Esophagus Dilatation #16

The hat that Lucy wanted to wear to bed.

We have been at this whole dilatation thing for over a year now.  Last week's procedure was a rough one for our little miss Lucy.  She was at the tail-end of a cold so had a cough that required extra anesthesia to calm down, then they gave her a nebulizer (albuterol) to combat any post-operative wheezing.  Not sure exactly what in that cocktail made her cranky, but something definitely did!  She had a tough time waking up and when she did, she was very restless and her stomach was off for a few days afterwards, poor baby :(

However, the dilatation did yield good results, taking her all the way through the three levels of #12 with minimal irritation, so that's great!  She definitely has her energy and appetite back (she ate 2 helpings of Jambalaya tonight - what 2 year old likes Jambalaya?!?), so we are very happy to have her back to normal.

This week she has an RNC scheduled to look at her bladder reflux to her kidneys, which involves putting a catheter in, filling up her bladder with dye, letting it empty and repeating the process.  None of us are looking forward to that procedure, as it will likely be pretty uncomfortable for her.  This particular diagnosis has always been rated very low risk for her and we tend to forget she even has it.  We are hoping that she will grow out of it and that the tests will show it has improved since her last RNC (which she had when she was still in the NICU).

Today's pictures touch my heart because I am so happy that Lucy is able to know her relatives and spend time with so many of them!

Reading with Great Grandma Los

Bedtime treat!  Cousin Preston helped with bath, diaper AND story time!!

Happy Easter!

We enjoyed a lovely spring day today, celebrating Easter with family and being reminded of God's redeeming love for us.  We hope that you were able to do the same and for those of us in Minnesota - how great did the mid-70's feel?!?!

Finding her first egg...

Figuring out there are treats inside the eggs!

Egg Hunt detour to climb a small snow hill

Bbrrr...cold on the hands!!

Lucy has her next dilatation on Wednesday - prayers are welcome!!

Play, Play, Play!

"Play, Play, Play" is the chant that Lucy repeats during the entire 5 minute car ride to play group on Thursdays.

I love this picture - she looks so peaceful - enjoying the sun on her face and the gentle sway of the swing! :)

"Popeye face"...daddy's latest teaching! (Excuse the post-nap hair!!)

Wagon ride - she always has to hold on to something during our walks!

Last year...she looks so tiny!!

Look how much she has grown compared to last year!!

Hard core playing has been a theme around here lately - with as much outside time as we can get in!  Springtime in Minnesota is so great!!  Many, many times a day she will bring us a pair of shoes and ask to go outside. (It doesn't matter who the shoe actually belongs to...in her world, it would be perfectly acceptable for mommy to take her outside in daddy's brown dress shoes or for daddy to wear mommy's heels to play outside with her!!)

Reading is still a very popular activity, especially when we get a new book, like this Minnesota version of "Goodnight Moon"

In addition to brushing her own teeth, Elmo's teeth routinely get brushed as well (In case you are wondering, no, Elmo doesn't have actual teeth!)