Cast #2

Finally posting cast #2 pictures :)  Isn't she adorable? She loves her pink cast as I knew she would especially since she picked the color herself.  We are about 1 month in to this cast and doing great. Kiya is amazing. She is running all the time and she just knows how it all works. She knows her baths are in the laundry room with her Dora doll. She knows that we wash her hair on Sundays in the kitchen sink and after we wash her hair she gets to watch her favorite shows Dora, The Fresh Beat Band and Yo Gabba Gabba.

 There is no cut out in the back of this cast this time. Our doctor doesn't think it is necessary so we are going with it. I kind of miss it as it made for a good tickle spot but whatever.

 She is straighter and seemingly taller while in her cast. I swear before this cast she was just a tad shorter than the counter top and now she is clearly taller than the counter top which means she can grab oh everything. Sigh.... She loves in particular water bottles, keys, daddy's wallet, etc. She will usually bring you the items she grabs which is cute.

We are so grateful that we have these casts as a treatment option. Cast life was scary at first but totally doable. It is our reality and frankly I don't mind. My baby girl is getting her back straight and that is all that matters.

Daycare Drama

A few weeks ago, we were informed that Kiya would be moved up to a pre-preschool classroom. We at first were thrilled that the staff thought Kiya was ready for more structure and more learning opportunities.

Well the transition week did not go well at all. Far from it. Kiya was less than happy to leave her friends. She has 3 kids that she knows by name and would ask for them as we would put her jacket on in the morning. She also LOVED her teachers.

Her new classroom just felt off. Kiya only kind of knew two other kids in the class. Her teachers were less than friendly. Kiya has her cast on. Big deal. She can do everything that any other kid her age can do. She might do it slightly differently but that cast has never slowed her down. Heck she learned how to walk in that thing. Well, her new teachers were under the impression that Kiya couldn't sit on the potty because of her cast so they didn't take her. They assumed she wouldn't take naps even though most days she naps for at least an hour and a half to two plus hours.

I went in to talk with the new teachers to let them know about the cast and really the only rules we have are no sand and no water otherwise we let Kiya be. The response I got was less than welcoming. When I requested that Kiya wear a bib at meal times, they seemed annoyed since other kids didn't. I brought them a bib even. They drink from real cups in this classroom so lots of messes and I just didn't want her cast shirt to get wet. Sure a little liquid is fine and water not an issues but milk or juice slightly more of a problem as those could smell. Not really a big deal but the teachers reaction to Kiya overall just didn't set well with me.

As we started to have to drop Kiya off in her new room, things were getting really weird. Kiya stomped around the house whining. She started to say "no friends, no friends.". She would say "Kiya stay home. No friends." And then at actual drop off she would start to cry. It got so bad that yesterday she refused to walk in the door and gripped the door frame so I had to practically drag her into the room. After she was in the room she started to cry and then scream. She was saying, "mommy go home, mommy hug. wanna go home." If I didn't have to be at work I would have grabbed her and taken her home.

I had already talked with the director. She was aware of my concerns. She was there on Tuesday during the epic meltdown that was drop off. She was meeting with the other administrators to discuss our options.

She called yesterday with GREAT news. Kiya is going back to her old classroom with her friends and with her teachers. The plan is for her to stay there until a space opens in the pre preschool room that we want Kiya in. The one where the teachers are fabulous and Kiya knows other kids.

I am glad we got this resolved. I was feeling terrible about it and Kiya obviously wasn't happy and that was the worst part. And while I was excited about the new challenges that would be there for Kiya in a new room, her happiness shouldn't be sacrificed and now it won't be.

Life with a bossy 2 year old

Miss Kiya has always had an opinion and she definitely makes herself heard which is part of what I love about her. Now that she is talking all the time and in 3 and 4 word sentences she is well more dramatic, animated and bossy.

Oh and did I mention particular. Her new phrases are "Mommy do it. or Daddy do it. Or Mommy read it or Daddy read it. If Daddy tries to brush Kiya's teeth we get a prompt, No, Mommy do it. And most of the time if Mommy tries to put on Kiya's shoes, we get a No Daddy do it.

She is also very big on saying, Kiya's water or towel or doll or tee tee (blanket). Most of the time she is talking about her own things so it is fine. Occasionally, she will say things like "Kiya's car. Car go home." That car was not hers, it was her little friends....did I mention it is tough to rationalize with a 2 year old?

The word no has also become a favorite again. Yesterday and most days it is "no hat".  Today it was no socks and my favorite, " Mommy, no poop. no poop." She had pooped but didn't want me to change her because she was watching her favorite show.

Last night on the potty we got a whole round of no's. No towel, no light, Kiya no potty, no bath, etc. It was pretty cute but for sure the highlight was Kiya actually going poop on the potty. I am pretty sure it was a mere coincidence as we thought she was done and it was bedtime so we took her diaper off so she could go sit on the potty and low and behold she wasn't done yet. I will take the victory but also realize that Kiya isn't ready just yet for full potty training.

Life with a 2 year old so far isn't that bad. Yes we have the tantrums at times and the occasional timeout usually for not listening but really it is manageable. She is really a great kid. I love that I can have a real, actual conversation with her in which she understands me and I her. 

Sure she is bossy and stubborn but that is Kiya and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Back to the beginning

So yesterday, Kiya got cast #2. She did great as always. Such a trooper. It was a VERY long day that took WAY too long to do everything. At one point I was tempted to just grab the tape and padding and just finish the job myself but whatever. All in all I love the staff at Shriner's Chicago minus maybe the clueless anesthesiologist and the new nurse who was I believe the source of the slow down.

Miss Kiya is now sporting a brand new very pink cast. She picked the color herself. I knew she would pick pink. She only recognizes a few colors accurately pink being one of them and her latest love so I knew as soon as she saw it that is what she would pick. My girly girl didn't let me down.

She is adjusting well. A little sore and a little clumsy but overall doing great. She is walking pretty well. She is starting to bend and pick things up again. She will only sit for short periods of time without a wall or pillow behind her but she did that last time too so that is to be expected. The thing that shocked me is last night she slept on her side on and off. That took a month plus in her last cast.

The best part of the day was being there with 2 of our Lucky Cast families. That makes the long casting day just a little easier when you can share it with your extended family. There were definitely some people we missed and wished could have been there but we know they were there with us in spirit and cheering us on through facebook.

I was kind of prepared for Kiya's xray numbers and kind of not. When she started this journey back in September she was at a 52 degree curve in her spine which the doctor was able to hold at 15 degrees in her cast. Well yesterday Kiya's out of cast xray came back showing a 60 + degree curve so worse than before. Two things happened here. One the xray wasn't perfect, Kiya's shoulders weren't squared up and the second is that Kiya was out of cast for just over 2 months. The doctor worked his magic again and was able to hold Kiya's curve to 15 degrees in cast again. So I am holding on to that. Kiya is pretty flexible which should help. He is still hopeful that we can get complete correction if we stay the course so we are in this for the long haul.

I feel like we are starting all over and are in cast #1 really. Not going to let it get me down though. We have amazing friends to walk with us on this journey and pick us up when we fall or need the extra encouragement and that makes the world of difference. I cried 1 time yesterday and that was when they rolled Kiya back to surgery. Last cast, I couldn't stop crying and had to hold on to nurse Gwen for support and a walk before I could even get near Kiya post surgery. Why was it different this time even with the unsettling starting number? Well, we knew what to expect with the angry screaming toddler post anesthesia. We knew what she would look like with the cast on so there wasn't the shock factor. We knew that our friends were right there with us and that we can do this together.

We are all readjusting to our new normal and breathing a sigh of relief. We have 12 weeks to not worry about Kiya's back getting worse. It is a nice feeling. These last 2 months of looking to see if her back was crooked. Watching it get crooked was tough.

For all the numbers, check Kiya's Kare Korner.