Flash Cards III

Did you know that action words are important part of language and speech development? I never would have thought it. It makes sense, understanding that there aren't just objects but actions. That opens up a whole new line of clear communication. Of course the reason I know this is because Squeaker needs help in this area. Action words continue to elude her almost entirely.

In an attempt to help Squeaker I made flash cards! This set has 40 action words. There are many more action words of course but this seem like a good start. ENJOY!

Action Words 1

Our Quest

We had already completed several things today. The cars were registered, a new therapy ball bought, and speech therapy was done. It would have been fine to simply stay home, play in the pool and take a nap. But there was a tale told, a tale of snow cones. Snow cones to be sold by a friends sport team at the farmers market just a couple blocks away. It seemed simple enough............

Before I knew it 2:30pm rolled around. It was time for Trey to leave for work. A normal enough thing but today Squeaker really didn't want him to go. She hasn't seen much of Trey because he's not been feeling the greatest so I've been letting him sleep in the last couple days. Squeaker had a major melt down just by Trey putting on his jeans instead of PJ pants. As funny and cute as that is I started to worry. Would my plan of snow cones work out??

Trey left and Squeaker was not happy so I offered to take her on a walk. I figured we could walk to

Once outside it hit me how warm it was. Okay for August in Alabama it wasn't too bad. 86 degrees and 69% humidity. Which for just being outside playing or doing small things it fine. I was getting ready to wrangle a stroller and a dog. It was going to be hot.
the farmers market. Well I had forgot one precious rule, don't mention the "W" word unless you are willing to leave right then and there. Even stalling it took a grad total of 5 minutes to get Squeaker dressed, Zelda on a leash and all of us with a stroller out the door. The only problem was the market it didn't open until strictly 3pm.

I started to walk towards the farmers market. Hoping it would take longer than I imagined. I walked as slow as Zelda would let me. 7 minutes... that's all it took. I looked at the time 2:42... the market

1.5 Miles Total

was just across the street. There was no way Squeaker was just going to let me stand around for 18 minutes until everything opened. We needed to keep walking...

Since Squeaker knew the market and the church it is held at I figured it would be best to go up a few streets, cross and go around as to not pass the church. If Squeaker saw the church I knew she melt down, something I was not ready to handle. I turned right and head up the sidewalk.

Come to a great place to cross. It was on top of a little hill so I could see oncoming traffic on both sides. As safe as that maybe it freaked me out a little. Why on earth was I trying cross a busy 5 lane road with a stroller and a dog. With no light to help or even a cross walk. Then I remembered if I wanted those luxuries I would have walk no less than 1.5 miles up the road. And of course I would have to walk all the way back down. In the heat with a dog and a stroller. Okay so maybe the 5 lanes weren't the worst thing. I did pick a good spot.

I waited just a couple minutes for a break in the traffic on both sides. With Zelda close on her leash and a tight grip on the stroller we ran. Clearing all the lanes with no problem. Walking down that road taking a left and walking up the road the market was on. We had perfect timing. Just as we came up on the church it was 3pm. WAHOO!!! Not waiting.

Then another bump in our quest, a sign, "No Pets Please". This was not here the last time we came by. I knew we wouldn't be long but I had nothing to do with Zelda. We had walked it's not like I could open the windows and put her in the car for the 5 minutes we would be gone. Squeaker was begging to get out of the stroller, it hit me, put the Zelda in the stroller. People do it all the time, it will keep Zelda from sniffing people or food. Getting in the way or tripping someone. Just as I was settling Zelda into the stroller (she is not a fan), a volunteer came up and

offered to take her while I shopped. I asked if we could give the stroller a try first. The volunteer said it was perfectly fine.


I asked Squeaker to lead the way, just so see if she would want to look at anything and I could keep a hand on Zelda so she didn't jump out. Squeaker instinctively knew where to go for our Snow Cones. A short wait and 4 dollars later we had two large snow cones. We ran into a neighbor and talked for a couple minutes but we couldn't stay long. We had to get home for the precious window of nap time.

There was no going the long way on the way home. We came right out onto the street we needed the cross, 5 lanes again. And this time I didn't have the same vantage point. I found a spot and ran. It

Our worn out Zelda

wasn't as clean of a run this time. Thankfully the car in the last lane saw me and slowed down so I didn't have to worry about them. Another few minutes and we were home. VICTORY!!!

Soon after getting home we finished our treats and curled into bed for a nap with colored tongues. Some time you can just forget about the all the medicines, appointments, and illness and just do things like everyone else. What fun we had. :)

It Really Works

I was raised by a woman who grew up in California in the 60s and 70s. No she's not totally left wing but she is very driven by homeopathic medicine. We saw doctors, treated with splints, antibiotics, and even immunizations, all be it not as many as the CDC would have liked. Before seeing the doctor we would have warts and ingrown toe nails dug out at home. Rashes were rubbed down with essential oils, chicken pox sent us into oatmeal baths, and when a sore throat hit lemon honey tea was our friend. Having balance was a great way to grow up for me and I've tried vary hard to do it with Squeaker.

Recently Squeaker has been acting like she had pain in her mouth. It started mid last June just before we got home from the "family reunion". Since she had a cold I just figured it was a sore throat. As she looked and acted healthier Squeaker was still grabbing her teeth a lot. On July 3rd we headed to the dentist. And guess what? Two more teeth need to come out. I asked Dr. Brandon, her dentist, if there was anything we could do to stop from loosing teeth. Obviously he mentioned that stopping the night time bottles would make a huge difference but for Squeaker weight and health far out weigh tooth loss. It's so nice

to have yet another supportive doctor. Sadly due to the type of procedure Squeaker needs she couldn't get a time slot until August 20th. BOOOO! The only way to get her in sooner would have been to do it at the hospital again which would cost me about $300. Doing it in office is $20. Money wasn't the only factor going to the hospital would mean general anesthesia. In office is a waking sedation, which is preferable.

We had been surviving on Advil at night for a while. 1tsp before bed made for much better sleep and happier mornings. After we found out the teeth was the problem we started doing 1/2 tsp before nap

This stuff is about $1 an ounce or 20 cents a teaspoon

too. Very quickly we noticed that it wasn't enough. Squeaker's sleep was very disrupted which turned into rough and long days. I called the dentist to see if we couldn't get some heavier medicine to help our poor little girl. They graciously obliged with a regimen of antibiotics and codeine. Which have been working great.... a little too great. Apparently Squeaker is like me and when she takes pain killers they make her feel good and want to do anything and everything. That means we are back to having a child that doesn't sleep.

First thing I did was go back to Advil during the day and once out for night Squeaker gets the heavy stuff.  Sleep returned to our lives. But days were still rough, and rightfully so. Remember the pain you had in your mouth before and or after you had your wisdom teeth removed?? That's what Squeaker is going through, only she isn't quite three and has no clue why she hurts and what she needs. I needed something else to help her during the day.

Sunday night I tore apart my Baltic Amber Necklace. For those who don't know Baltic Amber is a resin found in eastern Europe. When the amber is worn next to the skin it releases oils that work their way into the blood stream. These oils can be healing and pain relieving in most people. To read more about the history of Baltic Amber and it's uses head over here. Alright back to life.

I took apart my necklace and restrung it into two necklaces one for me and one for Squeaker. I have had some success with my necklace helping my Fibromyalgia, so I wasn't ready to give it up entirely. After Squeaker feel asleep I put the necklace on her and gave her the medicine. The night was great. A year of nights like that and by golly we both might feel rested. :) What took me by surprise was the next day. Squeaker was happy, awake, and calm. Now I know some of that comes from a good nights sleep but this is better than I seen her behave in probably a month. About lunch time Squeaker took of her necklace and put it aside. But still remained a happy girl, who wanted to eat. Not just soft foods what ever she wanted and no crying about it. Oh and by the way we had not given her ANY pain killers. By nap time Squeaker was still feeling so good she didn't want to sleep. I'm sure most parents would say just let her skip nap, yeah not happening here. When your child is that sleep deprived for that long you only skip nap when you absolutely have too. It took me holding her in a tight grip (not painful, just enough she couldn't get away) for about 10 minutes and she was out cold. And no she wasn't crying during that time, so it didn't wear her out. 3 hours later she woke up still happy. It was an amazing change from the days before.

At the Water Park Event Sponsored By Her Dentist's Office

The rest of the night was fairly routine and after Squeaker was out I put the necklace back on her and gave her the Codeine. Well the necklace came off in the middle of the night and due to stomach issues it was a little rough on the little one... okay on both of us. While trying to put the necklace on Squeaker after she was awake it broke, and today has been long. Even with pain killers she still has been sore, grouchy and very particular about what she has eaten. After a 3 and a half hour nap today which she feel asleep all on her own for, she was still a little grouch.

As of now I just need a clasp so I can make a new necklace for Squeaker. I'm not sure I can live another 4 weeks without that. Even if it only helps a little I'll take it. There are a lot of things in life we have to learn to deal with but pain is one I'd like to put off for my little girl as long as possible.

Well That Stunk...

A Day At The Botanical Gardens

Made an oh so wonderful trip to Birmingham today. Please note that is to be taken with extreme sarcasm.

Today we saw Dr. Atkinson, who is an Immunologist. We arrived late due to traffic, but thankfully doctor Atkinson is usually running late so it's not like it put him behind. The visit to the nurses station was kind of fun. Squeaker didn't fuss or scream. She stood on the scale, stood tall for her height, sat for her temp, and BP. She had a great smile for the nurses. Then the numbers came... BP was a little high but not bad. She came it at 36 inches, can you believe it Squeaker is 3ft tall. Then over course the number that keeps me biting my nails, the weight. 24.5lbs. My heart just sank. Both of the nurses looked at me sad what's wrong. I said, "she's lost." Both nurses shared a sad face. One of the nurses usually works in our Pulmonologist's office and was almost as heart broken as I was because she knows how hard every once has been.

Moving on. Sadly Dr. Atkinson did not have the test results back... well he had them back but from the wrong lab. Which meant he wasn't confident in the results. The were testing Squeaker's here. Squeaker's first set of results came back in the low normal range so Dr. Atkinson wants to see if is second lab got the same thing. Which meant we had to do yet another blood draw..... Oh and it gets worse.

Last year Dr. Makris did a test where he ran a specific blood panel gave Squeaker a Pneumonia vaccine and six weeks later tested to see how her system responded. That test is what triggered our trek into the world of immunology. Also it would hopefully give Squeaker some extra protection from Pneumonia it self. Well we are doing it again. Yes that means not only did Squeaker have blood drawn today she had a shot too. Poor kid. She was very sore from the shot and then had to be held down for lab work. I'm just very glad she is at the age where stickers can make some of the worst things in life okay.

Now I don't know what I want the test to show. If Squeaker's results come back better then we have

Playground Fun After A Long Day

no clear answers about what's going on. Then again if Squeaker's results come back the same or worse then we have a clue what is going one, but we have to deal with treatment. Which I'm told is a pain but very doable. I don't remember exactly what it entails but I'm not going to worry about it right now.
complement immune system. The Complement System is your base line immune system. This is part of the immune system that you are born with and does not change. Read more





On the brighter side Squeaker had a good sized dinner. A few bites of Chicken Burger, half of a larg fry, and half a vanilla milkshake. WAHOO!! By the time we got back to Huntsville it was 7:30 and Squeaker never had a nap. To keep her happy and awake I decided to take Squeaker to a park. It was a blast!

Now we are home, cleaned up and Squeaker is passed out on the couch. Okay so maybe it didn't stink that bad.....