Odds & Ends

Ruby's hair is falling out again. I've seen a few small clumps in her bed, her clothes (and me) are constantly covered in it, like she's a dog that's shedding, and when I brush it, I end up with a handful. The only way you can tell by looking at her is if you notice that her faux-hawk (the long hair down the middle of her forehead back to her neck) is getting skinnier. The sides of her head look fashionably shaved, though we've not taken a razor to them. This really doesn't bother me; as much as I love her hair and it's addition to her personality, the hair loss has come and gone so much that it's never caught me off guard. I was prepared to have to shave her head after the first week, so everything after that has been gravy.

Ruby's speech is exploding and everyone is noticing. Two of her speech therapists commented on it this week; she's picked up the new sounds of 'g', 'f', and mixing of vowel sounds (like mommy, ruby, bye). Last week, Ruby brought me a toy and said, "Hepp. Me. Peez." Totally unprompted, totally independent, and totally clear. I told her teacher to watch for (and require) her to ask for help that way from now on, and this morning she grabbed me as I picked Ruby up to say that she and the other teacher are noticing so much talking out of her.

We pulled out the potty seat this week. I bought it over the summer with the intention to start potty training as soon as school started and the big kids were away during the daytime. However, our plans changed significantly and I didn't think it would be a good idea to try and explain to Ruby that she had to 'hold it' while being hooked up to fluids and chemo. Nevermind the potential mess of it all, again, while hooked up to tubes and whatnot. So we haven't touched it, even though she stays dry most of the morning hours despite drinking plenty. We still have one more round of chemo and up to three more hospital stays for 2-8 days, so I'm not officially training her yet. She does sit on it when she gets up in the morning and before she goes to be, and before and after her nap. No success yet, but we do have some M&M's, just in case.