Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Just Write

There's been so much going on here and every time I think that I should sit down to document it, either something else pulls me away or I'm overwhelmed by the thought of where to start. So it occurred to me that it's time for a list in no particular order and I'll even toss in some pictures for added interest. I'm pretty awesome.

1. Wyatt loves school and loves going every day. 

2. I love Wyatt going to school every day. We were all desperate for some structure to our days.

3. Natalie is firmly undecided about Wyatt going to school every day; in fact, yesterday in the car, she specifically told me she misses him, she wished he were there to play the foot game with her (it involves them kicking each other and always ends with someone screaming or crying, yet they continue to do it) and that she needed a big hug from Wyatt when we picked him up. She proceeded to demand that hug from him at the library after school and it turned out a hug wasn't sufficient. She, instead, required that he pick her up and wasn't satisfied until he did it. I think they love each other.

4. Without Wyatt around for three hours every morning, Natalie is allowed to speak with no disturbances. My ears are so tired and I'm not sure how there's anything left to talk about, yet somehow there is. And she's funny.

5. We went house hunting over Labor Day weekend with the goal of choosing which city to live in: Sumter versus Columbia.

6. In a surprise victory (even to us), Sumter won and we will be calling it home come January.

7. In an even greater surprise, we think we've even found a home to rent. Oh sweet relief to have that settled. We think. And we will have a guest room so please plan to visit (unless you're a lurker that I don't know and then that would just be weird.)

8. We took Wyatt to the doctor right before we left for some ongoing gagging issues. He was diagnosed as most likely having reflux, just like his dad, his grandpa, his aunt, his great-aunt, and a smattering of cousins. You could say it runs in the family. It was also noted his tonsils are the size of my fist and that perhaps he's, um, not as regular as he should be. You might recall a certain young man didn't enjoy that part of potty training and it seems maybe it created some lasting effects. Or maybe there was always something at play that made that part of potty training more challenging. Who knows.

9. From that one appointment, we received two new daily medications and referrals all over creation to a pediatric GI, an ENT and to X-Ray for a picture of his innards. Last week was chock full o' doctor's appointments and ended with a colon cleanse. Whoo boy, that was a good time.

10. Next week will bring us a barium swallow and an endoscopy at our local children's hospital, where we have the utmost confidence that they'll help us figure out what the heck is going on. When the GI asked me when the symptoms started, I was flummoxed. I mean, they never started. This is just who Wyatt is. He's always had a hair-trigger gag-reflex; he's always needed water on hand, just in case he gets that gaggy face; we've always known a cold means that he'll toss his cookies because he can't handle the drainage that comes with it. It's just him; it's how he's made.

11. Today we met with the ENT, who was awesome. In all honesty, military healthcare often (and in many cases rightfully so) gets a bad rap. You never know who your provider will be, you never get a choice in that, so you just have to hope for the best. We just can't say enough good things about our experiences here. The PA we saw today was fabulous, just like the PA we saw two weeks ago who sent us on these referral rabbit trails to start with. Anyway, the exam today lasted for about five minutes before he provided the kids with two otoscopes, tongue depressors and rubber gloves so they could perform an exam on Natalie's baby doll while he delivered his findings to me. His verdict: Wyatt's tonsils are actually the size of my fist. In doctor-speak they call it a 4+, they touch each other, they touch his uvula and leave very little space for anything to pass. He said anyone would gag with that at the back of their throat. He said a lot of other things that were very, very insightful also but in summation, Wyatt is now scheduled for a tonsillectomy in mid-October.

12. Perspective tells me that we are so very, very fortunate. I have a very healthy little boy for whom we are able to seek medical care for outpatient procedures and we have insurance that is covering them. We are geographically fortunate that right now we can (and are) leaning heavily on my parents for help with Natalie during these appointments and have already booked them for the tonsillectomy morning. But seriously, I'm capped with the medical drama right now and I need this to be the end of it for a little bit, okay? And yes, I'm furiously knocking on wood as I type that.


13. We took the kids to the KU football game last Saturday night and I'm telling you, that was a top five reason we chose Leavenworth for this school year. The weather was perfect, we sat three rows off the track, the kids were totally into the spirit of it, Grandpa and Grandma were there with us, we were all decked out in our Jayhawk gear, the 'hawks pulled out the win, we waved the wheat over and over, it was simply perfection. I sincerely hope the memories seared into my brain from that night never, never, never leave me. Funny moment? Wyatt's initial concern that he couldn't see the dancer girls when we first arrived.





14. We woke up bright and early Sunday morning to meet  Jeff's cousin and his wife at a local vineyard (yes, in Kansas) for their annual grape-picking. Liz signed us up for it months ago and we're so glad we went. The kids had a great time. Wyatt even got his own little pair of clippers with special help from Liz and Natalie was granted permission to eat as many grapes as she wanted, so she too was a happy camper.





15. There's a building in town being demolished and it is proving to be quite entertaining for the kids (and who am I kidding, I find it fascinating, too). So far we're at about three hours of time sitting, just watching the digger claw its way through the walls.  Good small-town fun.


16. We had a little lesson in economics a few weeks back when I took the kids to our local paint your own pottery place to paint plates and discovered they wanted $28 for each plate. I just couldn't do it. For $56, I could go buy a few place settings of white dishes that are on my perpetual wish list! So I made us leave. It was awkward since the owner had already started getting the kids all set up at the table while I picked out the pieces for them to paint. Fortunately, the cousins were available and willing to paint pottery in Lawrence just a few days later (where plates are $12 - I knew I wasn't crazy) and we had a grand time. Fast forward to this week, when Wyatt is invited to a birthday party at the local studio. Wyatt wanted to know if I was sure he could go since it's expensive. I assured him he could and then please asked him not to mention that I made us leave. We'll see how that goes; I have a sneaking suspicion it will come up again.


17. We got a new puppy. Natalie's in love with it, though her fascination is already waning now that it's been here for a month. The puppy is pretty perfect since it doesn't really require anything from us other than a small space to stand. It's the cutest cast iron Boston Terrier door stop a girl could hope for, but that hasn't stopped Natalie from talking to it or from introducing our guests to it. Turns out this has been a good lesson for me - we're definitely not in the market for any small living things around here as I don't think they'd be safe in Natalie's overly loving arms!

18. The weather has been nearly perfect so we're trying to take advantage with lots of park and trampoline time. Hopefully it will hold for a while so we can continue to enjoy it because I love a happy, exhausted set of kids at naptime.


19. Soccer season has begun again and we're off to a slow start. For some reason, the city is struggling to get the schedule set (heaven forbid we should be able to plan our Saturdays) and it's the same 4-6 year age range as our spring team but apparently many of the older kids moved up. That means there are a lot of four-year olds so Wyatt is now one of the more experienced players on the team. My friends, he is an enthusiastic young man but he is not what you would call focused on the sport of soccer. There are a couple of little guys who are, perhaps, more aware of what needs to happen to actually score a goal, but we'll just have to see how this season pans out. He likes it and that's all that matters for now. But there's an awful lot of this jumble-of-kids type of stuff at practice:

Natalie is, however, a huge fan of soccer. HUGE. Because there's a playground. So you'll find us doing this: 
That girl can ride the not-so-springy duck all day long. 









3 comments:

SStites said...

Those kids are ridiculosly adorable (I don't know if I spelled that right, but you know what I mean)! Our pediatrician scheduled Lynda and Laura for tonsillectomies on the same day (at age 5), muttering all the while, "Everyone is going to thing I am a total quack doing this, but they absolutely need this!" after several years of prescribing antibiotics by the gallon for them. And it WORKED! Never another bout of tonsillitis or even much of any other kind of infection! It was an amazing cure, and hopefully it will be the same for Wyatt. When they were released to go home the next day, I asked what they were allowed to eat, and Dr. Seagle said, "anything they want"--whereupon Laura announced she wanted fried chicken! Mmmmmmmmm! Maybe not! Keep the blog coming. I love it! And keep the guest room open. We haven't visited that part of the US yet!

Darling's said...

Aww, poor Wyatt! I am holding hope that getting his tonsils out will provide some miracle of miracles!!! Great to hear you have been happy with the care too, that makes the most difference! Happy to hear that your house hunting went well and you have a set idea. We can not wait to find out your address so we know where to park our camper when we come into town ;)

Thanks for the updates, now I think I should do a little updating myself!! Good luck with the surgery, I find parents need a good set of prayers as well when a kiddo has to go into surgery. They are coming your way!! Ohh, and I remember the BEST part of when I got mine out was the ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!!

Leslie said...

Great catch all update! The kids are super cute and make me smile. Maybe we'll get to have another play date at some point with you guys in SC soon! Sorry to hear about Wyatt's tonsils, but it sounds like it'll be a good thing in the long run.