Road trips, birthdays and test~Oh my...

Amelia SiYuan Wells turned two years old on Tuesday. I'm sorry to say that we have not had a proper party yet since we traveled to St. Louis to see a new doctor about her feet. We were up and out of the house on Monday and arrived in St. Louis on Monday evening. St. Louis Children's Hospital is right next to Barnes Jewish Hospital and we stayed in a hotel that connected to both hospitals by a sky walk. It was beautifully convenient.

The kids (Tucker, Elise and Amelia) did pretty well during the five hour drive. I was proud of all of them. Unfortunately, I failed to change Amelia during one of our gas stops and when we I took her out of her car seat at the hotel....she was slightly damp if you know what I mean. So I had to disassemble her car seat and wash the cover. I know what you are thinking...just leave it for when you get home! Well, that's a dandy idea except for the fact that I have an olfactory nerve that can smell a stinky diaper 1/2 a block away. A "smelly" car seat just wasn't going to work for me during a five hour drive couped up in a car.

Why is it that when children arrive at a hotel room, they must jump on the beds???? What's the deal with that? I'm hauling luggage into the room and all three of them are jumping on the bed. Well, Amelia is trying desperately to get up on the bed, so I pick her up and give her a bit of a toss into bedlam. She was thrilled! I just turned my back and acted like I couldn't see them. They were beyond thrilled.

Sleeping was another story. Amelia was in the portacrib and I was stuck with Elise. Between the flailing arms and grinding teeth. I got very little sleep. I did put a pillow between us to protect myself from any bruising, but I forgot my earplugs. Something I won't do next time.

The doctor visit went o.k. He wants Amelia to have an EMG/Nerve Conduction Study to make sure that all of her muscles, nerves and tendons are working correctly. We'll have that test at home and then return to St. Louis for casting. Dr. Dobbs thinks she'll only need a couple of sets *~hoorah for that! Then she'll need to wear AFOs (ankle-foot orthoses) while she is awake and where her other brace while she sleeps. So, we aren't any further than we were before. But at least she didn't have to have casts put on for her birthday. I plan on having a proper celebration for her this weekend. So watch for that.....

We attempted to go to the St. Louis arch but the wait was over 1 1/2 hours...that was not going to work with two toddlers. I'll have to plan better next time. So we just enjoyed the museum and took a few pictures in the park and headed home.

Enjoy the pics....

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!