Hug!!

This morning when I got Rachel up she started to climb out of bed and very sleepily said "going?" and stumbled into the bathroom. Can I just say how much I dislike daylight savings time? She was doing so much better getting up in the morning when it was actually light outside, and now we're back to dressing in the dark. It does not make me happy. She was doing much better by the time she left, and she actually waved to me again.

Yesterday she was not in a particularly good mood. She was talking to her brother and told him, for no apparent reason, "I don't like yellow!" He was trying to cheer her up and interact with her, so he said "Oh, well, what do you like?" She responded with "poop" and walked off into her room. I am again overcome with gratitude that she hasn't learned any swear words. That was definitely bad enough. Although her brother thought it was pretty hilarious (and yes, we all laughed. If you don't laugh you end up crying at some point).

Today when she came in the house after school she was really unhappy, and burst into tears on her way into her room. I went in to see what was wrong and if I could help her, and she gave me a hug. This was an honest to goodness bonafide hug. Those are VERY rare. Usually she gives what we call a "lean" which is a hug without arms. If you put her arms where they're supposed to go, she'll leave them there for a bit, and sometimes if you remind her to use her arms she will, but not usually. Today I got the real deal, and she slowly quit crying and calmed down. She said her knee hurt, so I took a look at it, but I couldn't see anything wrong. An hour or so later I needed to go to a friend's house just a few blocks away and decided a walk would be nice, but I noticed she was limping. Her right knee is really stiff. We walked very slowly, and by the time we got there it wasn't as pronounced. After sitting for an hour or so we walked back home, and her knee was even more stiff than on the way there. I still can't see anything wrong with it, but obviously something is bothering her. It doesn't seem to hurt when I touch it or move it, but it bothers her when she's walking. I don't know if I should put cold or heat on it or take her to the doctor. Sometimes the communication issues are so difficult to deal with. I wish she could just tell me what happened.