#8-Raising Brooke, Serious Business or Monkey Business??

Brooklynns deteriorating health had its serious side, like the numerous hospital stays her needing constant care and other issues but that didn't keep it from being fun. Sure it was scary when her fever would spike in the middle of the night and we would have to rush her to the hospital (and no it never got easier, I think it got harder) but God always gave us laughter. Brooklynn didn't talk but she let us know what she wanted with her actions and her eyes. She loved loved loved to watch TV so the last time I tried to put her little chunky body in a pair of tights I held her up and tried to shake her into them. With sweat rolling of my brow I put her back down and informed her that she needed to go on Jenny Craig. She cackled out laughing.
Every morning Timmy took her to school he would sing Happy Birthday and tell her it was her birthday. Then he would sing Brookie Brookie Brookie is my chocolate chip cookie. She couldn't set in a car seat so until we got a van with a lift in it we would have to lay her in the seat and strap the belt around her. Well, one morning while Timmy was singing he forgot to strap her in and she rolled right out into the floor! He stopped and picked her up and she just looked at him as to say,"you really are crazy aren't you."
Brooklynn also had a weak stomach and would projectile vomit. We was watching Passion of the Christ the first year it came out at the movies. There was this man in front of us who had his hair glued to his head in hairspray. The whole movie he kept rubbing the back of his head making sure nothing was out of place. Well...on the scene where they beat Jesus Brooklynn lost it and guess where it went. Yea well lets just say she and I snuck out and he probably didn't receive salvation that day, lol.
On one vacation we were at a really nice restaurant when I noticed Brooke needed her diaper changed. There was no place to lay her because she was so big so I took her out to the van and tried to very discretely change her. The parking lot was filling fast so in my efforts to hurry I jerked her diaper off. It is no secret that anything hard and shaped like a ball will roll so, here it goes rolling down the parking lot. It was like slow motion going right in front of the feet of the people entering the restaurant! Timmy said go get it and I said what am I suppose to do chase it down the parking lot and say, "excuse me this belongs to me". Let's just call it "the one that got away", LOL.
When Brooklynn was around 3 I started noticing changes in her body, ones that weren't normal. I took her to the doctor and they send her to an endocrinologist. He called Brooklynn a Princess and he asked her if he put a pea under her mattress would she fell it because she was so pampered. He then diagnosed her with early puberty. Her pituitary gland had been damaged from the stroke so it had no idea how old she was and sent her into puberty. They gave her a shot every month to slow it down but by first grade it was pretty noticeable. The night before the first day of school I was crying to Timmy about it. I said, "how many 1st graders have breast, I feel so sorry for her". Timmy looked so funny and said, "That's not a bad thing. She'll stroll into her class room raise her shirt and say...look girls, I bet none of you all have a set of these!"
Sure, I did my share to. Like the time I accidentally put her ear drops in her eyes, and the time I fell with her in the parking lot and how could I ever forget when she was in ICU and I clipped her nails and cut her finger. It wouldn't have been so bad but I jumped up and asked the nurse if she needed to go to the ER???? But who's keeping score..right??
We had a bad situation but God always gave us laughter. The Bible says if you sew tears you will reap joy. We sewed many tears but the joy of having her was unimaginable!