Gaining Strength
On October 3rd, we went in to another follow-up with the Orthopedic doctor, Dr. White. We got an x-ray without the body cast on first (which was terrifying, because she kept wanting to turn to look at the light on the x-ray machine- keeping her still is near impossible anymore). After waiting in the room for a while, the doctor came in and said her x-ray looked terrific! Even better than last time, and that her spine has completely healed. I asked about how we should wean her out of the cast, and he said, "Today! You can just take it off today. No weaning necessary." What?!? He told us that her neck muscles will be very weak, even nonexistent, so to take it slow, keep her supported for a while until she gets stronger. We also talked about her foot casts- AFO's. Since Emma's tendon is healed, her casts are not for correction, but for support while rolling on the floor, and assisted standing. He told us we will look more into her club feet/ bowed tibia in a couple of months. After a 3 hour drive home, I was excited to tell Dustin the news. It was a big surprise! That night we took the body cast off together. Emma turned her head a couple of times while looking at us as if saying, "I'm doing something I shouldn't, but your not stopping me? Are you sure?". The rest of the evening and the following morning were filled with Emma figuring out what she can do now. She loved rolling from side to side before to play, and she is trying to figure that out again. It's a little more difficult without the rounded helmet to gain momentum. I could tell her body wasn't used to moving these muscles either, as she would slowly figure things out. Picking her up is interesting though, as she is like a newborn with her neck muscles- a bobblehead. We can't let her head jerk around, so we have to gingerly pick her up. No sitting in her highchair or up on our laps for a while, at least until she gets her strength back.
The following day was a big day of firsts- again. She had her first actual bath in 7 months! No more wipes baths! But, she absolutely hated it. She was too big for her infant tub, so we put about an inch of water in the actual tub, and laid her down in it. She cried and would not let her arms and legs touch the water, even though it was just warm. I guess water on her body was a huge sensory shock that she hasn't had for a while. But at least she's clean! And we can finally have her hair down, instead of up in a ponytail (otherwise it would get stuck in the helmet). We were also able to put clothes on her for the first time in 6 months! That night, we had to go though all her clothes and figure out which ones still fit. She looks like a totally different little girl, with no helmet, no vest, no halo, no pins, strings, or weights. It is SO wonderful to be able to hold her again. Just Emma! To actually snuggle your baby is the best thing ever. Even when she doesn't want to sleep at 4:30 am, and you don't have a night nurse, but she is just so happy to be out of the body cast that she claps and grins. It will be a huge learning curve and lots of work to get her strength back, but Emma is persistent. She will get there!
In mid-October, we took Emma to Nisqually and got pumpkins. We let my nephew, Clark, hold her for some cousin pictures on some hay bales, but she wasn't liking that at all- but made for funny pictures! Emma didn't really care that we were getting pumpkins, she was very tired from not taking a nap earlier. She liked watching everyone though. She fell asleep in the car immediately! Emma had a blast for Halloween though! We all dressed up with an underwater theme- Emma a clown fish in her wagon, Rachael was anenomie, and Dustin was seaweed. She enjoyed herself with Kevin's church trunk-or-treat and our ward also. It was a colorful and fun Halloween! It was neat doing another family costume. Plus, Emma's adorable costume got ourselves lots of candy!
Emma has now started eating a more variety of foods instead of runny purees. She has been reaching out to our plates when we eat. So we give some soft or liquid foods to her, and it's been great! She has started to like different tastes like savory instead of just sweet things. She can eat fruit purees, puddings, yogurt, mashed potatoes (a bit), sauces, soup broths, and very mashed bananas. If there is any little chunks she will spit it out, but can tolerate very minimal ones. She will tell us "all done" in ASL when she is finished. Sometimes food will go up though her nose through her cleft palette and she gets very angry. All eating will stop. We had a cleft palette surgery scheduled for January 14th, but it got postponed. Seattle Children's is having a mold problem in their HVAC systems in their OR rooms and need time to fix them. We will see when she can have her surgery. Hopefully we aren't waiting too long. Emma is also gaining more strength every day. She is sitting up on our laps with us holding her waist and can support herself. But only when she wants to! She will flail and cry until she lays down again unless she is distracted. Dustin also built a "scooter" for her- a plywood board covered with fabric and felt on the bottom, topped with a foam wedge. Emma will lay on her back and push off the floor with her feet, scooting her backwards. She needs help positioning her feet, but she pushes her legs herself! She gets so excited and scoots across the wood floors in the house. She is getting so strong!
On December 3rd, Emma had a busy and early day! We got her up and left at 4:30 am (didn't have a night nurse either), and drove to Seattle Children's. Emma had an MRI under anesthesia to see where her overies (or gonads) are. As usual, Emma did amazing with the fasting and going under. I'm grateful they let me be with her as she fell asleep. After about an hour, they wheeled her in. It took her about 30 minutes to wake up. Usually she is so grumpy, but she woke up happy! I like the fast acting anesthesia drugs they used this time. She did great! A couple days later we got a call about the results- they could see her right overy but not her left one. They recommended getting them out soon, as they can't monitor them by ultrasounds, x-rays, or MRI's even. They have a higher risk of becoming concerous as they are non-functioning. It looks like February or March will be the surgery.
A couple of days later, Emma went into a Pulmonary clinic visit at Seattle Children's. Her labs and CO2 looked great, so they weaned her PEEP (a vent setting) to 7. And she is doing great! Again! No drops in oxygen or any airway collapses. I was really nervous because these numbers are getting pretty low. After all, she started at a PEEP of 14. Now she is half of that. I am amazed at her.
December was full of fun Christmas activities. We made gingerbread houses from scratch (Emma didn't like the frosting). We went to the Centralia Lighted Tractor Parade with Dustin's family. It was SO cold! Next year I want to bring a blanket to wrap us and Emma in. It was packed with people but an amazing parade! Tons of tractors, semi-trucks, and floats all covered in Christmas lights. People handing out candy and giving Emma stuffed animals. Emma loved it; and who wouldn't??
On December 17th, we went to Cabela's in Lacey to see Santa. It was a wonderful experience. As we were waiting in line, Mrs. Claus commented that she recognized us. After a couple of guesses, we couldn't figure it out. But she saw my Facebook posts on the buy/ for sale groups about Emma needing a nurse and she remembered seeing her on the news also. Once it was our turn, we brought Emma up to Santa, when he says, "Oh! I know you!". He then tells us that he was Santa 2 years ago at Seattle Children's, when Emma was 6 months old. He said that she looked so big and how glad he was to see her again. I then put Emma on his lap and he held her. Wow. Emma hates being held by strangers- cries, arches her back, and squirms. But not Santa. She laid there calmly, smiling even! Santa held her for a couple of minutes, saying this just made his Christmas and how he wants to hold her forever. Eventually, we had to let the others in line in, but wow. It almost brought us to tears how special that moment was.
A couple of days later, we had a one crazy day. We got up at 4:30 am, sent the night nurse home early, as Emma had a doctor appointment that we had to leave in an hour. At 5:20, we got the portable vent out and it said 80% battery- it didn't charge fully last night. We decided to get her ready to go anyway. As i went to turn it on and switch over her vents, the battery said 70%, then a loud beep! Then said that the internal battery failed. I guess we weren't going to Seattle. We rescheduled our appointment to April (!) but I am grateful that we stayed. It was dark, rainy, windy, and stormy that day. Lots of standing water, flooding, and wrecks. Maybe we were being looked out for. Many thanks to Heavenly Father for our safety!
Later that day while we were doing trach care, her trach accidentally came out for the first time! It's called a decannulation. It was a combination of Emma being wiggly, Rachael holding the trach loosely that should have, and Dustin lifted it up to put the trach pad under it. We did fantastic with our reflexes though. We had to use the obitruator (or metal guide) and disconnect and reconnect the vent. Plus, her stoma (or neck hole) closes instantly, so we had to pry it open. It was scary and nerve-wracking, but we did great!
Christmas at our house was laid back and relaxing. Emma enjoys watching the fires in our wood burning stove. We were really excited this year for Emma as we thought she would be old enough to try to open her presents and enjoy it. But nope! She refused to touch the wrapping paper. Then when we gave her the new yous, she cried and signed "all done" to every present. I think she just has a hard time with new things. She likes consistency. But finally, 2 weeks after Christmas, she is able to play and have fun with her new toys! That weekend, Rachael's family came to visit for a couple of days. On Saturday, we drove up to Tacoma to the Point Defiance Zoo for Zoolights! We got there as soon as it opened and it was already packed. Cars filled the parking lots and lined the streets up to it. We got the last disabled parking spot too, But wow, the lights were neat! So many beautiful lights, animal shapes, colors, and designs. Tunnels of lights, animal art "moving", a Mt Rainier light picture, and tons more. We got to go in one of the two aquariums and Emma loved it! The huge sharks and fishes swimming around. That was so neat.
On December 30th, Emma had an echo-cardiogram, only because the doctors wanted to make sure her heart was okay, and she's never had one before. A day later, we found out that she has only 1 of 2 valves in one of the 4 chambers in her heart. They said it was very minor and shouldn't affect her, but we need a follow-up appointment to monitor it. Only Emma would have another heath problem we need to monitor, but I'm glad it wasn't anything too serious. And I guess it's fairly common too.
That night, we had a touching experience. As we were putting her to bed, she kept turning to one side and laughing. She was intently looking at something, with her "happy hands" going. For a good 10 minutes, she was playing and laughing. It was peaceful in the room. We can't help to think she was playing with someone we couldn't see that loves her very much. There was nothing where she was looking, just a blank wall. Either way, Emma was making us very happy and brought us closer to God in that moment.
On January 3rd, we took Emma and Carly's family to the zoo again, but this time in the daylight! We got zoo membership passes for Christmas, and we want to fully use them. We got there at opening, and for the first hour we saw no one! It was amazing to have the zoo to ourselves and to see all the animals now. Emma liked looking at the monkey swinging on the ropes. She laughed over and over at the penguins baying or barking as they would start and stop. She loved the suspense of them making noise. The best part was the new aquarium. It was beautiful, tons of sea animals- lots of jellyfish, stingrays, sharks, fish, anemones, and sea turtles. Emma loved the end where the tank went over your head. She kept elbowing us to look at the turtles swimming above us. And lots of smiles and happy hands seeing the big sharks. We had a fantastic time at the zoo!
At the end of January, we had Emma's pre-op for her gonad (overy) removal. The surgery won't happen until the OR's are free of mold and things are back up and running, but I'm glad this step is done anyway. They will be taking out her overies (called gonads since they don't work- she's infertile) and her Fallopian tubes. The longer they stay in, the higher the chance of cancer. So hopefully it can be done soon.
On January 26th, Emma finally made it to four 45-minute boluses of food! We have been slowly condensing it for over a yea. This is a huge step as she is finally considered as having a true bolus feeding schedule. She is tolerating it well too!
A week later, we went to an Orthopedic follow-up and looked at her spine though x-ray. No changes and her fusion is holding nicely. The doctor also said that the AFO's (foot orthotics) weren't doing anything- which I expected. Her feet look and behave the exact same. But that also means she doesn't need to wear them. Her feet are free! She can wear them when she gets her stander and other supportive activities though. When we got home from Seattle that day, we brought her into the living room. While I was taking her out of her carseat, her g-tube extension got caught on the carseat. Next thing I knew, her g-tube was laying on the ground and food was everywhere on her and the floor (she was in the middle of a bolus). She started crying too, as it probably hurt a ton. The nurse was outside, getting the bags and bringing them inside. I quickly turned off her food pump, put a rag on her belly so the food will stop flowing out of her open stoma in her belly and ran into her bedroom to get a syringe and sterile water. I deflated the g-tube balloon on the bottom (it keeps it in her stomach) and tried to stick it in her belly. It wouldn't go in! After 3 tries and Emma bawling, the nurse came in. She tried to clean up some food while I ran to her room again. I realized that the g-tube box came with a little plastic guide to help it go in better. We never had to use it before. With the guide, it went in perfectly. After about 100 baby wipes, she was clean and happy. We have never had a g-tube decannulation before (where it comes out unintentionally). Well, there is a first for everything.
In mid-February, we had Emma's DDA assessment. That was rough. We need to apply to DDA for Emma so we can keep Medicaid. So Emma had to have an assessment of her medical history, what she can or can't do, what caring for her looks like, etc. It was very taxing as we had to emphasize how tough our life is with Emma and how she can't do anything. The raw reality- no "she's almost there with that skill" or "we've got this". I wanted to get out of that 4 hour meeting and snuggle Emma, to tell her how great she is. At least that is over and we can move on and cross our fingers that we get in.
A couple of days later, Emma got permission to wean her vent PEEP to 6. According to the Pulmonologist, this is the lowest of this setting. We were on pins and needles the couple of days after, but she passed! No desat episodes, no struggling to breathe. She also was able to go in her bouncer for the first time since her spinal fusion. She actually started bouncing and pushing with her legs! She's never been able to do that before. She is getting so much stronger every day.
At the end of February we decided to get out of the house and go on a hike. We haven't been on one since she was in her body cast. And it wasn't raining! We went on a long drive (3 1/2 hours) to Marymere Falls, just West of Port Angeles. It was a beautiful and fun hike. Not a long one, but the waterfall was stunning. As I went to take a picture of Emma in front of the waterfall Emma was getting frustrated. A minute later we found that her circuit was detached from her trach! We couldn't hear the vent alarm because the waterfall was so loud. We had no idea how long she was off for. But she was totally fine, just frustrated as it was blowing air and moisture in her face. The hike back was an interesting one as Emma was really tired and wouldn't hold herself up in the hiking backpack. She just flopped to the sides. So we had to carry her in our arms. She's getting heavy! She had a nice nap in the car thank goodness. We then stopped by a waterfall that is off the highway and about a 5 minute walk to- Rocky Brook Falls. This one is huge! That was a fun day to be in nature.
On March 3rd, Emma had a Nutritionist appointment in Seattle. She had been gaining too much weight in a short amount of time (now at 19 pounds). The Nutritionist had us go down on her volume of food very slightly to still gain weight, but slower. We also added more yogurt for the added calcium. I had asked about 6 months ago if that was an issue because of her bones and the doctor just now looked at the nutrients of her food, and discovered that she wasn't getting enough calcium. Sounds familiar!
On the 9th, we decided to try Emma off the vent. About 4 months ago, we tried and she got to 45 seconds before desatting to 95% oxygen and started to panic. Today we tried it, and 2 minutes in WE got nervous and put her back on. We contacted the Pulmonologist and said to try off for 5 minutes. The next day she did it- 5 whole minutes! It doesn't sound like much, but this is HUGE! A big step in her strength and weaning off the vent. I had no idea she could do this! The doctor said to go off the vent once a day for 5 minutes and to talk to her next week for the next step. WOW! Go Emma!
We are living in a big time in history right now for another reason- the Coronavirus or COVID-19. Things are starting to close down, kids out of school, and self isolation is happening. People get this flu-like virus very easily and lots of older and susceptible people have died from it. Now both Dustin and I are working from home. We have cancelled all our day and night nurses as they all have other patients or others living at home. We have cancelled physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech home visits and made sure we have a good store of food and essentials. No more doctor appointments. We just cannot risk it with Emma and Dustin's weakened immune system due to Remicade for Crohnes Disease. We are now on official "lock-down". It really is an epidemic. Hopefully soon this dies down and we can all get back to normal soon. It's been exhausting not having night nurses as we don't get any sleep, but honestly we love just being us at home! We aren't able to go anywhere, but we can be in our backyard (when it isn't raining) and hang out together. We are just a regular family spending time together.
On the 12th, we met with the Tenino School District special ED preschool teacher over a webcam meeting along with our Birth to Three Case Manager and others. It was an intro meeting into the school district providing Emma's PT/OT/Speech therapies. Except the teachers are REALLY pushing us to bring her to the preschool even though we've said many times we are homeschooling and are only interested in the therapies provided. They told me I had to bring Emma to the school 3 times a week for these appointments....that's a big no. We are working with Emma's doctor to have them approve home-based therapies instead. I hate having to fight people and to explain to people this self-explanatory decision. We have another meeting online next month about her evaluation. They need to evaluate Emma on things that kids her age can do. I'm dreading it. I don't need to have another reminder. The evaluation is to make an IEP document that lists what goals the therapists have for her and where she is developmentally. I can get through this.
We have more fantastic news! Emma is doing fantastic on her vent weaning. On March 19th, Emma was able to go off the vent for 10 minutes! We are still pins and needles for the whole time. Still the same reactions, where she has great oxygen and some medium chest retractions, but playing like nothing is happening. Hearing her breathe through her trach is different- quieter than the vent and her "grunt" talking is louder- pretty neat to hear! The doctor told us to go up by 5 minutes every 3 days. So today she made it to 15 minutes! I can't believe it! She is rocking this. We will just have to see how far she can go. She just keeps surprising us with her strength.
The last couple of months Emma has just blossomed and wanted to learn. It's been so exciting! I'm sure it's also because we haven't had nurses so we have been working with her constantly. She surprises us with how much she knows- she now can sort colored bears into the correct color cups! She also can help me count- she will pull up my fingers 1-5 in the correct order and can count on her fingers too! (Struggling with the number four, but can do all the rest). We are teaching her the numbers in sign language, colors, routines, and feelings. She is doing great! A couple of weeks later, she signed "Daddy" and "Mommy" for the first time! It was so exciting! In the last week, she has also signed back to us "sleepy", "brush teeth", "more", and "eat". She is finally starting to desire to sign back to us! So proud of her. Now she's got 11 signs that she can do.
At the end of April, we bought her a baby walker for her, and she is doing amazing with it. We didn't think she had enough strength to move around in one, but here she is! She can move really well going backwards, and is working on getting faster moving forwards. She grips her toes into the floor and pulls herself forward, then her feet hit the ground, due to the shape of her feet. But she is getting it! She also loves her bouncer. We turn the music on the toy and she bounces up and down to the beat. She gets so hyper and bounces to high when a new song starts or when we bounce with her. She is a silly and fun little girl!
Because she is starting to be off the vent for a bit of time, we had fun being outside without he vent one day when it was sunny and warm. We planted and weeded the garden, then took a break laying in the hammock. It was so nice to snuggle with just Emma- no vent, pulse ox, food tube, suction machine. Just mommy and Emma rocking in the hammock listening to the birds singing in the warmth of the sun. Dustin was kicked back in the outdoor chair next to us. We were in there for a while, until Emma started falling asleep. On our way back up to the house, Dustin took Emma on her first four-wheeler ride and she loved it!
Emma's food got changed a little recently too. Same Nourish pouches (veggie blends), Real Food Blend pouches, water and multi-vitamin powder, but the nutritionist realized she isn't getting any sodium or calcium. And calcium is SUPER important for Emma with bone issues. She is now getting a little milk, yogurt, calcium supplement, and iodized salt added in her blended tube.
At the beginning of May, we took Emma's electric car from Go Baby Go and had her ride it. It was nice and sunny that week so she got to ride a couple of times. But it died! The car shorted out or some mechanical problem. When it stopped, Emma kept pressing the button to get it to go, then started crying when we took her out. Not sure what the exact problem is, but hopefully we can get it fixed soon!
On May 8th, Emma had two big accomplishments The first- she reached 3 hours, twice a day off her vent. 6 total hours! Amazing really. She is doing great with it! To keep her from getting tired when we do her many therapies, we have had to split the time off into four 1 1/2 hour breaks, as she can't do as much strenuous physical therapy activities while off. It's been successful going off and on while alternating with her therapies. The second big event is that Emma had a virtual Pulmonary appointment to try out the PMV- Passy Muir Valve or the speaking/ swallowing valve. This one can only be used off the vent. It allows her to inhale from her trach, but blocks the air out, forcing her to exhale through her mouth and nose. The doctor mailed two PMV's to us- one a regular kind, and one with a tiny hole in it to allow some air leakage. When Emma tried on the regular one, she wasn't exhaling at all. Just inhaled multiple times, panicked look, and started turning dusky. We took that one off immediately. We then tried the other one with the hole. She kept her oxygen up, working a little harder to breathe, but was breathing almost all her exhalation through that little hole, and just a little through her mouth and nose. Since then, we have been putting the holed PMV on her trach every couple of days for 5 minutes at a time. We have been encouraging her to try to talk, as she mouths like is is trying to babble and talk. But no more than an accidental squeak here and there. We try hard to make her giggle as we so desperately want to finally hear her laugh. The doctor said that it will come, just keep trying and she will figure it out someday.
On May 14th, Emma's equipment FINALLY came!! Seven months of waiting on ordering, medical companies, paperwork, referrals, denials, and calls, but we have them now. She got a stander, an activity chair, and a prone (stomach) mat/ wedge. Right away she loved her activity chair. It's like a high chair but super customizable and easy to roll around. She did really well in her stander too. She got to stand up and play on her tray for a little bit. She other used stander was only pieces of one and we couldn't get it to work for her. We are so grateful that insurance can help us provide Emma with equipment to help her get stronger.
We also decided this week to cancel the therapies from the school district. Many reasons behind it: 1- I felt like they were taking Emma on as a "project" or a "problem to solve". The preschool teacher mentioned off-hand about how proud she is when such a disabled kid like Emma comes in and she can turn them around. What?? No, my daughter isn't broken, she's perfect. 2- I asked for the names of the therapists, and they could only provide me with 2/3, and the two had no background info. 3- They were still so pushy to talk us out of homeschooling. 4- I was told by a couple of people that they don't get paid much, so they don't do as much and spend much time with her. And 5- Since the school district gets money with every kid they take on, they are money driven and only focus on her succeeding in the school setting. I wanted to give them a chance, but I really thought about it, and we are going to take her to our private insurance doctor offices for all her therapy. It will be tons better for her. Plus, we don't have to deal with the school district AT ALL! No IFSP's (reviews of her progress), no extra meetings, and no constant reminders of how behind she is. Doctor office therapists focus on what she is doing currently. Thank goodness. We have also decided to no longer have any nursing in the home. Rachael will be focusing more on homeschooling and Emma's therapy now. When we need to take Emma to appointments, Dustin or other family can help. Also Rachael can go into work if needed or on Dustin's free days as well. Emma has improved so much that it's pretty simple to take care of her (for us at least!). It has also been super nice to just be free of anyone in our home- just our family!
At the end of May, Emma's car broke down! It had to do with the wiring. The GoBabyGo company took forever to get back to us, so Brother Phillips from our church ward volunteered to fix it. And he did! He even cleaned it up for us! We are so grateful for him. Now every time Emma is in the garage and sees her car, she reaches towards it and LOVES riding in it.
In the beginning of June, we made a discovery about Emma's diet. She had been having diarrhea and gas and we weren't sure why. We had introduced a calcium supplement along with her previous yogurt and milk, as she needs a ton for her bones. We took the calcium supplement out and it went away! We had to add more yogurt and milk, but she is doing just fine. We also noticed that Emma has all of a sudden loves to dance! She will rock her head and body side to side to the beat of the music. She loves all music and knows the word "dance".
On June 5th, we spontaneously went to Ocean Shores! It was a nice day and we had nothing to do, so why not? There was hardly anyone there because of the Coronavirus, and it was perfect. Emma was in her hiking backpack and buried her face in the pillow in front of her, because of the wind. We could not pry her away! We also took Luna with us- her first time going back to the beach since she was a puppy. She was a little hesitant swimming in the ocean at first, but then we couldn't get her out of it. She was having so much fun. Emma finally did unlatch herself and looked around for a bit too. We also found the best beach there in the Wildlife Preserve- no people, sandy beaches, and very private. We will need to remember that location!
On June 15th, we had decided to go to Idaho and Yellowstone again! We had lots to prepare with Emma's stuff and packed a couple of days in advance. We left here at 4:45 am. Emma did great! We took lots of breaks and got her out a ton. She didn't really complain (until the end). We felt really bad that we couldn't stay with my Grandma Kloepfer, so we did a "social distance" visit and brought flowers. My extended family hasn't been limiting visitors. Even though Idaho isn't as bad for the Covid, we couldn't take that chance. It was funny, as my grandma didn't recognize me at first with the mask on- she thought I was one of the workers at Kloepfer concrete. Plus, she wasn't expecting me. She got to see Emma distantly too. It was a good visit, but a little heartbreaking. It had to be short and I really wanted to give her a hug. Hopefully the virus goes away quickly so we can spend more time with family. It was rough, but I'm glad we visited her. We got to Dustin's grandparents in Rigby, ID around 5 pm and had a nice relaxing evening. They have told us that they have been quarantining themselves, so we felt okay visiting. The next morning, we wanted to drive around the local area, to make some stops, and see how it has changed. Our first stop was the East Idaho Aquarium. This stop was important to us as Dustin worked at Petco with the owner, Arron. I also helped him with the preliminary interior design of the first building option. It has been up and running for over a year. So we wanted to go- it was super neat! The first half was salt water fish and corals and Dustin had a blast. We got a private VIP tour before it opened to the public with Arron and the lead aquarium employee. We got to see the "backstage" of the tanks and all the ways to take care of the fish, filtering, salt, etc. They had sharks, eels, I got to feed the manta rays, and Dustin got to have little fish eat dead skin off his hands. They had other animals there too that we got to hold and pet- chameleons, parrots, macaws, porcupines, tree frogs, sugar gliders, and much more. Emma got to feed a pepper to an iguana and throw some food for some trout, as they had a ton of freshwater fish too. Emma liked the huge Amazon fish, as it stared back at her too. We had a ton of fun, although Emma was a big grump. She didn't want to be there after a while, but we wanted to! She got over it. Our next stop was driving past the Rexburg temple and seeing how Main St had changed. Not a ton, but some change in shops. We then walked around the BYU-I campus and gardens. There were parts of the gardens that we have never been to before! It was eerie as the only people on campus were landscapers. School was all cancelled in person due to the Coronavirus. You couldn't go in any of the buildings either. The bookstore was open, but just a table in the doorway and an employee got the items you asked for. We got a couple of BYU-I shirts. It was weird being all alone on campus. We spent the rest of the evening with Frank & Veeann. The 17th and 18th were Yellowstone! We woke up on Wednesday and got to the gate at 8 am. Right away we say 2 elk and a buffalo walking on the road. For the first couple of hours it was snowing- in June! Emma was NOT happy as it was windy too. She kept crying and flopping over in her stroller as we were walking on the boardwalk paths. It was a struggle with her. She almost made it too frustrating as we had to keep disciplining her, but we kept going. She would eventually stop, even though she was still upset. We went from West Yellowstone, to the South Entrance. After a while, the snow let up and it was just overcast and cold. We saw a ton of geysers on that drive and got out with every boardwalk attraction. For the whole trip from Ashton, ID on, Emma had to be on her vent and 1 liter of oxygen. She started to stay in the 95-92% 02 so we had to help her. We used the stroller most of the time today so it was easy carrying all her stuff. Although we had to pick it up going up and down the stairs. We say the Old Faithful geyser from a distance- on the Inn porch. It was clear of people up there. The park wasn't really that busy, as they didn't allow tour buses yet. But around Old Faithful was packed. We want to play it safe. We ate our lunch on the porch too. Emma didn't seem to care too much for Old Faithful. We did the boardwalk loop in that area and got to see Castle Geyser go off. It only erupts every 1-2 days, so that was neat. We then did a hike at the end of the day- Yellowstone Lake Overlake Trail- a steep but short (ish) hike to see the lake and a huge view across Yellowstone. It was beautiful but very tiring. We used Emma's oxygen a little too. She was asleep (or pretending to be) in the hiking backpack. This hike was neat because there were little thermal features along the way, you could walk right up to them. We were dead tired afterwards though. On our way out of Yellowstone, we went through the Teton National Park. We saw a herd of antelope, a coyote, and a couple of deer. We then made a quick stop in Jackson Hole for a Harley shirt for Dustin, then back to Rigby. We had a good nights rest, then the next morning back to Yellowstone! Right away, before we even got into the park, we saw two grizzly bear cubs! We have never seen wild bears before! They ran across the road and back into the forest. I'm sure their mom was close by. It happened so fast! But it was awesome and made the whole day worth it. On our way in we also saw more deer and buffalo. For this route we went from Madison to Norris to Mammoth. We saw Steamboat Geyser, not erupt, but I guess it erupted 2 weeks prior. It was the world's highest geyser. So naturally a ton of people were there, some in lawn chairs all day to see if it would erupt again. The hike where it was was beautiful too. The Norris Geyser basin boardwalk was amazing as well- a huge open plateau full of thermal pools, geysers, and steam vents. Next was Mammoth Hot Springs. It was a very tough stairs and boardwalk climb (for our sea-level lungs) and packed with people. That one was hyped up more than it should have been. We were also exhausted and that was our last stop with our hiking as well. And naturally, Emma was asleep in the backpack up until now, where she was grouchy too. It was neat to be in Yellowstone the last two days though. My phone counted my steps and said we hiked over 15 miles in two days. We had tons of fun and can't wait to do it next year. The next day, we woke up at 4 am, left at 4:45 am and and drove all the way home. Emma was a little crankier than the drive up, especially the last 2 hours, but we were all tired. We made it back at 4 pm (thanks to the time change) and vegged out all evening. One good trip!
The next day was Emma's 3rd birthday! We sang her the birthday song and let her open up the gifts from us first thing that morning. (Well, us opening them for her, she didn't want to do it). The worst gift she got that day was Covid testing. Since her surgery was (supposed to be) on the 23rd, she had to get a large nose swab. We had to drive to the Seattle Children's Federal Way clinic and only one parent was allowed in. I had to wear a mask (the first time I've been out and had to wear one). When they did the test, they stuck the q-tip way up her nose. I was pretty worried about it, and sure enough, it took her a good 20 minutes to calm down from crying and holding her nose. She really hates anyone touching her nose. At least that's over! The next day was father's day. Dustin opened a handmade card from Emma- a hand print that said "Daddy's little monster". Later, Carly's family and Kevin came over for a father's day/ Emma's birthday celebration. We had a good pot roast dinner, opened presents, and had cream puff cake and strawberry rhubarb cobbler made from our garden. Emma got to eat her birthday "cake" as it was a pudding/ cream cheese/ whipped cream mixture. She loved it! I can't believe she is 3 already!
