Post Ice Storm

We have had electricity for six days now and I am still just as thrilled today as I was when it came back on. I absolutely LOVE having running water. Flushing toilets, washing my hands, washing the kid's hands, taking showers, drinking it...I can't say enough good things about it.

It has also been bitterly cold here. About 8 degrees when we wake up and there's still a ton of snow/ice on the ground. We're getting intermittent snow flurries too, but nothing that's sticking.

My tropical baby isn't so sure about all this cold. I keep slathering both the kids' faces in petroleum jelly before we go outside and Carolina's skin is still suffering. I have to seal her skin every night before she goes to bed and then again in the morning. I think it's pretty common with institutionalized children, but she is a big scratcher. Her arms and legs are constantly bleeding. I've finally fixed her legs and they look somewhat normal again, but her arms are getting the brunt of her scratching now. And before you say it, I keep her fingernails clipped down to the shortest they can possibly be. She just works hard.

Another issue she is having is that she will only chew once or twice before she swallows. She literally causes her eyes to water by swallowing such huge chunks of food. We're having her evaluated again just to make sure we're not missing anything important.

But, on the whole, Carolina is doing great. Sam is also quite healthy at the moment. He is reading everything he can see. He reads billboards, books, commercials...whatever has letters, he's reading it. We're one big happy family, despite the cold.