Micronaxx

Finn-O looked down & spied a Thomas the Tank Engine toothpaste tube in the tub tonight, occasioning this fun little exchange:

F: “Thomas down there!”
J: “That’s Thomas down there?”
F: “Floating around!”
J: “Floating around?”
F: “Knew that… Finny knew that!”

Today was Henry’s appointment with the pediatric urologist at Stanford Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital. We had to take all the records and reports from his prior ultrasounds and X-ray so the specialist could check everything out. The doctor and his resident were both incredibly nice and gentle, and were very attentive to both Henry and I. They answered all my questions and gave as thorough an explanation as they could concerning Henry’s condition.

In a nutshell, Henry needs a couple more tests before the doctor will be comfortable giving a definitive diagnosis of his kidney condition. Right now it’s just known as “megaureter,” which is a general term for inexplicably enlarged kidneys and ureters. Henry will have another X-ray test, called a Mag 3, which is designed to show whether his ureters are blocked (thereby indicating a physical impediment to the flow between kidney and bladder) or unblocked (which could indicate a malfunction with the musculature of the ureters). The doc said that if they’re not blocked, the situation eventually will resolve itself without the need for surgery. If they’re blocked, at some point surgery will be needed to remove the blockages, but we’d wait until he’s older to do that. In the meantime, we keep him on the antibiotic, do the tests this coming month, and then see the doc again in March to see what the tests show.

For his part, Henry was an absolute doll the entire morning. The appointment was smack in the middle of his normal naptime, but he slept in the car both ways, and was happy and calm for the duration of the consultation. Oh, and he was in love with the adorable baby he kept glimpsing in the mirror at the end of the exam table :D. And big kudos to the Children’s medical center–the facilities are so nice, welcoming, well-lit, and kid friendly, it is very easy for everyone to be at ease while they’re visiting.

This past week marked my first week back to work, and I’m happy to report that the boys were fabulous for the nanny all week. Knowing that they were in good hands and having fun made my hours at the office, away from the boys, stress-free. They both napped well, played well, and behaved themselves on all fronts. Whew! Finny’s been having a bit of a rough time going to sleep at night, and we think it’s because he’d like to spend more time with Mom-o and Dad-o since we’re both now away a large part of the day. My singing the “Personal Penguin” song to him in his darkened room seems to put him at ease.

This coming week marks our big nanny transition. Carol (a.k.a. Coco) has recuperated from her back surgery, and is coming back full-time as of Feb. 1. This week she’ll be job-sharing with Laurie, who’s been filling in for her since October. Hopefully this will make the transition a bit smoother for the guys–they can refamiliarize themselves with Coco, and Coco can get up to speed with the day’s rhythms, playgroup schedule, etc. And we will miss Laurie, who has been so good to the boys. She is moving back to San Diego with her daughter and granddaughter at the beginning of February.

Other small things of note from this week: Henry had his first official high-chair meal when we went out for pizza yesterday. He’s now stable enough to stay upright on his own in the chair! And Finny has started referring to himself as “Big Goonie” instead of “Binny”. That little guy is as sharp as a tack. When Dad-o pointed to a vehicle in one of his books and said “What’s that?”, expecting the answer, “bulldozer,” Finny replied “That’s a bulldozer scooping sand in the desert!” Why yes, yes it was!