Roca Berry Farm

On October 1st, we took the girls to Roca Berry Farm. Mena enjoyed "Candy Land" and all the slides. She and I enjoyed jumping on the big "pillow." She's always refused to go in a bounce house and this pillow allowed me to jump with her so she wasn't scared and even laughed when we fell a few times! We brought home some little gourds and pumpkins for the girls to play with.

MRI

On September 22nd, we took Mena to BryanLGH for an MRI of her brain. The PT and OT in Mena's preschool class noticed that Mena's delay is largely being seen on the left side of her body. This could indicate that she had a stroke in-utero. The pediatrician took their reports, watched Mena moving around his office, and said an MRI could tell us specifically what part of the brain was damaged or it could rule out brain damage. We felt it would be good to know for sure if she had brain damage. The results said there were no abnormalities! we were thrilled that there is no brain damage at all!

Mena was very brave. She took her baby back with her. We weren't allowed in the room during the MRI; a tech came out to update us a couple times during the hour or so that we were in the waiting room. In this picture Mena is crying as she comes out of the anesthesia.  I'd told her that we were going to have a picture taken of her head at BryanLGH.  I didn't tell her that BryanLGH was a hospital so that she wouldn't be scared.  As she woke up, she kept saying she wanted her picture taken.  We told her they'd already taken the picture and she got upset.  Gene said he'd take her picture with my phone, but this wasn't what she wanted and she cried more.

Then she saw the IV line going into her hand and she kept crying and telling me to take it out.  Finally the nurse did take it out and then Mena got upset that her hand was wrapped with a gauze pad to stop the bleeding from the line.  She kept crying to take it off.  We got her dressed and the nurse came back into the room.  Mena held her hand out to the nurse and said, "take it off!"  The nurse told her she had to leave it on until we got home.  The minute we walked in the door, Mena held her hand out to me and said, "take it off now."

Mena came home with her face mask and a smaller face mask that the staff had used on her baby doll when they explained what they were going to do as they were putting her to sleep.  Both masks are now in our doctor toys and Mena reinacts what happened while she was back in the room for the MRI.

Big Girl!

Maggie can now sit to eat some snacks at the table in a booster seat. For meals the high chair with tray is still easier since she hasn't learned to use a plate. Maggie and Ky were thrilled to sit together for snack.

Other big girl news:  Maggie got her 3rd tooth at the beginning of September and her 4th tooth at the end of September.  She learned to say, "uh oh" in September, also.

Princess' Room

G-pa and Grandma mailed Mena a plaque that says "Princess' Room." I was going to hang it on the door to her bedroom, but Mena said no. She wanted to hang it on the wall, but I was afraid the double sided foam tape wouldn't be good on the drywall so I talked her into putting it on her closet door. Both Mena and Ky liked the new decoration for Mena's room.

September Inside Fun

Mena is enjoying her mornings at preschool while Maggie and Ky are enjoying their playtime together at home. When Mena gets home she is excited to do the projects we did while she was gone and to play with her friend and sister.

Maggie is getting more attached to me now that she's got me to herself in the mornings.  It's nice to be building a stronger relationship with her.

September Outside Fun

The girls had fun in the backyard in September. There were a few chilly days, but mostly it was nice weather to enjoy the backyard. Kylinn was here to play with Mena and Maggie during daycare. Traven came one day to daycare when his provider was in the hospital; luckily she wasn't seriously ill and was able to reopen her daycare the following day. The girls enjoyed having Traven back for the day.

Climbing Stairs

Maggie has discovered she can climb stairs. I have to watch her closely in the backyard and we no longer play in the basement since I couldn't get a gate to stay in place to block Maggie from climbing the stairs.