Nursemaid Elbow

Today, Tali partially dislocated her left elbow for the second time in two weeks. The injury is called Nursemaid Elbow and is a common occurrence in preschool children and usually happens when the child is being swung by her arms or pulled up/away from something. It occurs more often in girls and usually with the left elbow. For some children, it happens often and for others it just never happens. The doctor said that her ligaments are simply more loose but that over time she will grow out of it.

The first time it happened, Tali didn't want to leave preschool and sat on the ground in the middle of the parking lot. I pulled her up and snap! We actually went to the grocery store and it wasn't until she started saying "arm" in the cart that I realized something was wrong. She wouldn't move her arm and complained when I picked her up or tried to move her arm into the car seat strap.

Today, Tali was trying to go to a puppy who I don't let her play with. This time, I felt it snap. We went home, had lunch (the doctor's office was closed for lunch) and then went to get her elbow relocated (and a flu shot, since we were there). On the way there, Tali was saying, "elbow," "doctor" and "again." It was kinda funny.

This time, the doctor showed me how to do it myself as it will likely happen again. It's very easy. So if you take care of Tali, please remind me to show you how to fix her elbow.


NOTE TO THE GRANDMOTHERS: This is really no big deal so please don't freak out! It doesn't seem to hurt Tali that much and is easily fixed. She will tell you when it happens by saying "elbow" and "doctor" and if you know what to do, then it'll be fixed in seconds and she's on her way. Just like putting a Band-Aid on a scraped knee.

First Hand-Me Down

Tali's the oldest (technically the "only" for another few months) sibling or cousin so she doesn't have anyone to receive hand-me downs from. But today she got her first hand-me down from her friend Autumn. It was a winter coat that Autumn received as a gift but never used as it was the wrong size for her last winter (funny enough, this was a hand-me-down for Autumn from someone who it never fit either). Tali got the coat today and it fits her perfectly. The sleeves are actually a teeny tiny bit short, but it's better than her current coat where the sleeves are so long that she had trouble getting her hands out (see today's preschool picture). Thanks, Autumn!

She's So Smart

Today Tali was given a Dora the Explorer sticker. It was the first time I'd explained to her who Dora was. (She's never seen the show.) Tonight, Tali was looking at her cup and started saying "Dora" because Dora is on her cup. I was impressed.

More about preschool

This was Tali's first full week at preschool. On Tuesday I left the room for a little while but had to go back in after about 15 minutes. I stayed for about 10 minutes then left again and she was fine for the rest of class. Today I left and managed to stay out of the room the whole time! Tali was great. She and Boden (see previous post) played together and the teacher said she had a good time. Next Tuesday I can officially leave the building after I've dropped her off. I'm glad she's adjusted well, especially being the youngest in the class, but now I'm a bit sad that I'm going to miss all the cute things she does in nursery school. They should have cameras in the classroom!

First Boyfriend

Tali has her first boyfriend. His name is Boden and he is the cutest boy in her nursery school class (she's the cutest girl, of course). The teacher told us that they played together for most of the class - kitchen, water table, Play-Doh, etc. When we (the moms) went to pick them up from the playground at the end of class, Tali and Boden were on a see-saw together having a blast! They then followed each other around the playground for a while and ended by playing in the house. He was playing peek-a-bo0 with her and poking her. She thought it was funny. We thought it was adorable. Tali calls him Boned.

Apples and Animals

On Monday H and I took Tali apple picking and to a petting zoo. We drove about 45 minutes away to reach the apple orchard/petting zoo. It was both my and Tali's first time apple picking and we had a great time. Tali enjoyed the ride up to the orchard and once there, we gave her a task. Her job was to put the apples that we picked into the bag. She happily did her job the whole time we were up there.

After the apple picking, we took Tali across the street to the petting zoo. Unlike the petting zoo I grew up with, you don't actually get to be in the same pens as the animals. Here, you can feed the animals but they stay in gated areas. I thought this might be a good thing for Tali as she is sometimes a bit scared of animals that aren't dogs. I was a bit concerned that Tali would eat the animal feed, so we just watched her closely and H held the feed cup. Tali LOVED the petting zoo! She saw deer, sheep, llams, peacocks, deer, goats, buffalo and more. And she had a blast feeding them all. Tali loved that they licked the feed right out of her hand. Each time they were done, she'd turn to H and say "more." Luckily, it didn't even occur to her to eat the feed herself. The only downside to this petting zoo was that Tali did want to get in the pens with the animals. A number of times, she started climbing the fences and saying "in." Guess our next petting zoo will have to be one where she can actually pet the animals.

Nursery School Update

I've been waiting to write an update because I wanted to get a few more classes under her belt before I reported on how she was doing. But, today Tali had a runny nose (each time it ran, she would come over to me and say "runin" so that I could wipe it) so I kept her home. Therefore, this post only involves Tuesday.

After all the kids had arrived and settled, the teachers told the moms it was time to leave the classroom. At the previous class, Tali was the only one who didn't cry. But when all the moms (but me) came back in to comfort their kids, she cried that I didn't join them. This time, only one girl cried - and she was hysterical. All of those tears made Tali cry so both moms were asked to come back in the room. (To be fair, Tali and this other girl are the youngest in the class and I'm sure that has something to do with it.) The other kids were fine, even with us there. I was hoping that today would be better, but now I'll have to wait until Tuesday to find out.

At snack time, all the moms were invited to come in as it was one of the kids birthdays and the mom brought mini-cupcakes for everyone. The kids were already sitting down with their apple and animal crackers when the cupcakes came out. One girl, upon seeing the cupcakes, poured her plate of apples and crackers on the table then held it out and shouted "cake!" Not Tali. She went right on eating her apple (which she'd been asking for during half of the class). Each kid picked their cupcake, ignored their fruit, and devoured every last crumb. Not Tali. She would eat a bit of the frosting and go back to her apple. After the kids were finished, the moms packed them up and left. Not Tali. She asked for more apple. Tali and I stayed in the room for an extra 15 minutes so she could eat all of the leftover apple that hadn't been served to her classmates. (The teachers were cleaning up so it wasn't as if they were waiting on us.)

In the end, Tali only ate the frosting (and mini M&Ms that were on top) of her cupcake. She was much more interested in the apple. I was very proud to see her make such a healthy choice at such a young age. Hopefully that will continue.