Belly Jarl

Caroline: Let's go to Rainbow Mountain!

Edward: OK! Let's go!

Caroline: I'm Dora!

Edward: You're Dora!

Caroline: And you're Boots!

Edward: No. I'm not Boots. I'm Edward.

Caroline (thinking): You're Edward.

Edward: I'm Edward.

Caroline: You're Edward the monkey.

Edward: I'm Edward the monkey!

Caroline: You're Edward the monkey... named Boots!

Edward: I'm Boots!

Caroline smiled and steered him toward Rainbow Mountain where - one presumes - she has set up her secret underground lair in preparation for taking over the world through mind control.

The twins have spring break this week. I wondered what I should do with them during this time of unalleviated togetherness but before I could decide I blacked out because they had sucked all the oxygen from the room. When I woke up I no longer cared all that much. Yesterday was Play in the Melting Snow And Then Take a Bath Day. Today is Haircut Day, which is odd because I swear I just got their hair cut five minutes ago and yet Caroline is peering through her bangs again and Edward looks like Andy Gibb. I think Steve and his offspring dedicate the internal resources that other people (Good People, mainly) use toward picking up after themselves to grow hair.

Note: I have often read criticisms of mommy bloggers who type away while their children languish unattended and I have to ask: HOW? Even now that Caroline and Edward have started playing together (and more importantly playing together with 50% less biting pinching bamming and smacking) I still find myself unable to do... anything when they're around. You don't even want to know what I had to offer Steve in order to get him to take them away for two hours so I could write this little chunk of American literary history. 

So forgive the pauses.

Patrick's appointment was so satisfactory that in describing it I want to say silly things like Woot! and Da Bomb.

It was a very cut-and-dried meeting. The ENT looked at his MRI images and then asked me to tell her what was going on with Patrick. I explained the ups and downs of the past two months and reminded her - for what it was worth - that when she removed his tonsils and adenoids in 2009 it was not because there was a clear indication that they were making him so sick, but more because we did not know where else to look for the bacterial infection at that point. 

She said, oh yeah, that was a last ditch thing wasn't it and proceeded as if she was dealing with something that might be chronic. This sounds like a minor point but my fear was that they would ask me how long Patrick has had sinus infections and I would say, oh, does he have sinus infections? and they would tell me to come back in six months after I'd kept a record.

Actually I did say that I was surprised by the MRI findings because Patrick has never had a runny nose or nasal congestion or anything to indicate that this might be a problem. She said that that in itself could be the problem; meaning nothing is draining. She asked what had been done so far and then tactfully but firmly rejected the ten days of omnicef prescribed by pediatrician II. She said that ten days of anything in isolation will not help a kid with infected sinuses so she wants him to continue the omnicef at least for another two weeks plus an oral steroid for three days followed by a topical steroid until further notice. The hope is to bring down the inflammation and allow Patrick's bacterial swamps to clear enough for him to either get well or for her to be able to see what is going on in there.  She didn't seem particularly hopeful about the former possibility (although maybe I'm reading more into her manner - and the pamphlet she gave me on pediatric sinus surgery - than was there) but we'll see.

She then scheduled him for a mini CT scan in her office in three weeks (lower dose radiation, 20 second head shot) followed by another appointment with her. If the antibiotics and steroids are effective at treating his existing infections we will then move on to determining cause (allergies or sensitivites, for example) and managing as needed. If the antibiotics and steroids do eff all then she will try to figure out why and work from there.

So that's that and if you asked me whether I would rather give a cat a pill or get Patrick to take his Flonase I would have to think very very hard about it.

In other Patrick-related news we went to look at the school like his current school (look at me trying to skate around the word "gifted" - I really am neurotic on this subject) only closer to us and with a sixth grade  and we really liked it. I mean, Steve and I really liked it and then I brought Patrick for the kids' visit day and he really liked it too. He astonished me during the presentation, raising his hand repeatedly to ask the current students questions about the program (decent ones, too, like "Would you say that they try to incorporate fun into all the classes?" and "Do you have a music room?" and "How would you rank this playground against your previous school?") and when I went to take his hand during the tour he slipped away from me and walked with the principal. As they turned the corner ahead of me I heard him asking her when the school was built and whether they have problems with ice dams. He amuses me and more to the point I always think of him as being so shy. Clearly he's no longer shy. Aggressively chatty might be a better description.

At the end of the tour the head of the district's programming asked what he had thought of the playground.

He said, "Liked it, liked the school, hope I get a spot here." 

That was a month ago and he's been checking the mail ever since. He got his acceptance letter on Saturday and I sent his enrollment forms on Monday. It seems like a great school and I am optimistic that being geographically closer to his classmates will net him more opportunities for spontaneous social interaction. There is nothing spontaneous about driving half an hour each way.

Oh and thank you very much for your thoughts on phones and things like phones. You were very helpful. I have tentatively added an iPhone to my list of things I want one day when I am feeling like throwing money around (I was intrigued by the iPad suggestions but have concluded that ya'll must live in much more Wifi'd areas that I do - we have it in very few public spaces out here.) So the iPhone is now snuggled on my list of things I don't need between the insanely expensive KitchenAid Mixer attachment set that would enable me to make my own crackers and one of those little robot floor cleaners. I saw an ad for a new one last night - called a Mint I think - that showed this small box zipping along cleaning floors and I gasped. Steve was, like, "OH NO, NO MORE FLOOR CLEANERS. You have a PROBLEM" and I shushed him as I rewound the commercial. The people in it looked so happy. There they were with their feet up having drinks and the floor cleaning cube picked up cat hair and Cheerios in the background. It was like seeing Valhalla.

What? How can they be home already?

Comments

[Amber]

So excited when I saw you had posted today. I am so addicted. Rarely comment though...more of a silent fan. Not sure why I decided to break the silence...in that kind of mood I guess. Better warn my husband...

[katherine]

I knew today would be the day. So pleased for Patrick - new school and excellent care plan.

[Sarah]

I am so happy for all the news. New school, a plan for treatment, and all good things, including haircuts for Dora and Boots.
Daughter and son-in-law have a robotic floor cleaner, but neglected to tell me about it. When I went to feed the cat while they were away, the robotic cleaner started circulating around the bedroom over my head, and would have cost me a year's growth if I were still growing any direction but sideways. The scare did nothing for sideways growth.

[Kathleen999]

I would be embarrassed if I had to confess how many time I look for updates on your site. I just love reading you.

So...I have decided I want a robot vacuum too but I need one that does wood floors + area rugs. I will have to look into this. In the meantime, will you share your researches?

[Katerina]

Julia! I'm simply delighted all has been, well... pretty good if perhaps a shade away from blissful. And I want to be the first to say, get it! Get the floor robot vacuum thing! It was gifted to me by my mom before my son was born and it is Awesome on wood floors, of which you seem to have several acres. It doesn't do, you know, a "perfect" job but it's brilliant on day to day maintenance, especially if you need to be careful about dust and, you know, dust bunnies and such. We get those from nowhere, and the robot deals with them. Plus our dogs love it, and cats have been known to ride on it. My 2.5 year old son considers it his friend. And it will be YOUR friend too.

[Jen]

Yay! A post and a doctor with a plan (or two)and stories of a chipper Patrick and a lovely, closer school (we won't address my jealousy issues at your choices that are definitely not met by my district -- if anything, they're in the process of destroying the few good parts they have left).

But then, then you have to make me look up these little robot vacuums. Never really wanted one. Feared our oddly configured, sans doors and area rug filled first floor would never work with one. (Never mind that we'd have to pick stuff up...)

But then I found this: http://www.robotreviews.com/blog/eigenlance/2010-looking-bright-robotic-vacuum-cleaners

and watched the two videos. I scorn your mint and now covet, for the first time ever, that neato thing. Curses!

[SarahB]

Perhaps you could ask the ENT if dust is an issue to elevate floor cleaner from "idle luxury" to "necessary medical expense for child with special snowflake sinuses"? Not saying that you don't clean your floors, oh, no, but rather that constant cleaning would be so superior. For your child, you see. Unless Steve would like to swiffer every evening?

Glad there is a Plan.

"You don't even want to know what I had to offer Steve in order to get him to take them away for two hours so I could write this little chunk of American literary history." Oh, yes, we do want to know. :^)

[Andi]

Big digital sigh of relief about P. Sinusy issues sound happily mundane.

[Jana]

Oh, man. Your post reawakened my Roomba desires. But now, thanks to Jen, I really want a Neato.

So glad that things with Patrick are looking up.

[victoria]

Oh, thank you for posting. I missed you. I hope Patrick's sinuses clear up.

[Sarah]

Eh, the robot vacuum is not all that it is cracked up to be. Or our's was not. Hubby desperately wanted one, I spent loads of otherwise unused miles on one as a surprise for Christmas one year. He didn't even act happy! He was happy, but the thing didn't really clean our house. Or at least not to the level I thought it should given how much it cost and how long it took to set up just so.

Glad to hear P has some good things coming his way. Hope he feels better soon!

[Mmm]

The Mint Cleaner is the biggest disappointment of my life. Don't do it.

I was not expecting miracles. I have 3 kids and am pregnant again, and i merely wanted something that i could program to get up the worst of the floor crap after dinner between weekly moppings. I had no hopes of gleaming perfect floors, only maybe... floors that didn't induce vomit by looking at them 12 hours after i mopped.

The idiotic thing won't wet clean my floors. It gets stuck after cleaning one tile, then burbles proudly to tell me that it's done. It gets lost in dry mode and will repeatedly clean the same 5 square feet for 45 minutes. That's only with the TV off... the TV on turns it into evil, sly, stalking robot that randomly roams the kitchen in no particular order, because the GPS can't handle the interference from the television.

It's horrible. Don't do it. Get a Roomba and tell me how wonderful it is so i can go sit in a corner and cry at my terrible decision.

[Emily Drew]

I'm so glad to hear that things are getting better.

[Sara]

I'm so glad that you posted about cleaning appliances, because the info in the other comments will be very helpful in curbing my passionate desire to overspend. I still want an iPad, but am similarly wirelessly challenged.

I'm glad that you seem to be on track to a solution (or at least a proper diagnosis) for Patrick's health woes. Best of luck.

[Ruth]

We have been having a terrible, horrible, very bad time controlling Young'un's asthma ... went to an allergist and hey, ho! The boy is allergic to blooming trees, dust mites, feathers, cats and a bunch of other stuff we have in the house.

Well, we don't have cats (B is also allergic), but we DO have a dog and two guinea pigs. My point (and I do have one) is that we put air filters in his room and the common spaces, did a bunch of other allergy-mitigating stuff, and things are much better. I do hope that the solution to Patrick's sinus problems are as easily solved.

The twins amuse the heck out of me.

[craftyashley]

That story about Edward and Caroline simply made my day!

[B is for]

I know that school. I went there when I was little, a long long time ago, before they even had such programs. I have nothing but happy memories of that place.

[Jackie]

So happy to read this update :)

[alison]

I am very fond if my Roomba. I still have the Gen 1 (2004). On a second battery, and while it doesn't do a perfect job, it's a great mid-week cleanup a bit sortof tool.

so glad for the update.
:)

[Jan]

Well hey, I though I posted this but it didn't show.
Great news!
Below, for a laugh: snowshoe cat on Roomba; if you watch with music, warning, lyrics could be offensive (but hysterical in context).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf9wHkkNGUU

and proof that both animals are sweeties.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcU1OsDMWBQ&NR=1

[Owlfan]

I had an early Roomba and was less than impressed. I spent all my time unsticking it from rug fringe, chairs, under the edge of the sofa, etc. Plus, I'm, ummm, not naturally completely tidy, and while *I* can move around a box or pile of newspaper on the floor, the Roomba cannot. So I ended up spending more time getting everything ready for Roomba - pick up floor, move all chairs out from table, tuck all fringe under the rug, block the edge of the sofa and such - than I would have to just do the vacuuming myself. OTOH my in-laws love theirs. YMMV

The new school for Patrick sounds wonderful! I so dearly wish we had any option like either of yours here.

[Kate]

Caroline is clearly a born leader. I hope those antibiotics kick butt and Patrick feels better. My older brother has always had sinus problems and he's such a mumbler because of it. He claims that I mumble, but no. He mumbles.

[Alexicographer]

So glad you have a plan for Patrick and that he seems (touch wood) to be doing OK (I really did touch wood now, just so you know). Also, I love his questions about the school, how utterly charming (and relevant).

We have a dirt dog Roomba (the cheapest model, ostensibly a "shop vac" and I love it. Most of our house is tile or laminate flooring but it also does fine in the (moderate pile) wall-to-wall carpet bedroom. We have 2 very shaggy dogs and live on a wooded lot that leads to lots of debris getting tracked in, and I have a propensity to go out and play in the mud as does our preschooler, and while I am not going to claim the Dirt Dog gets the house white-glove clean (it doesn't), it does pick up a surprisingly large amount of dirt/hair/etc. Surprising only because of how much it picks up, just to be clear, not because I ever doubted there was plenty available for pickup.

I've just gone to search and it looks like the Roomba dirt dog is no longer available. But for $129 with free shipping you can get a basic Roomba, which is pretty much all the dirt dog is -- http://store.irobot.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2525116&mr:referralID=NA&mr:trackingCode=4BACE46B-2320-E011-AB84-001517B1882A .

[Becky]

I'm so glad to hear about Patrick. I was getting really worried but it sounds like you have an excellent action plan. Yay!

I had a roomba that I found perfectly adequate for my "good enough" cleaning tendencies. It passed last fall after soldiering through 3 children and 2 dogs for 3 years. You know, I was seeing a lot of blog reviews for Mints for a while. You have some pretty good reader stats (I'm guessing). I wouldn't hold it against you if you wound up reviewing a Mint or Roomba or Scooba or some combination thereof in some sort of head to head competition- I bet Patrick could devise something really fantastic for that.

[Cris]

Ooohhhhh - I'd like something else to do the vacuuming, please. My daughter leaves bits of paper everywhere and the boy joyfully crushes cereal, goldfish and cookies into the carpet. Anyone and everyone who chimes in on their experiences with these, especially with area rugs and wood floor mixes and weird room configurations - it's much appreciated!

As are your posts - glad to hear about the plan and new school for Patrick. Love the C & E stories.

[Sara]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE MY ROOMBA! Like I would totally trade my beloved husband in favor of the roomba if forced to choose. WHY? Because the roomba does at least ONE chore very well.

I have tile, carpet and rugs and it cleans them all great! I never sweep anymore. The only thing that drove me nuts was that it would get hung up on my floor length cutains.. I raised them an inch... problem solved.

[lizneust]

Add me to the list of people who jump with joy when you put up a new post. Love Caroline and promise to vote for her when she starts running for national office.

Thrilled the ENT has some good ideas. One thing to know about flonase - if you are swollen or irritated, it hurts quite a lot. If you can get through 4 nights or so of dealing with the hurt, it will ease off. But that's a hard thing to sell even to a bright kid like Patrick. I second who ever suggested standard allergy remedies like covers for pillows and mattresses and lots of dusting/vacuuming/HEPA filtering.

Hooray for new schools that are as good as the old school and a LOT closer.

[lizneust]

Whoops. One last comment. We received a first generation Roomba as a christmas present one year. I give it a hearty "meh." It got clogged with cat fur pretty quickly and it wasn't terrific for wood floors. I love the *idea* of it, but not the execution.

[lolismum]

Sinus infections are terribly hard to get rid off. I have them and it usually takes me 3 courses of antibiotics. My younger daughter gets them and Amoxycillin does not even get to touch the bacteria, Augmentin kills a few, but then Omnicef (2 weeks at least), obliterates the damn lot. So stick with your ENT's suggestions.

We also could not figure out why my daughter was getting so many of them, and she never showed any allergic reactions to cats etc. Turns out she is allergic to dust. Great, who vacuums every day now? Me. Still, claritin is my and her friend.

[kara]

Apologies in advance for all the caps and asterisks, but...

I LOVE the twinkles! I LOVE Patrick's questions! (I **LOVE** that the EMT seems to be very firmly in control of his health situation.)

I *highly* recommend the insanely expensive KitchenAid Mixer attachment set that enables one to make one's own crackers. I don't have a Roomba, but my friend who does routinely finds it trapped in the bathroom with the dog.

[H]

Caroline KILLS me. Also, I think you should start grooming her to be Secretary of State when Hillary steps down in 2012. She'd fix a crisis to her satisfaction and then have the bad guy du jour singing "We did it!" in a bare second.

I like your ENT's feedback - I like my docs straightforward like that. Fingers crossed that she can see something in the next exam.

And so cool that Patrick got into his new school! Good for him! And great for you - no more long commute!

Oh - there's a cute sewing book for kids... he's probably way beyond it, but it might spark other ideas for him: Sewing School by Andria Lisle. Her blog is called Sewing School, too.

[Australia]

Clever Caroline! Hilarious!

Great news on Patrick - LOVE all the well thought out questions re new school!

Never seen those vacuum thingys here in Oz but I'd like to! I'm guessing it doesn't do the hard baked-on hardwood floor cheerios though?!

[Victoria]

I'm so glad to hear good news on the Patrick front, both in terms of treatment and school!

As for robo-servants, I've heard good things about using a Roomba and following it immediately with a Scooba on non-carpeted areas... as long as you do it frequently, and you wouldn't do it otherwise. If you're a frequent floor cleaner already, then it will be a step down.

[Sheridan]

You WILL be listed somewhere in a history of American Literature.

I just know it.

[Gem]

Avid reader but rarely comment. You got me out of the woodwork with this one though.
My,then 13 year old, was admitted to hospital last summer with sinusitis. Like Patrick he had no history of allergies,congestion or previous infection. He started to complain of headaches which we dutifully ignored for about 2weeks, including sending him to France for a week to total strangers on a foreign language exchange! As an aside getting a phone call from your 13 year old from another country telling you his headache is worse is no fun. Anyway, when he came home he was intermittently quite diffracts with pain so, belatedly, we woke up and took him to the ENT. He scoped him in the office and pronounced that he needed to be admitted for IV antibiotics, high dose steroids and otrivine drops. He had CT to assess sinuses and an MRI to exclude brain abscesses.
Two main points to my story. 1. I'm way more negligent than you so please do not feel guilty for a moment. 2. We were sure he would need surgery but he responded really well to treatment and has been perfectly well since.
Love your writing.
Gem.

[Gem]

Ok. That should say distressed with pain

[birchsprite]

Glad to hear things are looking up a little.

Just wanted to wish you a very Happy St Patricks day!

[yasmina]

We have irobot for 4 years. It'd worked wonderefully until the kids came along - they don't like things moving with noise. They cry, hide, try to stop it when they get older...we hired cleaning ladies since two years. My point is, that thing is not a replacement but a supplement to human.

Your posts clearly are important to us. Enjoy so much reading here. Your readers are informative too, I learned so much from them.

[rose]

I'm glad this issue is getting at least the appearance of resolution. Hope is a wonderful thing.
This may sound like an odd suggestion, but perhaps consider a chiropractor. My firstborn (now 22!) with some similar quirkiness, particularly with motor issues, also had chronic sinus infections. After a merry go round of antibiotics, someone suggested a chiropractor. This made no sense to me, but I tried it and it was REALLY helpful. The chiro explained that when the body isn't aligned properly, one's head doesn't sit quite right on ones neck, and the angles that are needed to drain properly aren't quite there. That made wonderful sense. it wasn't a cure-all, probably for other structural reasons, but it definitely helped. He did grow out of it. Now he's a grown-up! With a job at a bank! All those days sitting with the digital
clock, holding the set button so he could watch the numbers fly by paid off.
P.S. Some people think chiropractors are witch doctor or quacks. i suppose some are, but most are highly trained professionals.

[Maren]

I used to hate Flonase; now I take Veramyst, which, frankly, makes my throat hurt less than Flonase did. It has the same active ingredient as Flonase but a better delivery system. Unfortunately, it is not likely to be fully subsidized by insurance, but I do not have to pay entirely out of pocket. Good luck to Patrick for his treatment!

[Allie]

I have a Roomba - it's a waste of money. It was a Christmas gift from my parents this past year. My mom paid extra for a pet hair model (a lot extra) because we one of our cats is long-haired. It does an OK job... but it can only handle a single bedroom (if that) before informing me that I need to clean the brushes AGAIN due to Himalayan cat hair build-up. Maybe it does work if your pets aren't 50% hair or more - but I am underwhelmed. It takes me less time to just vacuum myself and the results are better.

In other news.. glad to hear Patrick has a treatment plan! Good luck with the Flonase.

[Kelly]

Since your last post about the phone, we finally caved and bought cell phones (we're in a, generally, bad area and hate them). We got Droid X smartphones (that's one word, I've discovered) and a Verizon plan (amazon wireless so the phones were free!) and I've been stunned by how much I love the phones!! They're brilliant! I love that I can do basic internetty stuff and check the weather and keep a grocery list and chat with hubby while I stalk him on the little map app I found for stalking family/friends - all at the same time. I even use the thing as my alarm clock, now.

Though previously skeptical, I *highly* recommend these things. (Congrats on the good-er news with Patrick's health!!)

[Olivia]

I don't know how anyone with small children gets work/blogging done either. I can't even read a book without my 2 yr old wanting to be all up in my business. She can be perfectly content playing across the room, but as soon as I try to do something for myself she scurries over to get a look.

[Marsha]

Item the first: My husband grew up with chronic sinus infections and side dish of barely controlled asthma. At the age of 40 (after a winter of repeated chest xrays and MRIs) he uncovered sensitivities to beef, wheat and soy. He stopped eating those things and no longer requires five different daily inhalers and monthly abx.

And: Please so not worry about the gifted thing. Patrick clearly is (not to mention the littles) and people who don't care for that being out in the light of day can stuff it. My children are in the G&T program at our regular old neighborhood elementary. The fourth grade there has 50ish kids in three classes - fully half of them are in "advanced" math and 18 of those kids are in the G&T. At this school, having a kid NOT in advanced or gifted is the bragging point, not the opposite. To me this proves that no matter what you decide about your kids' educations, someone will resent you so you may as well do what pleases you.

[Erika]

Add me to the chorus of "Hooray!" for the update... glad to hear about Patrick... My mother has had a Roomba and a Scooba and loves them. They don't really do corners but are perfectly good enough for her purposes. She bought hers from Hammacher Schlemmer, and they have a lifetime warranty on everything they sell. She got 2 or 3 replacement Roombas, then finally they just gave her her money back the 4th or so time she sent it back. So she got several free ones! THey may cost more initially but you get your money's worth in the long run.

[Shawna]

Our roommate has a Roomba but won't let it out of his room to roomble (?) around the common spaces or other people's rooms on the second floor. Curse him!

Glad for the mostly-positive update!

[jemy]

I know I'm being annoying, but don't forget to tell the pediatrician that Patrick likes to hunt for mushrooms. I just think you might have some sort of unusual fungal infection going on. Generally kids don't get fungal infections, but kids also don't generally go around picking up and looking at lots of mushrooms.

[LMM]

As your friend/enabler can I pitch the idea that if Patrick does in fact have allergies that a floor robot may be just the ticket? Cause, you know, it's your son's HEALTH and what's more important than that? Nothing, that's what. :)

[Halyn]

Hopefully Caroline will use her powers for good and be a benevolent dictator.

I have chronic sinusitis so I send hearty hopes that Patrick does not. It's not a fun ailment to deal with. I can't recall if this has been mentioned or not, but when he has headaches, try laying a heating pad across his forehead and the bridge of his nose. It helps a lot when my sinuses flare up, and if I put it on before the pain gets bad, it sometimes blocks the pain at the pass and keeps the headache from becoming disabling.

[Shana in Texas]

Ah, that Caroline. Love her! Good for Edward for standing his ground (sort of).

Glad to hear that Patrick is on the mend.