While on Christmas break the girls eased into the usual winter cold and corresponding cough, meaning we spent a lot of time at home. With the sub-zero temperatures outside, not being out and about was welcomed (at least in my opinion!), but also meant a lot of energy was present in the household, and not from the adults.
One morning at home we patched all three kids, covering everyone’s right eyes in an attempt to show Reagan and Harper what Emerie goes through every day at school, and five days a week since she was fourteen months old. Unsurprisingly, Harper was instantly asking to take it off while Reagan didn’t seem too bothered by it.
Bonus points if you can tell who is who!
Throughout less than one hour, multiple requests occurred to take it off, mostly from Harper, who complained her eye hurt, it was itchy, or she didn’t like it. It truly goes to show the patience Emerie displays everyday when you look at how often she goes about her daily business with half the eyesight of other kids, and does exceptionally! I hope this experience shows the other two how resilient their sister really is, who can do anything patched that she does unpatched, and that is not an easy feat.
We assume we have another year or two before she will be grown enough for the patching to no longer make an impact on her brain senses. No surgery in 2023 was a great thing, less stress for kiddo as well as parents and no droopy eyelids, something she will start being more aware of at this age. And other kids are now more curious about it; although her class is used the normality of her wearing one each morning. From what we can tell, her eye is staying straight from the last procedure and we are so very thankful for that! All the complaints and questions why she has to do it and her sisters don’t is really worth it!
And now we can remind the other two how they felt when they patched for less than an hour…although Reagan seemed much less impacted by it than Harper. Everyone likes to “help” pick out which patch is worn in the morning, and so far the turtle and panda themed ones are the favorite. Harper also takes it personally that no seal option exists- it would be super cool for Ortopad to let kids make custom orders!
More to come on Emerie’s vision journey soon, after our next check in with Dr. Winkle.
We took advantage of the first beautiful sunny weekend of the summer this past week; saddest part being it didn’t happen until almost the end of July. On Saturday we went the easy route, going to a local park with lake beach front, and the kids played in the sand and dove right into the kiddie swimming area. The water was “warm” in Alaska standards and I was surprised how quickly they played in it; last year it was received much less enthusiastically. Friends brought floats to play on, teenie-tiny fish were a hot topic for kid conversation and collection- with parents trying to keep them alive and well in water buckets and kids more interested in checking them out- and the ice cream truck stopped by for a nice, midday treat. We played outside for the rest of the day, washed the cars in the driveway and the girls wore dress up and played with their sun umbrellas. We ended the evening picking up the trailer at cousins for the real adventure the following day.
Day two of the weekend continued the beautiful sunshine and 70 degree temperatures so we loaded up two kid and one adult four-wheelers and headed out to Eklutna Lake, about an hour’s drive from our house. When I was a kid the ten-mile road was full of potholes, scary overlooks and absolutely no pavement; these days it’s much easier vehicle access with two lane, freshly painted asphalt. The girls fought over marker selection on their coloring for most of the drive there, and if you exclude the whining, the day went pretty well.
All the kids abandoned shoes and climbed on logs and played in the water a bit. The driftwood teepee on the beachfront was also quite a hit and they happily played in it and tried to build it bigger. Craig became an unofficial four-wheeler mechanic not too long after we were out and about and by the end of the day, he was manually hauling them back to the car due to a variety of issues. The boys in the group, meaning cousins and Kaden, are all pretty good drivers when they pay attention, so parking lot loops and some basic trail riding was a hit. The girls aren’t quite there yet and probably need another summer before we can trust they will go straight by intention; we will get there. We had several kid crashes off-trail, but none that caused any bleeding or too many tears. At one point five kids and an adult were riding the adult four-wheeler- that’s impressive in itself! Craig installing the back bench was the best decision ever and let’s us easily cart four kiddos on the back safely, all strapped in with seat belts.
It was a fun day and we all returned home with new sunburn lines. Now I just hope we can have at least one more weekend with warm temperatures before we head into fall. Harper keeps telling me summer hasn’t started yet. You said summer was warm and it’s not warm. She makes an excellent point and I don’t have a good argument against that!
Emerie Eye Update
Emerie’s eye specialist checkup this week went great after no visit for six whole months! This is the longest stint without an appointment since cataracts were diagnosed at twelve months in her left eye, and the outcome is looking better. Emerie was on her best behavior; I kid you not, it was the smoothest appointment we’ve ever had! She sat all by herself on the patient chair (past demands involved a parent underneath) and told the nurse all the letters she put onscreen across the room. In January she was seeing 20/40 out of her weaker eye, even with glasses on, and this time she was able to see a few of the letters in 20/25! After a couple in that size she declared they are too small to read!
This visit she also listened to Dr. Winkle’s requests obediently and maintained eye contact while holding still. For the first time he looked in her eyes with the fancier equipment typically used for adults- she is getting so grown up. And she did great! Dr. Winkle said patching must continue for several more years. The nurse did a quick light test before the doctor came in, a test that informs whether her eyes are working together or operating separately in conjunction with her brain. She couldn’t see both red and green, which tells us her brain is still fighting the connection between the eyes and patching will continue to help remedy that. He also praised our efforts to patch daily are paying off and her eye alignment is staying straight and not drifting out; if anything she is slightly inward on alignment. This is largely encouraging and means we don’t need another checkup for six months and no surgery on the docket. Very exciting!!
Dr. Winkle and Emerie ❤
The plan is to continue patching in the mornings like we do now, and giving her a break on the weekends so she isn’t operating with one eye while we go on fun adventures. I’m not entirely sure how well this will go for kindergarten so I plan to see how she does with school while patched, and reassess if we need to start doing evenings or afternoons instead so she has less hardships during school activities. All in all, she does everything her sisters do while patched and it’s really impressive, knowing that eye is weaker and still trying to get stronger. She’s a rock star.
Lastly, in case you were curious, Dr. Winkle’s favorite color is green. This is not to be confused with teal or blue. He and Emerie had a deep conversation about favorite colors, and she loves to talk to him when we go. She also went off on a My Little Pony tangent and discussed the princesses and different ponies; it was pretty funny. His favorite color was quite the topic of conversation later in the day as well, and I could hear her telling Reagan and Harper, Dr. Winkle told me his favorite color is green! It’s not teal like Reagan’s color, it’s green like the color of Mom’s pants today. He loves green. So, very cute.
Here we are again at Emerie’s next surgery. This one is unique, a combination of new ear tubes and another left eye resection surgery. After three Botox procedures, one successful and two not as much as hoped, we are back to the drawing board on straightening out her eye and convincing her brain to keep using it.
Sunday night Emerie woke up with a major ear ache on one side, which the pediatrician confirmed yesterday as a definite ear infection. After two hours of tossing and turning and prohibiting Craig and I from getting sleep, she demanded to go sleep with grandma in the guest room. Worked for us and gave me a few minutes of shut eye before the next one was up. Fortunately this didn’t hinder having the surgery, with the doctor noting that he would clean out the infected side when the tubes were placed, essentially making it feel better, with the ear drops kicking the rest.
On the drive across town Emerie excitedly pointed out , at 5:45 in the morning mind you, that darkness means fall and that mean trick or treating, then Christmas, then my birthday and then hers! It was an impressive observation so early and from a four year old!
Grandma Sue came with me this morning and Emerie loved every second of it. Balloon gloves blow up to look like little blue sharks and the longer the versed was in her system, the more hilarious that seemed to her. Lots of giggles occurred as we waited to see both doctors, and Emerie cooperated for her pulse check much better than usual. She didn’t appreciate the little girl crying across the hall, who I overheard was also getting eyes and ears worked on, but eventually blocked that out and relaxed.
We opted to do both procedures under the same anesthesia, which meant one less time going through the whole surgery process. Arriving at six AM, we were the first in line for the day for Doctor Winkle (eyes) and Doctor Kowolski (ears).
She went back with the nurses to the OR about 7:45, and by 8:10 Doctor Kowolski was out to tell us the ear tubes went in without any issues. Doctor Winkle didn’t come out with his update for more than an hour after that, as expected, and another forty minutes after that before we could go back and see her.
Everything went well. Doctor Winkle noted that her inner eye muscle was a bit tighter than he expected and that he put a little liquid (can’t remember the word he said) to help with the scar tissue, which is an issue when repeat procedures occur over the years.
Today’s recovery was different than previous surgeries. This time she really didn’t want to wake up; in fact we spent almost two hours in recovery where she lightly snored, snuggled under the heating blanket, completely out to the world. The nurse removed the IV from her hand and her chest monitors without even a flinch. Eventually we were able to con her into consciousness by rubbing the cherry popsicle on her lips, just enough for her to subconsciously want it. We tried talking to her about it first, and threatening to eat it or give it to a sister, neither of which helped. She then proceeded to eat the whole thing with both eyes closed, mumbling short word responses to questions.
Prior procedures resulted in a completely asleep child diving straight into a demanding, I need a popsicle now, kid. We typically head home within 30 minutes or so. This time around, we didn’t head to the car until about eleven, she instantly went back to sleep in her car seat while hiding under her blanket from the sun, and slept in her bed until after two! The rest of the afternoon was watching movies with snuggles- a rotation between wanting me, Craig and grandma- and warm washcloths on her eye with several pedialite popsicles. Her ears don’t seem to be any bother (albeit they look red with dried blood), but her eye is swollen and red and puffy. Not droopy like the Botox procedures, but definitely swollen and sensitive and greatly bothering her.
While we normally delay a bath for two days after a procedure, she begged so badly for one that Craig let her sit in the tub, with promises to not splash anything sensitive. Early bedtime was a definite must, with Harper and Reagan both quite supportive of letting their sister get to sleep to feel better. Early bedtime for the adults too I hope, as these days are mentally exhausting and I could have fallen asleep hours ago. I imagine it’s going to be a long night once the pain meds wane, and hope tomorrow will be a bit better for her and that we all get some rest. First thing is her post-op eye check, probably followed by a quiet day at home and a lot of coffee (for me!)
It’s been a bit since I posted a blog and thought I’d give a quick update and share some of the latest quirks the girls continue to share with us. Work continues to be incredibly busy for both Craig and I, him on the annual end of year closeout and me helping cover the rest of the grant season for airport development projects, in addition to my standard project management and job duties. We are both very thankful that the allergies and ear infections that hit mid-July last year have not yet reemerged and that the girls have been healthy and able to go to preschool continuously while we stay caught up on work.
As we start drifting toward end of summer activities, such as rain adventures, blueberry picking, and less outdoor water activities, the girls continue their current flower (bouquet) obsessions. Rose, daisy, and my poor front pansy plants now litter the living room and back deck; at least there are enthusiastic children happy to creatively play. Harper and Reagan enjoy picking raspberries from the backyard and eating them before returning inside; Emerie likes to taunt – ahem play – with the ever growing chickens, who now forcibly demand to explore the backyard, outside of their cage.
The toddler cars also reemerged and our neighbors get the honor of enjoying the spectacle of our kids driving down the street and the parents trying to keep them from getting run over by real cars or running into parked ones. Emerie greatly improved on her steering skills this summer, but also forgets the pedal is to the metal and will drive forward while looking backwards or concentrating on something that isn’t driving the car. Harper and Reagan seem to have the steering skills down and both enjoy driving. This picture fully explains everyone’s enthusiasm, Emerie’s face and all!
After last month’s unfortunate pet events, we welcomed a new member into the household, a three month old kitten. Her name started out as Molly until Reagan convinced everyone a more fitting name was Sassafras, which stuck. She’s a wild little thing and demands our attention at two or three in the morning every night, unless we manage to wear her out in the evenings. Good thing our children prepared us for that habit to continue! She really enjoys sleeping on Craig’s pillow, C-PAP and all, but turns into a raging, playful maniac the moment the first kid wakes up mid night, which is usually Reagan. A few nights I’ve caught her cuddling and sleeping in bed with Harper or Emerie; a few other nights I’ve dragged said monster out of their bedroom before the toe biting and playful scratching occurs. Overall, Sassafras fully embraces the busy, kid oriented household that surrounds my life and loves to play with the girls and run around. The girls love using the toy wands and running away from her. The chickens don’t seem incredibly upset with her presence either and simply crowd around when she gets in “their” space; not sure if that means they want to eat her or hide from her. And what does our other kitty think of her? Well he’s not ready to forgive us yet for a new foreigner, hisses when his personal space is in question and will only cuddle with her if asleep and she creeps up and settles.
Age four of the triplet life we lead produces quite the crazy opinions some days, especially when it comes to Miss Harper Anne. Of the three, she often displays the most dramatics over completely irrelevant things and it can be quite hilarious, much to her dismay. For example, the other day she was furious with me at bedtime because the following day wasn’t Christmas, and that winter wasn’t here yet (since she knows Christmas is during the snow season). She huffed and puffed and laid in her bed, with a you’re not my mom anymore response…as if I can control time! One night at bedtime she claimed with a huff that she couldn’t go to bed because I – her loving mother – didn’t make HER bed up that day. And at dinner one night we had pasta and I noted the leftovers would be in their lunch the following day. Harper scolded me for not putting said pasta in her lunch from earlier that day, and insisted that issue should be fixed by yours truly. Time be damned, Mom, go back five hours and make my lunch with pasta like I want. Kids I tell you…
It’s not all chaos and dramatics…well I mean it mostly is, but other moments the girls dole out sound advice. After a preschool fire drill one afternoon, they all reminded me on the way home, don’t be scared, be prepared, and excitedly shared their experience for the day about fire. They also strongly noted their teacher keeps them safe and wouldn’t let fire hurt them, even if she needed a firefighter to help her. True words!
HarperEmerieReagan
Reagan is on a cooking kick this month and I often find her playing by herself and cooking a pretend masterpiece meal or tea party for her sisters. One afternoon she asked, Mom, what is your favorite cake I can make you? My response, of course, was a homemade German chocolate cake, what Craig makes for me every year! She went into her kitchen and then was quietly repeating her recipe out loud to herself. Add a little German, add a little chocolate, and a little more German. Hahaha…it’s the thought that counts.
Emerie continues to live her best life and chase chickens, taunt the kitten, pick flowers whenever possible and avoid major rain puddles that her sisters splash her direction. We learned a couple weeks back that she needs another more significant eye surgery that will couple with adding new ear tubes back in, something planned for the end of this month. She continues to amaze me when you consider she tackles everything her sisters do, but with one eye significantly weaker and often when the strong eye is patched. She’s a rock star.
Next up? A two day preschool closure starting tomorrow and next week, aging up to the four year old classroom at school! I’m not sure who is having the hardest time with that thought, Miss Tawni, the girls, or me!
The Douglas household was fully embracing summer by the middle of May. A little optimistic, maybe, but also a nice break from the dreary and cold winter and spring. Harper’s obsession of shorts and dresses has passed to the other two and everyone now strongly demands such attire each day, regardless of the weather outlook. Fancy dresses were worn during gardening and throughout the long, sunny weekend.
The neighborhood will often witness three princesses biking down the street, in full-length princess dresses, heels (although they are learning heels are hard to bike in!) and bike helmets. Harper led the charge on the peddle bikes and training wheels and had the process completely down in about two days. For the most part her understanding of breaking is learned, other than when stressing down a “big” hill, freaking out and slamming into a curb. Reagan was right behind her and picked up the peddling a few days later. Her stuffed panda is mandatory for all rides. Emerie has no desire to climb on the bigger bike and races around her sisters on the pink balance bike. Occasionally Reagan will opt to ride hers and fly down the street with her legs out, balancing! We plan to let Emerie decide when she wants to transition to peddles, especially considering her balance is still off a bit from her recent surgery.
Biking to Jessie’s houseReaganHarper
In addition to the almost daily neighborhood bike rides, we are back to the constant water play. With dandelions in bloom, custom versions of dandelion soup and tea are the hits of the house. Every time you turn around you find dandelion parts, water, and flower petals. The girls designed some great food off the fallen petals on the floor of Bells Nursery this week. And those are free! A number of bouquet deliveries have also occurred and I can confidently say that our lot has no growing dandelions at the moment.
Another really cute moment during a bike ride last week; Emerie found a field of seeding dandelions on a nearby neighbor’s lot and abandoned her bike to collect them. By the time we caught up to her, she was hollering she found a bunch of wishes! So cute.
Reagan already mastered the art of swinging and while she knows how to do it, she still wants to be pushed sometimes. Harper and Emerie study their sister’s new skill and are starting to do it themselves too. New types of swings continue to pop up on our property thanks to Craig’s creativity and we now have a front tire swing and normal swing, and three regular swings, a trapeze bar and a fancy sun seat in the backyard. This week the girls all learned how to do a back flip holding the trapeze and are so thrilled to show it to everyone.
The Douglas family is also growing again (calm down, not THAT) with the arrival of baby chicks. As shouted at me when arriving home from work to them, we got Easter eggs! We briefly tried adopting some last year but quickly learned the girls weren’t quite ready to be gentle with them (and I might have threatened Craig’s life if we kept them). This time around is going much better. Craig told me he showed all three how to gently help the babies drink water while I was at work; Emerie’s first attempt was more like a shove-the-entire-chick-into-the-water type of “help,” but she will learn. Reagan and Harper are quite gentle with them but enjoy petting their heads more than feeling the scaly feet on their hands. A few have definitely tried to learn to fly in the moment from getting thrown by a stressed out preschooler; none of them have died yet either! When asked what everyone is named, the quick consensus was all names starting with ballerina (Ballerina Emerie, Ballerina Harper, Ballerina Grandma, Ballerina Tyler) or Ling-Fong. Yes, we will work on better names as they get bigger.
We are almost three weeks out from Emerie’s surgery and her eye is straightening nicely. Unfortunately this improvement is tied to a very droopy left eyelid (like her first procedure) and now that she’s a bit older, she has more opinions on it and tells people her eye is closed or that it won’t stay open. She asks to go to Dr. Winkle to fix it too. Her patching and wearing of glasses continues to be a daily battle; she is such a trooper while patched and distracted with an activity and while a bit less balanced, still works really hard to do everything her sisters do while wearing it. I’m thoroughly impressed at how well she handles her wobbles and continues having fun and try to give her credit and praise when it goes well.
A few more girls nights have occurred over the past month and I feel as though they are getting easier to navigate by myself. Maybe it’s because we are getting into a groove; more likely it’s due to the yummy food and ability to chow down on dinner with a movie in the living room, which we don’t do any other time. This week elevated temperatures resulted in a granted ice cream request to kick off girls night before dinner, and went really well.
The three day daycare closure and holiday weekend meant a solid six days with the kiddos home. While exhausting and very stimulating, the girls slept in later than normal due to efforts to tire them out all day, no naps and direct sun beaming down through most activities. Reagan even slept until 9:30 one morning! I’m guessing a growth spurt is right around the corner.
The majority of Memorial Day weekend was spent outside with lots of adventuring and activities. We played at the beach (an Alaskan beach with dry, cold sand!), played with the water slide and pool in the back yard, ran the sprinkler, destroyed the back deck with smashed orso balls, shopped for and planted flowers and vegetables, had play dates with friends, went to the park, explored Saturday market carnival rides, and so much more. The girls continue to be fearless and went down a three tiered slide for the first time. Emerie bonked her forehead on the second trip down and was less than impressed and Megan nearly broke her leg (again) at the same time. Everyone loved the carousel and boasted big smiles throughout several rides. All five kiddos joined Megan on a spinning apple ride and no tears or screaming occurred, much to my surprise. It is very likely all three will be fans of fair rides in the future and that state fair this year will probably cause us bankruptcy; here I was thinking they’d be nervous or hesitant (well Emerie and Reagan anyway- Harper has always had a need for speed!).
Now that summer is here, a few trips are in the planning stages and I look forward to trekking to a couple other towns on the road system this summer. I will certainly have three extremely tanned and super blonde girls in tow for most of it…and I can’t wait to see what shenanigans we get into.
The Douglets 