I ask that question because this week kind of felt like when we first brought the twins home in 2006 and had all kinds of follow-up appointments to keep. After just saying last week that we hadn't had the kids to the doctor in a long time (we didn't even know the pediatrician had moved offices when we took them to their 3-year checkup), we sure had our fair share of visits this week. It all started last week at their checkup .. everything looked good, but there was one thing we had to check out. Aeron's left leg was starting to turn a little, and is growing in a strange angle .. a mild angle, but enough that the pediatrician thought it was worth getting looked at. Aeron had also, more so in the last week or so, been complaining about pain in his left leg, so, we made an appointment with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon for Wednesday. Tuesday evening, the eve of the appointment, I noticed a strange red rash on Aeron's left leg and on the small of his back. I was glad we were going to the doctor the next day (albeit an ortho doc, but I figured he would at least know more than me about rashes). It really looked like it could have been poison ivy, although I was pretty sure there was no way he had gotten into it this time of year. The next morning Aeron and I made the trek to Strongsville, where he had x-rays taken of his legs, and the doctor thoroughly checked him. Turns out what Aeron has is "knock-knees." The abnormal part of his is that it's assymetrical, with one leg worse than the other, rather than symmetrical. But for now we are just going to check it every six months. The doctor is pretty sure it will correct on it's own over the next few years, but if it gets any worse by the next visit, we will probably have to do something about it. In the meantime, as soon as the doctor saw Aeron's rash he said, "What has your pediatrican said about this?" I told him it had just showed up the night before, so we were taking care of one thing at a time and was hoping it was just poison ivy or something .. he looked at me funny and said, "This time of year? I think you better get this checked out sooner rather than later. That's not normal." Alrighty, then .. like I said, I'm glad he had that appointment, because I was really thinking I would let it go for another day or two to see if it would clear up. The ortho doc said that "knock-knees" doesn't cause pain, so maybe the pain he was having had something to do with the rash. So, before going home from that appointment, I made an appointment with the pediatrician for later that afternoon. After lunch and a nap, off we went to the doctor again. By this time Aeron was sick of seeing doctors and was not very happy with someone looking at his rash. The verdict is our poor boy has shingles! Yes, this is very uncommon in kids, especially this young. They think it is from his chicken pox vaccination two years ago .. it's a live virus and for whatever reason it decided to flare up. So we are now giving Aeron medication 5 times a day for 5 days .. which includes two times while he is sleeping overnight, but he is such a trooper. The kids have always done really well taking medication, and I am able to barely wake him up to take it each time. The rash is getting worse before it's better, but that's to be expected. For the most part it's not really slowing him down. He's maybe a little more whiney and clingy, but he doesn't seem to be in any real pain right now .. although we are thinking the pain he was experiencing over the last week or so was due to the shingles coming on. At least that is what we are hoping. I'll spare you the pictures, because it is a little nasty.
That was Wednesday .. on Thursday we had dentist appointments for the kids that were previously scheduled, and if we would have cancelled them we would have been waiting for months, so we took them (after calling to be sure everyone was okay with the fact that Aeron had shingles, which of course you can get chicken pox from). For the most part, the kids did really well with the dentist .. they wouldn't really let them clean their teeth with the normal cleaner (I think Addyson let her clean two teeth), but they sat quietly and let them count and brush their teeth, so it was a good visit.
Between last Friday's 3-year checkup (counting as two) and this week's appointments, we had six appointments in a matter of seven days. Yes, hopefully that is the extent of waiting rooms and doctor offices for while again. It is 2009, right?
Other than that, we were able to get outside this weekend and enjoy some warmer weather again, thank goodness - it was a little soggy, but not too bad. The kids love running around outside, and Cayce loves to explore the property. The kids played with their wheelbarrow (a Christmas present), their big bouncy balls, they rode their trikes, played on the swingset, marched all over the yard, and just plain had a great time.
Cayce is loving being outside. She is still not too large.. maybe 35 pounds, and closing in on 6 months, so we might not have as big of a dog as we first thought. (sigh of relief) Tress is also still a pretty small cat at almost 6 months, so maybe we just raise 'em small.
Speaking of Cayce, she has become Addyson's "responsibility". Addyson puts Cayce in the cage when it's time to leave the house, and she gets her out when we get home. She announces it when she knows it close to time to go home (I think this is more so Aeron doesn't get there first). "I need to wet Cayce out!" Usually before I am even up the steps, Cayce is at the top of the steps waiting for me and proud Addyson is standing beside her. It really is quite helpful. Both Addyson and Aeron also love to help feed her.
Addyson has recently found quite the entourage of items to sleep with. She has always had her "pink baby," but recently found Aeron's blue baby that looks just like hers, which is "baby's best friend." Along with those two is "Baby Jag-water" (because it looks like Diego's Baby Jaguar), and "Chickie," which is a little stuffed chick that Aunt Chadia loaned her. Chadia was going through her things at my parents house and she used to sleep with this chick a long time ago - Addyson happened to be there at the time and gave Chadia the irresistable puppy-dog eyes. There is also has a big, fluffy Dora blanket on her bed that she likes to hold, and down by the foot of the bed is a little pile of blankets and a large pink dog, so it's a wonder she has any room for herself. When she comes out in the morning, Addyson usually has her arms filled with "pink baby," "baby's best friend," "baby jag-water," and "chickie," and we are constantly having to keep track of each and every one of them throughout the day.
The kids still love to cut and color. Here Aeron is tracing his foot, of course.
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