4 hospital visits, 3 different hospitals, 2 crazy parents, and a partridge in a pear tree...

Wow, I am getting lazy with my postings. Excuse: we have been quite busy carting around the kids to different appointments and hospitals. Yes, three different hospitals in 9 days. Yes, 4 different hospital visits. And yes, both children needed medical attention!

A quick blurb about Amelia before we start in with an Evan update. She fell on a pebble at her hairline on her forehead and required what we thought would be one or two stitches. John took her in to the Naval hospital and they put a staple in to close the little gap. They said glue would not work on that spot of her head. When we went to Seattle Children's for Evan, both the surgeons we saw simultaneously exclaimed, "Is that a STAPLE?" "In a BABY??" I was kind of miffed that maybe the military was just being, well, militairy-ish on my baby's head. But it she only whined a little while they put it in and didn't even flinch when they took it out this week, so what is the big deal? I'll go with that Army doc on Grey's Anatomy any day.

On to Evan. We went see the hand surgeon at Seattle Children's last Thursday and he was very adamant about giving Evan a thumb. Of course he deserves a thumb, so we nodded our heads and scheduled the surgery. It's so hard to come to terms with the decision we know we needed to make. He does things Amelia can't even do, but it's only because he is so calm and methodical about doing little tasks. He loves to figure things out. But in the near future, he will need a thumb to use tools and do everyday tasks. Yes, he we could let him figure everything out and he would do just fine in life, but if we have the power to give him a thumb, shouldn't we? I know this is a 360 degree turn from a previous post where I said we would let him be. Everyday it becomes more obvious that he is trying to use his forefinger as a thumb, so we are going to go with the flow of what he is already trying to do. Hopefully everything will work out for the best! Of course we could always change our mind again, we have until November 17th.

For a little background on the surgery, here is an article about Dr. Hanel at Seattle Children's Hospital creating a thumb. The writer is horrible and it reads like a novel, but you can get an idea of how great this surgeon is supposed to be.

Here is a thumb pollicization video from Scottish Rite in Dallas, but it is just the intro. You can still get an idea of what the hand will look like afterward.

And here is a graphic.

And here are some recent cute pics to make your day. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the staple in her head! We also have a cardiology appointment tomorrow, so I will update soon on that!

New Kitchen VS The Box It Came In

Which is more fun? Maybe when they are done with the kitchen in a few days I will drag the box back in!

V

Within the past couple of weeks, I have frequented a couple of the local malls. The usual problems I have with the double stroller and mall pedestrians occurred (of course) time and again. You know, walking towards me, jumping out in front of me, etc. It was not until I drove over to the giant mall just south of Seattle that I experienced a new pattern. Bigger mall, jerkier people, I guess. I like to call this pattern the "V". Here is how it goes: As I approach slow moving people who are walking side by side, I make a decision to try to go around them (yes, everyone tends to walk slower than me pushing a huge honking stroller!). As I start to come around the side, they break apart while walking forward, creating a "V" shape. The "V" becomes larger as I try harder to go around them. When I finally give up and am forced to move behind them again, they close the "V", so I'm looking at butts again. In case you are having a hard time visualizing this, I create an animation to help you out.

Here is a stick figure animation of the "V" pattern:



Here is a stick figure animation of what I want to do:

Foofa!

Unfortunately, Amelia's favorite Yo Gabba Gabba character Foofa went on a special mission and went MIA. (I bought them figurines of all the characters.) So I went on a special mission to Target and got them each a Yo Gabba Gabba doll. Here is a short video for your entertainment.