safe and sound
piper jane is in her old bed. with her old roommates and her old nurses. exhale...
january was crazy. it was eventful, the bad kind. we are all exhausted (see pic). but all i can think of is how lucky we are. i held piper jane on monday for the first time in three weeks. i fought the tears, but couldn't for very long because she knew who i was. it's always a worry when she gets so sick, we never know what kind of permanent damage there could be. we are so thankful that her little body has healed so remarkably despite the countless setbacks she has faced.
on wednesday morning i walked in and she smiled at me. the goofy, crooked smile that i missed so much. on thursday i clapped her hands together and she kept clapping after i was done and laughed at herself. how does she remember clapping after being asleep for two weeks and sedated for a month? how does she remember us? i'm amazed.
pippy has her days and nights mixed up. she took a one hour nap last night but otherwise played until the sun came up. i was with her for four hours today and she slept the whole time. she has no idea i was even there, ha. i took advantage by snuggling and rocking her, and then clipping her witch finger nails, finally.
sorry to be so sappy. i just wanted to let you all know that she is safe and sound in blythedale's green unit. where she belongs.
Labels: Blythedale, piper jane
Pip loves santa
To make a long story short, Pip was supposed to move this week, but didn't. Having Piper Jane at Blythedale for Christmas is really all I need for a present. and a handbag...
So, you guessed it! Piper Jane met santa. She LOVED him. It was so sweet. A bunch of volunteers came in to help take pictures and assemble the toys. Can you think of anything more Christmas-y than volunteering at a childrens hospital? Doing all you can to make sick children smile? It was one of the most special moments that I have witnessed. They came to serve sick children, while giving us the opportunity to have an experience normal parents have, since we can't take our babe to the santa at macy's. It was awesome. Jake and I later swapped stories of holding back tears during various points of the visit.
so so so sweet how gentle they were with piper. this is where she figured out that this present is for her. and that all the weirdness of the day was worth it.
I love it! I do! When santa left the room, Piper's eyes followed him all the way out the door.
after the elves put the princess shopping cart together, Piper couldn't wait to get her hands on it. I love that it is filled with Princess groceries.
cee-ute!
and this is why i feel like we can NEVER never never leave blythedale.Labels: Blythedale, christmas, piper jane
in piper news
i know this first picture isn't of her face, but i couldn't resist posting it. i love how she is playing in the big chair by herself. squirming around. so cute.
i guess this means i have a tan. usually piper and i are almost the same color.
here is the little pip in therapy. they make her get on her hands and knees. she will so quickly flip around and sit on her bum. pipsey knows it is very important that the people at blythedale earn their salary.
to explain this one...i was talking to sharon (speech therapy) about how she tried whipped cream for piper to taste when i looked down and piper was laying in my hand like this. my hand was elevated a few inches off the bed. she loved it! ha! she stayed like this for a long time! that monkey....i tell ya.
by the way, she liked whipped cream. she cried when they gave her apple sauce a few weeks ago.i'm going to admit that i had a very emmotional visit. in the last few months, piper has gotten a lot stronger, which is so good! but strength+curiousity=a very scratched up reagan. she has done this for a while, grabbing and squeezing things as hard as she can, and sometimes it has been my flesh....but today it was overandoverandoverandoverandover again. she drew blood on my neck. the whole time i held her, she would reach back and grab my throat so quickly and squeeze. yes, it was hurting, but my feelings were hurting much worse.
piper, you're hurting mama. piper, be gentle. piper, be nice to me.
i have never had to punish piper, or even tell her no. how ridiculous. and how funny that i forgot discipline was even part of parenting. she would never understand! so, what do i do? is it going to get worse the stronger she gets? am i going to be one of those women who can't snuggle her sweet child without getting hit and scratched? i know she isn't trying to hurt me. she has no idea that she is hurting me. i have let out a mild sob during these last few paragraphs. what is with me? i guess i want piper to stay a baby, because piper as a baby is something i know. and something i love. i dont know what piper as a 6 year old, or piper as a 10 year old will be like. i'm really nervous, and her new strong meat hooks got me that way.
so, piper, let's play nice. because i think you ripped my mole off.
Labels: Blythedale, piper jane, the village
Grandma Sue
Grandma Sue was in town last weekend. She came all the way from Southern Utah to see a Pip, what do you think about that? She hasn't seen Piper since she was 8 weeks old! Pippy had about a hundred tricks she was dying to show off to Grandma Sue, including a few we've never seen before.....ROLLING OVER! Woah Piper! There are some others we are familiar with, which is code for her demonstrations of puking violently out her nose and mouth 3 times per visit, pooping up her back with hurricane force and having the runningest nose you've seen this side of the Mississippi. It's ok Piper....all worth it (except for the POOP!). My Ma brought P these little frogs that light up. Complete success. Piper was mesmerized. If you held one up to her, she would drop whatever important thing she was doing to snatch it from your grubbies. Hilarious every time. What a sweetheart.
I couldn't believe how amazing my Ma was with Pipsey. Holding and caring for a Pip is second nature to her. I mean, pretty much everything you know about caring for babies means nothing when you are dealing with a special needs baby, and she was just so confident. Hi MOM!
Some other events: We saw the Rockettes on Friday. I can't believe I never knew my lifelong dream was to be a Rockette. I just found out that I've probably always wanted to! So, if anyone knows a secret way to get in with very little dancing experience, let me know. Keep the ideas clean guys, no Tanya Harding crap!
My mom took us to Costco. We carelessly filled the cart fully expecting to pay for our stuff ourselves and SNEAKY SUE SWIPED while we weren't paying attention!!! Thanks MOM! And opposite of thanks to Jake for sneaking a 5lb bag of M&Ms and a industrial size bag of Oreos. We'll stay nice and plumpily warm this winter.
Utes. We went to our favorite little pub to watch the BYU/Utes game with the McNiels. I begged Katie to get me some Japanese stuff from Japan, and she DID! It was all that I hoped for and more. She got us these little banners that say "Sexe feminine woman" and "Sexe masculine man" hahaha. I like how Japan spells sexy.
Ok, finally to the pictures. Sorry I got sidetracked as usual.
Awe, my little Pippy button.
"Grandma Sue, watch how far my left nostril can shoot vomit. Cool right?"
Frogs
I wish I could get a good picture of her teeth. You can kind of see a peek here.
Labels: Blythedale, Family, Grandma Sue, Piper
