Cardiology for First Graders

Michael talked to Gabi's first grade class about the human heart one afternoon.

Each child got to use a stethoscope to listen to his own heartbeat!

Dr. Mikey explained how many years of schooling and subsequent training is required to become a doctor. Right now, he is in 27th grade!

Michael devised a heart game to illustrate how the heart works. Some of the kids were "blood cells," and he was the "heart" - pumping/pushing them in the direction they needed to go - either to the "lungs" (teacher) or to the "body" (students sitting down). The "lungs" (teacher) gave the blood cells "oxygen" (paper), which the kids handed out when they were sent to the "body."

The "oxygen" papers that the kids passed out in the heart game had a heart diagram on them. The kids labeled different parts of the heart and then colored it to show where the red and blue blood flows.

Michael even brought a demonstration kit to show how he can close a hole (atrial septal defect) in a heart using a catheter (without cutting open the chest in surgery).

Gabi's classmates really enjoyed Dr. Mikey's interactive presentation on the human heart! Here are a few of the thank you notes they made for him:

This is Gabi's thank you note:

Indoor Fun

The weather is warmer now, but the month of January was so cold that we spent much time indoors. Katarina loves the freedom to move around, and she scoots on her bum all over the house. (It's kind of like crawling but with her right leg underneath her.)

The girls enjoyed the indoor time to play with all their new Christmas presents. They liked Lolo and Lola's new toys, too. Here Gabi is sitting at Lolo's new kid-sized table at their house, playing with Lola's iPad.

At home, the girls entertained themselves with puppet shows.

Gabi is a great big sister, and she loves any opportunity to help take care of baby Katarina. She even gets to feed her baby food sometimes!

Of course, feeding the baby is generally messy, so Katarina often requires a bath afterward. She loves taking a bath like a "big kid" and scooting all over the tub. She really enjoys these new bath toys from Santa, too!

Bella has a wonderfully elaborate imagination. She loves to dress up like a princess - every day. Here she is hosting a tea party for baby sister and Mommy.

The girls' new personalized coloring books have provided continued indoor fun as well. Thanks to Kimba for making these special books! The girls love them.

After three rounds of antibiotics, Annabelle still had the ear infection from Thanksgiving, so on Thursday, I took her to the ENT. Her ears are no longer infected, but there is still fluid in them. Since Bella has had noticeable hearing loss, he sent us to Audiology.

Bella had a flat tempanogram.

Bella failed the hearing screening they use on newborns.

Then Bella went into the "fish tank" for some "games." She was given a tiny puppy figure and told to listen for it to whistle. When she heard it whistle, she would throw it into a bucket, and the audiologist would give her another puppy. Bella did really well at first, with the loud sounds, so she obviously understood the game. But then the puppies stopped whistling for her. She frowned at her puppy, shook it by her ear, and then handed it back to the audiologist saying, "This one doesn't work." The audiologist took that puppy back and gave Bella another one. After awhile, Bella looked at her puppy and commanded, "Come on, puppy! Whistle!" and then banged it on the table. It was so cute, really, but she was very frustrated. Poor girl.

Finally, the audiologist tested her bone conduction, and she passed, which means that her nerves work and it isn't permanent hearing loss. So we scheduled her to get tubes in her ears.

We are hopeful that Bella's hearing (and speech) will be fully corrected after the surgery, but in the meantime, we have been collecting amusing stories caused by this problem.

Michael: "You're my daughter, and Mommy is my wife."
Bella: "Because she wifes the floor?"

Gabi: "In school, we learned about liquids, gases, and solids!"
Michael: "Oh yeah? What's a liquid?"
Bella (showing us her spoon sticking out of her yogurt cup): "Liquid I did!"

Melissa: "A quesadilla is cheese in a tortilla."
Bella: "No, it's cheese in a day!" (queso-día)

Bella has an odd pronunciation for several words. "BuhZER" for dessert, "Bajamas" for pajamas, "wah-ker" for water, etc. I was trying to check her pronunciation for dessert, so I asked, "Bella, what would you call it if I gave you a treat after dinner?"
Bella answered, "A good plan!"

And, of course, one last picture: my adorable baby in my cute new hat.