Sleeping continues to be a little bit challenging, although we do seem to have some really good nights occasionally in addition to the really bad ones. Last night was great, only a couple of brief crying episodes, and only once did I have to even talk to her or pat her back to settle her back down. She slept all the way up to around 6:30 or so, and probably would have slept longer except that Gretta had an overflowing diaper issue and she was completely awake just before 6am with it! I tried to change her pj's and diaper silently, but even in the near pitch-black, I could see her grinning up at me like the jolly little elf she is, and she started to do her gravelly-voice talking! It's so incredibly cute, but I have a feeling it contributed to Emma Kate waking up. Who knows how long she would have slept otherwise? Speaking of sleeping, we went into town this morning and both girls were asleep on the ride home. Gretta woke up shortly before getting to the house, but Emma Kate continued to sleep. She woke up and Daddy brought her in- she was a bit upset and collapsed on the bed where I had nursed Gretta back to sleep. She fell back asleep and is STILL asleep! It's been over 2 hours now, I can't remember the last "normal" time she napped this long! She must be worn out and catching up on all her sleep!
We've been having so much fun here at the house- we're trying to get outside as much as we can, weather permitting- Emma Kate is loving getting reaquainted with all her toys around the yard and in the barn. We have to bundle Gretta up and put a hat on her, then she gets strapped onto Mommy and bundled again so pretty much all the pokes out are her eyes and nose, then we go out with Emma Kate. I try to keep her in the barn- there's her swing in there, and plenty of room to play around, plus there are "baby poo poos" as Emma Kate calls them (single road apples to the rest of us) and she loves to get them with the pitch fork! She had a blast the last couple of days playing in one of the stalls- she would get a handful of hay, take it outside, and drop it somewhere outside the stall, and say that the grass/manure/rocks/etc. underneath it were hiding! She must have done it around 15 times before she moved on to something else. Peter is loving all the attention she gives him too, she loves playing with him- he'll just be walking around, and Emma Kate will get all silly thinking that he is chasing her and she'll run around all crazy and scream- she loves it. We also made a little (well, very little) tunnel with some hay bales and got to see some mice run out from under them when we moved them- too bad Peter was looking the other way!
Gretta has been quite the little ham recently- she nearly flat-out refuses to follow the schedule that had worked out so well for a few days, so often times she's awake while Emma Kate takes her nap- it's so fun to play with her and focus on her by herself a little bit. She's so strong and makes the funniest faces! I love the little voice she's starting to use, I remember when Emma Kate started with the same thing, sort of a little growl sound, so cute! Emma Kate has been quite the little helper with her recently and loves to run get things for Gretta or speculate on what she might need when she's crying. She also loves to point out that Gretta is not happy when she is crying. I had Gretta in the Bumbo seat in the bathroom the other day, and Emma Kate literally pushed me out of the room, then (as I peeked through the door) proceeded to put a toy in Gretta's lap. Every time Gretta dropped it, Emma Kate VERY quickly picked it up and placed it right back in her lap again. It was precious. They did this for a minute or two before Gretta started to fuss a little- I stepped in and asked if Emma Kate needed my help, and she unceremoniously pushed me out the door again. After putting the toy back in Gretta's lap another 5 or 6 times, she decided she needed my help and asked me to come back in! It was so cute, I loved it! Emma Kate has also been taking really good care of her baby dolls, she nurses them, tries to put them in the carrier, and even shushes them like I do for Gretta. She was "putting her doll down for a nap" in the swing the other day and she even bent over rocking the doll like I do with Gretta before laying her down. She has been studying every move we make! It's just crazy! She's also picking up on a ton of words- the other morning I told her that Gretta DESPERATELY needed a new diaper, and immediately she was using the word desperately!
We're still holding steady on the eating and drinking front- there has been some progress recently in her interest in food, and there have been a few meals that she has fed herself a little bit without any prodding which is awesome. She's still eating tiny tiny amounts so we have to fortify her calories with a powder supplement still, but I think she'll come around soon. We're down to about the lowest caloric intake for her TPN this coming week, and if all goes well, we'll be done with it before traveling to Cincinnati on Sunday. We plan to continue supporting her with some basic fluids after that since her liquid consumption is still pretty minimal, and then we will taper off that as well. We're hoping that she'll pick up on her drinking and maintain herself like she did before the surgery!
I'll post pictures later today if I have a chance!
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