Traumatized By the Tub ...

Poor Miss Zoey.Today Zoey and I met my friend Laura and her little girl Gracie at the park.That's not the poor part.That came later.The park was great.The company even better.Laura is about 4 weeks away from delivering the newest member of the Piersol family.She looked absolutely amazing.As I told Laura in an email this evening,her family is one of the magnificent gifts that came from the journey of this last year.Their journey was one of the heaviest and hardest ones to watch but one of equal beauty.Laura and I talked and passed 2 hours away effortlessly.Gracie played and Zoey,well Zoey tried to keep up.She was so cute.She rolled everywhere.Much to the curiosity of some but much to the wonderment of Laura and I.I probably could have gotten freaked out by the sand and dirt issue but you know,at this point,I have got to let my little girl live and watching her today was so fun.She passed out within 20 seconds of hitting the freeway and as I glanced back at her in the rear view mirror,I could almost see the sand embedded in her hair.She needed a serious hosing down.My dilemma was this:Zoey doesn't take tubs.Never really has.Maybe a couple in an infant tub but primarily,once she got out of the NICU and had her heart surgery,she,like the rest of the kids,showers with Mark.Zoey is getting a bit big,body size, to be doing showers though.By the time the others were her age ,they may have still been showering with Mark but they could stand.Zoey,although super tiny for a 2 1/2 year old she is getting slippery to hold on to.We have known for awhile now that we needed to find an alternative before she wiggles right out of Marks arms.So today,we arrived home,minus Mark to shower her and I started a tub.Put the little love in and she absolutely hated it.Traumatized.Cried.Screamed.Threw her body back.Plunged forward.All in all,not a positive experience for her.I quickly washed her hair and body and got her out but it took her almost an entire hour to settle down.Not sure what I should do at this point.I really think I just need to keep putting her in until she realizes it's not all bad.Maybe get her toys,although we all know how much Zoey loves toys!The tub incident set the tempo for the rest of the afternoon.She was just not my happy girl.She perked up for speech therapy though and by bedtime seemed more like my little Zoey.Speaking of therapy,we are slow going in those departments.Especially Feeding therapy.That girl has such incredible defensive reflexes that the minute she see's the bib or bowl or spoon coming,her arms are flailing and her head is turning and her body is doing everything and anything not to engage with food.I think if she had never nursed or ate food,I wouldn't be as frustrated but she was a master eater and then seizures and chemo just wiped that out.Frustrated.Not frustrated an her,just the circumstances.I guess that is all for now except please keep sweet Ella in your prayers still.Results won't be back until early next week.So wish they would hear sooner.Our hospital has results within hours but I suppose every hospital is different.The waiting is the most difficult part sometimes.Whether it is an hour or whether it is days.Oh,one final thing.Some have asked about the story Caitlin wrote in Gifts 2.I an not able to reprint the exact writing that appears in the book,for reasons connected to publishing privileges but I would encourage anyone interested to go here and order the book for themselves.I am sure it is full of tons of other amazing pieces,some of which I know have come from other families connected to this incredible blog community we belong to.I will however re-post the original piece that the final entry is based on.Caitlin wrote in last October for Down syndrome Awareness Month.Blew me away then and still does today.I'll post it over the next few days.

*Pictures are post traumatic tub experience!