Little Lins!

Guess who is 55 weeks old and happy to be home? Ava!

We took Ava in for a check-up last Friday to make sure she was still holding her own. And she was. She is doing great. Thanks for everyone’s positive thoughts while Ava was fighting her battle. Based on her shrinking belly, we knew that Ava lost some weight. It ends up that she lost a pound and a half of weight.. bringing her down to 20 pounds 13 ounces from her previous fighting weight of 22 pounds 2 ounces.

Ava was never on any medications since she had a viral, not a bacterial, infection. But to help her breathe, she needs to continue breathing treatments, in the form of this inhaler, until her cough disappears. She does pretty well with it. Dan and I make silly faces while we count to five to distract her… but by the time we get to the fourth try, she usually lets us know that our silly counting is not so silly anymore.

Ava loves walking around the house holding the inhaler to her face when it is not treatment time. Go figure. She even shakes it which is something we need to do prior to administering the treatment. Ava the copy cat. Those two little red marks on her cheeks are still from the tape while she was in the hospital.

Wondering what is making Ava smile so sweetly?

It was a get well card from all her friends and teachers at daycare. She loved pointing and smiling at all the familiar faces she hasn’t seen in over two weeks.

Here she is at pick-up time during her first day back at daycare. She was busy sitting and playing with Miss Arisbeth and her friends Ava R and Evan. Her teacher, Miss Arisbeth, says that she does not talk too much and does not want to participate in any art projects… which is the opposite from what she did in the infant room. So this weekend, we are going to encourage Ava to paint and color, in an effort to see if that will help her in school. I was hoping she wouldn’t be shy like her mama.
Maybe it is a side effect of her hospital stay. Who knows. Or maybe there is a bully in her class. We’ll just have to wait and see.

We are keeping her hospital stay in the past, even though I keep talking about it in this follow-up post. I refuse to think of her as a sick little girl because she is not. No sense of living in the past. It was a learning experience and we are focused on the present and the future. But one of the side effects of it all is her need to be close to us. This is the face I see several times a day with arms outstretched… and a slight grunt to get her point even more clear. Pick. Me. Up.

At home, Ava is back to her old tricks and has added a few new tricks too… like whacking everything around the house with her new wand that her friend Camilla gave her. It plays a magical princess sound with every whack.

She also starting stomping. Yes, I said stomping. Not sure if it is more like the dance or more like a scary monster interpretation. You be the judge the next time you visit.

Ava also decided a few weeks back that she was a big girl and can get off of the couch all by herself.

Guess who decided that spending his birthday with Ava was more fun than playing bocce ball? Dida! Maybe next year she will be old enough to play with her US Champ Dida.

Fresh from Solvang, Ava got to enjoy a special treat covered in powder sugar. Good thing she just got her first canine tooth on her bottom left side!

Here is Ava with a Mickey Mouse pancake. At first she was perplexed at the idea of eating a mouse.

But after the first nibble, Mickey Mouse went bye bye, right into her belly… blueberry eyes and all. Yum.

Her eating of animals continued that day, but without the same results. Poor ladybug.

On Sunday, Ava enjoyed her 2nd Super Bowl Party at Matheus’ house.

She had fun running around and around…

…crawling through plastic tunnels…

…sweeping their clean floors…

…eating cheese and homemade pizza…

…and ignoring the game with her mama.

Ava doesn’t mind wearing hoods from her expansive sweater collection.

But it is a different story with standalone hats. Here is Ava with her new hat. This look will not last long. Don’t blink.

Here is Ava so proud of herself just after pulling her hat off of her head. I guess no fishing for us today. Thanks a lot Ava.

I sense a walk in a near future. See you next week if not sooner!

Our little Ava is now 54 weeks old. This week has been difficult for us, physically and mentally. Here is the story of our road trip hiccup.

It all started on the Wednesday morning of our southern Arizona road trip. Ava had a rough night… fever, wheezing, restlessness… and on top of that she was having difficulty breathing. Her entire stomach was expanding and contracting with each breath she took. Bad sign. So we packed up and headed for Oro Valley Urgent Care, just a mile up the road. As soon as the nurse took her vitals, we knew something was very wrong. Her respiratory and heart rate were off the chart and her blood oxygen levels were very low. They whisked us away to a private room and immediately gave Ava oxygen through a mask, an IV, a steroid shot thru the IV, and several nebulizer breathing treatments. Ava was in respiratory distress. Her low oxygen levels were not healthy for her organs. The urgent care was not equipped for Ava or for her ailment so they sent an ambulance to pick us up and we headed for the nearest ER until she could admitted to a room at the Children’s Hospital. The Tucson Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital would not accept Ava in their ER even though we were on a waiting list to get admitted to their pediatric wing. Politics. So, we spent most of the day at the Oro Valley Emergency Room, where I held Ava on a hospital bed, watched her vitals and held an oxygen mask over her face. Dan and I did our best to be strong for Ava’s sake… until this one nurse kept repeating how hard it must be for us to have a sick baby. No kidding.

After about 8 hours in Urgent Care and the ER, another ambulance picked us up and dropped us off at Tucson Medical Center which had a whole wing devoted to pediatrics. Actually, Ava couldn’t have gotten sick in a better location in terms of children’s hospitals if she tried. They immediately hooked her up to their machines to continue monitoring her vitals and administering oxygen. They actually stopped giving her an IV because she didn’t seem to be dehydrated… but they kept the IV in place just in case. The nurses actually had a difficult time locating a vein on Ava because of her chunkiness . The needle was located on the back of her hand and wrapped with that blue splint to prevent her from pulling it out.

Ava had one of their private rooms because she was considered highly contagious. Her breath rate was between 60-80 breaths per minute instead of the norm of 20-40. Her heart rate was between 165-200 instead of the normal 120-140, and her blood oxygen was in the low 80s instead of the high 90s. The doctors expected us to be there a night or two… but we weren’t… we were there for 8 whole days. Yes, I said 8. The doctors diagnosed her with bronchiolitis which was caused by the RSV virus. It is a common virus this time of year and she probably got it at daycare or from any of the numerous people that are coughing right now. But when babies younger than 2 get RSV, it can settle deep into their lungs instead of concentrating in the sinus or chest area. About 1 out of 100 babies get bronchiolitis bad enough to be hospitalized and Ava was the lucky winner. Too bad Ed McMahon didn’t run in with his microphone as balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling.

Ava had three electrodes on her chest for her heart and breathing, and a pulse oximeter on her toe to measure her blood oxygen levels, which glowed like E.T. Phone Home.

And a cannula for oxygen instead of a mask. At first, Ava hated it and tried to rip it off. Then she forgot about it. And then it made her itchy and she hated it again. All in all, she did better with it on than Dan or I would have. The reason we were not released in the predicted time frame was because Ava could not hold her oxygen up. As soon as they tried to wean her off of it, she would dip down below the acceptable levels and they would have to turn the flow back on. This lasted for 8 days. Did I already say that? She could not be released from the hospital until she could hold her own for 24 hours.

Ava also couldn’t be released until she was fever-free for 24 hours. Her fever ranged from 100-102.5 during our stay and disappeared around day 6.

Ava was confined to her cage crib for the majority of the time. Once her energy levels started to rise, we let her take a few steps around the room. But, she couldn’t get too far because of the wires. And she didn’t venture out of her room for fear of catching a new illness or giving hers to another kid.

During Ava’s stay, she lost a noticeable amount of weight. Her leg rolls, rubber band wrists and stomach shrunk. Her previously tight shirt was now a little baggy.

Ava’s appetite plummeted during her illness. And the hospital food did not help.

At first, her meals consisted of solid table foods, which she either pushed away or played with, like this green bean flute.

And then we switched to a puree diet, which is normal food, like french toast, placed in a blender and reformed to its original shape. So gross but she ate some of it.

I don’t even want to say what this pureed sausage looks like…

Ava also used her new straw skills to drink juice for the first time… but water is still her drink of choice.

There were two things that saved us from frustration and boredom… her binky and TV. She loved watching Elmo, some penguin cartoon and Hip Hop Harry.

She even enjoyed watching President Bush’s State of the Union and clapped with the audience. No joke. It was a long 8 days.

If you think that a hospital is a great place to rest, you are in for a big surprise. Nurses, techs, and doctors visit all day long and all night long too. We were lucky to get two hours of sleep in a row. Her breathing treatments began every hour and eventually tapered off to every four hours. Ava protested through most of them. She also got her nose suctioned by a wall vacuum several times a day. And her temperature and blood pressure were monitored constantly too. I think she hated the less painless, temperature and blood pressure cuff, more than the suction or breathing treatments. Go figure. During the night, I slept next to Ava in a fold out chair bed. And Dan slept in our trailer in the parking lot with Yoda.

After a day or two, Ava was getting antsy and tried to escape.

To keep her (and us) entertained, Dan bought her balloons so we can hear her say ‘goon’ over and over again… but she didn’t say goon… she just pointed instead.

Ava passed the time by brushing her new monkey friend…

…reading books…

…over and over again…

…kicking soccer balls in her book…

…and pretending she was a bracelet model on QVC.

She also spent just as much time throwing the toys out of her crib as she did playing with them. She must have said ‘oh-oh’ at least a hundred times each day.

Silly Ava would visit sometimes too…

…on more than one occasion.

Ava became more clingy to us during her stay. As soon as someone walked into her room, her arms would fly towards us and she would let out a little shriek.

Poor Yoda. She spent 8 days pretty much alone in the tiny trailer. Dan brought her for a visit outside of Ava’s window when Ava was feeling better. You should of heard her giggle.

After 8 long days, Ava was more than ready to leave. She even helped put on her going home socks…

…and brush her crunchy hair. It really was crunchy. It was impossible to give her a proper bath while she was plugged into the wall.

Bye Tucson Memorial Center. Thanks for letting us stay at the most expensive place in town. Cha-ching.

We made the long trip home in one day. No one complained. Well, no one complained until it was breathing treatment time.

We passed the time by reading books. I wonder if Ava needs glasses.

And we passed the time by taking breaks to see cactus.

One of the goals of this and future road trips is to take Ava’s picture with something that represents the state we are in…. and for Arizona, we thought that the cactus was a pretty good object. We almost did not get this picture. We were exhausted and had home on our minds. But luckily, we pulled off on the last exit before the California-Arizona border, stopped at a historic graveyard and got this shot. Bye Bye Arizona. Thanks for having us.

Ava is officially 38 weeks old.

Ava still likes going to the park. Forget the swings. Trying to eat leaves is her favorite pastime there.

She likes walking with her daddy too.

And twirling her tongue.

Over the weekend, Ava had a chance to hang out with Birdy. She loved it when Birdy gently nibbled her finger.

But she also got to see Tarzan again. He is the egg-laying bird that makes Ava close her eyes every time he squawks. Today was no different.

Here she is with Marko and Anthony at the start of a crawling race.

What is this?

It’s Ava dressed up as my favorite muppet baby, Animal!

The costume is a little big but the picture is priceless.

Guess who likes to dance to music and grandma’s ABC singing near the couches…

…and on the carpet…

…and especially at her table.

Ava also spent some time with Grandpa Slavo. She was in love with his pocket.

At dinner time, Ava and I are not the only ones at the dinner table. Yoda is there because she thinks the Cherrios are her cat treats… and Rudy is there for leftovers, especially waiting for the Cheerios that don’t make it into Ava’s mouth.

Ava loves the rattling spoon that came with her table. She crawls with it around the house and stops to feed Rudy.

Rudy isn’t the only lucky one. So is her Great Grandma Dinka.

To be fair, it was then spoon time for Ava. She can’t have all the fun.

Ava’s trick of the week is biting the spoon after each bite.

We all think it is a pretty cool trick.

Silly Ava.

Oh, and we introduced Ava to seals too. Uncle David took us to the marine mammal rehab center.

Ava preferred the real ones to this wooden one.

Guess who got sick again. I know. I’m tired of it too. Believe me. This time is started with red cheeks and ended up being another eye infection, fever and cold.

Rudy is also not feeling well so we took her to the vet. Here is Ava waiting for the doctor in a big girl chair.

Time to go. We need to figure out why Ava’s lips are stuck in this rectangle shape. jk.

Our little Ava is now 36 weeks old…

When picking up Ava from daycare on Friday, we found her in the middle of band practice with her friends. When we got closer, we noticed that Ava’s eyes were a bit red and goopy… on top of already being sick with a daycare cold since last week.

When I lifted Ava out of her crib from her afternoon nap, her eyes were worse. They were red, swollen, crusty and uncomfortable. So it was off to the doctor’s office to get eye drops for her conjunctivitis. Giving a baby eye drops is not easy. As soon as she sees the bottle, she gets super baby strength. One of us has to pin her body and arms down while the other tries to pry her eyes open enough for the drops to get in. When picking up the drops from the pharmacy, Ava and I were waiting patiently for our prescription while Dan picked up some pizza next door. The cashier kept staring and staring at Ava and me. I figured she was staring at Ava’s eyes because they were swelling shut in front of my eyes. As soon as Dan walked into the pharmacy, the cashier looked at him and said ‘oh. now i know who she looks like’. lol. I guess she looked more like Dan that day. hehe. We usually hear that Ava is a 50/50 combination of the both of us. Dan had a puffy eye complex for the remainder of the day.

The drops seemed to help Ava immediately. Her swelling went down almost back to normal the next morning so we dressed up Ava in a hat and headed out from breakfast. Little did we know that a hat and an lingering eye infection made Ava look like a Tibetan baby. I wonder if she will be a monk when she grows up. Can girls be monks?

At breakfast, our smiling baby returned.

And then at home, Ava was back to old tricks.

On Sunday, Ava starting coughing. On Monday, she started getting a fever. On Wednesday, we picked her up from daycare, where she was enjoying staring at the book fair poster, and noticed that her eye infection returned. So it was back to the doctor. Guess who has an ear infection and gets to start antibiotics?

And guess who got 3 new teeth on top of it all? Poor Ava. And I tortured her with my picture taking. Her new teeth are on top… so she now has 4 on top and 2 on the bottom.

Yoda can not resist sleeping in comforters that look like soft fluffy clouds… and neither can Ava.

Poke poke.

Ava decided it was a good idea to engulf Yoda in the fluffy cloud…

…until she disappeared.

Yoda could only handle the abuse for the few minutes before she bolted for a new napping location.

Since Ava was still sick this week, she stayed home and made us read a lot of books to her.

But she enjoys turning the pages all by herself too.

Especially with tiny books that are just her size.

Curtains were one of Ava’s new discoveries this week.

She learned how to hide in them and giggle. Yoda loved playing in the sunshine patterns that Ava created with the curtains.

Ava’s other discovery this week is the door. She learned how to open and close it. Over and over again.

Ava and Ollie are getting along better this week. Especially when her teddy bear ‘Medo’ is hanging out with him.

What do you think of her new Medo hat? Pretty….pretty….pretty good.

Bath time is still one of Ava’s favorite bed time routines… but so is swinging in her towel hammock before putting on her pajamas.

During pajama time, Ava is known to rub her eyes like a cartoon character.

And give us a ‘fake’ smile for the camera.

When picking up Ava from daycare, she usually sees us before we can take a picture because she wants us to pick her up immediately. But this week, Dan and I started to become sneaky at our arrival in order to see what she really does there when we are not in sight. Our Ava had no clue we were there but her friends Hannah and Ava R sure noticed.

Ava was just too busy eating a bright pink toy bin.

The next day she was sitting in the corner, playing next to the spare clothes boxes.

Is time-out over already?

Alright. No more story telling. I need to finish my yams.

Our little Ava is now 31 weeks old.

Ava’s mommy has been sick this week so they didn’t get to spend as much time together as usual. So sad. Ava the 31 week old baby handled her sickness much better than her 31 year old mommy did… so Ava made her a get well soon card… and it worked!

Friday was a self-proclaimed sad day for Ava’s daddy. He said bye bye to his vintage 1966 VW bus. It is making its way to the UK as we speak. Here they are saying their good byes to the bus bright and early in the middle of the street.

I suggested a day at the pool to raise their spirits but they didn’t want to smile for the camera. Ava actually enjoyed the pool from the getgo this time. Splashing water at the side of the pool is still her favorite thing to do there.

Over the weekend, Mikey drove up to celebrate his birthday. After finishing our chowder bowls and fish & chips at lunch, Ava decided it was a good idea to dance.

At home, Grace thought she would look for any fish particles that might of stuck between Ava’s toes during her dance. What a true friend.

Ava has a thing for silver objects. She will dive for a remote control if there is one in sight. She especially loves changing the channel while we are watching TV.

One of the things Ava is getting better at is standing. Here she is holding onto her crib. If she lets go and is standing correctly, Ava can stand unassisted for 3 seconds or so.

Ignore the hair please. Ava’s hair stylist was late to the photo shoot today. She is so fired.

Also this week, Ava is in love with walking while we hold her hands. It first started as us pushing her feet forward, to her moving them on her own, and now she runs so quickly. It’s funny to watch because she giggles and runs. And just a few hours ago, I put her into a standing position to practice her balance and she thought she would start running instead. Thank goodness for good mommy reflexes.

And just today, our one-tooth wonder FINALLY got her second tooth. They are supposed to arrive in pairs but her right one was three and a half months late. I know it’s hard to see so you will just have to believe me on this one.

Ava’s artwork collection is expanding and she got to bring home ‘dots’ this week. Here she is showing it off before it goes up on the fridge. Nibble nibble.

At daycare, we made Ava go through the tunnel in the obstacle course. She didn’t know what to think of it while inside.

Or what to think when Max the tunnel toll-collector asked her for two dollars.

Ava still loves crawling and still loves giggling as she rounds corners.

She can’t get enough of it.

I’m a fish. I’m a fish.

Since last Friday Ava’s mama has been feeling a little ill. Over the weekend it got worse so she finally had to go to the doctor’s office today. The doctors prescribed her some heavy duty antibiotics and she should find out what the problem is when the lab results come back. In the meantime Ava is spending a lot of time playing with dada and trying to make mama feel better. This week’s photos might be a little light which means we will only take a few hundred photos instead of a few thousand Hopefully mama feels better soon.

Ava’s lab test results came back clean on Friday. The doctor was a little surprised at the lab results, especially in comparison to what she found during the office visit. Ava still feels a little sick but is improving everyday. No more fever. Yeah.