Echo and brotherisms

Alyson had her echo on Tuesday. She was hysterical during it but the cardiologist persevered and got as much info as he could. She will need another echo under sedation but since we are moving to our new base in a couple weeks he said it could wait a few months. He said that from what he could see the repair looks good and there are no signs of pulmonary hypertension. That's the best news! There are also no signs of any other defects. In 2 of 3 views the VSD repair looked complete with no leaking but he said that in one view it appeared there might be a little flow across the patch. It was hard to tell though with her screaming and fighting. Even if there was a tiny leak it might close on it's own as the scar tissue and heart muscle fills in. Her left ventricle is still slightly enlarged but that's very normal. So all in all great news!

On to the brotherisms. Andrew is an awesome big brother. This new role is bringing out parts of his personality that I hadn't seen before. He is very patient with her and tells her he loves her several times a day. It is so sweet to see this relationship develop. As sweet as it is, Andrew is still an 8 year old boy and 8 year old boys say and do such funny things. The other day when Alyson had a poopy diaper, Andrew announced that if I didn't change it soon he was going to DIE. Right, the dramatic death by baby-sister-stinky-pants that we hear so much about. Then when I still didn't move quick enough for him he said "can we PLEASE go to the grocery store and buy a gas mask?" Our Kroger is pretty well stocked but I don't think I've ever seen gas masks there.

As responsible as Andrew is, it's still a little risky having him "watch" (i.e. distract) Alyson while I try to do things like take the world's fastest shower. When I came out of the shower the other day I found him playing "bowling for babies" with Alyson. She was sitting on the floor in our bedroom and he was rolling a large beach ball at her to see if he could knock her over. Great game huh?
Some things I learned from this:
-showering daily is so overrated at this stage of the game.
-"Daddy taught me the game." Hmm.
-8 year olds frequently appear brighter than they really are.
-Alyson worships her brother and will do anything he does and says. Uh oh.

Good news is no one got hurt and Alyson thought is was very fun so no one call the social worker, I've learned my lesson :-)

In other news, Alyson is eating well again. She kind of went on strike for a couple days but on Monday I got a recipe on the internet and made a big pot of congee. She loved it! We're trying to stick to our routine as much as possible and I can tell that helps. She's been napping well and sleeping through the night with the exception of the night before last when she woke at 2:30 and 4:30. I don't know what that was all about but I got her back to sleep pretty quickly.

She's walking independently a lot more. It's still a bit of the Frankenstein walk with outstretched arms and a little wobbly but she getting more secure. She also crawled away from me the other day and was so excited to see me still there when she crawled back. This is big in attachment land. She's feeling more secure and is not as afraid to be a few feet away from me. Making dinner is so much easier now. Up until a couple days ago she would scream and cry if I tried to go into the kitchen without her. It's only 10 feet away from the living room and there are no walls, she could see me. Now she'll sit and play with Andrew happily while I'm in the kitchen. I've also resorted to using The Wiggles to help babysit. We've been home less than 2 weeks and I'm already relying on TV. Sad, but with my husband out of town I gotta do what I gotta do to get the little buggers fed :-)

I think that's it for now. I have some more pictures to post later and I'm trying to get a video clip of her walking.