She was on Amoxycillin for several days and is still on prescription eardrops, morning & night. She also had Tylenol with Codeine, but due to a high pain tolerance, took it for less than 24 hours. She finally dropped having to put in a cotton ball & bandaid last Friday. Although, we will still have to do so anytime we wash her hair. Additionally, we have an antibiotic ointment (bacitracin) that we apply to her scar occasionally. We felt like a regular old pharmacy for awhile.
She is frustrated that she cannot go to P.E. or recess, but we see the doctor this Thursday, and I'm optimistic that her restrictions may be lifted. It was especially difficult for her yesterday, when she attended her good friend Katie's birthday party at a skating rink, but couldn't skate. It helped that Mom was more generous than usual with money for tokens in the arcade area.
She's definitely back to her stubborn self. At lunch on Saturday, she thought Mom had kicked her under the table (turns out that Dad did it). She looked under the table, aimed right at my exposed big toe (I was wearing sandals), and stomped as hard as she could right on it. I have to say that it hurt. She & Preston had stayed up late the night before and had been misbehaving at lunch anyway, so I reacted with an abundance of anger and sternness. It was enough to send her to tears & curl up in Dad's arms. Even after Dad 'fessed up to being the culprit and told her she needed to apologize to Mom, she defiantly stayed angry at me (not him), continued to cry, and continued to lean up against him.
We had driven both cars there, as we had gone a variety of directions that morning, so she rode home with Dad and Preston rode home with me. On the way home, Dad tried to discuss the incident with her, but she only cried all of the more. Apparently, she has a difficult time admitting when she's wrong. Personally, I (ahem) wouldn't know anything about that. We made both kids take naps and after her nap, she finally came downstairs, sat down next to me, and apologized.
On another note, Preston has been saving his allowance money, birthday & Christmas money, etc., for several years. He typically doesn't spend any of it -- just the gift cards. Therefore, he's saved a decent sum for an 11-year-old kid. He really wanted to go buy an iPod Touch. Since he doesn't nickel & dime his money away, we felt he had every right to go do so (otherwise, what's the point of saving it). All told, he spend almost $300 on the Touch and some accessories for it.
Of course, Shaling now wants one. She has a birthday coming up. She is now begging for a Touch for her birthday. Two obstacles fall in her way. One - that is entirely more than we tend to spend on a gift for our children on their birthdays. Two - her gift (which she requested previously) has already been purchased. So, I told her that perhaps we could take any money she gets for her birthday (I happen to know at least one set of grandparents hadn't yet purchased a gift) and combine it with some of her own savings to buy one. Her savings consists of money she received at her open house in February and her own allowance. Truth be told, she has enough money to buy a Touch, but it would wipe her savings out. Besides, she needs to learn the value of saving and the patience of waiting, not to mention the idea that we don't always get exactly what our older siblings have...at least not immediately.
For several days, she would ask me, "For my birthday, can I get an iPod?"
I would respond, "We don't know yet. We have to see how much money you have." (I don't want her knowing it's a sure thing.)
After redoing this conversation several times, one day she began, "For my birthday,..." I got ready for my standard "we don't know yet" response, but she finished her sentence, "can I have lots of money?"
One final story today -- one of the applications Preston has downloaded to his Touch allows him to text, so long as he is somewhere with wireless internet. So, over the last few days, he has gotten into texting us when he goes to the neighbor's house. It also lets us text him when it's time to come home, so we don't have to walk down there or call and disturb the neighbor to send him home. While I had Shaling at the birthday party yesterday, I received a text from Preston that initiated the following conversation:
"What is Shaling doing?"
"She's watching Katie open presents."
"Is she having fun?"
"Yes! What are you and your dad doing?"
"I'm at Elliott & Adam's house. I think Dad is watching football."
I just thought it was so sweet that here he is playing with some friends, but he uses his new texting feature to see if his sister was having a good time at the party. No whining about if she was coming home soon. No jealousy (and believe that rears it's ugly head around here sometimes). Just a simple, "Is she having fun?"
Like typical siblings, they can sure fight like cats and dogs sometimes, but he loves her so much.
They've come a long way from their first hug:
their first night together:
their last full day in China:
the plane ride home:
and the arrival home (when Preston gave her the grand tour while Mom & Dad unloaded the car):
So glad to hear that Shaling's ear is doing good! We have noticed a big change in Tessa since our 12 month post placement report. It is like she finally "gets it" that she is here for good!
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