Hello everyone! I'm finally back with plenty of updates on my baby and our family.
First of all, about 3 weeks ago Greg was cutting some trees in the back of the house when one of the trees hit him in the head, and we (Eli and I) had to rush him to the hospital. He had 12 stitches in his forehead above his left eye. There is a video of his cut I took at the emergency room but I decided not to post it because it looks pretty bad, not to say gross. But if anyone would like to see it, just let me know and I'll send it your way. Anyway, on that Saturday afternoon I was in the kitchen with Eli when he opened the kitchen door and without coming inside he told me that something had happened to him, that he was fine but that we needed to go to the doctor. I was washing some dishes so just imagine how many dishes I broke ... none, but I almost did. There was no bone fracture which was very good news because when he showed me that cut and I saw all the blood coming out of it, my thoughts were very different.
The following week Elizabeth became very sick for about 10 days. She had hand, foot and mouth disease. She could not eat or drink anything because of painful blisters in her mouth. The doctor said that some children also develop blisters or red spots on the palms of the hand, soles of the feet or on the webs between fingers and toes. Well, I think Elizabeth had something like this on the soles of her feet because she could not be without shoes. Even when we undressed her, she would ask for her shoes back, and there were some nights that my poor baby would also sleep with her shoes on. They provided comfort somehow. She also developed a fever among other symptoms, and there were 3 days in which she could not eat anything. It was so painful and sad for us to see her like that. It really broke my heart and one night there were some tears running down my cheeks.
She finally started to recover from that painful illness just to catch a terrible cold that she still has! Runny nose, some mild fever again, lots of coughing and yes, bronchitis. The doctor said that there was nothing to do for this and the only thing that we have been able to give her is some pain reliever.
She caught both sicknesses at Day Care in less than two days and I'm going nuts figuring out what to do. People tell me that this is the only way that she will develop a strong immune system but I think that there should be another way for children to get stronger. This is just too painful! I of course caught the cold and so did Greg. As a matter of fact he is in Atlanta tonight on a business trip and he is at the hotel room with fever and feeling very sick. So let's hope that either Eli's immune system is now as strong as a rock or that we become more patient and understanding about the entire world of Day Care and its ups and downs.
Eli still is still not used to Day Care and every time we pick her up in the afternoon the teachers tell us that she was crying most of the time and didn't eat much. The only good thing about her Day Care so far is that they will be moving to a new building in about 10 days and with the pics they posted on their website, you can tell that it's pretty nice. It's all brand new, including the building and the toddlers room looks very pretty. They are also hiring more teachers and will be providing lunch snacks. I will still prepare full lunch for her but it's nice to know that she'll have more food there just in case.
On a positive note, when I took Eli to the doctor last week her new height and weight came in at 30 3/4" and 25.1 lbs. She's been growing both ways so much, she looks so cute and pretty. No, she is not overweight, it's just that she was on the skinny side when she came from Guatemala.
I really hope that she will completely recover from her illnesses very soon for every body's sake. We spent I don't know how many nights sleeping just a few hours here and there. Even my birthday I almost forgot! If it hadn't been for my parents, relatives and friends calling me on that day I would have been just taking care of my Eli. The best present I received was two great hours of sleep in the afternoon when Eli and I both fell asleep in my bedroom. Despite every one's illnesses, I am grateful for what we have and for what we don't have. I'm grateful for our lives and for our beutiful journey with Elizabeth.
And these are some pics of my baby at the beach the day after "abuelitos Jaime and Herminia" left. We just needed something comforting to do, so we went to the beach, had lunch that I had previously cooked at home and relaxed in Eli's camping tent. Greg then picked us up at around 6pm. It was really nice !
Thanks for listening or better yet, thanks for letting me vent. Love. Clarena/ Neka.
Godmother Rachel sent her this outfit.
