Summah Time

Now that summer is officially over, well by calendar at least because it's still a solid 80 degrees outside here, I thought it was about time to recap some of the summer highlights. Mostly because I've already forgotten 90% of what happened but I'll just make up whatever I can't remember so this post sounds a little more exciting. 

One thing I do remember was there was swimming, lots of swimming. We took a couple warm up laps in the Gparents pool to get her psyched for her first swim lesson this past week and the extra effort seemed to pay off because she seemed to love it. And by 'love it' I mean there was no crying and she half fell asleep on the back float portion of the class. Good thing this kid is a water baby because let's face it, she didn't really have much of a choice.

Carlsbad Waterworks - First class!

Back floatin' like a boss

Dip!

 She also made her first trip to the central coast to Nonna and Pop Pop's house to help Nonna recover from her knee surgery. It was a pretty quick trip but she snuck in some time to tickle the ivories while we were there and it sounded about as good as any music I've heard coming out of that piano so she's definitely a Salcido.

Back in July we were excited to welcome my cousin Tina's family all the way from Peoria, Illinois. After spending some time at my aunt and uncle's in Washington they all hopped in a (big) car and made their way down the coast to our place. She loved playing with her cousins and having a house full of kids to entertain her.  Luckily we were able to hook them up with some good weather and a stop at Legoland.  I think Makenna enjoyed it, or at least what she could see of it through the opening in her stroller.

The Nester crew

Meeting the cousins

Aunt Teetsie and Uncle Jerry

Lego boat race

Beach time with Uncle Jerry

Don't know what he has to do with legos, but he was there, so we took a pic with him

Cousins Catie and Libby (Proud Mom moment - first Roxy outfit! )

There was also some eating which has been fun. Like a true Italian she LOVES to eat, it's the digesting that needs some work. I don't know if you necessarily need the play by play because, well, you've seen eating before, but this series of pictures just cracks me up.

There was also just some run of the mill 'hang outside in your swimsuit and duck tub' type of afternoons.

We made our way up to the Bay Area to celebrate the wedding of our dear friends Katie and Vince. On top of getting to see all of our besties and their babies, we got to reunite at Santa Clara University. It's been a hot minute since either Mark and I had been back so it was great to celebrate the mass at the mission and cruise the campus for a bit before stopping by the 801 porch where we met.

And if Mark had been writing this post, which of course he wouldn't be, but let's just imagine, this part would have been first: Dubbie's first Padres game at Petco Park. While feeling a little low that the Chargers lost the morning game in the last 15 seconds and the Padres couldn't buy a hit, I think he still had a pretty good day.

And summer wouldn't be complete without a trip to the races. Makenna got the VIP treatment while hanging out in her sun dome on the hot Sunday afternoon watching the ponies, while a handful of people passing commented on how pretty jealous they were of her cool digs. But she did enjoy hanging out with her cousin Dom while her Momma picked the winners and her Dada squandered away her winnings with his picks based on actual "research.' Research, phooey.

We're already looking forward to a more sun-friendly baby and lots of time at the beach next year!

My favorites

There's a good chance I won't be winning any photog awards for my killer cell phone pics any time soon, but I thought I'd share some of my favorites to celebrate Dubbie's half birthday. Since a picture is a thousand words. . .I'll shut up now.

Enjoy:)

We love our blue-eyed little Goose!

The Patient Patient

The days leading up to the second surgery of her short life, and the first in a series of many, was just a tad bit unnerving for us big people around here. Luckily the little person could not have been a more patient patient and was just overall wonderful that day helping us all survive.

One of the tricky parts was devising a plan to distract our hungry little hedgehog during the mandatory fasting period so over some ducky tub time I explained that it would be in her best interest to schedule one of her frequent wakings sometime before midnight, and sure enough at 11:30 on the dot she wiggled and sqiggled just enough to give me the thumbs up! My mom took the harrowing 12 to 5 shift (reflux es no bueno) before we all packed up for the drive to SD. So far so good.

I swear this kid knows something about the world that we do not because once we got there she started smiling and singing her same sweet tune that she had the last time we visited the hospital. After a long, drawn out registration process and some song and dance on our part to distract her while we waited past our appointment time. Despite her growing hunger, she sat patiently on her daddy's knee listening intently to all the doctor had to say before the nurse came in for that dreaded moment to take her away. She didn't cry in her arms as we watched our little girl be marched down to the OR for the second time in her short life and subsequently my heart shattered into a million pieces. Luckily Mark was there to swoosh what was left of me to the waiting room and  over an hour later they let us know it was done and she was awake 40 minutes after that before we could go in and see her. She was hungry, bruised and ready for some snuggles but after a good meal and a little tylenol she was back to herself within the hour and she left the hospital the way she came in, singing and smiling.

Since all this is so foreign to us and almost everyone around us (I mentioned this is WAY rare, right?), here's the top 5 things we get asked and some info on what just went down:

1. Why does she have to have this? 

Her port wine stains on her legs and back will continue to grow and progress over time, which could become very disfiguring and cause some additional health concerns. We've heard many times that the parents that opt out of the standard treatment mean the kids themselves come in begging for it later in life when it is more painful (think more surface area) with less chance of success.

2. What will these procedures do? 

They are laser procedures that destroy some of the extra capillaries in the areas that cause the pws.

3.  Why do they put her under? 

The laser pulses themselves feel like a snapping sensation on your skin but leave very little (if any) discomfort after its done. Some kids (and older kids) have it done awake, although it is unpleasant it is brief. Because of her age and because her pws cover so much area doing it awake wasn't really an option.

4. Is it only cosmetic?

No, we like spots, we don't like what they turn into over time and how that would affect her life. You get WAY better results on an infant than on an older child.

5. How many will times will she have to do this?

For the immediate future - 4 to 6 times with some treatments throughout the years for maintenance. It won't remove them but we hope for 50-70% lightening.