Saturday, June 21, 2008

Thoughts on not moving, deer attacks and other important things (Luna's Tuesday appointment for her sedated echo)




I feel like I am finally settling down and accepting the daily rhythm of our lives together. Just days before Luna was born, Paul and I created the best distraction going and decided to put our house on the market. In retrospect I think we both needed something huge to distract us from the seemingly steep mountain we faced with the delivery and surgery of Luna. So, early March Paul and I agreed-in complete accord-that we would put our house up for sale and look for new digs. The new home would have everything we dreamed of. The distinction of age (at least 80 years old), original fixtures including antique moulding, wide pine floors and of course a barn where Paul could toil away late at night on his latest passion-be an old VW Bus, discarded bureau or perhaps even getting back into welding as his did so passionately as a student at Wentworth College. For three months straight we packed up a newborn, a 2 year old, cleaned out the cat litter and bunny cage and hit the road in search of our dream home. After viewing property after property in the surrounding towns and enduring 50 showings at our house (yes 5-0, that's not a typo) we decided not only were we not going to get the windfall price for our home that we would have a year ago, but there is no other place that we rather live. I love my little city. There is so much I could ramble on about...the people, the beaches, the restaurants, SMA... and never mind the fact that the biggest crime to hit was the decapitation of a giant ant. I can finally say that we are totally and completely home.

Luna's sedated echo:

Now that I'm not running around crazy packing up kids and losing my mind while my 2-year-old pulls out every article of clothing from her bureau just moments before a showing, I can really take in and accept the road ahead for Luna. Her sedated echo is this coming Tuesday. Aside from the mild sedation-which again is needed because Luna doesn't care to have a probe pressed against her tiny chest for over an hour-it's really nothing more than an ultrasound. Completely non-invasive. The point of this echo cardiogram is to determine: a. how well the balloon-catheter worked from a few months ago (thinkgoodthinkgoodthinkgood) and b. how her shunt and surrounding arteries and of course heart are looking so the doctors may determine when her Glenn will be performed. The general thought is sometime this summer. The exact date as of this writing is unknown. After Tuesday we should have a clear picture on Luna's next repair.

Other than not moving, and thinking about Luna's upcoming cath, we are doing normal things like going to York Wild Animal Kingdom where Sienna was stampeded by deer. This photo pictorial shows you a step by step of how it all went down:

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As you can see in this last shot the little deer's mouth is agape and clearly he doesn't look happy. What happened next is the two deer you see here, along with four others in their posse, ganged up on Sienna and decided she had better have enough food for all of them-or else. I looked over to see Sienna engulfed in fur and horns so I quickly threw my camera down to save her. The scuffle was brief, but she hasn't been the same since. And in a strange coincidence, or perhaps it was a warning from the deer posse, one lone deer casually munched on our shrubs in the backyard yesterday morning. Normally this would have been a cute spectacle, but Sienna simply looked out the window and said, "Go away Deer".

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Conversations with Leo


Luna has shaped up to be quite the conversationalist. Within the last few weeks she has really taken to babbling. She's only 2 1/2 months, but I swear, this baby can chat up anything! In fact she shares the same birthday as Rupert Murdoch. OK, so I'm not sure if he's a great conversationalist, but isn't he king of all media owning the Wall Street Journal (along with the Dow Jones). Perhaps big, BIG media plans are in store for Luna.

This cooing and shrieking started a few weeks ago while we were all driving. Above the hum of the road and the blare of kid-friendly radio (read: bad music) we could hear Luna in the back. Her high-pitched shrieks and gurgling noises rose above everything. Paul asked if she was crying. I looked back to see her completely engaged with the little lion hanging off her carseat handle. She was totally smitten-as we could see her reflection in the safety mirror harnessed to the back seat (which is not at all safe since I'm constantly trying to look into it from my rear view mirror while I'm driving). This conversation went on for miles. Until she finally got fed up with Leo and started crying. Not a hungry cry, nor a tired cry, but a real get-out-of-my-face-you're-annoying-me-cry. I reached back and pulled Leo off the bar and she immediately settled into a deep sleep.

But it didn't stop there. Every time I have her in her carseat, be it in the house, in the yard, on the deck with Sienna; Luna carries on with Leo like they are the dearest of friends. However, today there is tension between Leo and Luna. Once again we were all driving. This time to buy Sienna some Crocs (pale yellow with a mushroom and...a lion charm!). Luna was once again making noises from the backseat. They started low and infrequent and I thought she might be hungry again. But gradually they bubbled into full yelps. At one point she sounded like she was whining. When I turned back I noticed that Leo had turned his back on her. Apparently there was an argument. Words were exchanged. Leo wanted nothing to do with Luna and she was pleading with him. I finally pulled Leo off and dangled a monkey in its place. Mr. Monkey wasn't much for conversation and within moments Luna was fast asleep. Sadly, Leo and Luna haven't spoken to each other since.