Put Your Left Foot In And You Shake It All About

Sorry about that. Not only was that last post nearly incomprehensible; I left it hanging there - all twisty and baffling like a homemade windchime - for several days longer than I intended.

Granted in the interim I have only received limited clarification from the pediatrician (not our usual pediatrician, by the way; apparently once you start seeing one person for any given illness they don't let you swap back again - or so I've inferred from my tactful but ignored hints that maybe my real, beloved doctor would like to weigh in.) And Patrick is more or less the same - no crushing headaches, no projectile vomiting but still a little... out of it. And we were exceptionally busy for the past several days. But I am sorry I did not post sooner.

According to the pediatrician the radiologist reported that Patrick has inflammation and infected fluid in multiple sinuses: right maxillary, right ethmoid, left ethmoid and a big maybe whoknows on both the frontal sinuses which are either completely full of gunk or not there at all. Or still forming. Or something. He also has some white spots on his brain, which are signs of inflammation most likely related to the virus from a few weeks ago. My working theory - which has been entertained by no one except my mom - is that Patrick got some random kid illness that spread to the brain fluid, resulting in a viral encephalitis. He was then miserably ill for ten days, gradually got better, flared when his mother stupidly let him do flips and then gradually got better when the internet told his mother she needed to give him large does of medicinal TV and no flips. 

Flowchart:

- either the sinus infections are a secondary infection stemming from the viral whatsit OR
- Patrick has been suffering from chronic sinus infections for an extended period of time (like a year and a half) and the encephalitis developed from there.

(Sorry this must be incredibly boring)

Anyway, I talked to the pediatrician again and she explained what the radiologist had found and then she started discussing ways to manage Patrick's possible migraines, which confused me even further because I had thought that the sinuses would explain the headaches. She said maybe, maybe not.

Patrick's at about sixty percent of his usual capacity and I am very very VERY glad we are seeing the ENT on Friday. I would put money on my belief that Patrick has either an abscess or a cyst or a structural issue somewhere in the bones or the cavities of his head and I think she is the right person to sort that out.

Moving off the topic until then.

A little over a week ago (right at the zenith of the big health scare, actually) I heard Edward talking to Patrick in the bathroom.

He said, "What are you doing Patrick?" and I tensed because I was afraid Patrick was getting ready to throw up again. But no.

Patrick, using his kindergarten teacher dipped in maple sugar voice, said, "I'm going pee in the potty! Edward do YOU want to go pee in the potty TOO?"

Edward said, "OK!"

So Patrick said, "Here. Let me help you. First we pull down your pants... that's right! Great! Then you need to get rid of that silly diaper! Bye bye diaper! Good job! Then you hold your penis like this and step close to the toilet and... pee!"

Nothing happened. But from that moment on Edward refused to put on a diaper except at bedtime. The first day he just peed in his pants all day long and I thought - REALLY Edward? - but by day two he would hold it until someone (me, Caroline, Patrick) would think to help him into the bathroom. Two days later he went to preschool in underpants and had no accidents and he's been reliable ever since. Voila. I call him our dark horse potty prodigy and I am AMAZED that Edward wound up being the easiest to train. Sure he was an elderly three and a quarter and he would have been thrown out of most mainstream nursery schools by now (Caroline and Edward are in the 2-3's class - diapers are cool) but what he lacked in precocity in made up for with speed.

[Did any of you see the Washington Post article about the woman whose child was asked to leave preschool after many weeks of 8+ accidents until she was really toilet-trained for real and the woman responded by: 1) bringing a note from her pediatrician saying it was perfectly normal ; 2) petitioning the school board; and 3) agreeing to a Post interview?]

Oh and the fact that he shouts "I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" and then runs around with both fists pumping the air and no pants also scores some points with me. He's mostly dry and he's cute as hell.

Speaking of cute as hell, Patrick's team had their Destination Imagination competition on Saturday. If you've been around long enough you will know that once upon a time I worried mightily about Patrick's social skills and shyness so watching him interact so comfortably with his teammates all day and then get up in front of an audience and perform was terrific. They learned a lot, they had a great time, they worked well together and they came in a respectable fourth. My mom used to joke that by the fifth or sixth game of one of my brother's soccer tournaments she would secretly start rooting for the other team so she could finally go home. I realized that I was holding my breath during the awards ceremony and that my biggest fear was that they would come in first or second and go on to the state competition or - god forbid - win THAT one and go to globals. So much for unconditional maternal support.

PS Verizon is now available through iPhone and although we are not off the double X austerity budget yet exactly I am hopeful we might be in the future and I am thinking of allocating my ad money for an iPhone. I mentioned this to Steve who laughed. Then he laughed some more. Then he fell on the floor and lay there laughing until I had to nudge him with my foot a little. When he finally realized I was serious he said well ok maybe HA HA HA but even if that wasn't a ridiculous idea when we HA HA have no cell service in the HA HA house and you HA rarely leave HO HO HO except to carpool isn't the monthly charge rather extortionate?

I said - with quiet dignity - that I would ask. So for those of you who do not live in a hollow tree, those of you who do not rely upon tin cans attached with string to communicate with the outside world: how much do you pay a month for your cell phone service and does it cover the internet? I mean, I still don't know how to text nor do I want to do so but is there a way to get google on my phone (and apps! I want to know what an app is!) and if so how much do you pay?   

Comments

[Kirsten]

Phew. That sounds relieving; although I am relieved for you that you have an appt set up to get more info and hopefully steps toward resolution on Friday. It would seem strange to me that all that infection wouldn't account for the headaches...but what do I know.

[Julie]

Please keep us posted about I have T-mobile and we pay $150/month for the full works (unlimited voice, unlimited text, unlimited internet, tethering-using your phone as a mobile hotspot for your laptop, insurance) for both me and my husband together. We just each got the MyTouch 4G (free with rebate at Costco!) and it rocks my world. Google, e-mail (both Gmail and my work account), games, bookmarks of any website I like, apps...

[Julie]

Uh, please insert a "Patrick." after the "Please keep us posted about" in my previous comment.

[Name goes here]

Patrick probably should have a cell phone too. You know, in case you need to call him if you are stuck in traffic or something on the way to pick him up. You should probably get 2 iPHones. Pfft, an extra $1000 or so a year, you'd probably spend it somewhere else if you didn't get the phones.

[Liz]

I have a Galaxy, which is an Android phone. I like it more than the IPhone. :)

[Clarity]

Ugggh...you don't wanna know what we pay. We had Tmobile and like Julie we were paying $150 a month for two lines with all the bells and whistles. We recently switched to Verizon and added a line for DD, and now we're paying an arm, a leg, and possibly a kidney or two. It's over $200 a month that's for sure, I think it's closer to 250 when they're done nickle and dimeing us to death. But that reminds me I've been meaning to order an ad, I think I'll do that soon and make my contribution to the Iphone fund!

Congrats on your mostly dry boy, and here's anxiously waiting on some answers for your no-immune-system-to-speak-of boy.

[anon]

i pay $5/month for 27 mins voice only...since i'm so rarely away from my computer. but smart phones are making me feel left out -- if only the plans weren't so friggin pricy, so i'm curious to see what readers say.

hope patrick is 100% soon!

[KatyinMA]

re:phone--I have an iphone & love it. But some of the tech geeks at work (I work in IT) were talking about Virgin Mobile's new plans that start at $25/month for unlimited web etc. You do have to pay about $150 for the actual phone, I think.

[KatyinMA]

to clarify--the $25/month is for a plan on an Android phone, not an iphone.

[Jessica]

I am de-lurking to post this comment using my fantabulous iPhone. It has seriously changed my life. And at the bargain price of $120/month! We have AT&T though, so not sure how verizon works...? But the monthly includes unlimited internet, emails, and texting, as well as 700 minutes a month in chat time for my husband and myself. Apps are amazing, and have allowed me many minutes of silence from my two year old while trying to care for my two month old. That luxury alone makes the phone worth more than it's weight in gold and the service completely priceless. We have PBS shows loaded on, flash card games, a piano app, etc that she will sit quietly and play for half an hour at a time. Plus I get the NY Times, Newsweek, and TIME on it, so I can read those whole sitting in the bathroom for the nightly 30 minute bubble bath. I use it to keep running grocery and to-do lists, we have calendars synced to it to keep track of appointments, birthdays, and anniversaries. Sorry to gush, but I truly do love this phone :) I am thinking about getting joint burial plots.

BTW seriously glad to hear that Patrick is getting better. Keeping fingers crossed that the ENT finds something definitive that is easily fixable.

[akeeyu]

I pay about $55 a month for unlimited talk and text and about 200mb of data on an android phone.

[Bianca]

Iphone is about 120 including data plan. You can't NOT pay for data, it's a required service. I have att which although lame in many respects does allow you to talk and surf at the same time. Verizon does not have that feature with their iphone. I LOOOOOOVE my iphone and am not a crazy Mac person either (I have never owned a Mac because they are so much more expensive than a PC and I have always dated nerdy math people who can fix any PC issues that have ever arisen). So, it's not as if I refuse to buy anything that isn't a Mac :). As Jessica said above, the apps are awesome. I love them for times while the kids are doing some activity and I'm forced to sit around on a hard bench while they do aforementioned activities.

My boyfriend really didn't want to buy an Iphone because they are so hella trendy (I mean EVERYONE in SF has an IPhone, EVERYONE) but finally he broke when he spoke to a friend from Google who told him he still thought the IPhone was better even though it's sacrilegious to say such a thing if you work at Google.

[Allison]

I have an iphone 4. Got it for Christmas as a major upgrade from my very old phone. It is AT&T. I pay $76/month. That gives me 450 minutes per month talk, 250 texts per month and plenty of data for me.
I love it!

[Alexicographer]

Thanks for the update, and fingers crossed for Friday. I'm no help on the phone (I have a $30/month plan from consumer cellular that's not a contract, provides me all the minutes and text I need -- I have in my lifetime sent exactly one text message, or tried to, and received about 5 that weren't spam, and keeps me quite happy -- moreso as I read what others are paying), but I can tell you that my mom uses her Ipod touch for email and 'net though only, of course, where there is (free) wireless service.

Oh, and @Jessica's happiness notwithstanding (and my preschooler loves apps as much as the next kid when he can get 'em), I suspect that with 3 kids apps might be a source of tribulations, not harmony. I'm just guessing.

[Laura]

I've got an iPhone on AT&T. I pay just under $100/month for 450 minutes (including rollover), 1500 texts/month (that's $15, there's also a $5 plan for 200 texts or you can pay as you go if you don't text much), and includes the $30 required data plan. That also includes all of the taxes and fees etc. I do so love my iPhone.

[SarahB]

For my husband and me: $140 with Verizon pays for 1400 minutes, 10 numbers of our choice with unlimited calling (i.e., you can call your mom as much as you want and it won't count towards your minutes), unlimited text and data, replacement plans for two smart phones. We are waiting for the iPhone 5 this summer, because (and I'm quoting my husband now) "the processor will be 3-4x faster, graphics 9-15x faster, and the case will be much lighter and stronger."

My husband very smartly points out that you could get all the functionality of an iPhone (except the actual phone part) with an iPod Touch. Apps, games, internet, e-mail, facetime...it just requires a wifi connection instead of a data plan, whether that wifi be at home, starbucks, the library, etc. Something to consider, especially if the austerity budget reigns, and you can avoid a monthly fee.

Thank you very much for the update on Patrick, and also, wow, behold the power of siblings.

[tree town gal]

You sound great -- and I'll look forward to hearing what ENT has to say. Glad that Patrick had a great time at his event too...

LOVE the potty training genius at your place. I can't imagine my hero will grace us before 3.25 yrs either. He gets the idea. Once in a while, his 2.5 year old self will carry an asian lady beetle to the spa (toilet) and, under the encouragement from the other male in the household, they'll pee on it. If we didn't have so many of those damn beetles around, I might find it cruel. But I don't. Just hopeful that some day my son will use a potty without needing to catch an insect first. A girl can dream.

[Twohotmamas.wordpress.com]

Delurking as well both to say, keep us posted on the Patrick stuff, I find it FASCINATING (and feel bad for the poor kid).

I have an iPhone, and loooove it. I am phone-phobic, so a smartphone is perfect for me. My wife has what she calls a "dumb" phone. So, we have a shared family plan with I think 450 minutes a month (we've never gone over). We each have the $5 for 200 texts (note that this includes *received* texts) and I have the (no longer available) unlimited data plan for my iPhone. We pay around $107 a month all done and told, for the two lines, texts and my data, plus taxes etc.

[SarahB]

P.S. We had a "network extender" in our last abode because we lived in a stupid Verizon dead spot and they weren't intending to fix it in a reasonable time frame (and our cell phones were our actual phones). It was like having your own personal cell phone tower, and it sure beat having a call drop when you walked in the door of your house.

It's now $250--we did not pay that much for it at the time.

[Melani]

My husband and I both have iPhones and our 2 kids each have a "regular" phone. We pay $190 a month for unlimited texting for everyone, internet for the iphones and more minutes than we ever use. (not sure of the number honestly). LOVE my iPhone, am absolutely addicted to it and love all my apps. Don't forget, your phone works with wifi too so even if you don't have cell at home you can use your wifi to connect.

[Morgan S.]

I have a sprint palm pixi and pay $75 for unlimited web, texts and cell to cell calls. I think I have 450 anytime minutes but never, ever come close to using all those. The touch screen is a tad small, but very bright and easy to read and it has a full real keyboard. Because the screen is small, the phone is small and therefor fits in most pockets - the iPhone and Droids can be a bit large. I use it to surf the web and read blogs every day on the train. There are many apps but I don't have any besides Angry Birds. It has sprint streaming tv, so we can entertain the girls with disney channel cartoons when we are DESPERATE at a restaurant. It takes video and photos and works great with Facebook. I loooooooooooooove it.

[Julia]

I believe the Verizon plan is similar to the AT&T plan. I have the cheapest voice plan on AT&T, which is 450 minutes. I have 2 gb of data, which is more than enough for me, even when I spend a few days a month watching Netflix streaming while at work. Yes, I do that. But Verizon has the unlimited plan, which you might want to consider if you are going to be watching video every single day of the month. I also have 1500 texts a month, which is $15. (Unlimited is $20, 200 is $5, none charges you like 10 cents per text, incoming or outgoing, so even if you don't text, you might want to get the $5 plan just in case.)

I pay $71 and change, but I have a 20% discount through my work affiliation. I think without it it would be about $85. If you are on a family plan, all you have to pay extra is the data plan, which I believe should be $30 on Verizon. Doesn't seem ridiculously expensive to me.

Glad to hear Patrick is on the mend. Hope he continues to get better. I was a child who had constant sinus infections and it sucked. And congrats on another child potty trained!

[Angie]

Instead of the iPhone, get an iPad with wifi. I love my iPad. You can use your wifi from your current Internet provider, not worry about lack of cell service from your house ,and avoid extra high cell phone charges. And get apps! But a warning, you may have to get two, or three. My kids like to confiscate my iPad. Tons of free/cheap learning apps for kids, from the toddler set on up. Better than the DS!

[Jill]

Yay Edward!

As I sit here with vertigo from a sinus infection, I wonder if that is the source of Patrick's vomiting? It's worth a discussion with the ENT.

Good luck.

[Virginia]

I pay $54.99 a month for a Blackberry from Sprint with unlimited internet that I use constantly every day. I love it.
I have not had a single problem with it for the past 2 years, even the time I mistakenly kept it on during a transatlantic flight from DC to Rome and I freaked out thinking of thousands of minutes of international data charges as it helpfully tried to check email for me every 35 seconds, but I ended up not having to pay any extra, Sprint was great.
I have been thinking about getting a touchscreen Android phone, but I am a little wary of switching since the Blackberry has worked so well for me.
My husband has a regular cellphone that he pays $34.99/month for. He wants an iphone like crazy but the cost of the plan & phone is a little much for us.

[Owlfan]

If you don't get service at your house and aren't out too much, I second the iPod touch. I got one and I love it. I'm WAY too cheap to pay that much for cell service. I have an el cheapo phone (probably 5 years old) with $5/month service from Virgin Mobile. But, the minutes roll over and I was able to use extra minutes to buy my 14 yo a data phone from Virgin Mobile - he has the $25/mo plan which gives him unlimited text and data and 300 minutes per month (no rollover). I use my phone so little that even after spending $100 on my son's phone, I still have about $75 extra on my account.

[Clarabella]

1) that is relatively how we potty-trained our Boy, also well past 3.5, but without an older brother. One day, I just took pull-ups out of the equation & he's been accident-free ever since. He DOES pee sitting down, but see: no older brother & a Daddy who was unwilling to clean the bathroom multiply times a day.
2) I am about to get an iPhone with Verizon, so I just changed my plan to 450 minutes (free mobile to mobile, unlimited nights & weekends) & 500 texts (I text a lot) & unlimited data for $80/ month. It's a good bit more than my current plan, but my current phone isn't smart and DAMN I've wanted an iPhone for years but couldn't switch to AT&T.
3) glad to know you're on the road to figuring Patrick's issues out. I worry about y'all irrationally for folks I only know thru the interwebs.
4) all that said, if you don't text or talk on the phone that much ( I obviously don't know about the latter), but may I suggest an iPod touch? It's basically an iPhone without the phone part, BUT the new ones have face-to-face (apple's skype) and there's an app for texting if you want to. It works off Wi-fi, though, so no monthly bill. I have one & it served well as a surrogate until I could get the iPhone.
Good luck! AND, if you do get an iPhone, be sure to get the words-with-friends app & give us all your handle, so you can become as obsessed with the time-suck of phone scrabble as the rest of us;)

[Kelly]

Good thoughts for Patricks continued recovery. I laughed at your comment about secretly hoping your child did not come in first or second at DI competition. I usually am secretly hoping for 3rd place. You get a medal but do not have to leave the state. However, last year we came in 2nd and ended up going to Tennessee for Globals! We had so much fun. My daughter will never forget it. But right up until we left I was dreading it, and this year I am again secretly hoping for 3rd...

[Kelly]

Great news about Patrick - I've been checking back on you like a maniac since your last post. Good to hear he's doing better - hopefully the ENT will clear things up.

I was so sick around the holidays for about 6 weeks and was told everything from strep to mono until my ENT diagnosed tonsilitis - of the 3rd tonsil! Who knew there was a 3rd tonsil?? Anyway - hopefully your ENT will be able to shed some light.

Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

[andrea]

iPhones in the US use wifi too, right? I won't go into costs for my iPhone since I'm in Australia, but I have 500MB of data per month and I never even get close to using that. When I'm at home using data on the phone, it hooks into our wifi, and when I'm out it hooks into my phone data plan. Lots of cafes, etc also have free wifi. I use it for internet, news and weather checks and my beloved Words with Friends (basically Scrabble for iPhone) app.

(Oh, if you do get an iPhone, check out Words with Friends. If you like it, I'd love to play you - though I, of course, am an utter stranger to you whereas you seem quite familiar to me! I'm an occasional commenter and I think you've emailed me back from a comment once or twice. I have twins who turn four years old in May.)

Your hunting down of the cause of Patrick's symptoms seems to be going very well. Excellent work! Hope he feels better soon.

[Jb]

Skip the phone - get an iPad. It rocks. Really.

J

[Lisa]

I have an android phone with T Mobile and I believe they have the least expensive data plan. My husband has the same and we pay about $160 per month for everything (including a ridiculous amount of airtime that we never use since we once went over and I bumped our plan up so we'd never get surprised with a $300 airtime bill again). But every time I pay the bill, I think, this is too expensive! And now that I'm seeing what other people pay, I'm thinking that maybe we could get a better deal. Or just get Virgin Mobile phones and save a ton of money. Hmm....

[Lindsey]

Here's a helpful article on the costs of the Verizon and ATT iPhones: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-20029708-266.html

[Dawn @ Two-Handed Mommy]

Hubby and I got iPhone 4s for christmas and pay $50/mth each. We only have 500mb Internet use, but because we have wireless at home and hubby's work, we don't even use much of that (despite the salesman's insistence that we would need at least a GB). Love them.

[Tess]

We pay $60 a month for the data plan (internet), $70 per month for phone service with the smallest amount of minutes and $10 per month for texts with the smallest amount of texts. After taxes and fees our bill is a little over $155. This is with AT&T for two people. There are apps for EVERYTHING and range greatly in price. There are word, spelling and math game apps that would be good for Patrick, and more that would be fun for you. There are photography apps that help improve the quality of your pictures that you take with the crappy camera that comes with the phone, or edit it and add accents. There are cooking/recipe apps, kindle for your iPhone, diet and calorie tracking apps, organizational and appointment keeping apps, goal tracking, money managing, travel planning, really the opportunities are endless. Some apps are free, or have a free version for you to try out before you buy the full version. I have seen apps as much as $100, but most are in the .99 cent to $10 range. I hope it works out for you! Good luck!

[Kez]

Doesn't Patrick have a high pain threshold? As in, didn't he fail to complain last time he was really sick? I'm just wondering, like you, if he has not had a sinus infection for a very, very long time.

I looked briefly at the costs of running an iPhone. In the end I decided to stick with my cheapo basic handset and plan and get a wifi-enabled iPod Touch. I don't like talking on the phone anyway.

[emomatic]

I hope Patrick is feeling all the way better in the very near future.
AND
I'm laughing about Destination Imagination/rooting for the other team...we have a similar competition here, and I've had the EXACT same thoughts about NOT wanting my kid to win!! My son's team made it to State (Kansas), but we dodged the bullet for World (held in DC that year, I believe). I was worried about how to break it to his teacher that I wasn't about to pay for or deal with traveling to DC for a competition that my kid didn't really want to be in anyway.

[Crystal]

Frankly, your hypothesis sounds pretty reasonable. WRT Patrick and his head.

We bought a Verizon MiFi when we left Washington, so I could drive, and Lee could work. When we went house-hunting in Michigan, Lee brought his MiFi. Since Michigan is a bit behind the times in the rural internet department, and our livelihood depends on reliable internet access, and satellite wouldn't do for Lee's work, we eliminated houses without decent signal. Thankfully our land in this blessed little hamlet is surrounded by wireless towers, thanks to the great big company with an outpost a few miles down the road. We're on the wrong side of the tracks for the wired internet, but the wireless stuff is more egalitarian.

We had WildBlue, for a month. Until we had our second bill, including more fees never disclosed. We bitched, they allowed us to cancel. We'll be getting a second MiFi for family use, since Lee obliterates his MiFi usage nearly every month.

The latest HTC toys have been my smart phone choices, and compared to my ipod touch both sucked wind. I debated between an iphone, or a basic talk/text unlimited family plan and either an ipad or android notepad for me, since my kidlets shattered my ipad (grrrr... BTW, my sister just dropped her iphone one too many times, and is in the same boat). Now that we're getting another MiFi, I think I'm leaning toward an ipad. I loved my ipod touch, I could actually read things on it, unlike either of my HTC phones. But with my own portable internet, it makes sense to get an affordable family plan now that we have a teen and no land lines anymore, and just take the second MiFi when I'm out. Talk and text has become the loss-leader of the mobile communications industry, and data/all you can eat plans make up the difference in profits. Other folks can pay to have all the bells and whistles in one small, inferior package, I'd rather have a phone that works well as a phone, a wireless router that works well as a wireless router, wherever, whenever, for all my devices, and a notepad that does that well, with a bigger screen, to better accommodate my increasingly presbyopic eyes. Separating them also means I don't have to upgrade my rate plan (unless I want to) every time I want to upgrade my hardware. And frankly, if all I'm doing on my phone is talking and texting again, a nice, serviceable free phone will do the trick... More stuff to carry, but that's why God made purses.... I do love being a woman. :)

Glad Patrick is improved. Glad Edward is potty trained. Once again my ego is crushed seeing as all three of mine we're pushing 5 when they accomplished that feat, but the fact that I am slacker Mom extraordinaire is no longer news...

Take care, Julia.

[Borealis]

I have a tracfone and a new IPod Touch. The cell isn't my primary phone so the limited minutes aren't a problem. It costs about $15 to start and then $120 for a year, 800 minutes, and doubling all future minutes bought. I don't think prepaid phones are cost effective if you use them a lot, but they make it much less likely that you will pay for services you aren't using.

I don't know what an iPhone has that the iPod Touch doesn't (besides the obvious phone part), but it does have internet and apps as well as a camera and microphone. And it's a one-time cost.

[Jane]

I have Verizon and an iPhone! I've been waiting three (four?) years for the iPhone to come to Verizon since there was no way I was giving up having a signal wherever I went. I got it the first day it was released, and I looooove it.

I have 450 minutes (which I don't go over since most everyone I talk to also has Verizon so those calls are included), 250 text messages, and unlimited internet. So that's $40 + $5 + $30 = $75. BUT! I also get a 20% discount through work, and once you add in all taxes and fees, I pay a grand total of $68/month.

[RocketGrl]

If you do not talk on your cell much, I'd go with the iPad (wifi or 3G) and actually be able to read a blog, navigate with google maps, and do fun things. I have used skype of my lovely iPad to call both computers and landlines for a fraction of the smartphone cost.

So glad that that the Doc's are getting to the bottom (or top?) of Patrick's illness.

[Jaz]

I am an Android girl. I pay $120 a month for phone service and data on my phone, phone service for two of my children's phones, and unlimited texts for all.

I <3 my phone.

[Nicole]

I pay $98, including taxes, for an iPhone. Unlimited data, texts, and 450 minutes. I never ever use all the minutes, mostly because I'm texting instead.

[Anja]

Well seeing as you won't be able to use it as a phone much anyway, why don't you just get an ipod Touch instead? It's the same size as the iphone, has a camera and all the apps an iPhone has, easier to carry around (and you can use it one-handed) unlike the iPad - and it's a lot cheaper than the iPhone and doesn't require monthly payments to a phone company. I assume you have wi-fi - that's all you need. I have one and I (sadly!) don't think I could live without it. iPhones are nice, of course, but so expensive!

[Angie]

Delurking to weigh in -- with spotty service, I would definitely go for iPad or iPod Touch instead. I have Sprint, so no iPhone for me either, but I did get an iPod Touch for my birthday last October and it ROCKS! My husband is quite jealous. I sort of wish I had gotten an iPad, but I have a birthday this year too. :) iPod Touch or iPad gets my vote.

I hope Patrick gets some help from the ENT; your fill-in pedi sounds like she could be doing more. And awesome for speed potty training! I hope my son goes as fast.

[Robyn]

iPad
iPad
iPad

Just beware of getting hooked. And your kids getting hooked.

[Amy]

I'm so glad to get an update on Patrick. Hopefully you have this all figured out soon.

My husband and I pay about $100 a month for voice and data plans on two iPhones through AT&T. Yes, they are wifi enabled, so that might actually work out better for you, since you would be getting it through Verizon, which doesn't allow you to call and download data at the same time. I completely and utterly heart my iPhone. Yes, you can Google, use the internet, and the amount of apps available are fantastic.

[Erika]

You know, potty training my boys was really similar. They weren't ready... until they were, and then it just happened, almost on its own and almost overnight. Both were 3-ish, one a little over and one a little under. Anyway, glad to hear that you have some direction about Patrick's illness, I know how hard it is to just flounder around in the dark with no earthly idea what is going on.

As for the cell service, I have el-cheapo service. It's a pre-paid thing, but it includes unlimited minutes, texting and internet for $40 a month (crazy, right?) The internet is pretty slow, but it works. I do not have a smart phone, so no idea on the apps. The service I have is called Metro PCS, and its only available in big cities, I think. It's sort of ghetto, but it's so cheap that I can't deny it. I have had Verizon before, though, and I will say that if ANYONE will have service in your area, Verizon will. They have the absolute best service coverage of any company. I had T-Mobile at one point, and their coverage sucked in my area (Tampa). Metro works fine for me because I am rarely in the boonies, but if I did live outside town I would go back to Verizon in a heartbeat. Their service was fantastic.

[missie]

Chiming in on the pro-ipad side. We love ours, and it's great with the kids.

[Hawkeye]

I don't have internet service on my phone (I'm on the internet way too much as it is). I have Tmobile and some crappy phone and it is $68 per month for unlimited talk and text. That's with taxes and everything. I still think it's too much, but I firmly believe cell phone companies are the devil.

Glad to hear an update on Patrick. Keep us posted.