It was a loooong, long month.
THE FUN:
We met another family in Halifax who adopted from Russia. Absolutely wonderful to hear their story, see the similarities and differences. Their little girl, I, was brought home a month before Dania. I really liked hearing the difference between staying in small-town Russia (as we did) and a bigger city, like where we drove for court. So many differences and yet, sooo much the same. It was too bad Dania cowered in my shoulder in shyness. Big phase right now! Although, she did exclaim the next youngest's name over and over because it was the same as her BFF: E's. That was funny to me, but she would bury her face in me as soon as she said it and pointed. Neighbours are laughing because last year she would dash across the lawn to be lifted up by them and now she won't pass their driveway if they are standing in it! It makes me feel good that I know she feels safe with me and knows who our close friends are. Although, I have this underlying feeling nagging at me that she will be a pushover and not assertive in social situations. Hell, she's 2! I know she will go through a gajillion phases!
Mum came to visit too. What a cute visit for Dania with her Gramma. She recognized her (slowly) thanks to Skype and was looking for her the morning after she left. I loved watching mum warm Dania's hands and tell her that she used to warm mine the same way - I have also been warming Dania's the same way too. *tear* It was short and sweet but I love when anyone can see Dania as Dania and not a short excerpt.
Spring is here (I hope it stays) and we are outside more. She is running around the big circuit in the neighbourhood (as long as no one is in their driveway) and completely halts to point at and follow every single car that passes us. She has been enthralled with the kids on bikes and scooters and met a few other little kids that I didn't even know lived here! Okay, so I met them and she hid behind my leg until she said she wanted to eat and walked away...
THE BAD:
Holy illness, Batman! She had a diaper rash that we were treating with Penaten until it started to get pebbly and then I thought it was a yeast infection spreading. It didn't get better when treated with antifungal or antibiotic cream. She also had what I thought was a staph infection on her nose (I had one there in grade 3 and remember it vividly) and was treating it with antibiotic ointment. BUT! when she woke up with sores around her mouth and on her hands I knew something was going on. I was told by a friend that hand, foot, mouth was going around the city so, I read up on that and her symptoms matched... except the sore throat. I didn't know if she wasn't eating because of feeling ill or sore throat. Either way, I knew we had to hit up a doctor that morning. We did and I said how I first thought it was staph on her nose and yeast on her diaper area and now I think it's something else... He took one look at her face and said staph infection for sure. He wrote a prescription. He asked to see her diaper area. Now, as of that morning, it had totally migrated away from any area that lead me to think yeast or diaper rash... it was now all around the outside of the diaper and the onesie and diaper leg holes kept rubbing the sores. He said it was definitely the same staph infection there because it wasn't on her privates but on the outer edges. Sheesh. I felt awful. She wasn't sleeping and it had to be because she was uncomfortable every time she shifted. Ugh. I'm so sorry Dania!!! So, 10 days of oral antibiotics and 15 days of topical antibiotics was what we went home with.
The next morning she looked worse. It was spreading on her face and her hands were covered in blisters. I said they were zombie hands. My sister said they looked like octopus tentacles - which I totally agree with- but we had already taught her to hold her arms out and walk like a zombie... Anyway, I called 811 to talk to the nurses and they said it would be 3 days before we saw any improvement in the actual sores. Her face cleared up within 24 hours, her bum stopped spreading but scabbed up, her hands looked awful and she is SO a picker like me and keeps pulling the loose skin off and handing it to me... which makes her look more like a zombie.
So, Easter weekend hits and we are to host dinner. On Good Friday, Mike wakes up feeling crappy. He has spots on his hands. Holy zombie jesus! (please don't take offense, I'm just working the zombie/raised from the dead plus her zombie hands connection - no insult intended!) I tell him to call 811 immediately and find out whether we need to get him to a doctor or if we can treat at home knowing what Dania has and if we should cancel dinner plans because of contagiousness. Well, he is suspected of hand, foot, mouth according to the nurse. He goes to a walk-in that thankfully said they could fit him in on the holiday (yeah! no ER!) and the doc confirms the hand, foot, mouth diagnosis and the only thing he can do is ride it out. His mouth and throat became SO sore-filled and bad that he could hardly swallow. We had to cancel all of our dinner plans... and I was already exposed so there was nothing I could do but I was probably okay if I hadn't been exhibiting symptoms. I went to the movies everyday and spent a lot of time in the basement. Man, oh, man!
All is good now. Hahahaha. Dania looks as if she has scar tissue where all of her sores and blisters had been but I know it won't in time because the ones on her face didn't scar and her diaper area is clearing nicely. It is smooth skin on her diaper-leg line but pink like a peeled sunburn. Her hands are still slightly zombie-like hahaha. She still pulls skin off and the healing pink spots are there but she can bend at her knuckles without the fluid-filled blisters being on the joints to hurt her.
Man, I felt so bad. I felt like I should have known sooner that it was something else. I felt like I should have gone with my gut that it was staph and gone to see a doc before the weekend. Sigh.
Oh, well. She is that little bit tougher because of it. She also chats up a storm now. I laugh so hard at her talking because it just sounds like, 'ga la, na, la, ga, la, laaaaa. Maa, NAAAA,' over and over again in her postsurgery adorably high-pitched voice. I think she was actually talking to the dog ont he walk today and telling her to hurry up and run with her. It is a hoot and she put on a show for Aunt Kitty yesterday so someone else has witnessed this hilarity too!
Ok, that is all now that the storm has passed...well, this storm. We just found out Mike is being posted to a ship (by just, I mean, 2 weeks before he goes back to work and a year ahead of planned schedule since he was told last year he wasn't getting on a ship) and will be sailing for weeks at a time. I fear for Dania because she doesn't get a big transition from both of us 24/7 to no Daddy at all... I fear for me because I seriously don't know how I can do this without him coming home in the evening so I can do my transcription and the cleaning. I am having full-on panic attacks because I had become okay with staying home with her - but she was a year older and a year more adjusted and able to tell me what was wrong or what she wanted. Now? she throws herself on the floor and hits her head as hard as she can... eek. I know I won't be able to keep my job at Shoppers Drug Mart while he is at sea and that makes me sad. I didn't want to be in management there again, but I enjoyed what I did there now. We are also on too-short of notice to find day care and also couldn't afford it...if we had known this was happening we would have saved for it. Man, oh man. So much in such a short (feels like a forever-lengthed) month.
On a completely different note, anyone who has read Divergent will enjoy that movie - I loved it - and Oculus was actually freaky. I am a huge scary movie snob and this one still has me hesitating in mirrors (but I always found mirrors a source of scary! lol). It didn't over-show the ghost/monster and had a story and suspense and the ending did not suck! YEAH! LOL
Until next time...
