Peyton's 2nd Week at Home

It has been much more of a challenge to blog since coming home than I ever imagined.  I totally had this “pie in the sky” idea of being able to do it once Peyton went to bed.  Ha!  I am learning quickly that your priorities get rearranged and that those precious moments when your child is sleeping have to be used to straighten up the messes from the day, do laundry, get things ready for the next day, and/or SLEEP!  We are extremely lucky that Peyton, once asleep, sleeps through the night.  We truly only had 3 bad days of sleep when we first came home from China; otherwise, this kid is a rock star when it comes to sleeping!  I’m just learning that I need to learn to rebalance my days and nights. 

 

The difference between our first and second weeks at home has been night and day.  Peyton is much more comfortable in her own environment and is not so overwhelmed to meet new people.  Here are some updates/highlights on Peyton’s 2^nd week being at home!

 

Saturday, September 25^th

 

·         First trip to Chick Fil-A – Peyton was not very interested in her chicken nuggets until I pulled them apart – I think it’s the breading she doesn’t like – Darren got her some chicken noodle soup too, and she liked that, minus the chicken, noodles and veggies – haha!  She also loved the cow mascot dude – she wanted to give him a High 5 and knuckles!  I was shocked.  I thought, for sure, she’d be wigged out by a gigantic, stuffed cow, but she wasn’t at all!

·         First Mines Football Game! – Daddy was so proud to show Peyton off to his co-workers, friends, and students at Peyton’s first School of Mines football game.  She wasn’t a fan of being there at first, but she loosened up and settled into a comfort zone after meeting Laura and Ryan.  Ryan brought her a gift – a Tinkerbell tea set (Peyton LOVES kitchen stuff!), and Laura took her for a walk.  They both scored lots of points, and Peyton even wanted to hold Ryan’s hand!  After visiting with Laura and Ryan, we took Peyton to visit Blaster, the school mascot – a real, live donkey.  After I showed her it was okay to pet his ears and back, she followed suit!  She also went right up to Marvin the Miner (the other school mascot dude) and wanted to give him a high 5.  Darren was impressed with her!  As we were on the sidelines visiting with some a of Darren’s co-workers, she got upset with us when we told her that she could not go for a ride in one of the Gator’s.  That girl just loves anything that is on wheels!  Finally, it was time to leave (we left shortly after half time), and she fell asleep on her way home in her car seat – that was a first, and we let her stay asleep for another 45 minutes or so after we got home so she’d be pleasant for the rest of the day. 

·         Peyton meets her Aunt Deanna, Uncle Ken and cousin, Chase (Regan couldn’t make it) – she had a great time with them, conning Chase out of his cell phone several times.  At one point, Chase had it in the pocket of his shorts, and she knew where it was, pointed to it, and gave him that face, saying, “I’d like to have that please.”  So, of course, he gave it to her.  I said, “Chase, you didn’t have to give it to her.”  He said, “I couldn’t tell her no.”  She had his number!  Deanna wasn’t telling her no either – she had me being the bad guy when she was doing something she shouldn’t have been doing, but that was okay with me.  I’m supposed to be mom, the disciplinarian, right?!!  And the aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and friends are supposed to spoil them!  She was swiping Deanna’s water bottle, adding it to her collection of things to organize, which, at one point, included Uncle Ken’s empty beer bottle, which I traded out for an empty life water bottle – much less breakable!  It was hilarious watching her methodically organizing all of the beverage bottles she collected.  She also enjoyed several rounds of giving knuckles – she gets so animated with it and loves going around the room giving knuckles to everyone.  It’s adorable and always makes everyone laugh.  By the end of the evening, she was naked down to her diaper, having the best time playing on the couch with Chase and Deanna. 

 

Sunday, September 26^th

 

·         Big Day at Harry & Shawna’s! – We were invited to dinner at the Spokes’ house last Sunday (which was delicious – thanks, Shawna!).  After a lazy morning at home and an early afternoon nap, we headed to their house, where Peyton played on Ashley and Brooke’s swing set and dabbled in scooping some of the pea gravel, but what really impressed her and peaked her interest was their camper and 4-wheelers!  Daddy and Harry took her for a few rides on the 4-wheeler, and she was in heaven!  She didn’t want to get off to let Ashley and Brooke have a turn.  Too bad we got rid of ours, but there’s more space to ride them at Harry and Shawna’s house, and that can be a special thing we do there.  After her rides on the 4-wheelers, she conned Harry into taking her back outside, and they ended up exploring the camper.  She was fascinated and wanted to hang out in there!  So, while Darren, Harry, and Ashley went off for more fun on the 4-wheelers, Shawna and I hung out in the camper with Brooke and Peyton while they played a little and had some snacks.  Once we were back inside the house, Peyton spent the rest of the evening playing with the girls in Brooke’s room with all of their kitchen stuff.  Did I mention that she just LOVES kitchen stuff!

·         Putting Peyton’s John Deere Wagon Together – Peyton’s Grandpa Taylor (my dad) and Grandma Sue gave Peyton the cutest little wagon.  It’s a pink John Deere wagon with side rails and really cool tires.  While Peyton was napping, Darren and I put it together.  When we woke her up to leave for Harry and Shawna’s, she was still a little groggy and wasn’t interested in much of anything, so we figured we’d introduce her to the wagon later.   When we got home from their house, we showed it to her, and she picked up the handle and got the biggest grin on her face!  It was too late and too dark to take it outside, so we gave her a ride in it in the hallway – she was having so much fun, which we had to ruin because it was bedtime, but I couldn’t wait to take it outside and give her a ride in it the next day!

 

 

Monday, September 27^th

 

·         “The Claw” Request – Darren and I were both in Peyton’s room with her when she woke up (I slept with her, so I was already in there).  She woke up with her typical smile and wanted to be silly.  Darren had introduced Peyton to “the claw” from Liar Liar, where he holds his forearm with one arm, pretending to try to control the other arm from tickling.  She loves being tickled and apparently figured out this was how she could request that we tickle her!  As soon as Darren walked into the room, she held her one arm up and clasped it with the other, just like Darren does when he’s going to tickle her with “the claw.”  We both laughed over that and though it was hilarious that she woke up remembering that and knew to ask us to play with her the way we had been playing with her.  Sweet baby!

·         Child Find – Play-Based Assessment – Child Find is a service offered in Douglas County, which assesses children with special needs and offers assistance to those who qualify through the school district.  Because of Peyton’s hearing loss, we requested an evaluation to see what services she qualifies for.  One of the things they do is a play-based assessment to determine if she has any needs in regards to developing her fine/gross motor skills; thinking/learning; social/emotional skills; and speech/language.  She did well in her assessment, and for the most-part, they feel she will develop in these areas with continued exposure to her new environment and to other children/peers.  She’s still a little wobbly when she walks, but we’ve seen that improve.  They felt her level of play was age-appropriate; that she was expressive and creative in her methods of communication, including the signs we’ve taught her already; and she did good with problem-solving, imitating actions, and recognizing when something was missing.  The obvious was that she needs to work on improving her vocabulary and, eventually, increasing vocalization once we can have her evaluated further and can determine if she is a good candidate for cochlear implants (please say a prayer for her on this!).  She really loved the audiologist because she was signing with her throughout the entire assessment.  At the end, when we were all gathered around the table to discuss their findings, Peyton started making a bunch of gestures with her hands, trying to get the audiologist’s attention because she’d been communicating with her by signing.  It was really cute how she recognized that and was trying to communicate with her, knowing she was expressive with her hands as well.  Peyton does qualify for special services and will start pre-school at the designated school for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing here in Douglas County (which is not our home school, but it’s only 9 minutes from our house!  Whoo hoo!) at the end of October if all goes as planned.  This way, we can have her home for one more month for additional bonding, get her to the ENT for more testing, and start her there after a 2-week fall break.  I am looking forward to getting her into their program!

·         Another Break-Through at the Park! – As promised, while Darren worked out, I put Peyton in her pretty pink John Deere wagon and took her to the park.  She was so freaking excited to get into it, she could hardly stand it!  She had her snacks and her water and was ready to go!  She sat in it and smiled the entire time.  When we got to the park, she was excited to get into the baby swing (whoo hoo!).  After a while, she asked for something to eat and something to drink.  So, here she was at the park with her sunglasses hanging off her shirt; a drink on one side of her lap; and her teddy grahams in her lap, just swinging away.  She makes me laugh!  Finally, she was finished with the swing and asked to get out.  I thought she was going to be ready to go, and suddenly, she pointed to the slides, so I walked her over, and she wanted to go down the slide – all by herself!  I was so proud of her!  I made a big deal of it and clapped.  She was so proud of herself!  We did that several times, and then she wanted to climb.  The kid has no fear, so she started climbing and had no idea she could get hurt, so I had to keep my hands on her at all times to keep her from falling and breaking her neck, but she was having a great time.  After a while, I noticed our neighbor walking into the park with her two kids.  I said hi to her, and she said her little boy said, as they were approaching the park, “Hey, mom, is that the girl from China?”  Kids say the cutest things!  He really wanted Peyton to play with him, but she was done and just wanted her snacks and her water.  She was, however, fascinated by the fact that he and his mom would touch the tree and its leaves.  She kept pointing to it, and he’d break off a new leaf.  She had a pile of them, but wouldn’t touch them.  Finally, it was starting to get dark, so we headed back to the house to find daddy outside watering the front yard.  He said he was beginning to wonder where we were!  We’d been gone for quite a while, but he was proud to hear of our break-through at the park with Peyton being interested in new equipment on her own.  We stayed outside with him while he finished up, and Peyton tried pushing/pulling the wagon.  It was really cute, and she, of course, fussed when it was time to go inside.   She had a lot of fun. 

·         Determining Naps Aren’t Worth It – It took forever to get Peyton down for a nap and then took even longer to get her to sleep that night – I think she was actually traumatized after nap time and bed time, and I felt awful for the way she cried when it was time for a nap and then time for bed, and I was worn out from having to spend 45 minutes getting her to sleep at night.  AND – because of the whole bonding/attachment thing we have going on right now, I don’t feel comfortable just leaving her in her room for “rest time” or to put herself to sleep, so after I finally got her to bed that evening, I came out and told Darren I thought we needed to abandon naps so she’ll go down at night easier.  We’d just have to deal with a bit of grumpiness in the middle of the day to get better results in getting her to sleep at night.  He agreed, and we decided to start with the new plan the next day.  

 

 

 Tuesday, September 28^th

 

·         Mommy Pulls Her Back – That morning, as I was making Peyton breakfast, I had her sitting on the kitchen island, and when I went to pick her up to move her to her seat at the kitchen table, a piercing pain shot across my back, and I could barely breathe, and I definitely could NOT pick Peyton up.  Peyton, of course, threw a fit because I couldn’t pick her up – to her I WOULDN’T pick her up.  It was miserable and lasted the whole day and into the next couple of days as well; although, it did get better enough later in the day that I could pick Peyton up if I did it with my knees instead of bending over to pick her up.  Duh – probably what I should have been doing all along in addition to some back exercises to strengthen and prevent injury.  I guess my body was telling me it was tired of lugging an additional 27 pounds around!

·         Child Find – Audiology – We went back on Tuesday to have her evaluated by the audiology team.  They did several sound tests in the sound booth.  Darren and I went in with her with our ears protected so she wouldn’t be scared, and the audiologist kept her occupied while they conducted the hearing test.  She had no conclusive responses, and their conclusion was that Peyton does, in fact, have profound hearing loss.  We take her to the ENT this week for more testing, but this was no surprise to us based on what we’ve observed since we took her into our arms on Gotcha day. 

·         Shopping for a Big Girl Bed! – After 2 weeks of sleeping in the same bed with Peyton and one week at home sleeping in our bed and then on a blow-up mattress in her room, we have discovered there’s no way on God’s green earth this little girl was EVER going to be able to safely sleep in her toddler bed.  It’s a good thing we purchased the conversion kit for her crib, and we’ve been through all of the stages of converting it into all of the possibilities!  It was set up as a crib until the week before we left for China, when we converted it to the toddler bed.  I came out of the room on Saturday evening telling Darren I didn’t think there was any way we’d ever get her to sleep in the toddler bed and that, as much as I hated to mention it, I thought we’d better go out and purchase a full-size mattress and bedding and break out the conversion kit.  He agreed and said he’d been wondering the same thing, but he wasn’t going to mention it in hopes that she’d be able to get SOME use out of the toddler bed.  We both figured we’d be in this situation sooner than later, but we never dreamed it would be this soon!  She only took one nap on it, and that was it!  So, after her appointment with Child Find, we went shopping to look for a new mattress and bedding.  When we got to American Furniture, Peyton spotted one of her other favorite things – an escalator!  She was so excited when she saw it, making her cute little excited movements with her shoulders and arms in addition to that ADORABLE smile she loves to wear!  After we made our selection, she and daddy rode up and down the escalators a few times so she could get her fix.  Such a silly little girl!  Then, it was off to Bed, Bath, and Beyond!  We found a really great deal on a duvet set that was marked down and found curtains to match as well.  I was so excited to go home and wash everything to prepare it for use!

·         Chick Fil-A with Angela, Cayden, Sydney, and “Uncle Fuff” – Angela invited us to meet them for dinner at Chick Fil-A.  This would be their first time seeing Peyton since the day we came home, so they were all very excited to see her.  Cayden and Sydney’s “Uncle Fuff” joined us a little while after we got there.  His name is really Jeff, but Cayden couldn’t say Jeff when he was little and called him Fuff, and it stuck!  He is so sweet, and kids just love him, and so do we.  Peyton had a great time with all of them and worked Uncle Fuff, conning him into walking with her.  She did knuckles with everyone, asked everyone to tickle her with “the claw” and showed them her silly faces.  The kids wanted her to play with them in the play area, but Peyton had no interest in it.  She sat on the bench inside the play area, and after a while, she wanted to go back out to the dining area.  I was actually worried about her wanting to play in there because there’s a lot of climbing, so if she were to have climbed to a point where she was scared or couldn’t move, I don’t know how I would have gotten to her very easily.  I’ll be happy to let her do that once her level of play and climbing abilities have increased!

·         No Nap?  Worked Like a Charm!  Bed Time a Dream! – Peyton was so exhausted from such a busy day and no nap that it only took her 5 minutes to fall asleep.  Yay!  We were thrilled – it seemed as though our new plan just might work!

 

Wednesday, September 29^th

 

·         Pee Pee in the Potty! – We’ve been teaching Peyton the sign for potty and have been telling her that’s what we are doing when we sit on the potty in addition to telling her that’s what she does in her diaper.  The day before, we took out her potty seat and let her sit on the big girl potty.  She was so proud of herself!  She then told us she had to go potty like 10 times, but she was just fascinated with it and loves using the toilet paper to wipe.  So, that morning when she told me she had to go potty, I didn’t think she’d really go, and she totally peed in the potty!  A lot of pee pee too!  I was so proud of her!  I hollered to Darren, and he brought the camera in to photograph the big moment.  We clapped and hold her what a good girl she was, and she was SO PROUD of herself!  It was a big moment!  She hasn’t truly gone since then, but it was at least an introduction to what she’s supposed to do! 

·         Putting Big Girl Bed Together – After Peyton’s proud moment, we decided we’d better get going on converting Peyton’s bed, so Darren drug the conversion kit out, and we proceeded to put it together.  While we did that, Peyton decided she would rather play by herself in the kitchen.  We didn’t think there was anything to worry about and kept checking on her periodically.  Low and behold, it was one of those moments where it was probably too quiet to be anything good – Peyton was putting the cat food into the cat’s water and was splashing water EVERYWHERE!  After being home for a week-and-a-half, I guess she just couldn’t resist the urge to play in it!  Typical kid, I guess!  After she got in a little bit of trouble, we brought her into the bedroom, where we could keep a better eye on her.  It was cute – she wanted to “help” hold the pieces in place while Darren and I worked on getting them into place.  She was so proud that she was helping.  I loved it!

·         Mommy Feels Rotten – I woke up not feeling so great, and it got progressively worse as the day went on.  My stomach felt like someone was grabbing it from the inside, but I wasn’t nauseous and didn’t have diarrhea, but I was wishing something would happen in hopes I’d feel better, but no such luck!  So, I stayed home with Peyton while Darren left the house to pick up the mattress, a mattress pad, and side rails to keep Peyton from falling out of her bed at night, especially with the way she thrashes around!  Needless to say, I don’t think I was very much help, and my patience with Peyton grew thin while Darren was away.  I felt like a really bad mommy, but I literally did not have the energy to do more than I absolutely HAD to do for her.  I fed her lunch and tried to get her to play on the couch so I could veg.  It worked for a while, but she grew bored with me and started acting up.  By the time Darren got home, I was near tears and wanted to curl up in a ball on the floor.  BUT – I had to keep going because Peyton had no place to sleep until we finished putting the bed together.  So, we powered through that and got it all put together so Peyton could sleep in her big girl bed!   

·         Peyton Sleeps in Big Girl Bed for the 1^st Time! – Peyton hadn’t been in the bedroom since we placed the mattress in the room, so when she wandered back there to see what was going on, I had just finished putting the finishing touches on the bedding.  Peyton walked to the door, pointed to her bed, and gave me those eyes of wonder – I told her, “Yes, sweetie.  This is YOUR bed!”  She was in awe over it!  I’m not exactly sure what was going through her mind, but she was definitely interested in it and seemed to be amazed by the changes.  Later in the evening, I was never so happy for Peyton’s bed time.  I was exhausted, still felt like crap, and I just wanted her to go to sleep so I could go to sleep myself.  I couldn’t believe how horrible I felt and prayed I’d wake up feeling better the next day.  We’ve developed a bedtime routine of bath, pj’s, brushing teeth, looking at the stars (she has a ladybug that displays stars on the ceiling and walls – it’s awesome, and she LOVES IT!), and finally, turning out the lights and going to sleep.  It felt so good to crawl into her big girl bed with her – it was cozy and comfy – not sure she feels the same way, but I was really happy that it turned out to be such a comfortable bed and was excited for her to sleep in there for the first time.  I was also going to try sleeping in our bed, setting the alarm to get up early and check on her.  This would be her first night sleeping and waking up without me by her side, and I didn’t want her to be scared. 

·         Daddy Orders Peyton a Play Kitchen, Dishes & Food – At this point, Peyton still isn’t liking her playroom, and we can’t quite figure out why.  Maybe it’s that she isn’t interested in the toys in there?  We’d been purposely spending time in there in hopes she’d find that it is a fun place.  She’d work on the activity we had going, and then she’d leave, wandering off into other parts of the house.  Darren broke out her tea sets and her play mixer from the basement (where we put some of the gifts from the shower to introduce to her slowly) and brought them into the room, thinking that might help.  She played with them as long as she was sitting on Darren’s lap and then left the room, usually with a few pieces of kitchen stuff.  Some other friends gave us a cute little kitchen set, which we put on the downstairs patio for her to play with since she loves being outside so much, but isn’t a fan of the grass, plants, or mulch, but she’ll play on the concrete patio.  Silly girl!  Anyhow, Darren figured since she loves that so much and had such a great time playing with the kitchen stuff at Harry and Shawna’s, we should order another kitchen set for the playroom to, perhaps, peak her interest in playing in there.  He also ordered her a set of pots, pans, and utensils in addition to a set of food.  We both hoped it would help her become more interested in the playroom – we tried really hard to make it a fun, kid-friendly space that she could destroy and enjoy herself, which she wasn’t doing at all.  We were destroying it trying to find what would hold her interest, and she wasn’t enjoying it at all.   

 

Thursday, September 30^th

 

·         Peyton Wakes Up in her Big Girl Bed a Happy Girl! – I’m not entirely sure Peyton did or did not wake up to discover I wasn’t in there because I know she woke up on the mornings I was sleeping with her, discovered I was still sleeping, and just sat there or put herself to sleep until I woke up.  Then, she would get excited, would want the blinds open, and then wanted me to snuggle her and get her to the kitchen for breakfast.  When I went into her room, I opened the blinds to let the light in.  Her eyes popped open, she smiled, and she wanted me to pick her up.  I just love mornings with my little girl!  She’s such a happy baby when she wakes up! 

·         Peyton Meets “Aunt” and Sees Grandpa Ron for 2^nd Time – Darren’s other sister, Lynette, hadn’t met Peyton yet, so his dad brought her over to the house to meet Peyton before they headed to her granddaughter’s birthday party (yes, I have a great niece – can you believe that?!).  Regan and Chase call her “Aunt” so that’s what we call her too.  When they arrived, Peyton had been trying to get us to take her outside, so when they go there, Lynette was pleasantly surprised that Peyton wanted to go to her.  She was working “Aunt” to get her to take her outside, which she did!  They found rocks and took a wagon ride.  She was loving it!  After a while, we all needed some lunch, so we went to Five Guys, where Grandpa Ron treated us to lunch.  She spontaneously started giving everyone knuckles while we were eating and wolfed down at least half of the french fries we ordered to share amongst the five of us.  They had a great time with her, and I was pleased they got to see her personality. 

·         Peyton Meets Chili! – My friend, Nancy, and her husband wanted to come over that evening.  Her husband, Randy (aka Chili) hadn’t met Peyton yet.  He heard she received and loved her percussion set.  He is a musician, so he packed a special case full  of things so that they could play after dinner.  They brought Which Wich (yummy!), and then Randy broke out his case of toys – Peyton LOVED it!  He was so sweet and let her keep these flashing lights he wears on his fingers; a couple of eggs that she could shake; some beads (they are red chili peppers), and a Dos Equis shaker that is also a beer bottle opener, but it’s the perfect size of a shaker for her!   He also had some funny teeth in his case and put them in – she thought they were hilarious and wanted to wear them, which he didn’t let her do, but she kept pointing to them and wanted to touch them.  We all thought it was hilarious.  Also hilarious was the fact that she turned her conga drum into a stool while Randy was trying to show her how to play it.  As she was sitting on it, she was trying to drum, which appeared more like she was slapping her bum.  We all laughed really hard over it.  She had a really good time with Chili, and he was so good with her.  We just love him!  The next morning, she was carrying the eggs around, shaking them and pretending to mix them in her play dishes, as if they were just regular eggs (they were yellow and green) and was turning the flashing lights on and off.  Cutie! 

·         Daddy Buys Peyton a Disco Ball! – In addition to the kitchen set, Darren thought it would be really cool to get some sort of really cool light for her  playroom since she LOVES anything that lights up.  So, after lunch with grandpa and aunt, we set out on a mission to see what we could find.  We ended up in the music section at Best Buy and settled on a disco ball.  It was so cool, and we both figured there was no way she wouldn’t love it!  We got it all set up after she went to bed that night, ready to unveil it to her the next morning.

 

Friday, October 1^st

 

·         Eureka – Peyton Doesn’t Like Rugs or Carpet?!! –  When Peyton woke up and finished her breakfast, we took her to the playroom to show her the cool disco ball and lighting effects it created, hoping she’d think it was cool enough to want to hang out and play.  Well, she did think it was cool – she smiled, made her happy gestures, and was certainly fascinated by it, but she wanted nothing to do with hanging out in there.  She watched the lights for a bit and then was perfectly happy to observe it from the hallway.  Later in the day, her kitchen set arrived, so we immediately put it together.  As soon as Peyton figured out it was a kitchen, she was so excited to play with it.  She even got all into helping us put it together.  I love that she thinks she’s being helpful.  It’s adorable.  Well, she did love the kitchen…until we put it into the playroom, and then she wanted nothing to do with it.  Strange, we thought…  We were even willing to spend our day in there with her playing kitchen with her, but she truly wanted nothing to do with being in there.  She took some of her dishes and went to the real kitchen to play near the bay window.  Darren was really frustrated – we spent all this money to incorporate many of the things we know she loves the most so that she’d want to play in there, and she still had no interest in being in that room.  Later that morning, she and I were in her bathroom, and I noticed that she took great care to walk AROUND the two rugs in front of the sinks to get over to the toilet so she could sit on the potty.  I hadn’t paid much attention to this until that moment, and then several things started coming together, leading me to believe she has some sort of issue with rugs and carpet.  She wigged when I tried to put her down onto the shag rug I have in the office.  She bolts out of our bedroom, her bedroom, and her playroom (which are the only carpeted surfaces on our main level in addition to the formal living/dining room, but we’re rarely in there).  I also thought back and remembered that she always wanted to keep her shoes on in the hotels in China.  She doesn’t like plush/stuffed animals; has an aversion to blankets; and she doesn’t like plants, grass, flowers, etc.  These are all things I’m sure she had limited exposure to, and she was having a hard time with so many new and different textures!  So, we tried taking the cute, colorful rug out of the playroom to see if that would help.  Nope.  She still didn’t want to be in there.  At one point, she was crawling around in there or played on her knees for the limited amount of time she was willing to play with her kitchen set in there.  So, we finally determined it was the texture of the carpet as well and decided to move the kitchen set into the real kitchen area, on the hardwood floors, and sure enough – she played there for an extended period of time without even being coaxed.  Wow, we thought – we’re going to need to go back and let Child Find know about this to see what they recommended!

·         Peyton is Brooke’s Special Friend at Pre-School/Play Date at the Park with Ashley & Brooke  - Brooke invited Peyton to be her special friend at pre-school, so we met Shawna there for the last 15 minutes of Brooke’s pre-school day so that she could introduce Peyton to her classmates.  When we got there, Shawna said, “Go sit on the pretty colorful carpet.”  I said, “Oh yes – the thing she seems to be most scared of now!?”  We laughed (I told Shawna about it earlier that afternoon), and then I went and sat next to Brooke so Peyton could sit on my lap.  She had no interest in doing so and walked everywhere in the room EXCEPT on the pretty colorful carpet all the kids were sitting on.  Brooke’s introduction was really cute, and we thought it was sweet that she wanted Peyton to be her special friend that day.  After that, we followed Shawna to pick Ashley up from the carpool from kindergarten and headed to the park to play for a while before dinner.  Ashley was adorable with Peyton and took her down the slide with her, all on her own!  They had a tumble the second time around, which I think scared Peyton just a  little bit, but got back up and went down on her own.  Then, she thought it would be fun to climb UP the slide, slide down it and climb back up the slide again.  Silly girl!  Ashley was VERY concerned about her safety in doing so and told me how dangerous it was.  It was really cute.  She was really watching out for Peyton!  Then, Peyton found a bridge and decided walking back and forth a thousand times was a lot more fun than sliding.  Ashley tried really hard to get her to go down the other slides, and Peyton just ignored her.  Brook was really cute too – she told me, “I don’t trust Peyton on the sidewalk.”  And again, when she was on some swinging thing you stand on, “I don’t trust Peyton on this.  Don’t let her on this, Karen.”  Such sweet, caring girls, always looking out for her.  After that, we went to the merry-go-round – Peyton really liked that!  She just smiled and smiled and made her happy noises.  Finally we went to the swings and did that for a bit before we decided to leave.  I still wasn’t feeling great – same thing I’d been battling since Wednesday, and I just couldn’t get it to go away.  Darren told me he thought my body was just tired.  He was probably right.  After the park, we went to Winging It in Castle Rock, where we waited 45 minutes for them to make our wings and a couple grilled cheese sandwiches.  It was ridiculous.  Peyton was totally melting and SO didn’t understand why we were just sitting in some boring booth with nothing to do.  She started doing her signs for nite nite, kitties, and anything else she could think of.  That’s what she does when she’s bored with her current situation.  She usually tells you she wants something to eat, to go nite nite,  or look for the kitties.  The other day, she told Darren, in sign language, eat kitty.  Darren said, “I knew it!!  She’s going to eat our cats!”  Too funny.  Our food finally came, and the girls wolfed down our french fries while we waited for Shawna’s order, and they weren’t even apologetic for the wait.  Peyton ate french fries, half of Brooke’s grilled cheese, chicken I pulled from the wings I was eating, and some of Ashley’s chicken fingers.  Hungry girl!  As frustrated as we were, we still placed one final order for a funnel cake that the girls could share.  Peyton loved that too!   

 

Saturday, October 2^nd

 

·         Cayden’s Flag Football Game & First Trip to Big Bill’s! – We thought Peyton would love being outside for Cayden’s flag football game, but it was chilly and a little windy, so she wasn’t enjoying herself quite as much as we thought.  She kept telling us she wanted to go nite nite and signing kitties, then waving bye bye.  Angela walked with her, and that helped for a bit, but she was ready to go by the time the game ended.  Then, it was off to Big Bill’s for some delicious pizza!  We hoped she still liked pizza, and she did!  She ate nearly an entire slice of pepperoni pizza.  Then, she wanted to walk around, so we let the kids walk around.  Peyton was in the middle with Cayden and Sydney on either side of her.  She was loving life, and so were Cayden and Sydney.  While they walked, Turner shared his story of how life-changing it was to have a kid, and not the good parts – the bad parts of thinking your life is over.  Darren had hit a wall and was really struggling with his loss of freedom – not to the point that he wanted to give her back (which I would never let him do, and he would never do anyhow), but he was feeling like he’d turn the clock back and make a different decision.  That morning, he told me this whole parenting thing was much harder than he thought it would be, so I think it was good that Turner was sharing that he felt the same way when Cayden was born.  I think it’s harder for guys than it is for girls.  While I am definitely feeling a loss of freedom and having to rearrange my priorities, I expected it (still hard though) and know it will get easier and is well worth the rewards in the end.  While Darren and Turner took care of the bill, Angela and I walked outside with the kids, and they were way ahead of us on the sidewalk.  As we tried to get the kids to walk back towards us, Cayden looked back with a smile on his face and said, “Karen, can you help me?  She’s really strong!”   It was really cute.  I could tell he was having a good time and thought she was funny, but he realized he couldn’t control her!  That was it for highlights on Saturday – after that, we were wiped out, frustrated, and just wanted to go home and do nothing. 

·         Amazing Dinner from the Neighbors – Our wonderful neighbors brought us dinner and an adorable hand-made blanket for Peyton.  I just loved it, but Peyton was afraid to touch it, of course.  I felt bad, but I am hopeful it will become one of her favorites when she finally warms up to blankies!  Dave and Justine left us with such a wonderful meal – they grilled this amazing chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans with bacon.  It was the best meal we’ve had in a long time and tasted like something you’d order at a really great restaurant.  I couldn’t stop eating it.  Peyton really enjoyed it too.  She ate 3 pieces of chicken!  We couldn’t believe how much she ate!  All of our neighbors have taken such good care of us since we came home – we are so thankful to live amongst such wonderful, caring people!

·         Peyton Asks for Bed Time; Mommy Zonks Out; Daddy Sleeps Great! – Peyton was wiped out and started asking us to put her to bed around 7:30, so we bathed her, put pj’s on, brushed teeth, and took her to her room to look at stars.  She asked Darren to turn the lights out and close the door.  She only wanted to look at her stars for a few minutes, and then she gave Darren her ladybug, laid her head down near my chest on my arm, asked Darren and I to rub her feet and tummy, and was out like a light in less than 10 minutes.  She was in bed asleep before 8:30.  It was like a dream!  We were both so thankful – I was excited to go sit on the couch and watch television.  I couldn’t believe I had time for that!  Too bad I was sacked out by 9:00 and so sound asleep, Darren couldn’t get me to wake up to go to bed.  So, there I slept from 9:00 that night until 8:00 the next morning!  I was exhausted!  When I woke up the next day, I was hoping I’d feel excellent and that my back would feel better.  Instead, my back ached, and I wasn’t quite sure if my feeling like crap was going to be better or not.  Oh well – at least I got what was apparently some much-needed rest!  The up-side for Darren is that he slept great in the bed, all by himself!  Since I started sleeping back in our bed, apparently Riley (one of the cats) and I hog the bed and cause Darren not to sleep very well.  Oops!  Sorry about that, D!

 

Sunday, October 3^rd

 

·         Peyton Jumps Into My Arms from her Bed! – When I woke up on Sunday morning, I went into Peyton’s room to open the blinds, and I saw her little eyes pop open, and she flew up from her sleeping position and jumped into my arms with a huge smile on her face, immediately wanting to snuggle and then go get something to eat for breakfast.  She makes me so happy each morning!  After breakfast, she wanted to sit on Darren’s lap and play with the remote control to the light/ceiling fan.  She thinks it’s pretty cool that she can make the ceiling fan turn on!

·         Making Brownie Cookies – After breakfast, Peyton and I made brownie cookies to have after dinner that night.  She thoroughly enjoyed helping me stir and watching/helping me bake them.  When the first batch went into the oven, she stood there, looking at them, and signing to me that she wanted to eat them.  When they were cooked and cool enough to let her try one, she was in heaven.  She did the whole excited thing she does where she shrugs her shoulders and wrings her hands while smiling and making her happy noises.  It was awesome!

·         Hanging Curtains in Peyton’s Bedroom – After breakfast and cookie-making, we decided to hang Peyton’s curtains.  I am always the measurer, making sure everything is placed appropriately, and then Darren does the harder work of screwing everything into place.  When we first started the project, Peyton had no interest in being in there with us.  Darren checked on her once, and she had somehow moved her kitchen about 5 feet and was playing with it next to our refrigerator.  Then, he went to check on her again, and he brought her to me, holding her away from his body, saying, “She needs to be changed already – she’s soaking wet!”  And he was NOT pleased.  Apparently she had been playing with the cat food again and had nearly an entire bowl of food in the water with water EVERYWHERE, including drenching her clothing she’d only had on for 20 minutes.  She had soaked the baseboards to the point that paint was peeling off.  Daddy was NOT a happy camper.  While he dealt with the clean-up in the kitchen, I changed Peyton into a new set of clothes, and then we tried to teach her what she’d done wrong – not sure if she totally gets it, but she hasn’t attempted to play with the cat food/water since – it’s only been a day and-a-half though!  Plenty of time to unlearn!  Anyhow, once we got past that, she actually became interested in what we were doing and began mimicking what I was doing.  Instead of standing on a taller step-stool, she was standing on her step-stool from the bathroom, pretending to measure, and telling Darren to hand her new tools, screws, and tape measures.  She even climbed onto my stool, pretending to help me out.  I love that she wants to mimic those things.  It’s so cute. 

·         Mommy & Peyton Enjoy First Outing Together (to the grocery store) – I knew Darren needed a break, and we needed a few things from the grocery store, so I decided to take Peyton and get her out of his hair for a bit.  She was so happy to take a car ride and was even happier to get into the shopping cart at the grocery store!  I just love how amazing everything is to her right now.  I know it will change once everything becomes routine for her, but right now, I am just taking it all into my heart and loving the happy expression and sweet smile I get to see on her face every time we do something so simple that brings her so much joy. 

·         Harry, Shawna & The Girls Come Over to Play/Eat Dinner – Harry, Shawna, and the girls came over shortly after 4:00.  Peyton was sitting in one of the barstool chairs with Darren having a snack.  When she saw Brooke, she got a big smile on her face.  It was sweet.  The girls played and played.  Harry and Darren ended up going to the basement to play pool, and Ashley went with them to “keep score” while Shawna and I got dinner together.  Brooke and Peyton stayed with us and had some good bonding time together.  Peyton tried a hot dog and liked some of it, but lost interest and didn’t like anything else we were having, so she downed 2 glasses of milk and ate most of a PB&J.  Then, we cleaned up and went back to the basement to watch Darren and Harry finish their game.  Ashley cracks me up – she had one of the barstools from the bar all set up with a placemat, some paper, and a pen, and she was scoring their game – keeping a very close eye on who made their shots.  Love that kid!  Finally, it was time to eat the brownie cookies and say goodnight to the Spokes family.  After they left, Peyton had a little fit over coming back inside, but when we came back in, she asked for nite nite, so we gave her a bath and followed our bedtime routine.  She was so sweet, and it took her a little longer to fall asleep, but I think it’s because we were busy right up to bed time, and she hadn’t had a chance to wind down at all.  She was down by 8:45, and we had the rest of the evening to ourselves.  I fell asleep on the couch again, but I woke up around 2:00 and went to the bedroom. 

 

Monday, October 4^th

 

·         I Think Peyton Had Been Awake for a While… - I felt kind of bad when I got out of bed and went to check on Peyton.  She was standing at the edge of her bed, hanging onto one of the side rails like a kid would stand in their crib.  She got really excited when she saw me coming down the hallway and wanted me to snuggle her and change her diaper.  I felt really bad because I know she had to have been in there, awake for a while, and she just stayed there, waiting for me to come get her.  I am going to have to figure out how I can know if she’s awake before I come to check on her.  And how sweet that she just waits and doesn’t try to get out of her bed.  Precious little girl…

·         Daddy’s First Day Back to Work – Darren was excited for his first day back to work – he’d been off for a month and had been with Peyton and I every single day of that time, and he was definitely in need of a break from it all.  He used to think he’d make a great stay-at-home dad – no more of that for him!  One month was plenty!  Who ever thought we’d see the day Darren was excited to go to work?!!  I was ready too – when Darren gets edgy, I am on edge a little myself, and the day just ran smoother with him not there.  I told him that, and he didn’t have his feelings hurt – he knows how he can be and how a mood like that can affect everyone else.  He was sweet with Peyton before he left that morning.  They had good snuggles, and we walked outside to see him off. 

·         Peyton Helps Put Dishes Away -   Before Darren left for work , he was doing his normal routine, and I was trying to figure out what  my routine with Peyton would be now that he was needing to get into his normal work-day routine.  I decided to empty the dishwasher.  Peyton LOVES to “help” put the dishes away.  She helps by handing me each piece of silverware.  When she helps, I sign “thank you” to her.  She has started signing “thank you” to me after each piece of silverware she hands me, which looks much like blowing a kiss.  It is the most adorable thing!  We have to get it on tape, and she is SO proud of herself too!  She also tries to hand me the glass plates, so I have to be careful not to turn my back so I can help her help me!  Sweet – and I’m glad she wants to learn and help.  She also takes her play vacuum out now when one of us vacuums and mimics us as we vacuum. 

·         Peyton’s Creative Play – While I worked on getting the rest of the house in order and getting myself ready for the day, Peyton was playing with her kitchen.  After a while, I found her sitting on this really little caboodle-type box that houses her chapsticks and play jewelry, using it as a stool to play at the windowsill in the kitchen.  So, I went to the playroom and brought out a chair.  She pulled it up, sat down, and started playing again.  A while later, I came out to check on her and found that she was sliding the chair up and down the hallway, driving it through the pile of food (her daddy ordered a 125-piece set of food that she scattered EVERYWHERE) that was strewn throughout the hallway and front entry way – just having the best time EVER!  A little while later, I didn’t hear her playing with her kitchen stuff, so I went to see what she was doing.  She made herself comfortable on the couch in the family room and was “playing” with her miniature “Fur Real” kitten her Grandma Sandy gave her.  She was making this face, as if to say, “I can’t believe I’m touching this thing!” as she pressed the button on its belly to make its feet move.  She put it down before I could catch it on video, but I caught her playing with her 6 tubes of chapstick, putting one swipe of each one on her lips, licking them after each swipe.  Then, with the camera still rolling, I caught her playing with the kitty again.  Yay!  Progress!  When we introduced it to her in China, she wanted nothing whatsoever to do with it but would gradually let us press the button and would watch us play with it.  I even caught her touching, with two very cautious fingers, a fake plant in the family room.  I was finally close to being ready to go and the phone rang.  It was Darren.  As I was talking to him, I looked over, and Peyton had pulled her chair over to her play kitchen and was sitting in the sink…of the play kitchen!  When she noticed that I noticed her, she just grinned – so proud of herself for figuring that one out!  She’s SO funny!

·         Peyton’s First Trip to Mommy’s Favorite Store! – I have a serious love for the Container Store – I have to demonstrate some very strong self-control when I go into that place because it can be dangerous to the pocket book!  Peyton is a girl after mommy’s heart – she loves to organize and loves containers.  She got really excited to get into the shopping cart and had a grin on her face the entire time we were in there.  I was on a mission to find a few containers to help keep her kitchen stuff organized and, of course, I came out of there with a couple things I didn’t NEED but definitely felt I must have…  Peyton fell asleep the last 3 minutes of our car ride home, so I left her in there while I got the mail and emptied the truck.  Then, I woke her up, and we put her new food into the baskets we bought, which have handles so she can carry them around.  She was in heaven!  She carted them around until daddy got home and was so proud of them! 

·         Daddy on his Own with Peyton! – Because Peyton will be starting pre-school at the end of this month, we need to start introducing her to my leaving and showing her I will come back.  Tonight was our first experiment, and neither of us was certain how it would go.  I had anxiety over leaving her period while Darren was having anxiety about being with her on his own for a few hours while I did hair for a little while.  About 15 minutes before Angela arrived, I picked her up, hugged her, kissed her, and then handed her to Darren.  We walked to the door; I waved bye bye and told her I loved her, and then I walked out and shut the door.  I could hear her sobbing, and I felt so bad.  Then, I walked back into the house through the 1-car garage and went to the salon in the basement to wait for Angela to arrive.  I was so sad that she was crying – it was probably harder for me than it was for her.  When Angela arrived (she brought dinner – bless her heart!), she said hello, gave Darren instructions, and said goodbye as well and came in through the 1-car garage to go down to the basement so Peyton wouldn’t think anything of her going down there.  Angela said she could tell Peyton had been crying but was doing better because Darren was putting her shoes on in preparation for taking her on a walk to the park.  That always helps diminish the tears.  What will we do when winter sets in?!  Kristi, my other person for the night, arrived about 45 minutes later, and they were still not back.  Then, right around 8:15, as I was finishing up with Angela’s hair, Darren walked into the salon with a proud look on his face to announce to us that the evening went extremely well and that Peyton was sleeping like an angel!  She asked for nite nite around 7:30, so Darren called her bluff, and she wasn’t really ready, so he got her back up, gave her a drink (that she asked for), hung out for a little while longer, and then took her to finish up with the routine, and she went to sleep like a champ!  I was so thankful that Darren started joining us in our nightly routine so that it wasn’t so foreign for her to have Darren there at bed time.  Success!  I think everyone had a really good Monday!  Hopefully the other Monday nights are just as smooth!

 

Well, I hope this brings everyone up to date on how we are all doing and how Peyton is progressing.  Her Grandma Pam arrives tomorrow (well, actually today with as late in the “evening”/early in the morning as it is by now!) and will be staying for a few days, so I’m sure I’ll have a spoiled child on my hands by the time she leaves.  We also have her first appointment with the pediatrician on Wednesday and the ENT on Thursday, so there will be many more updates to post by the end of the week!  Let’s see if I can hit my goal of posting daily!  Don’t be shocked if I make it!  Also, don’t be shocked if I don’t.  J