The Official JK Photo!

So the school photo thing never happened. For the first set, Kasia looked like she had been drugged with horse tranquilizer. The retakes were worse! What kind of photographer would actually send home photos of a crying child?



(Barbara, you were so right. I should've just skipped the school photo session and gone straight to the photography studio.)

Get Ready to Wiggle!

Kasia is currently OBSESSED with The Wiggles. From even before her little toes hit the floor in the morning, she is saying this to me:

It's also one of the last things I hear before she goes to sleep. I swear she must dream about them.

Don't know The Wiggles? Here's what you're missing:

Growth Hormone....the Results

Finally got those much anticipated results from that horrid growth-stim test.

Growth hormone is low. Not just a little low. Significantly low.

I really should've seen it coming, but so many doctors have assured me that Kasia's size is a result of those crazy chromosomes. Small and that's all.

Seems there's more to the story.







The bone age x-ray told us that at 4 years old, her bones were the size of a 2 year old. Still, I was assured that she could have a "constitutional delay" in her growth or that perhaps she was just destined to be small statured.

To everyone's great surprise, the bloodwork said otherwise.

Hmmmm......

• Small for age..... check
• Delayed bone age..... check
• Wispy hair.... check
• High forehead.... check
• Weak muscle tone.... check
• Lean figure but with a little ring of chubb around the midsection.... check

Doesn't it make you wonder how all the boxes in the symptoms column can be checked off and yet a doctor will still insist that the chromosome issue is to blame?


Now I've got yet another one of those big Life's-Not-Fair decisions to make. Give chemo or cross my fingers and pray to whatever God is listening that my child's cancer won't come back? Give meds to control seizures or wait and see while racking up frequent flyer miles in the local ambulance? Choose a mainstream class or a special needs one? Catholic or Public?


Give growth hormone or don't?

Halloween Fun!

Even H1N1 couldn't put a damper on our Halloween fun, but the cold & rainy weather almost did. Luckily Kasia was toasty warm in her chicken (or is it a rooster?) costume. Regardless, she felt it apropos to "quack quack" her way along as she trick or treated.

"Hmmm, this looks interesting...."

When we got back home, she changed into her witch costume to help hand out treats - the most fun she had all night!

"Who wants candy?!"

"Uh, a little help??"

Making a tower with boxes of gumdrops, her OT would be so proud!

Doing her own Thriller dance.

A True Story

Who's that running over there,

With bits of cheese mashed in her hair?

Fingers sticky still from lunch,

And underfoot I hear a crunch!

Now she's emptying out the drawers,

Tossing books out on the floor,

CRASH, BANG, BOOM!! There go the blocks!

It's like a race against the clock,

To make the biggest mess she can,

Appears to be her master plan.

Puzzles, teacups, tamourine,

Princess wand from Halloween,

Sticker books and toys galore,

Things I'd never seen before!

"STOP!" I shout, "Hands up right now!

Don't touch another ball or cow!

March yourself right over here,

There's something Mommy must make clear."

And just as she's within my grip,

She turns and with a sneer of lip,

Catches what my eye had spied,

Although I'd done my best to hide,

But twas too late, she'd seen it too,

And all that there was left to do,

Was grab that bowl of cheezie snacks,

And with a flurry of ka-whacks,

She launched that dish up in the air,

And sent those cheese crumbs everywhere!

"ArGhhHhhh!!"

She sees the game is done,

And so she breaks into a run,

Off she goes, in a mad dash-a,

A little imp whose name is Kasia.

Say Cheese!

In preparation for Kasia's very first school picture day (drumroll please), we did a practice run in hopes of getting a really nice photo.





Wait, I said "really nice photo", not really bizarre and disturbing photo.


Anyhoo, as I combed her trial run hair-do, I did my best to explain to Kasia that a photographer was going to take her picture the next day, and that she'd have to sit nicely, smile at the camera and look pretty.


This, most definitely, was NOT what I had in mind:

So, when they say "There's a princess in every little girl", sometimes the only princess present is the one on her pajamas.

Growing Up Without Growth Hormone

This seems like yesterday. It felt like it took FOREVER for her to grow into that 0-3 month onesie that said Mommy's Little Cupcake. Don't let those chubby little arms fool you- at 4 months, she was lost in it.








For such a long time Kasia was so baby-like. It was like having a newborn for a really long time. At one, we still couldn't use the tray on her highchair because it came up to her shoulders!








Her baby stage was more like 2 years, not one. In some ways, I secretly cherish it. After all, how many people wish their sweet little babies would never grow up?











Three years old went by in a blur! All I recall is that we really seemed to be getting somewhere! At 3, she finally hit the elusive 20 pound mark and we said goodbye to the crib!






At four years old she's still sweet and lovable. Still tiny enough to carry around and cuddle on my lap. And eventhough she started school this month, she still often seems so small and so fragile.




But then something strange happened. Bangs happened! With a snip of the scissors, she turned into a big girl! The pictures aren't great (pictures with toilets in them usually aren't), but it's the best I could do.










Which brings me to the Growth Hormone.....


At the request of our geneticst, Kasia recently had bloodtest to check the level of growth hormone her body is producing. What I thought would be a fairly standard test was actually 3.5 hours of a needle being stuck into Kasia's arm every 30 minutes. It was awful. It was another one of those moments that will not get me into the running for Mother of the Year. With every needle, I kept asking myself, "Why are you letting them do this to her? Why???"


Growth hormone is certainly controversial and comes with a great deal of scary side effects. The problem is, if you're truly deficient in growth hormone, there are a number of consequences aside from small stature. So what's a mother to do?


We're still waiting for the results, which I'm desperately hoping are normal - that way I won't need to make that difficult decision.


If it's normal, then Kasia is small and that's all.

"Even the smallest person can change the course of the future."
~J.R.R. Tolkien