Five-year check-up

Andy had his five-year check-up today. I'd been dreading it because I had heard from one of the nurses there would be FIVE shots so he could be ready for kindergarten. I had decided to only really mention he might be getting a shot in passing so it wasn't a total surprise, but I didn't make it painfully obvious yet either. So I was relieved to hear there would only be three shots. Andy had no idea what could have been, but I felt better.

He got a blood test (cholesterol is a good 119). He also had his eyes and ears checked for seeing and hearing. He's not color blind nor lacking depth perception, which is good, but he does seem to be slightly nearsighted so she recommended I get him to an optometrist. She didn't think his prescription would be much and might not even really have to wear glasses at this age, but she felt it warranted taking him to get him for a real test. I can see why, I think they used the same equipment at Bradfield in 1977. His hearing test was also good, which was nice since it turns out he has a mild ear infection.

He weighed in at 40 pounds even and 42 inches making and all around a perfectly healthy boy. He cried when he had to get his finger pricked (I can't say I blame him) and then really cried when he got three shots, two on the left and one on the right. All in all, I thought he was pretty strong about the whole thing. He didn't try to run or hide, he knew what was coming and took it. Pretty big stuff really. Bjorn had gotten him a Pez dispenser so we put the candy in it in between shots. They also gave him a goody bag for being such a big boy. I was very proud.

I brought Meggy too, despite my not wanting to have her running around while he had a two hour appointment, because I had to get her sinus infection looked at before the snowpocalpse 2.0 hit. Indeed her sinus infection is not better and has spread to an ear infection. Fortunately, we could get some antibiotics (Suprax for both) before getting 20 to 30 inches of snow over three days.

Follow up appointment or how long does it take for a toddler to pee in a bag?

We had a follow up appointment for Meg this morning. Our doctor's office has Saturday walk-in hours for sick only (i.e. no appointments), but he wanted her to come in to check her urine to see if the infection was gone. Despite improvements since Wednesday, she still hasn't been herself the last few days. Thursday she was still pretty fussy throughout the day and very tired with a fever. Even on Friday she slept until 10:15 (unheard of!) and was only up for about two hours before she needed a nap. I did call the doctor to ask if that was okay. Granted, she was better -- lower fever, no vomiting, eating and normal bowel movements, but she still wasn't herself. He said that sick as she'd been, it was going to take a while to improve and so long as she was making eye contact and walking normally, she was progressing okay. I must say I appreciated Dr. Murphys' calm reassurances. He has not normally been my favorite, what with calling me "mom" all the time (which everyone at the ER did, too -- must be an industry standard), but he's been great through this.

Anyway, we went in today. Meg was perkier and generally happier, especially after a breakfast that included chocolate chip cupcakes that I baked to bring to the doctor's office (I am nothing but a suck-up). She was playing nicely in the waiting room until we went back and Dr. Murphy laid her down to attach the plastic pee bag. Poor thing, her legs were shaking as she clearly remembered how it went the last time a doctor laid her out. She was also shaking when the nurse came to draw blood from her toe (and she cried and was MAD about it). Now I just needed to wait for her to pee in the bag. Which took two hours, despite my plying her with nine ounces of Pedialyte in a baby bottle.

The good news, her white blood cell count is down to 30,000 from 40,000 on Wednesday. That means the antibiotics are working and the infection is working its way out. Now we wait until tomorrow to see if bacteria grows in the urine sample.

The theory is that last week when she had diarrhea, that a little bit of the poop made its way where it shouldn't causing the bladder/urinary tract infection (despite being different pieces of anatomy, the diagnoses are interchangeable). The cold she has is just a secondary infection. We will go back in about two weeks to check her urine when she's allegedly healthy to see if there is an infection. If she's clear, that's all fine, but if she's got an infection, it may be a sign that she's got an anatomical problem that would warrant more testing.

In all of this, Bjorn says, "Hey, have you seen the big cat? I haven't seen her since last night. The little cat came in the morning, but I haven't seen Coltrane." So with all this, we're casing the streets looking for a cat. Andy doesn't care since he's already decided he wants a black kitten. Fortunately, as my hope is waning she comes trotting up the driveway, seemingly healthy and covered in grass like she's been hiding in some one's yard. Phew. I wasn't sure how much more drama I needed this week.

Our first real allergic reaction

Once you have a kid, you learn more about allergies than you want -- all about what foods to introduce when and what can cause reactions and what to look out for. I was relieved when the allergy test showed Andy had no allergies to foods and cats, just dust and pollen/weeds. Therefore I was quite surprised when Andy came down to breakfast all red in the face and having spots on his chest.

We promptly went to the ped for their walk-in sick appointments that only go to 11 and there can be a wait. Fortunately, it wasn't a bad wait, but I was surprised to hear that they think it's the Ceptra that he's been on for a week for a ear infection. I was surprised since he's been on it for a week with no trouble and had even been on it before. Apparently that can be common with these sulphur-based antibiotics. Go figure. She recommended antihistamine today to counteract the reaction and we got a prescription of another antibiotic to start tomorrow for the ear infection that hasn't cleared up yet.

This means now that whenever we go to another doctor or the ER and they ask for allergies, we have to say Ceptra. That makes me a little sad, but fortunately this type of antibiotic isn't that prevalent or in other stuff so we won't have to worry about it too much.

Well check

I took Meg for her one year check up today. She was deemed perfect and growing perfectly, just what every mother wants to hear. Here are the stats:

Weight: 24 pounds, 12 ounces (95th percentile)
Height: 30 1/2 inches (75-90th percentile)

I guess at this age they don't measure head size any longer. With her height and size, I have a theory that Andy will end up being about 5' 10" and she will be right behind him at 5'9". I'll certainly take it.

She got one shot, the first of the chickenpox series. While we had to wait 15 minutes for it, I was holding her while she tried to go upside down and didn't even notice the stick. Fortunately, Nurse Sylvia does a nice job.

I also got a list of her ear infections and treatments to give to the ENT on Monday. It's a new doctor as the one that did Andy's has somewhat mysteriously retired from practice. (The story from a friend was he'd been forced out, the story from my pediatrician through the NICU nurses whose kids she sees is that he'd developed an eye condition and was stepping back. I agree though that a surgeon with an eye condition probably shouldn't be trying to put little pin sized tubes into kids' ears.)

Meg does have a little bit of a cold and fingers crossed it doesn't turn into another ear infection. Good thing she'll get her ears looked at Monday, just in case.

In other news, I resubscribed to NetFlix. Bjorn has been dying to watch the Dark Knight since before it came out and I have wanted to watch John Adams. Jubilee!

Four year check up

Andy had his four year check up on Friday. What was notable was that at four, he moves up to the "preliminary room" for his check-ups where he was given a vision test, a depth perception test, a red/green color blind test and a hearing test. His vision wasn't perfect. Apparently kids this age don't normally see 20/20 anyway, but he had trouble with some of the pictures on the exam. Dr. Staats thought that could just be to not understanding the test, which happens all the time, but that I should keep an eye out to see if I see him squinting in the future and that we'll look at it again at his next check up. He also didn't do so great on high pitched sounds on his left ear. That is the ear where he had an ear infection just last week so that is likely the culprit. She also reported that his tube has fallen out of that ear and is just sitting in the ear canal. If it doesn't fall out between now and the visit to the ENT in a few weeks, she thinks they will reach in to scoop it out.

I didn't get the piece of paper with all the measurements like in other visits, but I can report that he was 39 1/2 inches tall (not quite 40, which would make him happy since he's four and naturally, his height should match). He also weighed in at 35 pounds. I know, 35 pounds. I was looking back at my posts around his first year and he weight 24 pounds at a year. It's hard to believe he's only gained 10 pounds in three years.

They also drew blood from his finger to check for cholesterol, which he doesn't have. He also peed in a cup and they checked for diabetes, which he also doesn't have. He also was a good sport and got the chicken pox booster vaccine. It's not required at age four, but it will be required for kindergarten and apparently at age five, there are three other boosters so it just made sense to knock one of those out now. The whole appointment took about 1 1/2 hours, and we were being seen for that whole time.

In other news, I got out to see some friends this weekend. Friday night the C-spot girls got together and during the day I got to see Armando. I even left him at the Kings Park West library checking out porn on public computers while I took Andy to his appointment. I even managed to get in a beginning yoga class with Lizzie G on Sunday. It was good. I think I could get into that.

A bit of relief

So everyone had a better day yesterday. Meg went all day without throwing up and even had a few normal diapers in the middle of the day. She seems to have a bit of a runny nose, but I'm trying to ignore that for now. She even slept last night. Whoo-hoo!

Andy had a great day yesterday as Jennifer picked him up from school and took him to Build a Bear for his birthday. He returned home after a trip to the mall where he got a workman bunny named Bob (this kid doesn't win any awards for naming stuffed animals), a trip to Burger King followed by some ice cream.

I even got out for indoor soccer. I don't think I've made it to a game since before Christmas so I will be sore. The only person who didn't have a better day was Bjorn who had a rough day a work.

I'm hopeful this better patch lasts (although trying hard not to jinx it!) I have Andy's four year check up tomorrow and I'm meeting my friend Armando from New York for a late breakfast. Meg is going to Ayesha's so I can do all that and have some bonding time with the boy(s). It is sadly supposed to be frigid tomorrow, with highs in the 20s so I doubt we're going to be doing much tooling around Old Town, but it will be great see Armando. At least for that first five minutes before we realize we detest each other.

Please keep your fingers crossed this good spell lasts. I am ready for some normalcy! Well, until the inaugural next week which is throwing everything out of whack.

Nothing says vacation quite like a stomach virus

We are in Dallas. The flight was mostly uneventful and the kids were generally well behaved. The added wrinkle was Meg's diarrhea that forced me to make four or five diaper changes in a three hour flight. Fortunately, I packed enough. Her poor little bottom was very red and had red welts, and by Sunday, her symptoms seemed to be getting worse rather than improving. A call to the pediatrician back home resulted in instructions of a 1/2 teaspoon on Children's Kaopectate and a diary-free diet for 24 hours to try to give her system a chance to heal. As a precaution, I also took her to see my childhood pediatrician, Dr. Pharo, who at 83 is still practicing and has probably seen everything. He also cracks me up since he seems sort of old school about things.

He echoed the Kaopectate although he said I could give her adult if I wanted -- the children's just has flavoring. That and diet, he said, should improve things quickly. He advocated no wheat for a few days, including Cheerios or anything else with gluten, and said to go for rice krispies or other rice-type foods. He said she could start drinking 2 percent milk. "Formula?" I asked. "What's she still drinking formula for? You can switch to milk at 8 months? Well, no sense switching her right now. You can give her a little bit of diary, so two ounces instead of six. And be sure to slather her bottom with Desitin or some other zinc oxide as that stomach acid will burn a hole in her skin if you're not careful."

Last night she slept well for the first time since we arrived on Friday, sleeping about 8:00 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. The previous few days she had woken up at 4:30 a.m. My mother even gave me a break and got up with her until Andy got us up at 7:30 a.m. It is amazing how much better every one's mood is when when we've gotten a little sleep and symptoms seem to be improving.

Meg is also going through full-blown separation anxiety right now. To be fair, there is a ton going on and she really cries out when I leave the room or try to put her down. Some of it is probably her not feeling well, but I'll be happy when this phase passes.

Andy, on the other hand, is having the time of his life. He loves playing with his cousin Megan, aged 4, and a little with Baby Emma, aged 18 months. He is also loving all the added attention from his aunts and grandparents. It's been fun to watch. I am hoping Meg will stay on the mend so I have more time (and energy) to play with the big kids and adults. And maybe even drink plenty of wine.

Nine months

My precious darling angel baby went in for her nine month doctor's visit today. She was in very good spirits and seemed perfect (just like in this picture), only to find out she has a double ear infection. The only bonus to the ear infection is it delays her getting her shots for another two weeks. She did have to get her toe stuck to draw blood to test for anemia. The nurse had me hold her in my lap when she drew the blood. I winced, but Meg just kept chewing the top on the baby Tylenol and didn't flinch. She clearly has a much higher pain threshold than I do.

Here are the stats:

• Weight - 23 pounds, 10 ounces -- 95+ percentile (I think it's really 100+, but her doctor is clearly sympathetic to her being a girl and doesn't want her to get a complex so early.)
• Height -- 29 inches -- 75-90 percentile
• Head size -- 18 1/2 inches -- 95+ percentile.

The long and short of it (heh) is that she is a big, healthy girl right now. Someone asked me if I was worried about her weight. I am not and generally I find that to be such an odd question. She's a baby. She's not even crawling yet so it's not like I could get her to exercise even if I wanted to. Do they want me to put her on Atkins or something?

The truth (according to my one experience) is that babies bulk up in the first months of life when they eat a lot and aren't that active. Then at about a year, they go off high-calorie formula/breast milk and start eating peas and chicken. At the same time, they get so busy with cruising, crawling, walking and generally cramming toys into their mouths that they get taller and leaner without really getting much heavily.

That said, her size is practically killing my left wrist. I plan to do some shopping this weekend for some type of baby backpack to shift the weight. With Andy going all sorts of places, including many that are not stroller friendly, I really need some way to carry her. She's basically gotten too big for the Baby Bjorn so I am leaning towards some type of Kelty Baby Backpack. Any other recommendations?

Potty training

We're working on potty training -- just what I need when my hands are newly full, but it's a step in the right direction that Andy is finally interested. For the past few days, he has been occasionally wearing underwear at home. The rub is that we have to bug him every 15 minutes to see if he has to go on the potty, but after enough prompting, he's been going. He now proudly stands on a stool in front of the toilet and pees standing up "like Daddy." It's real progress on the potty training front, but I'm finding it challenging to have a baby attached to my boob in one hand and helping Andy pull up and down his pants. I have a new appreciation for the phrase/word multi-tasking, that's for sure.

Andy had his three year check-up with the doctor yesterday. He weighs 33 pounds and is 37 3/4 inches tall, 75th percentile for weight and 50th for height. He passed all the motor skills and language challenges Dr. Staats posed him (as he flirted with her by showing his gymnastic moves while wearing only a pull-up and his green socks). They also asked him to pee in a cup. It seemed like an odd challenge to a kid who can't regularly pee in the toilet, but I took him into the bathroom and he surprised me by performing. Now, naturally after getting so much praise, he wants to pee in a cup at home, too. They also screened him for anemia and cholesterol. I was surprised by the cholesterol test, but apparently some kids have bad diets and need the early monitoring. He passed both tests with flying colors, scoring a 95 on the cholesterol test (under 150 is considered good, apparently).

To no surprise, Meg's sleeping continues to be a challenge. I actually don't mind getting up to do a super early morning feeding, it's when she refuses to go back to sleep afterwards that I wish I were dead. The smartest thing I have done this time around is hire a night nanny to come twice a week to help out. A friend recommended a woman who is a full-time nanny during the week, but who loves babies so she picks up some evening work taking care of newborns overnight. Maria has only been twice, but it's amazing the difference is makes to know that twice a week, I'll get a good night's sleep. Maria will give Meg one of the feedings and then wake me for the second so my boobs don't explode. She'll also do all the changing and rocking back to sleep. She's not cheap, but I figure my sanity is worth it. If only I were Christina Aguilera and could afford a 24/7 baby nurse. No wonder these silly celebrities talk about loving having a newborn since they have help that takes care of the baby while they go to premieres along with a personal trainer and chef.

Infection: 39, Maternal Instinct: 2

Once again, my maternal instincts have been trumped by the all-knowing infection family. Turns out Andy didn't just have a cold, he has a massive sinus infection complete with two ear infections. Although he first showed signs on Wednesday, the only thing particularly notable about this cold was the fact that his eyes seemed, for lack of a better word, goopy. At first they were really watery, but that turned into eyes full of "sleep," in fact, so full that we had to put warm compresses on his eyes to get the goop to soften and come off.

I have been so totally swamped with work (which will end, more of less in two weeks, thankfully) that I couldn't get him to the doctor yesterday. In fact, I kept looking at him, gauging his demeanor and figuring it was just a cold. By last night though, I finally got a chance to Google "mucus and eyes and cold" only to find about four dozen entries on pink eye, which apparently can be caused by a cold or other infection. "Great. Just friggin great," I told myself. "Now not only is he sick, but he's got something super contagious. Is my eye itching?" It would be just my luck with this pregnancy to end up with the stomach flu, strep throat AND pink eye.

Bjorn took him to the doctor's this morning. Apparently they have sick only walk-in hours from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturdays. The diagnosis was a sinus infection with a double ear infection with the possibility of conjunctivitis (she wasn't going to do a culture because apparently the treatment for both the sinus infection and the conjunctivitis is antibiotics). So he's now on Supramax to the tune of $50 for a 10 day supply (damn my new Aetna insurance bites if antibiotics cost that much). The doctor expected that by the third dose, he would be much, much better although we have to come back in two weeks to get the ears looked at again. I just hope this doesn't turn into another string of ear infections that we just can't cure like last spring.

Ugh!

As if the regular "morning sickness" that still seems to hit me every few days wasn't enough, now I have a stomach bug adding to the mix. It started Sunday morning and has been going through today. My doctor prescribed Zofran, an anti-nausea medicine, to help stop the vomiting, but now it has pushed all the problems, er, lower. I called in sick today and yesterday - the first time since Andy was born that I've called in sick for just myself. He went to school like a good boy and I've been home trying to sleep. Unfortunately, it's tough to get a good rest when I'm up every hour or so.

Andy has been a precious darling though. When I was sick on Sunday, he offered to get me a band-aid. "You sick, Mommy? You need a ban-baid?" is that adorable kid way. He genuinely seemed sympathetic which was sweet to hear as well.

I went to the doctor today and the good news is everything is fine with the baby. I just need to let this, "run it's course," which is not what I want to hear after three long days and nights of this. Fingers crossed that running it's course actually means immediately. She did weigh me when I was there and was pleased that I haven't lost weight. I was stunned at the number (which I won't tell you) because I swear I have lost weight the last few days. Imagine how high the number would have been otherwise? Scary. Still, I'd take the weight gain over this bullshit.

Also annoying is the "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book. I have generally found it informative if a little bland, but in this case, they have a whole section on coping with food poisoning/stomach bug and cap it off with something about how if I would just eat better, I could avoid it. I loathe hearing "I told you so" anyway and this seemed particularly annoying on a sick stomach. There is also a part about stretch marks that I came across that got me riled up. It said if you eat right, you won't get them. Horseshit. And a nice way to make folks feel bad that they're getting them because of something they ate.

Rant over.

2 1/2 year check up, one month late

Today we had Andy's 2 1/2 year check up a solid one month late. I called about a month or so ago figuring I could just get in, but with everyone going to the doctor to get physicals for school, I had trouble getting a well appointment on a Friday. He weighed in at 32 pounds and is now 36 inches tall, making him a solid 50th percentile on both height and weight, further confirming Bjorn's suspicion that Andy is not going to be that tall and Bjorn she start training him to be a point guard now.

She was pleased with his verbal skills even though he was playing shy and wouldn't talk too much for her. She also confirmed my suspicions that he's getting two new molars. That was a relief as I was worried his recent ornery behavior was related to an ear infection, but the ear check came up clean. I just wish the diagnosis would stop the constant whining and fake crying he's doing lately.

I asked about potty training. She said not to sweat it because most kids of normal development around 3ish will decide they don't want to wear diapers anymore and that it would be a waste of time to try to force him into it now if he's not interested. This kid has no interest in the potty at the moment. He sits on it occasionally at school, but rarely at home. It's good to know our approach of offering without forcing is the right one although some days after the fourth poopy diaper in a row I really think otherwise.

In other news, a reporter from CNN contacted me about an article she's writing about new mothers. How cool is that? I gave her some quotes and a picture. She asked for a picture of me and Andy and looking through the last year, it turns out I have like three pictures of just the two of us that are remotely presentable. There are lots of cute ones of him and Bjorn, but apparently I'm the one always taking the pictures. I sent her a sampling of photos for her to pick which one is best. That should be interesting. If only she's promise to photoshop me and make my teeth perfectly white and shave (at least) 10 pounds off me. The story is supposed to run Thursday on CNN.com and is a column on empowered patients or something like that. And to think you knew me before all the fame and fortune.

All clear

After waiting several months, we finally got in to see the pediatric otolaryngologist today. Dr. McBride was very nice and had a nice clean operation with good toys in the waiting room. Sadly, no toys in the exam room (note to self - always take a toy into the exam room). The good news is he looked in both ears and they are finally free of any fluid. So for the first time in months, he's finally got the all clear. Huge relief! We talked about tubes and such. He said that a child who has recurrent ear infections will likely get them again, but him finally being clear is a good sign. We're scheduled to go back in October in the beginning of flu and cold season to see how he's doing. I also got all the surgical paperwork together so should in September he start getting bad infections again, we could just call and schedule the surgery rather than starting the wait all over again. I'm not sure we'll do it, but it's good to know.

After the exam, we went back to talk to the audiologist to check on his hearing. Unfortunately, it was about noon and therefore lunch and nearing on nap time so he was tired and overstimulated and not in the mood for her silly hearing games. So we left with an incomplete result, but from what she could tell he could hear fine (whether he wants to hear is something else). I'm relieved the appointment went so well.

Funny though, he was quizzing us on why it took so long to come see him since Andy's last ear infection was back in April (that we knew of). I said it was easier to get an audience with the Pope than to get in to see him and he apologized and blushed a little. Turns out most doctors have no idea what their front office staff is doing and saying unless a patient tells them.

My sister is still visiting and we've been having fun when we haven't been working. She leaves tomorrow. Boo. It's been nice having a roommate who also likes random sports like cycling and bad television. Once I get more time, I'll post more photos of Emma and Mary's visit. My mother is complaining she doesn't like the ones posted (too bad, I actually think the one of Mary is fun).

Health restored, crankiness intact

Good news - Andy seems to have mostly recovered from the stomach bug that was keeping him down Sunday and Monday. Bjorn and I also are recovering so that's good.

The bad news is that he was so hyper last night now that he's finally better is that he refused to go to bed until after midnight and then woke up a few times in the night. He had to be woken up this morning and was super-tired at drop-off, despite his glee at finally seeing his friends again. He took a good nap at school, but was so overtired from his day he was uber-cranky all the way home and during dinner. Naturally, I put him to bed early.

The other good news is that when we went to the doctor for his stomach on Monday, I found that one of his two ear infections has cleared up. The right ear is finally good, but the left ear still has fluid. In Dallas, I saw my pediatrician, Dr. Pharo, who is now 82, in good health and has really seen everything. We wanted to talk to him about his opinions of ear tubes and just double-check what we were hearing at home. He recommended we keep the appointment with the ENT for July. It seems Andy is hearing fine so that's not a worry. What's the concern is that if the fluid stays in the ear, it could end up being a bigger problem as he gets older meaning a more serious surgery if we can't get the infection cleared up.

The other interesting thing was he told us never to put him to bed with a bottle or having a ceiling fan on his room (he also said to shoot all smokers in the house, which fortunately isn't a problem). I admitted that until recently we'd been giving him a bottle of water in bed. He said that he'd seen kids come in with milk behind their ear drums because of the way the fluid passes from their mouths when lying down. I'm now hopeful that the combination of summer weather and no bottle of water in bed will help dry him out. Fingers crossed!

Wanted: One pediatric otolaryngologist

As I said earlier, Andy has to go see an ear, nose and throat specialist to talk about his persistent ear infections and if he needs to get tubes. The whole thing makes me unhappy, but I've been asking friends and relatives about it. So far, I've gleaned that the procedure itself is very short, like 10-15 minutes, and the results are great for kids who have been suffering. I also got some good recommendations of pediatric otolaryngologists (say that twice fast) to call.

Of course, this is happening just as we're switching from Guardian/OneNet to Aetna for insurance at work. Absurdly, you can't use the Aetna doctor finder feature unless you're a member, but since I'm not a technically member until June 1, things are complicated. I spent probably 30 minutes with Aetna customer support today in a harrowingly frustrating experience. First, the number I got from HR was for the HMO, not the PPO, so after sitting on hold for 15 minutes, they gave me the PPO number. I eventually got some names and phone numbers of doctors and proceeded to call.

I started with the highly recommended Dr. Choi at Children's Hospital. They'd be happy to see me. In August. I then tried Dr. McBride who luckily can see me...in July. Seriously, is this a big deal or not? I called Dr. Staats' office and played a friendly game of telephone where I explained the situation to the nurse, who talked to Dr. Staats and called me back. I wanted to know if two months was too much wait time. Dr. Staats' office called back to say it was too long to wait. I explained I had tried others and July was the soonest I could get without her intervening to try to bump me up the list. The nurse said she'd see what she said and call me back. She still hadn't called when I left this afternoon.

Anyone have a cousin in one of those offices I can sleep with to get an appointment? Geez. This sounds like the Canadian health system.

What stinks is this is all happening just before we have to get on a plane for Dallas this weekend. Fortunately, it's only three hours and direct, but I hate for his ears to be bothering him on the plane. That would stink worse than his usual restlessness on the plane.

The risk of not fixing his ears is delayed learning because he can't hear, but the funny thing is he is almost reading. Well, by reading I mean he can point to the letters on the page and knows them all. And tonight, he even sounded out a few. Granted, he does call pancakes panpakes and band-aids, band-baids. Those are totally adorable, I just wish if I wasn't so paranoid that his hearing was in such jeopardy.

Check out His Adorableness during a nap the other day. I love that he had completely turned himself around and these crashed on the covers.

Fungal infection

I took Andy back to the doctor today. He now is down to an ear infection in just one ear, better than two ears, but a pain that he still has one. She also looked at the mystery rash that still hasn't gone away. The latest diagnosis is that it's some type of fungal infection (i.e. yeast infection of some kind) and recommended Lotrimin. Let's hope that works. He also got some more antibiotics. This one just goes for four days (score) and is already cherry flavored (double score). Good thing I have one of those Flex accounts as I seem to be spending $60 at the pharmacy every week. I asked about tubes in his ears and she thinks he will get over this infection and then have a lot fewer ear aches over the summer. Then (hopefully) as he gets closer to three, he will have fewer infections as he gets older. Fingers crossed.

I went to the Wal-Mart pharmacy in Burke for the first time today. They couldn't have been nicer and the bonus was I got to shop for big boy sheets while I was there. I settled on a Thomas and Friends comforter and some red sheets that match so long as you don't hold them up right next to each other in good lighting. My plan is to paint his bed and bookshelf today or tomorrow and then hopefully make the big switchover. This is proving to be logistically challenging to get all the moving parts where they need to be.

Last weekend I went to BuyBuyBaby in Springfield and bought a bed rail so hopefully we have what we need for his new bed. It's a shame that store is so awful. They have a good selection, but the staff is always less than helpful (witness a line of eight people at one register and four staff standing around refusing to help). They do send a regular 20 percent off coupon, but even then their prices are way higher than other places that are closer.

Best Week Ever ... sort of

It's been a week of changes around here and I, for one, am exhausted. We said goodbye to our babysitter on Wednesday. It was hard. I teared up a little and we promised to stay in touch. Bjorn drove Andy to his new school on Thursday. He reported that the drop-off went well and that within seconds he had jumped into the gym/movement class they were having. Bjorn stayed for a minute and said goodbye - no tears were reported. When I picked him up, they said he had done great. In fact, everyone was surprised it was his first day because he seemed so natural there. Clearly, this is a gene from Bjorn's side. I was always anxious on first days. They reported that he didn't each much of his lunch (it was tacos, something he wouldn't eat at home either), but that he did take a nap. They sleep on the floor in these cute little sleeping bag type things and I was worried he would have trouble. I'm glad I was wrong. The only time he cried was right before lunch which is right before a nap. With all the excitement, I bet he was just tired.

Phew. So glad the first day is over with. A friend warned me that the second week might be harder just because the newness wears off and then they're fine the third week. It wasn't what I wanted to hear, but I'm glad to be prepared.

Last night we had our first non-book reading book club meeting where we drank wine and avoided talking about books. We didn't even talk about our kids. It was great! We laughed a lot, told funny stories and drank a lot of wine. I haven't slept well this week due to a late soccer game, the Oscars and anxiety so the glasses went right to my head. I'll admit I was a bit groggier than usual this morning. I had intended for the club to be every other month, but it sounds like everyone wants to try to do it monthly. Fun!

And to cap off a stressful but exciting week, Andy went back to the doctor's office and the ear infection is officially gone. After many weeks and three rounds of antibiotics, this is great news. I just hope being in a new school doesn't mean he'll immediately pick up a whole new set of germs.

My, how fast he learns

I've been gone for four days and I'm amazed at everything Andy has picked up in my absence. He has figured out how to pee on the potty somewhat consistently (well, if twice in two days counts), he can say "No, un-uh," and he can officially call Mark's girlfriend Jamie by her first name. It's hard to be away, but it's so nice to come back and have the perspective to see what has changed. The other bonus to this trip was getting to spend time with my mother who came along. It would have been better had American Airlines not forced me to spend a night in Dallas, but otherwise it turned out well. The hotel was amazing. Seriously. Check out the link - http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1298. It actually looked that beautiful in person.

Andy has now finished his second round of antibiotics for his ears and we went to the doctor for a follow up appointment only to realize he still has an ear infection. The good news is they're better than they were at the two earlier appointments, but she didn't think they would heal on their own so he's not on another antibiotic, zithr-something or other. At least it's not as nasty tasting as the earlier one and the other good thing is it's only once a day for five days. That's a little more manageable than twice a day for 10 days. We go back next Friday to see if it's improved. She said this is classic for the two-year-old age group for them to get an ear infection and have it improve only for him to get another cold and have it come back. She said the antibiotics and warmer weather coming this week should really help improve things.

While I was there, I also asked about my freak rash on my leg and she said it's entirely possible to get poison ivy in winter and possibly from firewood or some other wooded area. I always knew I was special, but the ability to catch a rash in winter isn't what I was thinking.

The patient

Funny, after two days of Andy acting fine, but being sick, today he is actually acting sick as well. It is mostly strange since he's now on the path (allegedly) to wellness due to the doctor visit and antibiotics. Today he's been hacking twice as bad as yesterday and generally seems to feel achey and sad. Poor chicken. The good news is he doesn't have strep throat - the doctor's office called early this morning to tell me. I appreciated the call, but we were all still asleep at that hour.

To get us both out of the house briefly (it's too cold for much else) I took him over to A.C. Moore, a craft store similar to Michael's, because I heard they had cheap(er) Thomas stuff and I wanted to see for myself. The prices aren't significantly cheaper than anywhere else, but they do have coupons for 40-50 percent off one item on certain days so I'll need to come back and get some stuff on sale and keep it in my closet for a special occasion. I did walk away with some connector track so we can now marry up the pieces that can't come together because it ends up being two female ends (of course, as I type this, I'm imagining the hate mail I might get from the freakish conservatives in Virginia who think marrying females to each other is a bad thing. It makes me smirk just to think about it.)