Where does all the time go?

Since she continued to cough through the night and into the morning, I took Mac to the doctor today. Of course, by the time we go there she was barely coughing and I felt like a complete idiot. This was our third day in a row at the pediatrician. When I sat back and thought about it, I came up with the following calculations:

In the last month, we have had:

1 overnight hospital stay for an EEG (this does not count the two out-patient EEGs that took place a little over a month ago)

1 Spina bifida clinic day (this includes seeing a pediatrician, nurse practitioner, physical therapist, orthopedist, neurosurgeon, and brace fitting)

at least 7 trips to the pediatrician (3 for Mac, 4 for Oliver)

4-5 days of physical therapy

1 day of developmental intervention

If you average that out for a 30 day a month, that works out to some sort of medical appointment almost every other day.

No wonder my house is such a mess.

What the heck, I'm up...

So it's 2 a.m. - waay past my normal bedtime. What am I doing awake? For one, I'm battling writers block. I'm working on the latest round of corrections for my dissertation. This is an important revision, as this draft will go to my committee for approval before I can move on to the next step. Three of the members have not seen a draft since December, and if they don't like the direction I'm going in, it could be back to the drawing board. I was chugging along on corrections when I hit a dead end. This dead end, coupled with a severe shortage of free time to work on the dissertation, led to a stand-still in writing and a load of anxiety. I decided that I would stay up as late as possible tonight and just work, no matter what actually came out. That strategy has actually proven useful so far. But in the meantime...

Oliver went for his nine month check-up yesterday (I know -- he's so old now!) and we found out that he also has bronchial-itis. Back on the nebulizer for him. The doctor was nice enough to inform me that croup is also going around. Great. Mac and Oliver both wake up coughing today - not croup, just coughing. But low and behold, as soon as I get Mac to bed tonight, I hear the tell-tale seal barking of croup. Before it could turn into full-blown croup, I put her in the bathroom with steam. Still coughing. I get her ready to go out onto the porch into the cool night air. Still coughing. Who wakes up but Oliver, and his cry is sounding a little bark-y. So I bundle them both up, stick them in the car, and drive around with the windows down. The coughing slows down, but it's still intermittent and bark-y. Back into bed with warm juice for both of them (and all I can think about is the sugar on their teeth all night -- ugh!). Oliver has stopped coughing and she is coughing only occasionally. Of course, this is the one night that Tim is not home -- he is at the midnight showing of Indiana Jones (lucky!). But the good thing about croup is that it is supposed to be gone by the morning.

Other than his cold, Oliver got a good review at his check-up. He also went to CHOP last week for Spina Bifida clinic, and he got a good review there, too. Neurosurgery even offered to let him go six months (instead of three) between visits. That made me too nervous, so I'll still take him back in three months when we go back for clinic. The pediatrician at CHOP did mention that Oliver is a bit on the large side, and suggested we watch his intake so that he doesn't get too heavy. I get her point, since he doesn't burn calories as quickly as other babies, since he is less mobile. But really, you can't put a baby on a diet! But in case I didn't get the point, the orthopedist actually called Oliver's legs obese! Excuse me?? I left CHOP in a total huff, but have since calmed down. My home pediatrician said that his weight is fine, and that his eating schedule is a healthy one. But it is a thought that I will hold onto -- I guess his diet does have to accommodate the fact that he won't be moving around as much as one who is "fully mobile."

I guess I should get back to my dissertation and at least finish the section I'm working on. Since I'm up...

Mystery Solved

When I was changing Oliver yesterday, I noticed a bruise on his leg, right above his knee. It was rather large and round. It looked pretty much like a bite mark. But no...how could that happen? Who would bite Oliver? I have to admit that my first thought went to Mackensie, not the dog. But I keep a very close eye on them when they are together. Certainly I would notice her chomping down on his leg, certainly I would have heard him cry after something like that. Did the dog do it? Doubtful. The skin wasn't punctured, and the imprints looked flat, not sharp. 

I began my investigation by asking Mac directly if she bit Oliver. The answer was no. Later in the day, I brought Nanny in on the investigation. When she asked Mac if she bit Oliver, Mac told her no, that I had done it. Since I knew that I hadn't bitten Oliver, I knew that Mac was being less than truthful. But I still had some doubts. Usually, if she does something wrong, Mac tells on herself.  She was denying, and I was halfway buying.

Later that night, when I was helping her to get dressed, Mac leaned in and gave me what started out as a hug. But before I knew it, I felt little teeth digging into my shoulder! Mac was, in fact, the culprit. My little princess has been having some aggression issues lately, but this is the worst of them. Oddly enough, she wasn't angry or anything when she did it. She just leaned in and took a bite. So, of course, we reprimanded her and added biting to the list of things she shouldn't do.

Hopefully, we "nipped" this in the bud.

Mac's Big Weekend

First (and most importantly) we are pacifier free. We have ditched the "ninny." I was dreading this so much. Although I have wanted her to give it up forever, Mac was so attached to her pacifiers. She used them as an emotional crutch -- if she was upset, she would ask for one even if she already had one in her mouth. And she has screamed so much in the car when we've forgotten one at home that we actually have turned around to get one. But she is not allowed to have them in school, and has gone all day without one there, so I decided that it was time to get rid of it. I have tried many approaches in the past (offering a doll or stuffed animal, telling her that she was too old for one) but none worked. However, I just hadn't hit upon the right word. Mac loves to race and has to win,  so I told her she could trade her ninny for a prize. Bing! That was it. She thought about it for two days, and then agreed. So we took her to the mall, let her pick out any princess prize she wanted, and paid for the prize with her pacifiers. That way, when she asked for them later, we could remind her that she saw us hand them in. The first night she was a little sad, and actually slept with her prize. After that, she hardly brought them up. First potty training, now this...my little girl is growing up!

On Sunday, we went out for dinner and Mac did a face plant into the ash tray outside. She was running around pretending to be a bull and tripped over Tim's feet. Her eye immediately started to swell, and before long, she had a black eye. Looking at it makes me sick, but she doesn't seem to mind. Now she looks as tough as she is...

Finally, I'm celebrating a different type of Mac. I traded in my partially defunct PC for a Mac Book After losing my dissertation, I decided to move up the timeline for getting a new computer. So after some research, Tim and I decided to go the Mac route. My standards are pretty low -- as long as I don't lose any important documents, I'm happy.