Surgery

A member of our family under went major surgery today... an eye replacement.

What. You didn't know eye replacements were possible? Amazing, I know. And it wasn't just any member of our family... it was the beloved monkey. Logan's Monkey.

This monkey.

This monkey.

And this monkey.

Back in December, I was helping Lincoln back in my bedroom when all of a sudden I heard Logan scream bloody murder. When he came running and crying back to where I was, I expected to see blood dripping from his head or something. But when he busted through the door, all he could get out was, "MONKEY!... EYE!.... SCAAAAARRRY!!!". And he showed me this...



I must admit I was a little taken back too. There's something a little creepy about seeing the eye socket of a furry friend.

Our temporary solution was an eye patch so Lo would calm down.



Then the search ensued. Logan didn't have any idea where the eyeball went. (Thinking back now.. I think I actually threw it away not realizing what it was.) We looked frantically for Monk's eye, but we were in the midst of packing for vacation. We searched and searched and searched but to no avail.

We were distraught. We thought there was no hope. Then Jera informed me that they sell doll and stuffed animal eyes in any craft store. Really? Did you know that? Sure enough, after a lot of searching, I found Monk's exact eyes on Etsy of all places. They came in the mail today and the surgery was scheduled for after bed time.

Our bag o' eyeballs...

don't you get the feeling that something's looking at you?

Seam ripping the eyebrow

Monkey brains

Sewing up

Good as new! Well, ok maybe not. His ears are about worn through because Logan rubs them at least 100 times a day. :-)

Sunday Night Videos

Here are a couple videos of our Sunday night!

I knew our long and narrow living room was good for something...
We pushed the loved seat back and made our very own bowling alley!





Linc's first word!

We practice animal sounds during diaper changes (well, at least when Linc's not fiercely trying to wriggle away). I always ask him, "What does a cow say? A cow says, 'moooooo' " and then go on to other animals too. He usually just stares at me and then says, "da da da".

But after I fed him tonight, I was chatting with him and he was saying the usual "da da da" when I asked him out of the blue, "What does a cow say?" and he actually replied! It's a little squished, and looks nothing like the way Logan would say "moo" but nevertheless, it's his own way of saying Moo and Linky's first intentional word. Hooray!

Lincoln Update

Linc is already 9 months old. We had his well-check with a new pediatrician (hooray!) on Monday and reached some conclusions:

1. I have missed out BIG by going to our family doctor instead of a pediatrician these past 4 years. I can tell right away that our new office is much more detailed, careful and competent.

2. Lincoln has actually lost weight in the past 30 days and his growth has slowed majorly the past 3 months. Ok, so he only lost a few ounces this month, but that is still scary to me. Because Ben was a bean pole as a child I know my boys aren't going to be heifers or anything, but this is a little too little for me.

Weight:
6 months - 16 lb 8 oz = 75th %
9 months - 17 lb 6 oz = 8 %

Head:
6 months - 17.12 in = 90th %
9 months - 17.25 in = 12th %

Height:
6 months - 28 in = 100th %
9 months - 29.25 = 81st %

So we'll feed him more solids, at least one formula feeding each day and go back in a month for a weight check. Praying for an increase.

3. Linc is behind on some immunizations (because my last doctor has been out of them during at least two or three of Linc's well-checks) and was going to finally get caught up during this appointment. However, our new Ped held off on giving him the last shot because...

4. Linc actually has another double ear infection that I didn't even suspect. And a nasty cough. So amoxicillin is our friend for the next ten days.

4. Contrary to the opinion of our last doctor, the flat spot on the back of his head IS actually bad enough to get a consult from an orthotist and might need a helmet.

We've been trying to correct this since he was 2 months old. At his 6 month check up it was still there but not as bad. The doc said it wasn't as bad as other kid's plagiocephaly and to not worry about it.

The bummer part? Babies usually get fitted for helmets at 6 or 7 months and so his optimum growth might be over with... i.e. even if we get him fitted (and pay for) a helmet, not sure if it would do much good as it could have two months ago! Wonderful.

Well, we had the consult yesterday and his flat spot is noticeable, but not that severe, so the orthotist said it's up to us. We're waiting to hear whether or not insurance will cover it. Even if they do "cover it," our deductible is way high this year from last year... like $3,000 high. So this will be an investment if we go for it. How do you judge the cost of having a "normal" shaped head for your child?

5. From the ages & stages questionnaire we took, he's developing pretty good, but he's a bit behind in problem solving and communication areas.


Anything good come out of this appointment? It sure didn't feel like it two days ago, but looking at it now, yes.

He's still healthy.
He's moving and grooving like crazy (probably contributing to his slowed growth). He pulls him self up to standing on everything, is crawling everywhere and getting into everything. I pull something out of his mouth at least once every day.
He has crazy fuzzy blonde hair that gets comments everywhere we go.
He is so happy and smiley all the time.
He gives lots of good lip-smacking kisses and plays a cute head-shaking game. (I'll post videos later)
He still looks like a vampire with his lateral incisor teeth hanging down.
He has a brother who adores him and finally a great doctor.

(he LOVES this mesh thing)