Are ya kidding me?

So I took Mac to the pedi for her check up yesterday, and just asked them to listen to Oliver since he's been a little sniffly and Tim mentioned he thought he heard a wheeze or two. Turns out Oliver has a cold. The quick listen to his chest turned into a full-blown appointment. Now he has to be on a nebulizer for medication 3x a day and go back for a recheck on Friday. So much for our "light" week on dr. visits -- by Friday, we will total 3 visits for Oliver and a check-up for Mac (if nothing else happens today, that is). Are you kidding?

Luckily, Mac's check-up went great. She is in the 75 percentile for height, 95th for weight, and 99th for head circumference. But her head growth has leveled off, so that is a good thing. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health, and seemed to be a bit taken with her, as well. Who wouldn't be?

Just in case you were wondering what it is like when we go to our orthopedic appointments, here are some pictures. I've mentioned before that we wait and wait and wait -- here is how we pass the time.

Look at this guy!

Just look at him. Adorable, no?

That's it -- nothing else to say. I'm officially procrastinating -- Mac is at school, so I should be cleaning, updating my C.V., something. But I'm just fooling around with photosharing softwear. Okay -- I'm off to be a productive member of society.

L'Chaim!

Oliver had quite a week this week. Casting on Monday... circumcision on Wednesday. Poor guy. I know circumcision isn't a bad thing, but I sure felt bad about having it done. In what is becoming the norm, we waited forever at the hospital on Wednesday. The whole process took five hours. Honestly, if I had held a bris instead of having it done at the hospital, we could have had the circumcision, a really good food spread, and a couple of drinks in the time it took for the hospital to handle this 20-minute procedure. Oy.



Casting on Monday also took quite a while, and we found out that he will probably need surgery to start to correct his feet. The doctor had us schedule surgery for November pre-emptively; he may not need it, but it was better to get on the schedule. This would be a "release" surgery, where they cut the tendons in his feet to get them to turn the way that they are supposed to go. If his feet loosen up and start to turn on their own in the meantime, then we can cancel for November. It would be really great to avoid surgery.



And because 2 doctor appointments in one week are never enough, I had to take Mr. Man to the pediatrician yesterday because I thought he had a fever. Of course when we got there he was measuring a perfect 98.0, which means no fever. Of course that is a good thing, but I felt like stupid mom. Part of the problem is that I refuse to take any one's temperature rectally. I just can't do it -- I feel like it's an invasion of personal space (do babies have personal space?) But I feel especially bad for poor Oliver, because his little bum is so red. So I took it under his armpit, which may have given me an "off" reading. But the doctor was really nice and assured me that even a suspected temp in Oliver is a big deal, because it could mean a kidney infection. I brought Mac to the doctor with us, which was a big mistake. She just yelled "NO" the whole time until the doctor had to get one of the nurses to take her out to the nurses' station for stickers. I have no idea what she was protesting, but she was very adamant about her "NO." The doctor assured me that this is normal sibling rivalry, which seems to be a recurring theme in our household lately. She did mention it would pass, but unfortunately she couldn't be specific about when. But in the end, I was able to leave that visit with my baby, toddler, and most of my dignity in tact.

To Life!

My Miss Mac

So will Mac hate me forever?

I know -- experienced parents would roll their eyes and say "Duh -- that's what kids do. And they'll make you feel bad about it forever, too." But really, it kills me. Today when we dropped her off at school she really didn't want to go. She cried and called out to me but I had to leave her there anyway. Will she remember this? Will she hold it against me? Tim and I stood in the hallway at school for over five minutes listening to her cry today. When we finally left, she was still crying. I know that every kid does this, but school was my idea, so I feel personally responsible for any misery associated with it. And it feels a lot different when it is your own kid crying.

This was such bad timing, since last night she and I had a very difficult night. I know she is adjusting to the new baby -- actually, we're both adjusting to the new baby. She's testing boundaries and I'm putting them up. No wonder she always wants to spend time with her grandparents -- they are more fun and a lot nicer. I feel like such a mean mommy. I know things could be a lot worse -- most of the time she just wants to hug and kiss the baby a bit too aggressively for my taste. But then I have to tell her to be gentle, she gets mad, and then the real fun begins. Last night it took over an hour to get her to bed. Not so bad in retrospect -- I've spent a lot longer getting her to bed in the past -- but this was maybe the most difficult time ever. She just refused to get into bed, and it took an hour of threatening, cajoling, and tricking to get her to sleep. The outrageous stories/reasons/lies you come up with to influence a toddler are really laughable in the light of day. But today I don't feel like laughing.

I hope by now Mac is out on the playground at school playing happily and not even thinking about me. She really enjoyed school last week -- I hope she'll remember that once she settles in. I think having 5 days off in between last Friday and today made it more difficult for her to go back. I know she'll get the hang of it and like it eventually, probably even by the time I pick her up today. And then we can start round two.

Edited to add that Mac did, in fact, stop crying soon after we left and had a fun day at school.

What's New Pussycat?

Nothing much.


We had our first set of outpatient appointments this week. Orthopedics took 3 1/2 hours. I was insane by the time the doctor came in. Tim is much more patient than I am. Oliver got new casts and we found out that he will go back in two weeks for another new set. This pattern will keep up for about 3 months, at which time they will decide if he needs surgery on his legs. The doctor told us that he likely won't do anything about Oliver's dislocated hips, which is kind of freaky. It bothers me that they are dislocated, but according to the doctor, if they put them back in place, they will probably pop out again anyway.


After the grueling ordeal of orthopedics, we went to see a lactation consultant. Breastfeeding is now the bane of my existence. For something that is supposed to be so natural I am on medication to improve my supply, weighing him before and after every feeding, and then pumping milk on top of that. How unnatural. Wanting to do the natural thing is so very unlike me -- I'm a big believer in modern technology, medication, and convenience. I should know better than to go against my instincts and try the natural route. I'm giving it another week or so before I throw in the towl. At least I can tell him mommy tried.


Our other big news is that Mac starts school this week. I thought it was such a good idea when I signed her up, but now my heart is breaking. I can't imagine sending her into the care of someone I don't really know for 2 days a week. But she seems excited, and I stand by the fact that it will be great for her to make friends and have some structured learning activities. Plus, they make her take a nap. It's actually state law that she has to "rest" for a certain amount of time in school/daycare. If only that was a law for everyone -- I think that every adult could benefit from naptime during the day.


Here are some new pictures as a bonus if you've made it this far down the blog: