titled The Ghosts of Berry Hall. Well, knowing Lizzie, no matter how serious she is, it will still be entertaining....because that girl is a riot I tell you!

Playing with "Izzie"

This video was taken in my kitchen which is horribly dark. I even refer to it as "the cave", so the video is also very dark. But it's cute just to listen to Claire interact with Lizzie.

(Don't forget to turn off the music at the bottom)

Tune in tomorrow for more adventures as the Mama and Daddy fly to St. Louis with Claire for the Great Reveal ! By this time Tuesday we will be boarding our flight home with her new and improved feet....made just for walking...and running...and dancing and climbing! Oh my!