In the Eye of the Storm

Yesterday we took D to the eye doc to see what can be done about his clogged tear duct. Let us just say that it was an adventure. I knew when I called to make the appointment that we could be in for trouble; the receptionist booked me into a cancellation time spot, 3 PM, otherwise it was July before we could get in…for the consult. And, anyone who has ever been to the doc knows that afternoon appointments are usually a joke when it comes to appointment time versus actual time. To be fair, I understand that a lot of the time it is not the doc’s fault; it is the fault of those ABSOLUTELY.INCONSIDERATE.PEOPLE who don’t know how to be on time. When someone is late for an appointment, it just spirals from there, leaving the unfortunate punctual people whose appointments fall in the afternoon to pay the consequences.

So, at 4 PM we were finally brought back into the office for our 3 PM appointment. We were asked a bunch of questions that completely contradicted what our pediatrician had told us related to treatment of the problem. Ped said nothing can really be done…you can try to massage it, but that has never been proven to help. Nurse yesterday looked at me like I was a bad mom for not trying. Anywho, at 4:15 PM the actual doc finally came in to assess. When I told him which eye was problematic, he actually had the audacity to tell me he thought it was the other eye. Yea, who has spent the last year wiping the eye out????? Whatever dude. The dye test revealed that mom was right (of course!) and then we had to go through dilation. Did I mention that was another 30 minute wait in the hot and crowded waiting area where D kept getting plowed over by the 6 and 7 year olds? Yea. We took turns taking D outside so he could burn off some steam, but he was still pretty grumpy given I had had to wake him up from his nap early to ensure we were on-time for our appointment. Too bad someone from the office couldn’t have called to say they were running an HOUR late so we could have at least let him get enough sleep to cope with the adventure. We finally left the doc office at 5:15 PM, which positioned us perfectly to hit ABQ rush hour at its finest, and since we were way down south, it was another 30 minutes before we got home. D was starving, thirsty, and ready to run. Note: I did bring a sippy with milk and one with water and some snacks, but would have brought dinner had I known we would end up being there the entire afternoon/evening.

Verdict? A nurse should call us within the week to get two more appointments set up: one to discuss the procedure at length; one to actually have the procedure performed. At this rate it will be 2009 before anything gets done. Oh yea, did I mention that this will be outpatient surgery with full anesthesia? Yikes! And, there is a chance it might have to be done twice if the first time doesn’t work. Luckily, the doc said most kids are back to playing one hour after the surgery. Unfortunately, the information the doc gave us yesterday suggests that this can actually be treated before 12 months, in-office rather than in the hospital, without general anesthesia. While we really like our ped because she is very pro-natural treatment/healing rather than immediately prescribing drugs, this would have been a nice option to know about. We would certainly have preferred to take him in at 11 months and have it done in-office versus surgery at the hospital. Live and learn baby, live and learn. We have done a lot of that this month aka the school of hard knocks and are all hopeful that Aprils' showers really will bring May flowers :).

In other D news…

We have been working on “no nos” for a long time now. When he knows something is a no no because I have recently reminded him, he has started pointing at it, shaking his head (as if to say no) and saying, “na na na na na.” I think he gets it, but yet doesn’t get it as he happily trots over to the cat box and plays bongo on the top. Or yanks the water tube on the back of the fridge in an effort to decorate the kitchen with water. Or attempts cat food retrieval from the cat bowl to supplement his daily calorie requirements.

He is now walking almost exclusively. He still hasn’t figured out how to stand up if he falls, so he will crawl to the nearest object, pull-up and start over. We are having a blast watching his independence grow as he drags us from place to place loudly demanding that he get his way if we interfere or change his direction, so as not to walk into the dog poop on the sidewalk (thanks to all the responsible pooch owners out there) or hornets nest trees on our walks. He will thank us one day, just not today.

And, although his vocabulary is ever expanding, he has become focused on saying, “da” which we believe translates to “that” or “what is that.” Sometimes, it seems that is the only sound to be emitted from his mouth. He uses this when he wants up with one of us, when he wants a particular food other than bananas (he does manage “nana nana nana nana” when he wants that), when he wants to know what something is...pretty much all the time. It is cute, but we will both be happy when he starts using a few more words so we can try to better understand him beyond pointing and saying, “da.”

The messy news is that he is developing a very independent streak when it comes to feeding himself. This causes our kitchen to take on new color motifs on a daily basis: yesterday was orange squash, today was yellow yogurt. Who knows what tomorrow will bring :).

We love every single minute and are so very grateful for our little blessing!!! His toothy grin melts our hearts and his little laugh brings joy to our every day.

What??


I KNOW the cat box is a "na na na na na na!"