15 month shots!

Each vaccination appointment gets worse. It's hard to see your 2 month old baby cry out in pain, but they forget it so much faster than a 15 month old. 

On today's visit Kenzie received 2 final booster shots in one leg and the chicken pox vaccine in the other. She seemed to be doing fine. After the appointment we went grocery shopping and then met some friends out for lunch. During lunch all of the sudden she broke into inconsolable crying. She was writhing in pain. Yes our morning was busy and it was slightly later than her nap time but this was painful crying.

We rushed home (only took 2 minutes) and put her to sleep. She slept unmoving for 90 mins and then it started again. Screaming and crying. The kind that makes you think she was losing her voice.  Nothing was helping. So I put her in a warm bath for an hour. She played and didn't cry until I pulled off the band aids.  I didn't know if that was hurting as well, because as you probably know, the tiny band aid pad is almost never over the wound... the sticky part is usually over the wound.

So my happy girl was content in the tub, however, I had some work emails to return before 5pm and I had to feed the dogs.  So at 4:30 I pulled her from the tub with minimal crying, put on a diaper and laid her on the couch under some blankets.  I turned on Sesame Street and she was quiet and happy.

 

Now this little gal doesn't sit still unless she is strapped into a highchair or booster seat. So to see her laying on the couch while I did one of her favorite things to help with, feed the dogs, was disturbing.  No one likes to see their children in pain and I feel like it is much worse for us as parents to witness it.

The worst of it was that she wasn't using her legs at all. She wouldn't stand, crawl, or even move them.  It wasn't until the Elmo's World song started that her leg with the chicken pox vaccine started kicking. That was a pretty clear indication it was the other leg that was the problem. 

Another dose of Tylenol at 5:30 and by 6:30 we were in her room doing the usual bedtime routine. She finally got up on her own, albeit whimpering, and limped over to her rocking horse. I put her on her horse and read her Goodnight Gorilla. She read along, not saying the words, but mimicking my inflection.

7:00 bedtime. She was so tired there was no crying, thank heavens. She was tossing and turning in her crib for about 20 minutes but we only heard a few whimpers. 

I looked online for the typical duration of pain after vaccinations; 2-3 days. After looking at the vaccination sites on her legs it looks like one of her boosters was placed really high. That may be the cause of her pain in that leg.  I really pray the pain diminishes because I don't know if I can watch her limping around for the next 2-3 days.

Veggie & Tofu Soup - Slow Cooker Special

I took my regular chicken soup recipe and had to change it when we went back to vegetarian.  This is a compilation of what we like in our soup, but obviously use what you love.

The first time I made this in the slow cooker, I made a rookie mistake: I added noodles when I started cooking.  DO NOT DO THIS unless you like a lot of mushiness.

VEGGIE & TOFU SOUP IN THE SLOW COOKER
*If feeding a toddler use tiny pasta shapes like the alphabet or stars. Also, chop all veggies in the food processor so they don't choke.

• 1/2 bag frozen lima beans (Dan loves lima beans)
• 3 large stalks of chopped celery
• 1 small chopped onion
• 4 large carrots chopped
• 1 block of extra firm tofu... or I used to clean a rotisserie chicken and chop it up
• 32 oz of broth AT LEAST - veggie or chicken broth
• 1 tsp oregano
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/2 bag of soup noodles or 1/2 box of small pasta shapes

I feel like all the ingredients and measurements are relative to your tastes so this is really a loose version of a soup recipe.  You may like your soup really runny or really chunky so adjust the amount of broth you use.

Put all ingredients into a slow cooker EXCEPT THE NOODLES/PASTA. Cook 1 hour on high and 5 hours on low. Add noodles or pasta in the last 15 mins of cooking. 

For my veggie friends - the tofu actually stays in firm chunks, so you don't have to worry about separation. 

To freeze:  Once cooled, fill gallon Ziploc bags and lay flat in freezer.

To reheat:  Thaw in fridge for at least 24 hours. Add to crock pot and heat on low for 3 hours or until heated through.