Mostly me, but the blog too. Ha ha.
I'm not done yet, but I'm working on a little blog re-do. Unfortunately, most things in my life are accomplished slowly, in 10 minute increments. I'll be back later....
Monday, June 20, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
I'm a plantin' me an apple tree...
If there's any truth to that whole "apple a day" thing, I might prefer to nurture a tree rather than load these three up and be confined to an exam room! [Let me say though that I adore their pediatrician - that is NOT the issue.] Last Thursday they all had doctor appointments. When I made Max's 12 month appointment (at his 9 month check-up, while Seth was in school), I also asked if I could just bring Seth for his 5 year at the same time. It made sense. Because I often don't make sense. Only having to load them up once and get them there on time once seemed like a great plan. In my head I also recall thinking, Luke will be 3 months older, he'll be better able to handle this excitement. Or, perhaps, I could find someone to pass him off to for the morning? Then, as the date approached for the two check-ups, Luke developed some symptoms that I deemed worthy of being seen by the doctor (since we were going to be there anyway), and suddenly you have a package deal.
Thankfully (?) the appointments were early and Dave didn't have anything too early so he was home to help me get everyone ready. This trip required a bag change - from baby diaper bag to three kid backpack filled with soft books to occupy the time spent crammed into the tiny room. So, thanks to Dave, we got there on time. [He did go to work, not with us.] Upon entry to the office the older two boys immediately headed off for the germ infested toys. I'm not a huge germophobe, but it IS a doctor's office. Does it get much ickier germier than that? I headed to the counter to check in the boys and Max snuggled into me so as to not have anyone else in the world ever touch him.
The wait wasn't too bad and soon we were called back. They sent me and Max to an exam room with a nurse (or medical assistant, not sure, but we'll call them nurses because it's shorter to type than medical assistant). I wasn't really so sure about leaving Luke with Seth and a stranger/nurse for fear of them ganging up on her, but it was just for weighing and measuring heighth so I enjoyed my 3 minutes of quiet and odd questions about Max. I should mention that I always feel like a completely absent parent when they start asking me if the boys can do certain things - is he walking? Does he drink out of a sippy cup? Can he say 1 to 3 words? Does he stand on his head in the corner whistling a tune? I think I always just answer, "uhhhh, yeah." Except, of course, that he's not walking and he hates sippy cups (we're on #7) so I had to answer 'no.' But, never fear, Luke came bursting through the door and attempted to answer every question for me. "Yep, yep, he does."
Then they took Max to measure him. I stood beside the table. He immediately burst into tears and screamed at the top of his lungs. Then we all went (maybe not Seth?) out to weigh him. I carried him out, sat him on the scale myself and stood next to him. This one started out with the pouty lip and progressed quickly to crying. Oh, sweet Max!
Then we headed back to the exam room for more questions about the other guys and a discrete discussion of Seth's "immunizations." I hadn't really prepared him for this and the nurse didn't really tell him that was what was coming either. I knew it was inevitable, but Seth tends to overreact so waiting until the last minute seemed appropriate this time.
Then the doctor came. She was there about 2 minutes after the nurses left us. I'm thinking they went out and mentioned that if she wanted her room to be intact she might want to hurry things along!
There was one stool in the room (to get to the exam table) and Seth and Luke both wanted to sit on it. A lot of whining ensued and Luke ended up sitting on the doctor's lap. She's great with him and he adores her so it worked out. Except that he wanted to push the buttons on her computer.
She very simply explained to Seth that he would be getting a few shots because he had to have them for school. My neice and nephew are also patients and she knows my sister. She told Seth how brave his cousins were for their shots. She said it would hurt a little and he could cry if he needed to but that it would be over soon.
Once we finished up with the visit, including all of the questions I had written down on the back of a flyer that came in the mail (wow, I'm so organized), the doctor left, the two nurses came back and Seth got his shots. He was very brave and I was so proud of him. Max wasn't quite so brave. But Max is a bit younger and he doesn't get to go to school in the fall so he couldn't really be reasoned with.
The outcomes:
Luke's issue turned out to be not nearly as big a deal as I thought it might. Easily treatable and we are doing so. He weighed in at 37 pounds.
Seth weighed 43 pounds and is 3' 9.5". He is 50-75th percentile for weight and 90th for height. I didn't have any big concerns with him, just a few questions and she reassured me he's 'normal.'
Max weighed 18 pounds, 13 ounces. He is 28.5". His height is 10th percentile (I think). His weight is just under 5th percentile I am thankful these numbers aren't things the doctor gets worked up about. She laughed and said, "just under 5th percentile is better than well under 5th." But, that's consistent with where he's been the last few times so she thinks he might just be "my little guy." I can handle that. He also had a nasty bug bite that blistered up really ugly so she gave us some meds for that. That made me feel a little better.
So, over all everyone is doing well. AND they got to eat lunch with Daddy after the appointment. I was SO thankful that he called and said he was free for lunch because, all kidding aside, I was zapped from trying to corral the 3 of them at the doctor's office. Wow!
Thankfully (?) the appointments were early and Dave didn't have anything too early so he was home to help me get everyone ready. This trip required a bag change - from baby diaper bag to three kid backpack filled with soft books to occupy the time spent crammed into the tiny room. So, thanks to Dave, we got there on time. [He did go to work, not with us.] Upon entry to the office the older two boys immediately headed off for the germ infested toys. I'm not a huge germophobe, but it IS a doctor's office. Does it get much ickier germier than that? I headed to the counter to check in the boys and Max snuggled into me so as to not have anyone else in the world ever touch him.
The wait wasn't too bad and soon we were called back. They sent me and Max to an exam room with a nurse (or medical assistant, not sure, but we'll call them nurses because it's shorter to type than medical assistant). I wasn't really so sure about leaving Luke with Seth and a stranger/nurse for fear of them ganging up on her, but it was just for weighing and measuring heighth so I enjoyed my 3 minutes of quiet and odd questions about Max. I should mention that I always feel like a completely absent parent when they start asking me if the boys can do certain things - is he walking? Does he drink out of a sippy cup? Can he say 1 to 3 words? Does he stand on his head in the corner whistling a tune? I think I always just answer, "uhhhh, yeah." Except, of course, that he's not walking and he hates sippy cups (we're on #7) so I had to answer 'no.' But, never fear, Luke came bursting through the door and attempted to answer every question for me. "Yep, yep, he does."
Then they took Max to measure him. I stood beside the table. He immediately burst into tears and screamed at the top of his lungs. Then we all went (maybe not Seth?) out to weigh him. I carried him out, sat him on the scale myself and stood next to him. This one started out with the pouty lip and progressed quickly to crying. Oh, sweet Max!
Then we headed back to the exam room for more questions about the other guys and a discrete discussion of Seth's "immunizations." I hadn't really prepared him for this and the nurse didn't really tell him that was what was coming either. I knew it was inevitable, but Seth tends to overreact so waiting until the last minute seemed appropriate this time.
Then the doctor came. She was there about 2 minutes after the nurses left us. I'm thinking they went out and mentioned that if she wanted her room to be intact she might want to hurry things along!
There was one stool in the room (to get to the exam table) and Seth and Luke both wanted to sit on it. A lot of whining ensued and Luke ended up sitting on the doctor's lap. She's great with him and he adores her so it worked out. Except that he wanted to push the buttons on her computer.
She very simply explained to Seth that he would be getting a few shots because he had to have them for school. My neice and nephew are also patients and she knows my sister. She told Seth how brave his cousins were for their shots. She said it would hurt a little and he could cry if he needed to but that it would be over soon.
Once we finished up with the visit, including all of the questions I had written down on the back of a flyer that came in the mail (wow, I'm so organized), the doctor left, the two nurses came back and Seth got his shots. He was very brave and I was so proud of him. Max wasn't quite so brave. But Max is a bit younger and he doesn't get to go to school in the fall so he couldn't really be reasoned with.
The outcomes:
Luke's issue turned out to be not nearly as big a deal as I thought it might. Easily treatable and we are doing so. He weighed in at 37 pounds.
Seth weighed 43 pounds and is 3' 9.5". He is 50-75th percentile for weight and 90th for height. I didn't have any big concerns with him, just a few questions and she reassured me he's 'normal.'
Max weighed 18 pounds, 13 ounces. He is 28.5". His height is 10th percentile (I think). His weight is just under 5th percentile I am thankful these numbers aren't things the doctor gets worked up about. She laughed and said, "just under 5th percentile is better than well under 5th." But, that's consistent with where he's been the last few times so she thinks he might just be "my little guy." I can handle that. He also had a nasty bug bite that blistered up really ugly so she gave us some meds for that. That made me feel a little better.
So, over all everyone is doing well. AND they got to eat lunch with Daddy after the appointment. I was SO thankful that he called and said he was free for lunch because, all kidding aside, I was zapped from trying to corral the 3 of them at the doctor's office. Wow!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
May Daily Pictures...
Nothing like a frosty! It was about 90 degrees outside. Please notice Luke's choice of footwear.
My order from the craft/hobby store. They had all their page protectors 40% off. Then there was a coupon for another 10% off just for two days. I am enjoying my simple little scrapbook so much that I am going to tackle some of the boxes of unscrapped photos and make simpler books with those pictures also. So I bought page protectors with a bunch of different orientations - mostly for 4 x 6 photos. Having all boys, I know they won't care how "pretty" the books are but they already enjoy looking back at the pictures, so just having it done has become more important to me than making it beautiful. Nevermind, that if I could just feel like some things were caught up around here I could breathe easier!
Again, Luke LOVES to dress up his feet. He found these in my stuff and decided to wear them. And for a couple of hours he was meticulous about pulling them up and having them just right.
Just a sweet boy - you can't see his shirt, but it says, "I'm not small, I'm fun size!" And is he ever.
Taken close to Mother's Day. Just to prove that I do exist and I'm not a ghost blogger.
We need more sidewalks around here.
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