Lucky

This is where we spent half of our St. Patrick's Day--the pediatric rheumatologist's office at University Hospital. Ryn has been diagnosed with juvenile arthritis. We still have two more appointments with an opthamologist (since eye damage/infection is one of the immediate dangers related to this disorder) and our pediatrician next week for a few more tests, and then a follow up with the rheumatologists in a month where they hopefully will be able to tell us which type of JRA she has. I had taken Ryn in last week when her knee was hurting so badly that she couldn't sit down or bend it in any way. Worried about a bone or joint infection like Nolan had a little over a year ago, they ran some blood tests and her ANA test came back positive. That, in addition to her pain extending to her elbows, ankle and knuckle, led our doctor to push through an appointment with the rheumatology department sooner than later.

But even with news like this, I can't help but feel like we're pretty lucky (which is Irish for blessed). For now, Ryn's symptoms have almost all subsided, we live in a time when so much medical knowledge is available, and the daily tender mercies we receive are simply overwhelming.

February funnies

Feb. 1--I overheard Elle, with her princess cell phone, having this conversation: "Hello, Joy! Where are you off to?........Oh, heaven."

Ryn is very excited about being a "CTR kid" now that she has moved up to that class in Primary. She knows that means she has to try even harder than ever to Choose The Right. She must have been thinking pretty hard about this when she said, "If I choose the wrong, then I'm a CUR kid."

Feb. 2--I thought this dress-up timeline was so classic...
12:44 Ryn: "I'm going to be Spiderman and kill the bad guys and then I'll turn back into a girl."
12:46 Elle: "I don't want to be Batman now. I'm going to be a witch!"
12:53 Elle: (now in a ballet outfit) "Mommy, I want ballerina music."

Here's a little lesson for all those parents who think one violent scene here and there won't affect their kids. We talked about the letter 'C' and crocodiles for our little "school" that we have in the mornings. I had found a pretty cool National Geographic video on line that showed a crocodile mother bringing her eggs to the river to hatch which lasted about 10 minutes and another 1.5 minute one showing crocodiles patiently wait to snatch their prey (wildebeests, in this case). Just at the very last second of the shorter one, it showed one frame of a crocodile jumping out of the water and snagging a man's leg before I quickly turned it off. But too late. When Kevin got home, the first thing Ryn told him excitedly was this: "We watched crocodiles eat people! And cute wildebeests were drinking water and the crocs came out and ate them!" Even though we had spent much more time with the sweet nurturing mother video, and talked all day afterwards about only that one, the part she remembered was the eating of people and cute wildebeests.

Feb. 4--I guess our all-girl toy box is not very well-equipped for the really important things.....
Elle: "Maybe you can go to the sword store and get some for us."
Me: "What for?"
Elle: "So then if there are monsters we can fight them like in Sleeping Beauty."

Feb. 13--Playing house, Ryn was the 'mom', but I hadn't heard that yet and so I responded when Elle called, "Mom?"
She answered in pure Obi Wan fashion, "You're not the mom we're looking for."

We had made some Valentine's cookies to deliver and I had told the girls they couldn't have any more so we would have enough to give out. A few hours later, Ryn came and led me by the hand, saying, "Go in the pantry. We found a way to stop you from looking at us while we eat the cookies." At least she's honest :)

Feb. 17--Elle was trying to wake me up one morning after I'd had a long night with Eden--pretty tough job for anyone, much less a tiny little thing who can barely see over the bed. After several unsuccessful attempts with things like "Mom, wake up!", she tried this (in a very frustrated, emphatic voice): "Hock-a-doodle-do, Mom!"

Feb. 20--Every night after family prayer, Ryn, Elle and I squish onto Ryn's twin bed and I sing them a few Primary songs before they go to sleep. On the rare occasion that Ryn isn't already zonked by the time I finish, she, without fail, will grab me as I'm getting up to leave and plead sleepily, "I want you to stay..."
This night was one of those occasions, so I went from hearing that from Ryn, to hearing this from Elle as I tried to give her one more hug before leaving.
"I want you to go."
"Don't you love me?" I asked, teasing her with a sad voice.
She tried to help me feel better with her little mommy voice. "How about you will go and I'll love you. Is that a great idea?"

Feb. 24--Ryn made Kevin's birthday when she said, "Daddy? When we were in heaven, we saw a daddy with hair like this (rubbing her hand over his curls) and said, 'We want that daddy.'"

Ryn was sitting in her chair the wrong way--something we're constantly trying to correct since she often ends up falling and getting hurt--and I said in my warning voice, "Ryn..." She instructed me, "Don't. See. Me."

Feb. 25--I was down with strep throat, so Kevin took the girls to the store to give me time for a nap when he got home from work. They had picked out some Raisinettes for a treat and while they were checking out, Elle very seriously explained the situation to the cashier. "Our mommy is dying so we need to bring her chocolate covered raisins."

Feb. 26--After scribbling all over something and watching me scrub at it, Elle complained, "Our house is a mess!"
"I'm trying to clean it up," I pointed out to my number one Mess Maker.
"Oh! (chuckling like 'oops!') Thanks, Mom!"

Feb. 27--Elle wanted one last song--a Snow White song-- before I kissed her good night. I asked which one, since there are several. With a definite 'DUH!' in her voice, she answered, "'Someday my Prince will come.' That's what all growing girls do. They sing 'Someday my prince will come...'"

Feb. 28--Our girls, like most people, don't like getting shots. Ryn, at her 4 year old check-up a few months ago, had endured a truckload of them. When she questioned over and over through her tears in not so many words, "Why?! Why are you letting them do this to me?!", I answered that shots keep us from getting sick. We had just been to the doctor and pharmacy to get the girls on the antibiotic train for our family strep throat party and Ryn asked a very valid question. "Why do we get shots if the bad guys keep getting in our tummies?"

At lunch, when the mean crocodiles were under the table trying to eat their food, Ryn informed us of an important development. "They're nice now! Their hearts changed!"

thank heaven for antibiotics

Strep throat hit every member of our family last week. Fun times :) I'm just thankful to live in a day when we have Tylenol and Amoxicillin, that we're otherwise in good health, and that we are over the worst.