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Figuring things out for Colin

We had Colin’s follow-up appointment with the developmental pediatrician, Dr. E, last week. He answered every question I was wondering about in this post, and we are feeling a little better about things.

When Dr. E initially diagnosed Colin with FAS in May, with a secondary PDD diagnosis (pervasive developmental delay), we were a little overwhelmed. He gave us some worst-case scenarios and I was pretty upset, so my friend Susan stood by my side and referred to him as “Dr. Doom & Gloom.” That’s kind of how I felt about him at the time, but Christian pointed out how much time he spent with us, etc, and that he really wasn’t so bad.

This appointment went much better. It was not all positive, but we feel like he really knows what he is talking about, and that he has a long-term plan for Colin. I think before we were just so shocked at the FAS diagnosis that we didn’t want to believe Dr. E. We recently found out that Colin’s birthmom drank much more than she admitted to us though, so now we are more sure that the diagnosis is correct. We plan to do all of our follow-up with Dr. E rather than the doctor who diagnosed ARND and the genetic deletion. (YEAH! We get to drop a specialist! Woo hoo!)

Because we had so many questions, I e-mailed him before the appointment. Yes, he gives out his e-mail address and answers his e-mails HIMSELF, so that makes me like him even more. 

We told him that we had gone to see Dr. W for a second opinion, and that we were wondering if we would be better to go with the FAS or ARND (alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder) diagnosis. It turns out that Dr. E knows Dr. W *very* well. Dr. E studied under Dr. W and they have breakfast together every other Saturday. Dr. E shared with us that he has a 20-year debate going with Dr. W about this very subject. With an ARND diagnosis, essentially a doctor is saying this child had the behavioral characteristics of FAS and the associated brain damage, but he does not have the physical characteristics (wide-set eyes, low-set ears, etc). Dr. E’s opinion is that the child should still have an FAS diagnosis because we need to treat the behaviors and cognitive issues, and that we really don’t care if he has wide-set eyes or low-set ears. He says that an ARND diagnosis is half a diagnosis, which will get Colin half of the services. So, it seems like we are better off going with the FAS diagnosis.

On a positive note, he said that Colin does have some very good skills. He has good cognitive skills and a sense of humor. He said he would not be surprised if Colin becomes that class clown someday. He does feel that he will eventually be diagnosed with ADD/ ADHD. He pointed out that while Colin was in the exam room, he did.not.stop, and that’s about how he acts every day. He definitely has some hyperactivity.

As far as the genetic testing, Dr. E said that he would have suggested that eventually for Colin. He said he could just tell that we were so overwhelmed with the FAS diagnosis that he did not want to throw that into the mix just yet. As he is also a geneticist, we can do our genetics follow-ups him. We asked him if Colin needed the full-day developmental assessment that Dr. W recommended now, and he said he thought we could wait until kindergarten or first grade. We also asked if he needs to see an opthalmologist now, and he said we could wait a few years for that, too.

When we visited Dr. E in May, he recommended an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) school for Colin. The schools are 20-35 hours a week, and we were not sure that we were ready for something that intense for our two-year-old. We wanted to just try regular therapy first. Since then, Colin has been working with an occupational therapist and a developmental therapist weekly, but they have both told us that they do not feel like we are making progress. They are now they are recommending we go the ABA school route, too.

Christian and I toured three ABA schools last week. We think we have made a decision, but we’re wavering a little between schools two and three (we HATED the first one). Unfortunately the one we think we like best is the least convenient geographically. It’s not a bad drive from Christian’s work now, but his employer is talking about moving offices in the spring. I’m sure whichever of the two schools we choose will be fine, but it just feels like such a big decision right now and it has us stressed. I’m trying to just remember that we are lucky to be in an area where we have our choice of ABA schools. Some more rural areas don’t have them at all, or they have them but there is a huge waiting list. We’re also lucky to live in a state that has an autism insurance mandate (PDD is technically an autism diagnosis), so that we can get it covered by insurance. We will have to pay Colin’s $5,000 medical out-of-pocket at the beginning of each year, but that’s nothing when we consider that these schools are approximately $100,000 a year.

The school we think is our first choice can’t take Colin until the end of October or beginning of November. I don’t know that I will really be relaxed until the actual admission date comes around, but Christian and I have given ourselves a self-imposed deadline to to choose a school by the end of this week. I’m hoping making that at least making that final decision allows me to relax a little.

Considering everything, Colin is pretty high functioning. Our hope is that by getting him the help he needs early, he will be on track to start public school in kindergarten or first grade.

Now we just need to find a pediatrician… I’m hoping we can figure that out this week, too. We interviewed one pediatrician two weeks ago, one on Monday, and we are visiting our final candidate on Thursday. We had REALLY hoped we would have all of the stressful stuff done by the end of August, but unfortunately it looks like we have to let at least a few days of September creep into the mix. That’s it though. We are DONE with stress after that. (Famous last words, right?)

What she said…

Laura outlined some of her thoughts on adoption. I couldn’t have said it better myself:

God didn’t mean for me to “get” my kids – if I believed that, I’d believe that He meant for them to lose their families. If I believed that, I’d believe that He meant for their families to be unable to raise them. I cannot and will not believe that. God couldn’t have meant for other people, including two of the people that I love most in the world, to suffer so that I could gain…

I don’t deserve my children because I have the “privilege” of being financially stable/ living in the U.S.  I did not have any entitlement to them.

My children are not better off with me simply because they have opportunities for education, financial success, and anything else that they otherwise wouldn’t have had.

They were not mine until they were mine – before I got onto a plane with them, they weren’t mine. And now that they’re mine, they are not only mine. They have another mom and another dad. They will never be only mine. (I am saying “mine,” but you now I mean both Ed’s and mine.)

I am their mom. But they have another mom. I’m not threatened by that. I made a choice. Even if I were threatened, this isn’t about me. Ed and I didn’t bring them into this world, so logic dictates that they have another mom and another dad. Facts. Dealing in facts.

I feel a lot of confusion. I didn’t know much when we began the process, and we honestly began from a true, heartfelt place, but it was a sadly naive and misinformed place.

Regardless, knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t change anything. Yep, I said it. I’m being honest. If I said I’d change what we did, that means I’d be willing to not have my children, and now that I have them, I can’t imagine not having them. I can’t “go back” the that place before they were in my life and hypothesize about what I would do with more knowledge b/c they’re in my life now and I love them more than I love life itself. They make my world go around. All of this is very confusing to me.

Someone – I think it was Margie from Third Mom – said that we all have the privilege, financial, social, or otherwise, to sit around and think about that…what I wrote in the last paragraph. I’ll add to that and say that it’s pointless b/c it is what it is now. It can’t be undone and even if it could be undone, I wouldn’t be willing to undo it, both for my children or myself. This is our life. I love this life. I love my children fiercely. They are the reason I get up in the mornings.

My children have had opportunities to survive or thrive that they wouldn’t have if they had stayed in their countries…

Given that knowledge, I can’t think about my children not being here with us because I KNOW them NOW and LOVE them NOW and I can’t say that them not surviving, but staying with their families, would be a better option. But abstractly, that does not mean I think children are better off being adopted into families (or to countries) that can give them the medical care we are so lucky to have than staying with their own families. families shouldn’t lose their children to adoption, international or domestic, simply because others are more privileged and can provide them with medical care that they wouldn’t otherwise receive.

This also confuses me. Very, very much.

I don’t romanticize adoption. I don’t pretend that my children came from fabulous circumstances – that they rec’d amazing love and care before they came to us and that it was a love story from the minute we met each other.

Not romanticizing adoption goes two ways. I don’t pretend that all children who have been adopted have awesome first families that loved them dearly and didn’t want to place them or felt that it was their only option.

I believe that with effort in this country, domestic adoptions could be greatly reduced, but never eliminated. A lot of people disagree with me, and that’s okay because I’m sure I could be wrong. I think they could be greatly reduced, but not eliminated. But I firmly believe in my heart that there will always be some women – maybe not a lot, but some – who truly don’t want to parent or who aren’t capable of parenting. Until we cure every last social ill, there will always be a need for adoption. Maybe not nearly as big of one as there is now, but there will be a need.

I believe that internationally, corruption has touched many, many adoptions and created a huge market for children. This is a fact. If you don’t agree with me, it’s because you don’t want to acknowledge it. It sucks to stare that fact in the face when you’re the parent of an internationally adopted child. It really, really sucks. But again, it is what it is.

The best birthday present

Today is my birthday. It was also Noah’s follow-up heart echo and appointment with the infectious disease doctor. I never thought I would say, “All I want for my birthday is for my four-year-old’s coronary arteries to be OK,” but that’s what I said last night. Thankfully, I got my wish.
 

Noah’s heart echo and EKG came back normal. Since Noah got the IVIG treatment for Kawasaki Disease two weeks late, they said he is sort of in a “gray area.” Normally they would release him with this normal heart echo, but they want to do another one in three weeks just to be safe. If it’s normal again, they will give him a clean bill of health. They just said we should make sure he’s monitored if he ever plays sports competitively when he gets older. (He’s OK’d for T-Ball in September though.)

State Fair

Last Friday, Grandma, Mimi, and I took the kids to the fair. Since Colin and I rode the train last weekend, Mimi rode the train with Noah and Zoe. Grandma, Colin, and I met them when they got off at the fair.

 
 
We started out at “Little Hands on the Farm.” There were different stations where the kids either put something in their basket, “fed” the animals, etc. They were supposed to feed the grain to the pigs, but Colin thought this (pretend) pig might like eggs instead.

 
 
Zoe fed her pig the grain.

 
 
She planted a seed and then picked up her vegetable from the other side of the garden.

 
 
Noah wasn’t really into this activity until he saw the pedal tractors AND realized there was a prize at the end if he completed all of the stations. He quickly ran backwards through the course to grab his grain, egg, vegetable, apple, and wool.

 
 
Noah milking a (pretend) cow.

 
 
Grandma and Noah went on an elephant ride. Noah said, “Mommy, that elephant was stinky.”

 
 
Noah and Zoe did the pony rides, but Colin wanted nothing to do with it.

 
 
They pretended to drive lots of tractors.

 
 

Buckle up for safety!

 
 
Colin enjoyed the shade of his stroller. This is what he does now when I ask him to say, “Cheese.”

 
 
One barn had a play area where the kids could (pretend) fish.

 
 
Zoe could not get her fish to stick to the magnet at the end of her pole, so she just decided to pick the fish up and stick it on.

 
 
Colin loved the train table. Trains are his absolute fave these days.

 
 
We rode $60 worth of rides. Since the kids aren’t tall enough, they make the adults ride, and the adults have to PAY, too. What a rip-off. I was able to keep them away from the mid-way last year, but this year the rides were the highlight.

Noah LOVED this slide. Zoe wanted nothing to do with it. Although Colin’s face does not look like he is enjoying it, he said he wanted to do it, then said he wanted to do it again, and climbed all the way up on his own both times. The boys first rode with my mom and then they rode with me.

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Out of the Mouths: “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

The other night Noah looked at me and said, “Mommy, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

I said, “I don’t know, Noah. What are you thinking?”

He said, “I’m thinking about my Bakugans.”

I said, “Well, then, no. I am not thinking what you are thinking.”

(That’s a handy-dandy little link up there to a picture of a Bakugan toy for those of you who do not have children obsessed with these little balls of plastic.)

Out of the Mouths: “True Love”

We purposely don’t let the kids have very many toys in their rooms because we don’t want them to stay up playing when they should be in bed. We have an eat-in kitchen, so we made our dining room a play room and we keep all of the toys there. (We don’t have nice dining room furniture anyway. The $99 table and chairs I bought when I got my first apartment in 1996 is stored in our basement.)

However, Zoe has quite a few dolls in her room. We know she plays with them when she first goes to bed because we can hear her talking over the monitor when she’s supposed to be sleeping. I would love to be able to hear what she is saying, but we usually can’t quite make it out. As long as she eventually goes to sleep, we generally just let her play.

The other morning Zoe said to Christian, “Daddy, last night in my bed Elmo told Tiana he wanted to be her true love.”

Zoe is very into princesses, so we hope that she just meant Elmo wanted “true love’s first kiss” from Tiana and not anything else. I posted this on Facebook though and my friend Christy replied, “I don’t know. I’ve heard Elmo is a real *monster* in bed.”

 

Edited to add: Christian just reminded me that we don’t even have the $99 dining room table anymore. We gave it away when we bought the new house so we didn’t have to move it.

 

Out of the Mouths: “Oh Gawsh!”

This is Colin’s very first “Out of the Mouths” post. Though he has been talking for quite a while, he is just recently putting longer sentences together and starting to say funny things.

The other day he “tooted.” (We try to say “toot” instead of “fart” with the kids.) He looked at Christian, put his hands on his bottom, and said, “Oh gawsh! My pants are stinky!”

Genetic counseling and Colin’s 5q21.2q21.3 deletion (plus colonoscopies and prostate exams)

We waited five weeks to meet with a genetic counselor who told us (drumroll, please…) that they really don’t know what Colin’s genetic deletion means. Before they did the test, they warned us that this was a possibility. There is just so much genetic code that has not been studied yet. However, when we were told the gene deletion was on chromosome 5 and I learned that chromosome 5 has been studied extensively because it contains the largest amount of genetic material, I thought they might actually have an answer for us.

Colin has a 5q21.2q21.3 deletion. There is one case in the literature of a girl who had a translocation involving 5q21.3 who had mental retardation, but Colin obviously does not have that. There is some link at 5q21.2 to keratoconus, a thinning disorder of the cornea that causes distortion and reduced vision. There is no *direct* link between keratoconus and Colin’s specific deletion, but it means that it may be a possibility. Keratoconus is usually not seen until adolescence. The genetic counselor just suggested we take Colin for regular eye exams with an opthalmologist.

The geneticist and the genetic counselor want us to follow-up with them once a year. They say that as time goes on and more research is done they may be able to tell us more, so we will definitely stay on top of it. Honestly though, we are not that worried about it at this point. Since there are no direct links to any specific disorders, we really don’t need to do anything with this diagnosis now. We will definitely take him for eye exams annually, but that is the least of our worries at this point. While we certainly don’t want him to have cornea problems, we’re relieved that there is not a direct link to the disease and that they didn’t find anything more serious.

In my last post, I said that I thought alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) was a fetal alcohol effects (FAE) diagnosis. The geneticist confirmed that it is. I guess they are trying not to use FAE as much anymore because it is such a broad diagnosis. From what I understand, they are trying to find more specific categories or diagnoses. So, while the geneticist says that Colin doesn’t technically have fetal alcohol syndrome, they still sent us home with packets of information on it. We see the developmental pediatrician next week, so maybe we can clear some of this up then.

The geneticist also recommended that we take Colin for a complete child development evaluation. It would a full day assessment where he would be examined by psychology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, nutrition, social work, etc. He’s had a lot of those evaluations already, so we’re not sure if it is necessary, but we will get a second opinion from the developmental pediatrician when we see him next week.  On one hand, if he’s really already been evaluated for most of this stuff, I don’t know that we will learn much more. On the other hand, it sounds like the report would be pretty detailed, and maybe a report like this would be helpful if we try to get him qualified for our school district’s bridge services (for age three to kindergarten) next year.

We’re almost inclined to do it just because we have met our family out-of-pocket for insurance this year. We might as well get every single medical service we can before January since it would be “free.” (I use the term “free” very loosely here because we have paid more in medical bills in 2010 than we have paid on our mortgage. It S.U.C.K.S.)

(I am deadly serious when I say that I am trying to think of every medical service we can do before January. I’m even considering a colonoscopy. I’m supposed to have them annually, but I think it’s been two years. I certainly don’t enjoy colonoscopies, but thinking of having a “free” one makes it slightly less revolting. I also tried to get Christian in for a prostate exam. He has a family history of prostate cancer, so I thought he was supposed to have one at age 35. He lucked out that the guideline is actually age 40. I am going to make him have some disgusting moles removed though.)

Eenie, meenie, miney, moe, to which doctor do we go? – Part 1

That title is appropriate for two different posts, thus the “Part 1” in the heading of this one. In this post I ask, “To which doctor do we go?” as in which doctor are we going to see *today*. We have had a butt load of medical appointments lately. (My spellcheck doesn’t seem to like the term “butt load”, but I assure you that is the appropriate description). This week we have seven appointments between Colin and me, but that’s nothing. The record was ten appointments in one week between Colin, Noah, and me. We have several BIG doctors’ appointments in the next two weeks. That’s what I’m going to talk about in this post.

Hopefully soon I will also write the follow-up to this post. In that one I will ask, “To which doctor do we go?” as in which pediatrician are we going to take our children to now. We’re a wee bit angry with our current one, and do not plan on going back.

So, why have we been seeing so many doctors? Well, first there’s Noah. Poor little Noah. It’s been almost three weeks since he’s been in the hospital, but he still just does not feel well. He’s tired and he’s grumpy. Very.grumpy. And he’s having tantrums that are not like him. I mean, it’s not as though his behavior used to be perfect or anything, but last night Christian sent him to bed early and he sat in his room screaming and crying so hard we thought he was going to throw up, all because he didn’t want to brush his teeth by himself. He wanted Christian to do it.

It’s becoming very hard to deal with. We just don’t know what to do. Do we cut him some slack because he obviously doesn’t feel well, or do we give him time-outs and/ or other normal punishments so that we don’t get set in this behavior pattern? We don’t meet with the infectious disease doctor until next week, but I called today to ask if the fatigue and outbursts were normal. The doctor said that is not part of Kawasaki Disease, but all of the online parent forums say it is. Ugh. What to do, what to do?

Noah has another heart echo right before his follow-up with the infectious disease doctor next Thursday. If the echo comes back normal, the chances that he will have future heart issues due to the Kawasaki go way down. About 25% of kids who have Kawasaki have some heart involvement. When they receive the gamma globulin IV in the first ten days, that percentage falls to 5%. Since Noah had the treatment, but had it two weeks late, we don’t know what his odds are right now. We’re sure he will have to have future heart echos, but the one next week is a big one. Please, please, please let it be normal. If it is not, I think a padded room is in my future.

Then there’s Colin. In May, he was diagnosed with FAS by a developmental pediatrician, with a secondary pervasive developmental delay (PDD) diagnosis. We wanted a second opinion, so we saw a geneticist in July. The geneticist diagnosed Colin with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND), which would not be as serious as FAS. (I think it is still considered a fetal alcohol effects (FAE) diagnosis, but don’t quote me on that one.)

They also did lots of blood work, including a full chromosome scan. Two weeks later they called to tell us there was a single gene deletion on chromosome 5. However, they would not tell us what that meant over the phone. We have to meet with a genetic counselor, and they could not get us in until tomorrow . Yes, tomorrow, as in FIVE WHOLE WEEKS after they called us to tell us about the chromosome deletion. No big deal. It’s *totally* reasonable to tell parents that their child has a problem with his genetic material and then make them wait five weeks to find out what that means, right?

Of course we have Googled “deletion on chromosome 5″ and there are about 40 possibilities. There are a few we see that could fit, but nothing that really jumps out at us. Maybe the silver lining of Noah being sick was that we didn’t have time to worry about this gene thing, because now that the appointment is only 24-hours away and it’s the only thing on my mind, I am FREAKING OUT. At least we’ll be busy tomorrow morning, so it should go quickly. We see Colin’s nutritionist at 8:30am, then his occupational therapist and developmental therapist are doing a co-treat at 10:45am, drop Noah and Zoe off at my mom’s at 12:15pm, and then we got to the geneticist at 1pm.

Speaking of occupational therapy (OT) and developmental therapy (DT), we’ve been working with the therapists for a few months now, and they do not see that they are making progress with Colin. They suggested we look into an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) school for Colin. The developmental pediatrician suggested this to us back in May, but ABA is really intense and we weren’t sure that we were ready for that. We had hoped the weekly OT and DT would be enough. ABA schools are generally for autistic kids, but ABA can be used for many things, including the issues Colin is having (aggression, short attention span, easily frustrated, lack of focus, etc), and his PDD diagnosis means that the school would be covered by our insurance. Now I am interviewing schools, setting up evaluations, etc. (you know, in my “spare” time).

The OT said that maybe things would be different if I was a stay-at-home-mom. (She said it very nicely, but it was still the kind of stab-in-the-heart statement that gets my Mommy guilt going into over-drive.) Since I’m not a stay-at-home-mom, and since that’s not financially feasible (nor do I know that’s something I want to do), the kids don’t have much consistency. I mean, it’s consistent week-to-week, but not day-to-day. On Mondays they are with my mom, on Tuesdays they are with Christian’s mom, on Wednesdays I am home with them, on Thursdays they are with my mom, and I am home with them again on Fridays. They are also supposed to start pre-school part-time after Labor Day, so essentially they have four different sets of rules to follow. It’s fine for Noah and Zoe, but it is difficult for Colin.

We have mixed emotions about sending him to an ABA school. First, he’s only two, so we’re having difficulty thinking of our little baby being somewhere full-time that’s not with family, and in a really intense one-on-one program. We’re trying to at least work it out so that he would only go four-days-a-week, but we’re not sure if that’s possible. Second, we have qualms about him going to a “special” school for “special” kids. We just want him to be a normal kid. My hope though is that we get him the help he needs now, and that we give him the skills he will need to be on track when “real” school comes around. The doctors and therapists we’ve talked to keep telling us that we are lucky to have all of these diagnoses so early and that we are being proactive by getting help now. We’re told that we shouldn’t worry about the diagnoses, but that we should just make sure he is getting treatment for the symptoms. We’re also told that these diagnoses can be “removed” so that he won’t have to go to grade school with a label unless it is still necessary. It’s really tough to deal with though, and we are questioning ourselves all.the.time.

We also take Colin back to the developmental pediatrician that diagnosed him with FAS next week, and I’m not quite sure how to handle that appointment. We really like that doctor, and we think ultimately we would like to do our follow-ups with him rather than the geneticist, but do we tell him that we got a second opinion? Is that insulting? I mean, obviously we need to tell him whatever diagnosis comes from the chromosome scan, but do we tell him that the other doctor thinks Colin has ARND and not FAS? Then there’s the question of which diagnosis is best for Colin, FAS or ARND? I posted on an FAS parent support group, and the parents there unanimously said to stay with the FAS diagnosis. They say that the FAS gets him qualified for more services as far as insurance and programs in our school district than ARND would. On the other hand, it just doesn’t seem right to choose or advocate for a more serious diagnosis. Do we really want him to have that “label”? Ugh. This parenting thing is hard.

Finally, there’s me. I have a herniated disk. I also had a pinched nerve, but that seems to be better. So, now I just have back pain instead of back pain and excruciating pain down my left leg. I don’t think all of the stress from the past couple of months has helped with my back pain, as my muscles are just so tense all.the.time. I have been going to a chiropractor, sometimes three times a week. Sometimes I can only make it once because I just can’t work it into the schedule, and I can definitely feel a difference those weeks. The best part of going to the chiropractor is the eight-minute massage, but the therapist always tells me I’m so tense he needs me for an hour. An hour massage sounds AWESOME, but I just don’t know when I would do it. My birthday is coming up though, so maybe that should be my treat to myself. I’ll have to see if I can pencil it in somewhere, but I honestly don’t know when I would. I wish I could go get a massage sometime after the kids were in bed, but I doubt places open after 9pm offer the kind of  “massage” I need.

At least Zoe and Christian are healthy (excuse me while I go find some wood on which to knock). Zoe has been a little jealous of all of the attention her brothers have been getting though, so she keeps telling me, “Mommy, I’m really, really sick.” I tell her that if she’s sick, she should go to bed and get some rest. I don’t think that is the answer she is looking for.

Fair Train

Colin and I spent some quailty time alone together today and took a ride on the fair train. We didn’t actually go to the fair (my mom and I are taking all three kids next week). We just rode to the fair and back. It was about an hour round trip. It’s usually pretty hectic when I have all three kids, so it was really nice to be able to give Colin my full attention. He was so good. He is obsessed with trains since we went to see Thomas, so he had a blast.

I just wish I could have gotten a photo of him without the binky! He seems more and more attached to it these days and I know we need to take it away soon (sigh).

I love this Ladies Man t-shirt, too. It used to be Noah’s, but he wore it when he was 15-months-old, and it only finally fits Colin now that he is 25-months-old!

To the dentist

I have mentioned before that when it comes to going to the dentist, I am.not.a.fan. I am doing my best, however, not to pass my weird dental phobia on to my children. I am several months late for my own six-month cleaning, and I have re-scheduled it three times already. The kids were only one month late for their appointment. At least I only re-scheduled it once before we actually made it there.

 
 
This was Colin’s first trip to the dentist. He did OK. He got a little upset when they were poking around his mouth and mainly he just didn’t want to stay in the chair, but it was a successful visit overall.

 
 
I only know that Colin did well because Christian told me. I really didn’t get a chance to see how things went with Colin at all, because I was comforting Noah the entire time. Noah absolutely FLIPPED OUT. He has been to the dentist a couple of times already, and he has been fine, so this kind of took us by surprise. I try to be careful and not say anything about my fear of the dentist in front of the kids, and I don’t think dental phobias are genetic, so the only thing I can think of is that it reminded him of the hospital. I kept telling him that they weren’t going to use any needles, but he was still so upset. It was heartbreaking.

 
 
The redeeming part of the visit was that our baby girl was a CHAMP. That’s very lucky for us, since we were each attached to a son. Zoe sat in the chair alone for most of the visit, and she even went back for x-rays with the hygienist all.by.her.self.

 

They told her what beautiful teeth she had, but I threw in, “But she really needs to stop sucking her thumb so her teeth stay beautiful, right?!”

Of course they gave a chorus of, “Oh, yes, Zoe. Your mommy is right. You really shouldn’t suck your thumb.”

Later she looked at me and whispered, “But Mommy, I really like to suck my thumb.”

Superbowl 2010 (Six months late)

Talk about being behind on pictures… I have no idea why I never posted these from the Superbowl. Maybe it took me six months to get over the loss? I was so sure we were going to win that game. Oh well, at least we did win this one (I can’t believe how little Noah was then. It was right before we traveled to get Zoe).

Anyway, I had the light setting incorrect when I took all of these pictures. I had to do a lot of editing to make them look decent, and they still don’t look great. Why did I spend all of that time editing, uploading them to the blog, and then leave them in my drafts folder? I have absolutely no idea. Brain fart, I guess. I stumbled upon them this weekend. Oops. 

 
 
My step-dad and his dog, Leo (Leo was only 50 lbs when we got him for Tom and we thought he was full-grown. Now he’s 90 lbs. Sorry Mom!):

 
 
My mom, the kids, and cousins Madison, Olivia, and Michael:

 
 
Playing on Daddy:

 
 
Zoe:

 
 
Noah:

 
 
Touchdown:

 
 
Colin:

 
 
Noah:

 
 
My Grandma and all the kids:

Protected: Just a note…

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Protected: Another visit with Colin’s birthmom

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Are you faster than a cheetah?

Again, I’m catching up on photos. These are from June. We went to the zoo with our friends Shane and Stacey and their kids Jasmine and Jahnu.

Our zoo has a special cheetah exhibit this year, including an “Are you faster than a cheetah?” race. None of the kids were faster than a cheetah, but they certainly tried their hardest.

A Day Out With Thomas – 2010 Edition

I’m so behind on posting pictures. In June we went to A Day Out With Thomas. We’ve done this the past several years. My mom took the kids in 2007, so I don’t have any pictures from that year, but our pictures from 2008 and 2009 are here and here.

This year my mom and I took Noah, Zoe, Colin, and their cousins Olivia and Michael.

Referrals for a new pediatrician?

I already posted this on Facebook, but if you know me in real life (and, therefore, know where we live) and we aren’t friends on Facebook for some reason, I have a question:

We had to push awfully hard with our current pediatrician to get referrals to First Steps and a developmental specialist for Colin, and then to an infectious disease doc for Noah. We are hoping to find someone who might be a little more responsive. We’re not looking for someone who’s going to order tests and procedures out the wazoo or anything, but our kids really needed these referrals and we feel like their doctor was too lax about it (In all three cases he said, “Oh, I think we can wait a while and see what happens.”).

Ideally, we would also like to find a pediatrician of color (African-American, Asian, Hispanic, whatever) that would be convenient to our new house (north, east, or one of the suburbs to the north would be OK). Any suggestions?