Teeth, feet, tickle and fingers

Monday 20th Feb: Asher had a fun morning at preschool. Rachel watched her while I prepared her lunch. She made the most of the time and did some stretching while playing with Asher.

Brendon had taken the afternoon off as I had to take both the older girls to town for optometry check ups. Rachel for a check up on her retainer (which she had to wear most of the time till today - she is now allowed to just wear it at night). Ruth also had a yearly checkup to see how her teeth are moving and if they are correcting themselves at all.

We were wondering about the blanket of grey that we were approaching. Could it be the build up of smoke from the Christchurch Port Hills Fires last week? We were really surprised when on the other side of Amberley we already entered it. It was like driving in smog. All the way to town. And a bit chilly with it too. So strange to know it was a wonderfully blue sky just above that - and it was so hot at home.
We had a fun afternoon together too - getting some errands done. We did a bit of clothes shopping too, and Rachel bought matching tops for her and Ruth for dancing. Such nice tops as they can just zip off. They are nice and warm but lightweight too. What a special treat for Ruth.

It was special for Rachel too as she got to use her new bank card for the first time. In the past I have just been drawing cash for her and transferring it from her account to mine. Now she has full access to her account herself - with the appropriate card. So nice to grow up. :-)

Asher enjoying some puzzles this evening. And Ruth enjoying her new summer pjs.
You may also have noticed the bandage on Rut's foot. She had an insect bite from the weekend tramp that was worrying her, so I put some of my paste on it. The paste was a bit old though, so wasn't working very well. She took an ice pack to bed for it, but I wasn't surprised to see her later that night.

She came in because she could not sleep because of the pain. I know that feeling all to well. So I made a new batch of paste up, got it onto her foot and wrapped up and she headed off to bed. As her whole ankle was swollen, it used quite a bit of it up. So I then made another batch of paste so that there was enough for the morning and for her to take with to school if she needed to re-do it. Ingredients: Coconut oil, clay, lavender essential oil (to sooth) and Frankincense oil (to fight infection and help it heal).

Tuesday 21st: Asher enjoying her computer session, and just minutes after this she had a 1 minute Tonic Clonic. I only then realised that it was already after 10am. In future I will make sure she has her morning snack by 10 (in between two sessions) so that I know that is not causing a problem for her. She normally has her snack at 10 and breakfast was a little earlier today with our early start.







We had already arranged to go to the hospital to meet up with the dietitian, so we just managed to get that done a bit earlier today. The Outpatients area has all been redone - but Asher didn't mind the change because all she saw was the familiar Thomas the Train. Thankfully it was really quiet, so we just sat and chatted in the waiting room while she played with the train.
Asher has lost 700g over the last week, so the dietitian has increased her calories. Which means more fat and a bit more carbs with each meal. No extra protein however, as she is getting just 1g a day per kg of weight. And that was worked on her weight last week of 15.3 (not the 14.6 that she is today). So at least the protein has not been reduced.
She had a nap on the way home. She hadn't slept for a full hour this morning, so she was probably just catching up (she never sleeps in the car).

Ruth forgot last week to show us the certificate she got in the singing assembly (parents don't go to that one). It is a blessing to know she is respectful and polite at school.

Wednesday 22nd: Lynda had to look after her grandchildren today while their little sister was born, so Asher had the morning at home.
A bit of tickle time with Rachel while I got a job done.

It was so hot today so we headed up to the pool one Brendon was home from work.

Hannah showing us how well she is doing with jumping into the deep end - off the top driving board.
Asher just loves the water. It's rather hard with her though as she thinks she can just go on her own. She often pushes away from you when you are holding her. Hezekiah has gotten really good about going under the water. Even without his goggles on. Well done my boy - we are so proud of you getting over that fear so quickly.
The secret agent assignment I gave him worked so well. :-)
The few extra people left and we had the pool to ourselves.
And then some last jumps.

The girls had guitar practice today and their teacher put some new strings onto another guitar we had gotten. So the three of us got to play a bit. My fingers didn't last very long on the metal strings though, so eventually Rachel switched and I got my one to use (which is much more comfortable for me). She will practice between the two to get her fingers stronger. She has started saving up to buy herself a proper guitar.