Joey got his ears lowered

We let Joey's hair grow wild and free for 20 months, 2 weeks and 3 days.  Then it was time.

Hours before....

It was just too much in the back.  I couldn't take it anymore.

During....

Sad dad :(

He was actually quite angry/depressed after this whole ordeal.

Unkie Danny there for support.

Of course I kept it.

And after....

So handsome.

We then proceeded to try and mess his head up by asking him "Joey where'd all your hair go!?"  He responded by turning in circles, grabbing his head saying "Where'd it go!??"

Infectious Disease

Wednesday morning at 9:45 a.m. we will be meeting with Dr. Zachary Miller, an infectious disease specialist.  Read here.  And here.

We were asked to chart Joey's activities, symptoms, disposition, etc.  I added in his complete ER history since November of last year as well as any fever or sickness that didn't end in an ER visit.  Our concerns are also added in.

I was asked to do this.  This is not me going way too far and being all crazy.  They like detail!

Anyway, for those interested, here is what we have. 

History:

11/29/11

temp of 103 (104.4 in ER) - febrile seizure
slight ear infection
Joey is then on every 4 hour routine of Tylenol - fever returns rapidly if we try to miss his             dose.

12/3/11

urgent care for fever still not going down
neutropenia (low white blood cells - can't fight anything off)
Anemia
ceftriaxone
blood tests

12/4/11

urgent care follow-up
more antibiotics

12/9/11

blood test - abnormal liver function

1/24/12

office visit with ped - fussy behavior, still not acting right
ear infection - w/o fever
blood test - slightly abnormal - transaminitis (damage to liver)

03/28/12

follow up to see if Joey has finally recovered - he has
mentions Joey’s head circumference

04/17/12

fever and cough - pick up from daycare

04/23/12

conjunctivitis

05/24/12

urgent care - buckle fracture of foot

06/02/12

re-do blood test to see if still anemic - not

06/07/12

fever and barfing - pick up from daycare

06/21/12

fever - urgent care - ear infection - fever of 103

07/09/12

urgent care high fever 104.6 - pneumonia - ear infection

 
07/11/12
urgent care possible allergic reaction - throat swollen and red with white dots on top - diagnosed with possible hand, foot and mouth - dr. said ears looked fine
 

Points of concern:

Fever that goes from 98 to 103 in a matter of minutes.
No sickness symptoms and then very rapidly becomes quite ill.
He is becoming increasingly more clumsy.  Sometimes it looks like his legs just give out.
Once the fever is here we have a hard time controlling it.
We feel like the doctors are looking for the easy thing to get us out the door.  We doubt he has an            ear infection half the time and seriously doubt he had pneumonia.
Every time we have him on antibiotics he is fine. Once off antibiotics he is like a ticking time        bomb.  It usually is 1 week sick with antibiotics, 1 week recovery and getting back to   normal, 1 week normal, next week sick again.
He has always been in daycare so wouldn’t he have been sick like this his whole life?  Instead of just the past 6 or so months?
He drinks a lot of fluid - always seems thirsty.

What we need to know:

Does he have an immunodeficiency disorder?
Is he possibly allergic to something?
Is there possibly some infection inside of his body?

7/10

3 am - Tylenol 5 ml
6 am - ibuprofen 1.875 ml
10:20 - doctor apt
11:45 - get home, take temp because we skipped 9 o’clock Tylenol dose - 98 degrees
12 - notice he is shivering (we are outside and it is 70 degrees) tells me he wants to lay down - very irritable and whiny - take temp 102.7
12:05 - 5 ml Tylenol - lethargic - twitching - ice pack on back and cool rag on head
12:05 - 12:40 temp between 101 and 103
1:25 - wakes up from nap - 100
1:30 - antibiotic - won’t eat lunch
3:00 - ibuprofen 1.875 ml
4:30 - 98
5:15 - 99.1 - noticed cheeks were flushed so I took temp
6:00 - 101 - whiney - wanting to be held - panting and trying to sleep - Tylenol 5 ml
8:00 - 98.8
9:00 - 99 - ibuprofen 1.875

7/11

12 am - Tylenol 5 ml
3 am - Ibuprofen 1.875 ml
6 am - Tylenol 5 ml
9:00 - Ibuprofen - 98 degrees
12:00 - energetic and eating - Tylenol 5 ml
5:30 - notice swelling of his throat - red with white dots on roof of mouth - wont swallow and     has pain when he does - still drinking but no eating, cries whenever he drinks.
9:30 - slight fever (100) doctor diagnoses potential hand, foot and mouth - continue ibuprofen

7/12

4:49 pm - drooly and irritable give Ibuprofen 3.0 ml
2:25 am - irritable wanting to be held no fever

7/13

great day at daycare - temp was fine all day - eating normal and playing normal
 

7/14

slight decline in appetite. Normal temp.  Extremely whiney and irritable.

7/15

sweaty all day but no temp.  Extremely irritable.  Noticed weird marks on arm, possibly bug bites. Rash on lower back and on his penis and testicles, nothing really on butt.  Diarrhea.  Extreme thirst but no real appetite.


Seems a bit excessive, I know.  But this is our life.

We will keep you posted on what the doctor says on Wednesday.  I imagine there will be a variety of tests done as well as a physical examination, so we might not know much immediately. 

Pee pee

Potty training. 

Probably every parents nightmare...or at the very least something they dread from the get go.  I know for me, the sheer mention of the term makes the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  And I also know I've been worrying about it and trying to plan for the impending doom since Joey was about 5 months old. 

I'm not that big a fan of pee and poop any place but in a diaper or toilet. Quite frankly, I don't want to deal with the in between stage.  I don't want to deal with the guaranteed 371 "accidents."  The thought of all the laundry and embarrassment (for him and me) and just the grossness of it all makes me nuts.

I want it to just happen.  I also know that is never ever ever going to happen.  (another solid argument for the "lets just have one kid" debate).

Luckily Joey's daycare doesn't give a shit about what I want and has started putting him on the potty every 2 hours.  And, shockingly (or not so shockingly, because he is a freaking genius), he goes.  Only pee pee for now, but that pee pee is pee pee that doesn't waste a diaper. 

I can of course try and tie this back to all the times I would sit him on the potty and make funny high pitched "go potty!" noises at him.  But I am not any where near consistent enough with that to take any sort of credit. 

It's daycare and the repetition.  Damn it.  It's the routine they have him on and the association they make to the pee pee and the potty and what all that business is about. 

So I guess what this means is, whether I like it or not, potty training is slapping me across the face.  Joey seems ready.  He kinda gets it.  I just wish I could psych myself up for it.  But how do you get psyched for every hour take the diaper off, sit on potty, make funny noises, get excited, clap, give m&m, wave bye bye to potty and wash hands!?  EVERY HOUR!!

Suck it up, right.  Stop bitching and be thankful, right!?

Right.

BUT THE LAUNDRY!!!!!!

Remember us!?

It's been a while, I know.  

I've been busy.  The normal mom of a 19 month old busy mixed in with do two people's jobs at once kind of busy.  (The stupid girl I was covering for while she was on maternity leave decided she wasn't going to come back, so I got stuck with her awful job for wayyyy too long).  It's the sucky kind of busy that has me in bed by 8:30 and being 5 months past due for a haircut kind of busy.  Fun stuff!

We've been trucking along.  I don't know if we were too tired to notice the child for a couple months, or if the child was actually chilled out.  I know we had bed time issues for a bit and then we didn't.  And then we got some more teeth and then that was over.  None of it really registers because none of it was that traumatizing. 

We did have a fractured foot about a month ago.  Also, actually, not that traumatizing.  For us anyway.  We are getting better at this pack everything and go to the urgent care thing.  Which for us is now a totally normal aspect of our life.  We are there at least once every month and a half.

Our new normal.

So now that the fog has cleared, plan on me being back.  Probably part time and mostly to post pictures.  I am planning on getting rid of our facebook - so this might be it for the Armondo clan.  We'll see.  I might be too busy at urgent care to actually accomplish anything.

16 month check up

Today we went in for our 16 month check up.  This was a very bittersweet appointment because we had to say goodbye to Joey's doctor.  Dr. Richter has a young family and I think in an effort to save his marriage, agreed to take a different job that would allow him to be home at a reasonable hour.  So as soon as we got the letter saying he was changing jobs, we scheduled Joey's check up.

Everything with Joe is great.  He is still in the 99-100th percentile for height...coming in at a whopping 2 feet 10 inches.  Weight is good, 26 pounds, eyesight, ears, lungs, everything great.  There were some awkward moments when they had to measure Joey's head twice and have a little meeting in the hallway to "discuss."  Apparently Joey's head is also in the 99-100th percentile.  What that means...who the hell knows.  But it means enough to have a discussion, repeatedly measure and tell me he thinks it is pretty proportionate, but that we should keep an eye on it.  What.does.that.mean!?  I know Joey has a huge head, believe me, I am WELL aware of his head, but what does having a big head mean?!

Anyway...

Dr. Richter said he was impressed with all the words Joey knows and said it was amazing that he was even piecing together little sentences.  (This convo happened as Joey was waving his shoes at me saying shoe, bye bye.  Apparently Joey was over it).

We also talked about the baba.  The babaaaa....it's time to take the baba because it will only get harder and harder as he gets older.  He did see however that it was his comfort thing and said we should do it when we are ready.  I liked that. 

The end of the appointment is why I love Dr. Richter soooo much.  We are really behind on vaccines and have open communication with Dr. Richter about what we want, when we want it and all our reasons surrounding that situation.  So we discussed all the shots Joey would be getting and would need very soon and we talked about the possible fever side effect.  Dr. Richter knows we don't do fevers with Joe.  He saw us through that ordeal and knows we have to wait until Joey is at least 5 to take any normal approach to anything involving fever as a side effect.  So he formulated a vaccination plan that I felt comfortable with and he felt comfortable with.  He went so far as to include specific instructions for the next years worth of vaccines so his successor will have all the necessary information.  I love that.  I love that Dr. Richter knows Joey so well, knows me and Rick and knows the wants and needs of our family.  I AM SO SAD to see him go.

We go back in July to meet the new doc, discuss more vaccinations and redo Joey's blood work to make absolutely god damn sure his liver function and iron levels has finally recovered from the worst virus of all time. 

Oh and we also have to recheck his head circumference...whatever.the.hell.that.means.

Rawr

First family trip to the zoo!!!  Yay!!!  Included was lots of rawrs, lots of ooo ooo ooooos and pointing and clapping.  Success.

First stop, Giraffe.

This boy loves himself a lion.  He made rawr noises for close to 10 minutes.

Oooo ooo oooo ooo ooooOOOoo

Speechless. 

Then we took a little break and went into Zoomasium.  It's so weird to see Joey in an atmosphere where he is a real toddler doing toddler things.  He plays on toys now and tries to make other little friends.  The burrito is a real boy now.

This was oddly enough one of the highlights of his day, the ducks.  We're at the zoo and Joey is obsessed with ducks.  Why are ducks even at a zoo!?

Joey's latest obsession

Kitten YouTube videos...

The shock factor

At this point we feel pretty comfortable with the variety of semi shocking events that happen in our house on a daily basis.  There is the tiny shock, medium shock and ultra shock. 

Tiny shocks are the little bits of baby scattered around the house in random places.  You open the door to the fridge and get shocked by an alligator squeeze toy looking back at you.  Or the drum sticks falling from the shelf to your feet.

Medium shocks are usually food or liquid involved.  Like walking in to the living room to find Joey and Phoebe enjoying a nice spritzer courtesy of Joey's bottle being dumped on both their heads.  He actually now dumps his bottle on everything.  Phoebe is usually the target but we've also moved on to couch cushions, table tops, clothes, pillows, etc.  Everything gets water dumped on it. 

Or when you find glitter on your food...cause daycare babies ALWAYS have glitter stuck to them.

The ultra shock comes when you least expect it.  And you can imagine what that usually involves.  Poop.  I know what you're thinking, and while yes, the explosion is an ultra shock, it is not MY most shocking baby issue.  Lately my ultra shock is not only literally shocking but also mind bending. 

The in-the-sleep-poop.

How does that even happen!!!?  How does the kid manage to poop in his sleep!?  It shocks the hell out of me every time and then I just stare at him with this semi look of disgust and utter amazement.  How did this person manage to squeeze out a poop mid sleep?  And why is it always the sleep poop that doesn't smell so it scares the crap out of me when I think I am just changing a piss filled diaper!?

Why does this happen and why has this become an all too present shock in our lives.

I hate the in the sleep poop. 

The Happiness Project

I'm back.  With a new attitude and hopefully the start of a new direction for myself and my family.

Over the last couple months I've been in a funk.  I can blame the holidays, the weather, Rick, money, the state of the world or I can take ownership of the fact that I'm the one to blame for my crappy attitude lately.  So (gulp), that's what I intend to do.  I, Sarah Callahan, have been grumpy.  But, I, Sarah Callahan, intend to fix that.

I recently started reading a book called "The Happiness Project." In this book a woman, much like myself, takes a look at her life and realizes there is room for more happy.  Her life isn't shitty, just like mine isn't, but she often found herself having a short temper, not enjoying moments as much as she should and basically not taking advantage of opportunities that would lead her to a more happy state of mind.

Sounds a lot like me.  So, I am going to start my own happiness project.  I will start this after I am through reading the book (hopefully by the end of the week).  I will then sit down with Rick and we will come up with monthly goals or items that we will work on together to get ourselves to a new happy. 

Getting Rick involved in this is the scary part.  I tend to take the "I can do it by myself" approach to most things in life.  But I feel like that very approach has led us to a place where I feel less happy.  I feel like I put too much of myself into things and don't get enough in return, even when it was me who wanted to do it all in the first place.  So, I will swallow my pride and my I can do it attitude for the betterment of my family. 

I have a feeling this will lead us to one of two conclusions; we will be exponentially more happy (awesome conclusion) or we will learn that we are doomed (not so awesome conclusion).

In reality I think the worst that can happen is we end up right back where we started.  Which isn't too bad, but isn't the best it can be.  Can we live with that, sure we can.  But who wants to be mediocre, right?

Complaining again...

You know the old adage "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

That's us.

I created this blog in an attempt to keep distant relatives in the know and on board with all things Joey.  I wanted them to see him as much as possible and follow his development even though they might not get to see it first hand.

It has also served as a place for me to get it all out.  Let my mommy flag fly and talk about stuff I didn't think a lot of moms were talking about.  Like not liking your kid all the time.  Or mommy guilt, difficult babies, medical crap, overbearing grandmas, etc...

But, while reading previous posts I get the "whiny" mom vibe.  I think I sound like a mom who complains 24/7 about her kid.  Always complacent, always some blown out of proportion issue or some b.s. poor me, I'm a mom crap.  And that is absolutely not what I want to do and not what I want Joey to look back on and read when he is in high school and wants to know how he grew up.

Unfortunately the reality of the situation is things sucks right now.  We are struggling as a family, as parents and as individuals.  Our equilibrium is all sorts of messed up and we are fighting like crazy to get back to "normal."  And unfortunately that's just the way it is.

So at the risk of sounding like a whiny bitch, here goes....

Joey cries.  All the time.  From the time we get him in the house at night to the time he goes to bed, he cries.

Joey's blood tests STILL aren't normal.  Liver function is remarkably better, but still not normal.  And now we see moderate atypical lymphocytes.  Basically virus fighting lymphocytes are still present and flowing through his system which indicates he is still "sick."

Joey now hates the doctor.  Dr. Richter called and said he is very hesitant to do any more medical interventions because he saw a dramatic change in his demeanor during his last visit.

We are struggling with the thought and intuition that something is seriously wrong with Joey but not wanting to fight for that or accept that.

We question our ideals, our parenting strategy and our choices in life on a daily basis and we are exhausted. We always expected Joey to be a difficult baby but we didn't expect a years worth of struggle.  We didn't expect to be this broken this early in.

So, that's it.  We are exhausted, we are on round 5 of illness and not completely over the seizure and we're constantly trying to strategize the best parenting move possible.

We have another appointment with our ped on Wednesday.  He asked that Rick and I both be there so we can take a full circle approach to Joey's behavior and potential sickness/illnesses.  Lets look at the numbers, see what the tests indicate and lets listen to what we see in our child on a daily basis.  At the very least we can be thankful we have a doctor that understands the importance of us saying "I don't care what the tests say, something just isn't right with our child."

Sorry for the doom and gloom.  There is a lot of great developmental things going on with him that I promise to fill you in on, but currently this is our big Joey thing.

Don't have kids if you are even a tiny bit unstable.

We are at a low. 

And we are shitty parents because we have lost it.

I did the unthinkable last night.  The very thing I have consistently said I am dead against.  The very thing that makes me cringe when I think about other people doing it.  The very thing I have judged many a mom for doing...

I let my baby cry last night. 

Scream, in fact.

For a good 20 minutes.

We plain and simply cannot do what we have been doing any more.  It doesn't make sense.  Our child is tired, we are tired and our house is a disaster.  There is a makeshift bed on the floor of every room in our house.

THAT IS NOT NORMAL.

Joey went down around 9:00 and woke up screaming at 11.  He did not need anything.  He did not require a change of clothes, a bottle or a blanket.  He had a nice clean diaper, his baba was in bed with him (full of water, not milk, give me a break) and he had plenty of blankets and his own personal heater on in his room.  He wanted to snuggle. 

Now, snuggling is fine.  Except for the fact that Rick and I work every single day.  I understand there are things that are extremely important with the whole skin to skin cuddle connection stuff.  But people also need to understand that we will be homeless if I don't go to work every day.  And having a home trumps cuddling.  In addition, he is 1.  He got a whole years worth of cuddles and sleepless nights out of us. 

So he screamed.  From about 11 to 11:20. 

And at 11:20 it stopped.  It faded to a light whine and then to snoring.

Just like that.

Then came the screaming at 2 a.m..

And I went in and slept on his floor with him until morning.

The 20 minute test, while essentially in vain because of the aforementioned floor sleeping, did teach us something. 

It is possible for him to get back to sleep without us.  It is going to take an act of Zeus, but we will conquer this, we will get our routine back and if that means we are shitty parents, then so be it.  At least I will be a well rested shitty parent.

Like father like son

It starts out all innocent....

It's a fort!! Made of cushions and blankies, in the shape of an awesome circle around our coffee table. Perfect for tiny men in diapers.

Then it happened.....

Dunnn dunnnn dunnnnnnn

Luckily this time it was Rick who blasted his domey and not Mr. Joe.  But it just goes to show nothing can be normal in our house.  Nothing is safe from destruction, pain, blood and torture. 

Our comfy fort made of soft pillows, couch cushions and furry blankets can lead to head trauma.

This is where Joey gets it.  It's not like I had any doubt Joey was Rick through and through, but common!!  Blood....from a awesome round of fort making!!!!!!!!

Two peas in a pod.