A month has come and gone since our last update. Dayna has recovered beautifully from her lip surgery in July. The few weeks of soft foods didn’t seem to phase her a bit, and the crazy kid actually LIKED to wear her arm restraints! She would become quite indignant if we took them off to exercise her arms and would start pointing and grunting until we put them on her again.

Her crawling skills were actually helped by the restraints, and before we knew it, Dayna was off like a shot! She mostly crawls to be wherever we are, rather than crawling toward a favorite toy. It has made housekeeping a rather fun game…dodge the broom!

Five days after surgery, our small town celebrated Stir Up Days. Bright and early Saturday morning, we took Dayna to the local bank and entered her in the smile contest. (Who could resist such a sweet face five days after surgery?) Well, Dayna didn’t win, but we think she had the best smile there, especially considering what she had been through that week.

Dayna’s personality is really starting to develop. She continues to be a very happy child, and loves the challenge of figuring out her toys like the shape sorter, stacking cups, and piggy bank. She needs to be close to other people, and loves to play with children. She is funny and enjoys trying to make us laugh. She still loves music and has started to dance on her bottom when a toy starts making music. She is also developing an independent streak, or “I want it my way and I want it NOW.” This is particularly true when food is involved. We’re trying to show her what it looks like to eat as a family, and that it’s okay for Mommy and Daddy to take bites occasionally, too. She doesn’t respond well to the word, “No”, but then, we don’t think adults really like to hear that word, either.

Otherwise, our summer “break” was rather uneventful as it wound toward its end. On August 16, Alaina headed back to work and Dayna started daycare. We were both ready for a change…Dayna needed to see a face other than her Mommy’s all day, and Alaina was ready to see her students again. She’s working part-time this year, teaching music at Laura Dodge Elementary. Her schedule allows her to work a full day, followed by a morning, another full day, and two days off (or 2 ½ days a week). Dayna loves Shelli and all the kids at her daycare. She has started to cry when some of her friends get picked up at the end of the day. (We also hear she was kissing Shelli’s eight-year-old son one day…we had quite a serious “discussion” about that!)

Our most exciting recent news happened last Thursday night when Dayna decided she could finally take some steps without our help. This was momentous for us…in our hearts she was already walking when we got her, and we were surprised to find that she couldn’t even sit by herself. In the last three months, she has learned to sit, roll in both directions, sit from a lying position, scoot, crawl, pull herself into a standing position and finally walk. We have experienced more firsts than we ever imagined, and Dayna has come so far in such a short period of time.

We did have a scare about two weeks ago when Dayna popped an internal suture. Her lip became quite swollen (it looked like she had a purple marble inside her lip). After an unscheduled trip to see her surgeon, he put her back on antibiotics. Her swelling is down considerably, and she is much happier.

Dayna’s palate will be repaired on Friday, October 20. We’re anticipating another 90-minute surgery and overnight stay at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Her feeding regimen will be similar to the last surgery – soft foods with a spoon, cup, or sippy without a valve (no bottles or hard foods that she needs to chew), and her beloved arm restraints for another few weeks.

Otherwise, we’re anxiously awaiting the beginning of football season. Dan figures that Nebraska’s kickoff will be in 2006-9-2 14:30:00 GMT-05:00. Dan says “Go Big Red”, Alaina says, “Go Beavers!” Dayna says, “Who cares, as long as there’s food!”

Ashland Stir-up Days smile contest
Pigtails
Dayna's "hippo dress"
With Happy the Hippo
Baby Einstein
She loves cookies!
Jammie day at day care
Her afghan won a blue ribbon at the State Fair!
Fun with Dad!

8/27/2006