Lula's version of the well-baby visit shouldn't be ignored. Our pediatrician is a nice, sweet, young, soft-spoken mother of one little guy about Lula's age. She knows her medicine and knows what the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests. That's two of the four things you need in a pediatrician. The third is perspective and fourth is experience. She'll get that with time.
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| The bath water still dripping, Lula tries to turn on the TV. |
I had to fill out an autism screening form with a series of yes/no questions. Some were obvious: Does your child make flapping motions with his/her hands? Some not so: Does your child look to you for reassurance when faced with a new situation?
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| Caught peanut butter-handed! |
Does Lula
look like the kind of child that looks for reassurance when faced with new situations?
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| Better add some jelly to that peanut butter hand! |
I failed that question, but at least I could explain my answer before Lula was sent for further testing. I mean, did the pediatrician
see that look Lula gave her when she walked in, catching Lula trying to hack into the medical computer system? The cold stare/shoulder snub combo that she is so good at!
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| Caught trying to dig in the coffee! |
Lula currently has a nasty cold, so she was not in the best of moods yesterday. Thank goodness I had Shane with me. He was my Lula-carrier, my Lula-retriever, and my Lula-dresser. I only had one binky between the two babies. They both did a lot of crying while
***This post has been interrupted by a Real Life Event***
I left this post so I could take Fiona to dance class yesterday afternoon thinking I would only be gone two hours. I had no idea that my afternoon would quickly become a lesson in being prepared. Because Mark was not working at home yesterday, I left Daniel at home with Ian and Shane and brought all four girls with me to the dance class. Evie was going to be my Lula helper and I was going to go grocery shopping while Fiona danced. I dropped Fiona off, no problem, and headed to the store. When we were unloading the girls, Evie tripped over the curb next to the car holding Lula. Both crashed down on the sidewalk and Lula split her chin open. I could see that she definitely needed stitches.
I packed the girls back into their seats, all three crying, rushed back to Fiona's dance class to let her teacher know where I was headed, called Mark, called the boys at home, and then spent the rest of the evening at the ER. My cell phone battery was dead. My gas tank was empty. I had only one bottle for Heidi. And no extra clothing for either baby. But I did have our health cards since I had left them in the car the day before. Lula happened to be wearing a pair of pajamas because, for the first time in my life, I decided that the footie pajama/boot combo was the perfect out fit for my crazy-feeling life. I've seen kids in public with this particular outfit before; I now understand its purpose. Experience. Perspective. Yes. I'm getting there.
Evie was more traumatized by the events than Lula. Lula needed to be sedated for her four stitches. I was asked to wait in the waiting room because they needed a calm, quiet room to work in and Lula could have a bad reaction to the sedation if it was too chaotic. This was code for, "Get that crying baby out of here!" After Mark picked up Fiona from dance, brought her home, made dinner, left Fiona and Daniel with Shane, and dropped Ian off at Boy Scouts, he met me in the waiting room with extra bottles. I informed him that he would be staying with Lula and I would take Evie and Heidi home-after I picked up Ian. It was a crazy night, I tell ya!
