Weekend Update

Bob:

• He's fine.
• Gathering his strength and stamina as he looks at the beginning of his new position in one of those music teacher jobs: the everything Music teacher. Band, small ensembles, classroom General Music, and Lord knows it will probably end up being vocal at one point too due to budget cuts. This position is getting more and more prevalent, particularly in smallish middle schools, across New Jersey.
• He has a million projects around the house that aren't getting done, but what homeowner can't say that?
• He's had a nice summer so far, loved spending so much time with the girls and getting the stay-at-home dad feeling.
• He has deemed his encounter with many bags of frozen peas to be "all right", now that it's over. He would like to share with any other men that though it may be worth it, it is NOT "no big deal".

Me:

• Same as far as the house projects are concerned.
• Have to convert myself into an iTunes user this week, in honor of the fabulous iPods that my department bought us. Apple Fanboys, please forgive the teasing I have dished out over the years and help a PC girl out.
• New bedroom furniture = new lease on life. Seriously, I feel like a grown-up, even thoough this set is handed down too. I just go in there and pretend I bought myself a shore house.
• Been fighting off a sore throat-related illness since Thursday and ignoring the fact that it reminds me suspiciously of that old Strep feeling.
• Very proud of United States district court judge Vaughn R. Walker in the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
• Been to a baker's dozen of doctor appointments since school let out June 23rd, but I have a healthier family, baby especially, to show for it. No, really. Thirteen freakin' appointments. A few more lined up for fall, of course. And I may end up going in to Family Doc this week for this throat thing - for myself! Imagine!

Divine Miss M:

• Has had a lovely summer and has enjoyed the beach, the carnival, the boardwalk, Jelly Bean Jungle, Monkey Business, our pool, Vacation Bible School, or the other fun places that summer brings. Except for the small issue that we don't seem to want to do one of these fun things Every. Single. Day. She'll have to talk to the management about that.
• Clean bill of health from her first doctor visit in...a while. Look, Family Doc saw her for her shots at like 18 months and told me that, as long as she's healthy, she doesn't need to be seen till she needs her Kindergarten shots. Then E's doctor said, "Wait, you have another kid? Why hasn't she been in for well checks?" Well checks? She's 3! I figured she'd need the K shots, then just the high school sports physical, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah...she had her well check. She's a box at 39" and 39 lbs., and "very cognitively sharp."
• In love with Cars, Princess and the Frog, and all that Disney Princess Crap. Has a toddler crush on Mater, we believe.
• Starting preschool in September. Can't wait.
• Everybody told me that three is worse than two, and that they really get nice at four. Everybody damn well better be right. Holy PMS-ing Preschooler.

Little Project:

• Almost, almost sitting up unsupported. Rolling both ways, creeping in a circle, very good small motor skills, amazing focus on small objects, stands holding on to one of your hands or holding onto a table. Still doesn't babble, but she's probably behind from the whole no-voice-for-2-months thing.
• Her favorite toy is the pink and brown butterfly that used to blink while it plays "Twinkle Twinkle".
• She can almost drink from a sippy cup without most of it going down the bib.
• Solid foods are awesome, oatmeal and pears especially.
• Reflux was definitely an issue, but she seems to have grown out of it. Apparently she read the text book about that. You know, the one her sister skipped?
• Vocal function, which we thought was completely normal now (based on the decibel level of Her Royal Screechiness), is actually only healed about half-way. After a lovely camera-down-the-nose episode, her ENT from duPont said her right vocal cord is compensating for the left's paralysis, which is normal. He said her ductus was actually quite large, and causing a lot of trouble. Yes, Regular Pedi Guy, Surgeon Guy, and Cario Guy told me this too. Why do all these different doctors keep stressing this fact? Don't tell me that!!! The ligation surgery displaced the vocal nerve a lot, since it doesn't have this big honking ductus to lean on anymore. It'll be another few months before we hear what her real voice and vocal strength is. Oh goody. And the Laryngomalacia issue is still there, though better, and she'll grow out of it. No biggie. Pity, it sounds like such a good way to get out of Gym class. I can't run the mile today, my Laryngomalacia is acting up.
• Her heart is doing very well. She had some ventricle weakness because of how much bloodflow was diverted by this freak-ductus. "Her left ventricle was allowed to get lazy", to quote Cardio guy. So she's been on blood pressure meds to make life easy on this wussy ventricle. Cardio Guy thinks it's had time to beef up and start pulling its weight, so we're letting her grow out of her BP med dose and he'll check her again in a few months. She looks great, cardio-wise, overall. *Relieved sigh*
• And in the grand tradition of Projectness, there's something else. Isn't there always something else? Actually, turns out there's always been this something else. She has two gastroenterlogists and turns out they are both lovely 50-something ladies of Hispanic backgrounds from Cherry Hill. Is there some zoning rule that Cherry Hill must have X number of doctors residing per square mile? GI Lady #2 ordered tests to see how her intestines were doing, since she still has feeding issues. Turns out she has had "intestinal immaturity" all this time. This means her intestines didn't work the way they're supposed to, they spasm and cause cramps, they don't absorb all the nutrients they're supposed to, and in general, they're a problem. It happens, it has nothing to do with the heart thing, and it's just one of those things. The bad news: all the food we did get into her via one method or another - bottle, syringe, NG tube, sippy cup - wasn't feeding her as well as it should have been, and it was making her tummy hurt. :-( So sorry, baby! :-( The good news: the cure for this problem is to change to a special prescription formula and allow the baby to grow out of it, which usually happens around *drum roll* SIX MONTHS. So no special formula, since she'd be starting the weaning off of such special formula at this age anyway, had we found out about this sooner. Just deal make her as comfortable as possible. Why was this not tested sooner? Because she had 14 million other "issues" that also cause eating problems, and that and the reflux kind of masked the symptoms. Turns out this is probably contributing to, if not causing the reflux, in GI #2's opinion. GI #1 hasn't been updated yet. Probably should call her...
• OH, and icing on the cake: intestinal immaturity in infants has been closely linked to Irritable Bowl Syndrome in adolescence. YAY! Seriously, was she going to make it in this family without digestive problems of some sort anyway? Well at least we have GI #1 and GI #2 to call.

So that's us, in a nutshell.

And this is us, crammed in a photo booth: