Tonsils out, Cracked Ankles, and Other Updates

It's been an eventful week. This is bound to be another long post, so stop reading when you've had enough of my jabbering.

Before we get to the sympathy-invoking stories, I have to brag a little. Sweety is working so hard at speaking these days, and continues to broaden his communication skills. I think the following words are recent additions to his vocabulary, but I'm terrible at keeping track of what comes and goes.

Let's just say, some of the words Sweety is currently speaking include: car, key, please, go, wee, ya, yes, cracker, grandma, and dog. His signed vocabulary includes: milk, drink, water, eat, his name, please, sleep, hat, and dad.

It is so fun to see him expressing himself more and more and participating in chit-chat. He is so bright, and actually adds to family conversations. Keep it up, Sweety!



Yesterday, Smarty had his fifth set of tubes put in his ears. His doctor said we are not keeping up with the problem, however. Apparently one of his ears was so full of pressure and gunk that his eardrum was inverting back into his head. Obviously that's not great for hearing, and if his eardrum is allowed to continue like that, it can lead to other problems. The doctor said as soon as he poked the hole, it popped right back out with no problems, thank heaven.

Smarty also had his tonsils out this time. (They had grown so large they were starting to cut off his airway at night) Although the surgery went well, I believe this experience definitely qualifies as "un-fun" in Smarty's book. We had to stay a few extra hours in recovery, because the nurses couldn't get his nausea under control. Smarty didn't care for that much. Today he is barely speaking, walking, or drinking at all. He's much worse than yesterday. I'm a little concerned, so if he doesn't improve by tomorrow, I'll haul him in to be checked out.

Smarty is an extremely tough kid. His pain tolerance is through the roof, but this tonsils-out business has really walloped him. It will be worth it eventually. Here's hoping he bounces back quickly.

Okay, now for my cracked ankle story...

I'm an idiot. I hate learning lessons the hard way. Especially when I thought I'd already learned the lesson.

Last Friday my parents, my boys, and I ran up to a cousin's cabin for an impromptu night "out'a Dodge." With literally minutes to pack, I decided to leave my good shoes at home. I knew we'd probably take the kids for a walk, but I reasoned that there wasn't anything my toddler would be doing that I couldn't do in flip-flops, as long as I was careful. Of course, now as I type at this desk, against which my shiny, silver crutches are leaning, that line of logic doesn't seam as clever as I thought it was.

Incidently, I know it's dumb to wear flip-flops, especially on dirt, but I love wearing them. You don't need to inform me about how horrible they are. I've heard it all. I still love them. Actually I'd really like to never wear shoes at all, and flip-flops are as close to bare feet as it gets.

Back at the cabin, we did get out and had a great time walking up and down hills and playing in a stream. I ran and jumped and hauled my boys in my arms and on my shoulders. That all went very well.

Then just before it was time to leave, Sweety slipped and fell in a deep rut in front of the cabin door. He was mad about that, so I leaned down and started to pick him up when I slipped in the same rut. Before my butt hit the ground, I knew it wasn't going to end well for my ankle. I caught Sweety in my lap, but the poor guy was even more upset.

I couldn't walk or put weight on my foot, so my good parents packed everything up, and doctored me as best they could. Sweety was farily traumatized and screamed until he puked. (Dang me. It's hard to forgive yourself for scaring your kids that bad) We were eventually able calm him and headed out. I swear, the washboard-laden road leading out of Causy Estates has never drug on that long before, in spite of my frozen peas-filled pillow!

At any rate, I am walking without crutches a little now (I injured it on Sat., today is Thrus.), so it must have been a minor crack (or sprain. My doc is still unsure). But I am finally learning my lesson. All the bother I've been to my friends and family for the last few days is so much worse than the bother required to put on some good socks and lace up some decent shoes. I will be doing much more of that in the future, but... don't throw my flip-flops out just yet!