He bit me... TWICE!

Twice today, Sydney bit me on the leg. 

The first time, he bit the side of my thigh while I was sitting down. I scolded him.

The second time, nearer to bedtime, TRULY HURT when he bit on the back of my thigh and even broke the skin through my yoga pants as I was standing in the living room.

Instantly, I screamed. 

I grabbed ahold of his upper arms and picked him up - facing me - and yelled "NO! We DON'T BITE!" (The little stinker LAUGHED IN MY FACE!!!!!) I was NOT wishy-washy. I was angry and stern. Sadly, he does not read emotion well at just 16 months old.

Mike suggested a time-out so, I took him to an empty corner and sat him down. He was NOT HAPPY with that. I reminded him repeatedly  "We do NOT BITE!" Being that he is ONE YEAR OLD, time-outs are only effective for one minute, if that, according to experts.

Afterwards, he looked as if he was going to try to bite me again on the shoulder, but I reminded him "Don't even think about it." I left him with his Daddy while I went to put clean bedding on Sydney's crib.

Oh, how I wish I had all the answers.... being a(n) (effective) parent is tough!

Baby 2 ultrasound

At last visit, my left ovary was surrounded by fluid and had 2 cysts on it. This time, the fluid is gone and there is only 1 cyst - of which appears to be no concern.

At last visit, there was evidence that there had been TWINS. At this visit, the second baby has dissolved itself and ONE HEALTHY BABY remains.

At last visit, there was a small blob of blood near the occupied sac. That blood blob is still there, but seems to be of no concern. (They indicated that I may eventually have a little spotting if that blob works itself loose.)

At last visit, the occupied sac measured "abnormally large" for gestational age. At this visit, the sac was still slightly larger than expected, but does NOT appear to be a problem. Doctor says that a large sac is NOT indicative of future problems. (This was an uneasy concern of mine for the past 2 weeks; the ultrasound technician indicated that it wasn't fair for them to say that last time - only to cause me to worry.... "it IS, what it is and there's nothing you can do about it because it doesn't matter" she indicated. She did agree with Mike, however, that it did give them a reason to justify another ultrasound with all of the other things that they were keeping an eye on. AND... I was SUPER RELIEVED to confirm that it IS only ONE BABY!)

At last visit, the baby measured accurate according to last menstrual period and had a good heartbeat for it's gestational age. At this visit, the baby showed growth and increased heart rate as expected for it's gestational age.

Dr. O'Donnell suggested that we can pursue further testing (in Iowa City) if we wanted to (later in the pregnancy) to rule out problems. We, however, explained that our initial concern was due to the fact that I had been exposed to xRays, MRI and gadolinium dye and that we were NOT concerned about other chromosomal conditions; afterall, we have a perfectly healthy little boy and think that our genes meshed pretty well together already. She assured us that this pregnancy SHOULD be perfectly fine.

I also got a flu shot today - since they are highly recommended for pregnant mothers.

As for the morning sickness, that seems to be ongoing ALL DAY LONG and into the wee hours of the night, Dr. O'Donnell suggested a cocktail of Vitamin B6 and Unisom sleep aide, which do VERY WELL to fend off the ill affects. (Neighbor/Biology Professor Kate originally recommended the B6.) Perhaps it will be worth a try.

I do not recall throwing up more than TWICE last pregnancy. This time, I keep my bucket on hand throughout much of the day and have had to use it already. Last time, I remember minimal munching on cereal throughout the day. This time, even with near-constant snacking, it seems that I am waking in the night to eat in an attempt to rid myself of the sick feeling. (Mike had teased that twice as sick meant twice as many babies. HA-HA... NOT SO FUNNY!) I remind myself... just a few more weeks of this (fun).

Baby 2 should be growing between the size of a blueberry and a large raspberry this week and has grown by leaps and bounds since just 2 weeks ago! Baby had a heart rate in the 150's already and measured 1.2 cm long.

We're not ready right now, but by early May, we'll be ready to meet you, Baby #2! (Due around May 7-9, 2011.)

Looking back on the blog

Earlier today, while Sydney was just settling down for his morning nap, I was quietly sitting in the office and skimming through some past blog entries.

We have SO MANY GOOD MEMORIES documented on the blog! 

I am SO GLAD that I have done this (blog) because there was A LOT of stuff that I have already (sadly) forgotten. There was A LOT of stuff that made me smile.

Since becoming a mother, I have NOT had a lot of time to pursue scrapbooking. (Heck, I feel lucky to get pictures downloaded off of my camera and have been WANTING to take the time to organize all of the photos into ONE PLACE on the computer so that I could easily back them all up onto a disk. The recent lightening strike - taking out Sydney's sound machine, the modem, the stove and the dryer - seems to have SPARKED a little more desire into me to want to do just that; however, I have been being responsible and taking naps, as well as going to bed early - since becoming pregnant again.)

I am glad that I have this ONE PLACE (my blog) to document all of our memories. 

Someday, I hope to order my blog postings as a giant printed book.... or break it up into multiple books by years. I've looked at them before on the internet, but MONEY is something that we do not have a lot of these days so, it has been added to my BUCKET LIST so-to-speak.

I'm thinking I need to look back to the beginning of my blogging days - and the beginning of my last pregnancy - to see if I felt morning sickness a lot back then. I certainly recall only a few instances off the top of my head. This time around, I feel as if I have had near-constant sickness FOR DAYS NOW! Today is the first day in a long time that I have felt actually GOOD. 

I keep telling Mike "I sure hope this kid is cute!" to which he replies "Of course it is!" 

Deep down, we're still banking on HEALTHY as our first choice, but our track record so far DID produce charmingly cute once already. So, the odds are in our favor! Tomorrow, we go in for another ultrasound to make sure that Baby 2 is doing well inside that abnormally large sac.

Sydney fears... ROBOTS, but LOVES Sesame Street!

I have noticed on more than one occasion while driving to WI, that Sydney does NOT like the segment of his 40 years Best of Sesame Street DVD that features R2D2 and C3PO counting with Big Bird. In fact, he has started to fuss and fuss EVERY TIME they are on so that I have to reach back and hit the FFWD to skip to the next segment. (And then, everything is ALL BETTER!)

This morning, when I selected a Sesame Street episode to watch from our 15+ hours of pre-recorded on the DVR box, actor Greg Kinnear was on and was trying to explain the word MACHINE to the viewers, but was having a hard time coming up with a good explanation. All of a sudden, a puppet-robot came into the picture and announced something along the lines of "A machine is a device to help people."

Sydney immediately SCREAMED and came running over, taking cover on my chest as I lay on the large pillow on the floor. We hugged like that for a minute or so, which felt VERY NICE. In the meantime, I grabbed the remote and fast-forwarded to the next segment.

Apparently, Sydney truly IS afraid of ROBOTS.

Who knew?

• • • • • • 

Speaking of Sesame Street, I was SUPER EXCITED to learn that NEXT WEEK starts a new season of brand new Sesame Street episodes on Iowa Public Television. For months and months, we have been selecting between the same (repeat) episodes. I am anxious to see what is new and exciting on this famous, friendly street.

• • • • • •

We got a flyer in the mail yesterday – addressed to the previous homeowners – announcing Sesame Street LIVE coming to Dubuque in November. We have already purchased tickets to go see it in Milwaukee, WI when Sydney and I will be visiting Grandma & Grandpa Olson. I'm sure that Sydney will LOVE IT!!! (Maybe next year, we can go see it in Dubuque instead.)

Waterpark Play Date

This morning, we met two other moms from the breastfeeding support group, and their respective babies, at the waterpark for a play date. Sydney was THRILLED the second that we entered the waterpark. However, he was scared by the GIANT bucket of water dumping 350 gallons of water every 8 minutes; the first one that we were there for caught him by surprise.

Sadly, Sydney was NOT having fun at the waterpark like the other two babies.  He kept shivering, while keeping a firm hold of his bath duck. After a few short minutes, he started signing ALL DONE. Since I do like to honor his wishes whenever possible, I took him out of the cool children's pools and over to the hot tub where he was ALL BETTER. (We did our own thing, as not to spoil anyone else's fun.) I had even started to lift him out of the hot tub and he INSISTED that he wanted to play in the warm water so, instead, I just raised myself out of the hot water - keeping just my feet in.

After a little snack, he surprisingly, went over to the edge of one of the cold 6" kiddy pools and backed himself into the water. I thought for sure that his toes hitting cold water would deter him, but he decided that he wanted to play in the water so, I let him.

We were at the water park for 2 full hours! 

Cost: $5.35

The look on his face when he was having fun: PRICELESS

Book is Upside Down

Sydney was sitting on the floor looking at a book. The book was upside down.

"Sydney, your book is upside down!" I announced.

Sydney gets up to his feet, spins around and sets his forehead on the ground - looking between his legs at the book. (He looked a lot like Mork-from-Ork, but his book was no longer upside down... he was!)

I laughed. I thought it was pretty funny. 

Later, when Mike got home, I told Sydney to show Daddy "upside down". Mork-from-Ork... I mean, Sydney... performed perfectly on cue.

Road rash from running shoes

These (Champion) shoes...

are made for walking... and climbing... and running...

in the life of a VERY ACTIVE 15-month old boy named Sydney.

Unfortunately, sometimes, when wearing these shoes, Sydney falls down.

This morning, we were outside and mommy pointed out that there was a basset hound/beagle standing at the corner near our house. Sydney took off running. Unfortunately, his feet got ahead of himself and he ended up tripping. As if in slow-motion, by ironically SUPER FAST, I watched his feet running through the air Charlie-Brown-style as he flipped over onto his face. I think I held my breath, hoping that his right arm would be OK since it is still "healing" from his Greenstick Fracture from last month, but his face seemed to be the only injury incurred.

Immediately, I picked him up. He was crying, which is not like him. (I think it scared him more than anything.) "You banged your head." I announced as he rubbed his forehead with his hand. He had some blood on his nose and I saw that his face was all scraped up. I took him inside so we could look at it in the mirror.

"Look, there is some blood on your nose." I pointed out.

Sydney took that as a cue to QUICK, wipe your face on mom's yellow shirt. I grabbed a Kleenex and we dabbed at the remaining blood. Then, he pointed at his eye. "Should we wipe there, too?" I asked. He nodded his head YES so that we dabbed gently there, too.

Sydney decided that some fresh blueberries would make him feel better. (Must be the healing power of those anti-oxidants that he was craving, right?) 

We took a self-portrait to document his fresh battle wounds before heading off to the dining room. (He just wanted to play with the camera.) 

As he sat in his highchair, I noticed that his face was starting to look tiger-striped and appeared to be looking worse than our self-portrait, just minutes earlier. His puffy lower eyelid/cheek was starting to ooze a little bit, too.

I called Aunt Sue for her medical advice on cleaning it: Warm, soapy water and some anti-biotic ointment, for sure, she suggested. Peroxide if he was cooperative. Needless to say, we skipped the peroxide because washing his face is more than enough battle. 

Uncle John called on the phone and we chatted for a few minutes while Sydney ran around the living room, smelling like poop. After I was off the phone, I diapered him and was then, able to put SOME ointment on him, but he wouldn't let me get much by his eye. (His forehead, nose and cheek were all OK to touch.) He, proudly, watched in the mirror as we smeared it on him. 

Shortly thereafter, we headed upstairs for a nap. I noticed that he had started rubbing his face and eyes, which is his tell-tale sign that he is tired. (Itchy nose, most of the time.) Then, he smeared his oily fingers on a page of his book. Hard to imagine how much ointment will be left after his nap, as he tends to flip his face from side-to-side when falling asleep.

Good thing that Daddy reminds Mommy often: BOYS GET BUMPS!

Aunt Nicki (inadvertently) taught Sydney a new trick

On Labor Day weekend, during our drive to Madison, Auntie Nicki climbed into the backseat of the moving car to entertain Sydney. She pulled out a bag of Cheerios for them to snack on while we drove to Aunt Betty's house.

"Should we put Cheerios in your ear?" she asked.

(Thankfully) Sydney shook his head NO.

Nervously, I kept driving, hoping that Sydney would NOT pay attention to the suggestion and that Nicki would change the subject.

"Should we put Cheerios in your nose?" she asked.

Sydney shook his head NO.

Then, the back seat decided that "We should EAT them! They go in your MOUTH!"

Oh, man... I had a bad feeling about this...

Nicki and I discussed the fact that those are not the best options to suggest for a very bright one-year-old. She said something along the line of "You know, I thought about that after-the-fact". Deep down, I had HOPED that he would NOT EVER recall the conversation; however, I know that he is, in fact, a SPONGE!

This afternoon, at lunch, Sydney picked a black bean out of his lunch and shoved it in his ear. Mike and I sat, watching, and calmly discussed the fact that we were NOT going to react to it. We thought it was best to pretend as if it hadn't happened at all. Knowing Sydney, if we would have made a BIG DEAL out of it (or said NO!) it would have turned into a game and he would shove food into his ear from now on out.

"I guess we'll have to thank my sister for this." Mike announced, since I had told him about the Labor Day drive.

"Indeed." I replied.

I took a picture while Mike entertained him. As I snapped the picture, he shoved his fork up his nose. (Nice.)

Then, when it was time to clean off his tray, I quickly and carefully plucked the bean out of his ear. 

Tonight, I'm afraid, he's going to bed with bean residue inside his ear.

NOTE: He dropped the first one on his shoulder. The second attempt made it into his ear.

Sidewalk chalk is SUPER FUN!

Grandparent's Day with Guard Grandparents and A TOAST

On Sunday, we celebrated Grandparent's Day with BOTH Grandma Carol & Grandpa Lowell (Guard). Grandma Carol has been visiting the Midwest for a few weeks and came on Friday to spend the weekend (off) with us. And Grandpa Lowell.... well, he doesn't miss a Sunday with Sydney (that is, unless WE are the ones that are unavailable).

We enjoyed BEAUTIFUL WEATHER, good company and fantastic food!

Sunday with Sydney Dinner consisted of:

• Ribeyes - grilled to perfection on the charcoal grill by Mike

• Sweet Corn - a Midwest favorite, steamed inside the husks on the grill

• Mushrooms & Onions - sautéed in butter

• Fresh Asparagus - pan fried and served slightly el dente

• Chicken Tagine - slow-cooked in the crockpot all day long

AND a toast (of white wine) in the afternoon hours - in honor of Grandparent's Day and the announcement that we found out that WE ARE PREGNANT! 

We thought that Grandparent's Day was a good day to make this announcement, making it memorable, for sure.  (Hmmm, pregnancy is THE most likely reason that my vision problems and MS symptoms had SUDDENLY cleared up and returned me to a state of remission and good health.)

Grandma (Eileen) Olson was nice enough to point out that BABY 2 is due just in time for Mother's Day. (I'd like to say that we planned it that way, but honestly, it was a little bit of a surprise for us. During the unknown period of this pregnancy, I had been exposed to Xrays for Sydney's arm, a MRI scan and contrast medium for the MRI.)

Labwork on September 7th indicated that I was most likely 6-7 weeks pregnant; however, we learned by ultrasound on September 13th, that my hormone levels WERE elevated because I had been previously pregnant with TWINS last week, but only one remained this week. (The way I look at that is: Thank goodness for small miracles because I'm not sure that I could have handled TWO.) 

They want to repeat the ultrasound at the end of next week - on September 24th - to make sure that things are still going well. Baby 2 measured 5 weeks/5 days old yesterday and lives inside of an abnormally large sac. 

So, we'll see how things go from here... Dr. O'Donnell reports that the heartbeat is normal for this gestational age and should pick up significantly within the next week or two, and she reminds us that "heartbeat is good, indicating a viable pregnancy". (I felt a little more reassured later when I read on the internet that a heartbeat at this gestational age indicates 70-90% success rate in pregnancy.) 

Doctor confirmed that the xRays and MRI/dye SHOULD be safe and not to worry, but I still remain guarded with a defense mechanism. After (next) Friday's ultrasound, when we'll be told that everything looks fine, I hope to embrace and celebrate this pregnancy - like we did last time. (A part of me still worries what my vision will do post-pregnancy, but I remind myself that LAST TIME, I was JUST FINE for over a year so, here's hoping for another run of good luck and good health.... for everyone involved!)

HELLO Guard Baby #2!

Little stinker learns to climb dining chairs

Tonight, near bedtime, Sydney threw a leg up onto the seat of a dining chair and pulled himself up onto the chair. We looked at each other - in horror - and I spelled out "Oh, S - H - I - T!" It seems that once he scaled the chair, he started to pull himself up onto the dining room table, too.

I put him down onto the floor. Proudly, he demonstrated his new skill and climbed the chair again without much hesitation.

"I guess we'll have to keep the chairs pushed in under the table and all of the extra chairs will have to go hide in the bonus room." Mike announced.

Makes me wonder how long we'll be able to keep him in his crib....

Baby's First... HAIRCUT!

This morning, we had a surprise adventure for Grandma Carol - which was planned by Mike. We told her that it was something that she has never done before. She was quite perplexed as far as where we were going, what we were doing and how she should dress. As we entered Capri College, she still had no idea what we were going to do.

Sydney got to sit on Grandma Carol's lap and got his Baby's First Haircut - complete with a certificate and a rubber-banded lock of hair that was cut from the base of his neck. He did NOT like the protective apron so, we encouraged them to take that off. He was distracted with a hairbrush and a squirt bottle while Mommy and Daddy took pictures and took turn entertaining him. Sydney sat VERY WELL. The poor beauty school student did not seem very confident; the teacher did most of the work.

Mommy and Daddy were slightly apprehensive to get Syd's hair cut from someone who had streaked PURPLE hair! (Times have changed since Mommy and Daddy were young.)

Everyone thought that Sydney was SUPER CUTE! (We think so, too!)

Entertained during his first haircut with a brush and a squirt bottle.

(Click on above photo to open it larger in another window.)

Certificate and lock of hair.

Some of his hair lock was over 2" long. (The really long part that was cut off was the only hair that was left on his head since birth; the rest of it had fallen out and had re-grown.)

Sydney sports his new hair-do at the ShotTower restaurant where we had some lunch. (It was within walking distance from the salon and we were hungry.) There, Sydney liked looking at the cars in the display case.

Now, with his new haircut, he is a pretty dapper little dude!

Sydney hit his head doing adult things

Sydney started to cry - a cry of HURT. He came to mommy, rubbing his head with his hand and a pouty lower lip.

"What happened? Did you BONK your head? How did that happen?"

Sydney took me near the end table that sits next to Mike's living room recliner. He grabbed the white plastic boxed outlet cover housing from the floor and showed it to me. Then, he climbed under the table to attempt to stick the plug cover to the wall.

"Did you BONK your head when you tried to put this on the wall?"

Sydney nodded his head YES and handed me the box housing, as if he was asking for help.

Funny that the 15-month old is observant enough to KNOW what it is and where it goes. He felt MUCH BETTER after Mike had put the boxed outlet cover back where it belongs. What a smart kid!

Sydney says MOON and demonstrates NO

Tonight, Grandpa Lowell had wanted to take Sydney for a stroller ride, but Sydney kept protesting and shaking his head NO. 

A few minutes later, Grandpa would ask again and again, Sydney would say NO. 

Eventually, Grandpa got Sydney into his jammies and had hoped to go for a stroller ride yet again, but Sydney said NO. (Thank you for honoring Sydney's opinion, Grandpa.)

Trying again, Grandpa asked "Do you want to go outside?"

Sydney nodded NO.

Rethinking, Grandpa asked "Do you want to go out in the yard?"

Sydney said NO.

Mommy asked "Sydney, do you want to go outside with Grandpa and look for the moon?"

Sydney quickly nodded YES!

As they made it out the kitchen door, I heard Sydney say the word MOON.

"Grandpa, did Sydney just say MOON?" I asked.

"I do believe he did." Grandpa replied.

MOON. That's fun!

Nice to meet you, Auntie Nicki

This afternoon, Sydney met Auntie Nicki for the first time. He was a little reserved at first; although, he had only been awake for a few minutes. He warmed up quickly to her. She and Grandpa played a giggly game with some sticks - poking Sydney's belly and Grandpa making Sydney jump from the poke. Sydney did most of the giggling.

We spent the afternoon visiting and decided on dinner at Olive Garden. Auntie Nicki turned on the Sesame Street movie in the car (on the way there) and sang "I love trash!" with Oscar the Grouch.

We enjoyed a nice dinner together.

Afterwards, Sydney was excited to go for a stroller ride and then, read some books at home - alternating between Grandpa Lowell and Auntie Nicki. They sure are fun to play with.

When Grandpa and Nicki went home for the night, Sydney gave Auntie Nicki a kiss. (I think he likes her.)

It's nice to finally meet you, Auntie Nicki!

NOTE: Photos to add to this post another day/time.

Oh, man - What a day!

The day started off REALLY GOOD. I hope it all ends up OK...

Sydney had an oatmeal and peach yogurt "spa treatment" following his self-feeding breakfast. He was so slippery that he couldn't even manage to hold onto his cup anymore. Needless to say, straight into the tub when we were done with breakfast.

During the morning nap, I finished cleaned the bathroom. (I did most of the cleaning of the poo-tub yesterday before Mike came home from work because I had the opportunity to and the longer it sat, the more it fell apart in the tub. Needless to say, it WAS disgusting. Mike finished the tub scrubbing when he got home.) The toilet, sink and floors were scrubbed.

After lunch, Sydney and I went outside for him to play in the sandbox. This was the first time he could play in it since getting his cast off. We were having fun, with him playing in his diaper, until I smelled POO. Thankfully, it stayed self-contained inside his diaper until we came inside, but there was PLENTY of sand inside the diaper - stuck to the poo. Sydney was VERY COOPERATIVE, for once, in diapering - which was a blessing for me. It was a 6-wipe diaper to get all of the sand and poop off.

Then, I thought it was a good idea to shower the sand residue off of his body in the freshly-washed bathroom. I set him in the tub, just in time to see Otto lurch forward in the office and start to heave. (The cats had been outside with us, too.) I quickly grabbed Otto and put him into the tub, holding him there until he hurled a HUGE wad of grass. In the meantime, Sydney attempted to climb out of the empty tub, but slipped - falling into the tub and flailing like a fish in the ever-standing mini-puddle. So, Sydney's fall scared Sydney, Mommy AND the cat. I scurried to pick Sydney up and dry his face with a hand towel, but noticed that the cat - who had run - was heaving again. So, I set Sydney down (screaming, of course) and quickly grabbed the cat in an attempt to get him into the tub again. 

Turns out, I wasn't quick enough... instead, I got cat puke all over my clean floor, all over my freshly washed bath mat, all over the outside of the bathtub and all over my bath towel (hanging on the door). So much for keeping things clean.

Sydney has a little goose-egg on his forehead and a red mark by his eye from his bathtub stunt; perhaps, that will slow him from his climbing. [NOTE: Last night, he was STANDING on the arm of the rocking chair. He's got NO FEAR! I permitted it to see how gutsy he was and quickly removed him from the harmful situation.]

Sydney was tired so, I put him down for a short nap and I started to clean up cat puke and type this blog. Sydney was refusing to settle down. Soon, I heard Mike's footsteps. Man, how I needed a hug. He got Sydney out of his bed and instead of napping, we hung out for a little while before going to my eye doctor appointment.

At the eye doctor, they had checked my vision with and without glasses. The had put stuff in my eyes. The doctor had performed some vision tests and looked into my eyes at my optic nerves. We were shuffled into a waiting room mid-way through the appointment. Thankfully, my neurologist had sent ME a copy of the letter that went to my primary care doctor/OB-GYN and to this particular eye doctor; this doctor had not received the letter so, he read mine while we waited.

The eye doctor informed me that he saw NO EVIDENCE of Nystagmus at all. He also said that my prescription hasn't changed at all and that I am "almost 20/20". (REALLY? Since 2006 - when I have always thought that my glasses were already not strong enough - you're going to try to tell me that there is NO CHANGE AT ALL?!?!?) He informed us that he thought I may have suffered from something else, other than Nystagmus, but my description of tracking the neurologist's red light and having it change from a ball to a stripe DID sound like nystagmus. He said he thought I may have had internuclear ophthalmoplegis - and specified probably bilateral. Hard to tell since I am NOT having problems right now.

For some reason, it was confused that we were NOT really there for a random medical diagnosis. We already know that I have MS. We already know that it has recently affected my vision. We were here to get stronger glasses on my eyes so that I could see better.

I had already guessed earlier in the week that the Nystagmus had gotten better because yesterday morning, I was SUPER EXCITED that I could track a school bus driving past our house and I could read the words on the side of the bus as it moved past; two weeks earlier, I was NOT able to do that. Yesterday afternoon, I could proudly tell Mike that there was a woman with her hair in a ponytail driving that car that just drove past. This, too, I was not able to do last week.

The ophthalmologist seemed to think that I should come back in 3 weeks and have my field of vision plotted and that he can re-check my eyes at that time. (I felt like we missed that part of the appointment completely - he played a little bit with "what's better - this or that?" but it was never as clear as the one that we had started with.) At the tail end of my appointment - perhaps when we seemed confused that it was over after keeping us for a long wait to tell us next-to-nothing – he stated that it would be foolish to write a prescription so close to the time that my eyes had just recovered from a MS-attack. He also told me that there is nothing wrong with my eyes and there is no reason why I should not drive. (Although he did say that the color of my optic nerve was LIGHT in color; I'm not sure how that relates to the MS?)

We left the exam room and went to the desk to schedule the appointment for the field of vision test. Then, while I was there, Mike announced "I'll be right back."

When Sydney and I were done, I ventured down the hallway to hear Mike and the doctor arguing. I stepped down the hall, waiting. After a few minutes longer, Mike walked out saying to the doctor "Thanks for nothing." 

I was NOT there for the confrontation, but am paraphrasing Mike's update as I recall it. (For the record, Mike is VERY GOOD at remaining calm. He deals with the public for a living and knows how to keep a rational mind during confrontation. Hopefully, THIS encounter fits his profile.) 

I guess there was some finger-pointing over the fact that we thought we were there for an eye exam and the ophthalmologist thought we should have seen an optometrist for that kind of appointment. As well as voicing the fact that this doctor wasted our time and we wasted his; perhaps, he should have told us right off the bat that it was not advisable to do an eye exam so close to the MS-attack. (My neurologist indicated that there was no reason for me NOT to keep today's appointment because my glasses still had not been checked since 2006 and we should get the right prescription on me to help my vision.)

 Mike said that the doctor became quickly defensive and announced "feel free to go see someone else" to which Mike explained "I don't have a problem with YOU. I have a problem with the fact that we thought we were here for an eye exam and we didn't get it, but now we have to come back and pay for yet another appointment." 

Mike got angry when the doctor said "What do you care? This appointment is billed as medical and is paid for by your insurance." (That is NOT the best way to look at things - from the doctor's end... especially since WE are responsible to pay the next $3000 out-of-pocket in medical expenses.)

As we walked out of the clinic, I let Mike explain what was said. I looked at Mike and said "Sorry you're mad at the doctor. And I also wish that you weren't wearing your work shirt." (Hopefully, the doctor did NOT notice that... we'd hate for Mike to get fired over a complaint to the general office that Mike was not representing the company in a nice light while wearing their logo.) Granted, the doctor doesn't necessarily know his name, but can say Mr. G was rude. Man, I hope that does NOT happen; we've worked so hard to get Mike here and we are happy in our lives.

I believe Mike plans to write a letter of complaint to the clinic. I guess we'll see what happens....

Man, WHAT A DAY!

Oatmeal Bath (in that order) and an Uh Oh

This morning, Sydney woke a little earlier than usual; today we woke at 6:40am. We ventured downstairs to get him a cup of juice and some Cheerios, in an attempt to fend off the morning hungries and distract from the urge of BEGGING for milk. We were fortunate enough to be able to sit on the sunporch and watch the garbage truck on the other side of the street, which is pretty exciting stuff for a 15-month old.

We drank juice, ate Cheerios, watched the Local on the 8's and turned Sesame Street on for a little while so that Mommy could make some breakfast and a phone call to the insurance company. While I was on hold, I made some oatmeal - WITH MILK - in an attempt to get more calcium into Sydney's diet. (He's still VERY hit-or-miss on the cow's milk-thing; still, I feel that skim milk is better than NONE. Eventually, we hope to get him higher up the fat-chain, as far as MOO-JUICE is concerned.)

Sydney was SUPER EXCITED that I let him feed himself oatmeal. It had been THREE WEEKS of a casted arm that prevented this messy activity. He did AWESOME maneuvering his right hand and spoon like a pro! Cast? What cast? I've forgotten about it already, mom. See, my right hand works JUST FINE. In fact, at one point, I even refilled his bowl with MORE OATMEAL and he ate every last speck of it. (Of course, sometimes he eats almost all of the raisins out of it first before finishing off the oatmeal.)

Grandpa Lowell normally makes himself a 1/2-serving of oatmeal for breakfast. I'm pretty sure that Sydney ate JUST AS MUCH as Grandpa today, if not more! We followed up with some fresh blueberries and some MORE Cheerios! Today, Sydney was an eating machine!

After our messy breakfast, I took him straight to the bathtub. We added some bubbles, a sandbox shovel and a bath duck to the water for some extra fun. Sydney was busy playing and splashing away. After a short time, I noticed that the splashing had stopped. Uh-Oh... never a good sign! All of a sudden, Sydney stands up - leaving behind a well-formed 6" turd, some tomato skins and random pellet-sized pieces of poo.

I quickly scooped him out of the water and re-bathed him in the kitchen sink. (He DID like the dish soap bubbles much more than the baby wash bubbles.) After I diapered him, I called Mike at work.

"Can you do me a favor today?" I sweetly ask my husband.

"Sure, what do you need?" he quickly replies.

"Will you clean the bathtub for me?"

"Yeah, I can do that."

"Great! Thanks! By the way, there is a GIANT TURD in it."

"Whoa, that wasn't there last night." Mike informed me, laughing.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I tease.

"Um, I think I might have to work late today." 

"Bull." I call his bluff, knowing good-and-well that he gets off at 10:30am.

"Yeah, that's fine. I can take care of it. I'll be home in a little while."

(It only seems fair that Daddy takes a turn... I've had to clean up all the other POOP BATHS so far. I guess it was good timing on Sydney's part - being that we needed to clean the tub again anyways. I'm guessing that Mike may not be as willing to agree to FAVORS after the trickery of this phone call.)

Now that Sydney is napping, I guess I can wait a little longer to shower...