Easter 2008

Tim's parents drove out to visit us in March and we spent a week with them including Easter. On a day that Tim had to work I took them to see the Tumacacori Mission with the girls. The garden there was beautiful, and Tessa did her best to bring it home with us.

We all went to the Old Tucson Studios to see some Western movie sets and paraphernalia. Tessa liked driving in the cars with Gramma Pat and Papa Bob.

And panning (or should we say digging) for gold with Daddy.

The boys went shooting one day. Lots of fun. The girls went to Madera Canyon and played in the snow. More fun.

Relaxing after a long day. Oreos anyone?

I was giving Phoebe a bath (you can see her foot in this photo) when I left the room for 20 seconds Tessa decided she wanted one too.

I coerced the family into a few photos on Easter Sunday. They turned out great! I'm glad I did.

Tessa thought the visit was lots of fun and couldn't stand to go to bed one night when the adults were watching a movie. She snuck out of bed and stayed in the hallway so she wouldn't be noticed.

Fun with Gramma Jo

My mom came out to Arizona to help manage the kids during Tessa's surgery and recovery. It's nice that mom's job allows her to work from any computer, so that she could relocate to our house for a month. The kids loved the extended visit.

Eating at a buffet with soft serve ice cream - Gramma's favorite!Gramma is great at giving rides of all kinds; in boxes, on her back, on her legs, bouncing in the jumpolene...Talking to Pa Pa on the phone.

Walking in Madera Canyon snow. Eating the snow, throwing the snow...

Sneaking into bed with Gramma was fun since her futon was right next door to Tessa's room. Poor mom did not have a comfortable bed but I think she secretly enjoyed living next to the computer. Back at Madera Canyon when the snow was melting. Tessa's bandages didn't stop her exploration.

Phoebe always wants to walk. Tessa became fairly fascinated with anything medical. She used the real stethoscope auntie Shawna gave her to check on Dallas' condition. Mmmm, kettle corn from the neighborhood fair.

Making healthy peanut butter cookies.The Gauntt cousins couldn't bear the thought of Gramma being so close but not with them. James and Elizabeth stayed with us for a weekend and Mom was able to squeeze in a few days with them before going home.

Tessa's Surgery

Tessa was born with postaxial polydactyly, an autosomal dominant trait; an inherited anomoly found in all races but more predominant in children of African descent. She was born with seven digits on her left hand - a thumb, four typical fingers, one very small finger, and one tiny digit made of soft tissue only (no bones or muscle). The seventh was clamped and fell off at home when she was one month old. The sixth digit on that hand did not bend very well and she did not seem to have much control or use of it. Her right hand had a thumb, four typical fingers, and an additional finger that looked like a typical pinkie, that she was able to bend and control fairly well. She was born with syndactyly as well on her right foot - an extra digit webbed in with two others. When a neighbor first noticed her fingers (after many months of being neighbors) she was astonished and pointed it out to her husband. His reply was, "oh, cool, just like my mom" which shocked his wife as he had forgotten to mention for the last decade or so that this was a family trait! Since his mom's extras had been removed, her daughter-in-law never knew she had been born with polydactyly. Most people born with poyldactyly have had the extra digits removed at birth, which is why it seems so uncommon; we rarely (if ever) see someone with more than the usual twenty. It occurs about once in every 100 African American female births. More common in males, less common in Caucasians. Asians with this gene typically have an extra thumb, whereas Africans have post-axial, or outside, little fingers. Interesting, huh?

Well, we consulted with orthopedic doctors right from the start and the general assumption was that she should have them removed. I didn't oppose the idea, but they recommended waiting until she was a little older for the surgery. By the time we moved, found new doctors, and needed to make a decision Tessa was about 18 months old. Her hands were strong and coordinated, people rarely noticed her extras and they were just beautiful little toddler hands. Now the decision to remove those adorable fingers seemed so much harder. There was the possibility that she could be teased, but there also was the possibility that she would be considered unique. One hand seemed fully functional while the other had a pinkie that did not really function. The surgery could go as planned or there could be an error or an unexpected problem and she could lose the use of her whole hand. Not to mention the risk of general anesthesia. There were cons for every pro I could think of. The deciding factor was when they did full X-rays and found that the extra digits didn't have growth plates. In children, a growth plate is located at each end of a long bone, eventually forming into bone itself. It determines the future size and shape of the bones. Without growth plates, it was likely that the extra digits would not grow as the other fingers did and would become more and more different and probably less functional by the time she was an adolescent. We decided to proceed with the surgery. Marked for accuracy. Not a big confidence booster. The x-rays showed her 6th fingers were connected all the way to her wrist. Very unusual to have polydactyly that well formed. In utero, our hands and feet start out like paddles, and as we grow the digits seperate. People with polydactyly just keep growing and splitting, or with syndactyly (webbing) they don't split.

They found on the x-rays that her extra toe was actually the one in the middle of these three webbed toes. It didn't connect all the way to her foot like the others. They decided to just remove the outside toe anyway (what was number 5, rather than number 6) because it was easier and they weren't going to undo the webbing. Apparently that is a much more complicated surgery than the removal.

Waiting for the doctors.

We had taken some comfort things for her, one of which was a stuffed lambie that she liked at the time. They let her take it in to the operating room with her, and when we came out the nurse had wrapped the lamb's three limbs in similar fashion to Tessa's. We had to wait in the post-op room until she could keep some sips of water down and be somewhat awake and coherent. Total time in and out was just a few hours.

She was feeling pretty crummy, groggy and clingy after the surgery but it didn't last long. By the next day she was learning how to use her new oven mitts to do all of her usual activities. I had asked the doctor to leave her thumbs exposed from the bandages so she wouldn't get too frustrated, but I'm not sure that was even necessary. The oven mitts didn't even slow her down!

Ta-da! Checking out the results after the bandages came off. She was intrigued by the stitches but never seemed to notice a difference in her hands. Thankfully, she still had complete use of her hands, full strength and highly developed fine motor skills.

Let Me Entertain You

I don't think she tries to entertain us, but she certainly does. These are all from January '08. Apparently she was particularily cute that month. Dressing up in crazy outfits, exploring the house, the yard, the neighborhood.

And occasionally she sleeps.

Christmas 2007

Christmas was at our place this year. Mom and Dad (aka Gramma Jo and Papa Jim), Shawna and kids, plus Grandma and Grandpa Anderson shared the holiday with us. Our little rental house was packed and I can't even remember where everyone slept. The kids had two days of Christmas presents and lots of fun being with the family.

At the Pow Wow in Tucson.

James trying to rock Phoebe even though they're about the same size.

Tessa enjoying the computer games that the big kids play.

Her new rock collection from Gramma.

Playtime with grandparents.

An attempt at a family photo.