Spring Break

Dominick was on spring break last week, so the boys and I went to my parents' house, which Dominick thinks is Joplin, the day before Easter and stayed until Friday. Before leaving St. Louis, we had an early Easter at our house so that the boys could celebrate it with Mike. The drive was uneventful, except for the 20-minute delay at Fenton, where we saw the flooding. When we arrived, eggs were awaiting Dom's artistry. He dyed them over and over again, so that they all ended up purple. Our visit was pretty low-key. We hung out, watched American Idol, went to the Y and the playground, and ate lots of good food. On Wednesday, I had new front tires put on the car and got to spend three whole hours (at the mall) by myself! Now that we're back home, I feel like such a grown-up for taking my first trip to Joplin with the boys. They did great, even during stops, so I didn't need to worry. Too bad Noel really didn't sleep in the car. I guess some people just aren't good car sleepers. I never was.

An update on Noel's finger: it's healing fabulously. The fingernail fell off last Wednesday morning. Who knows where it went. Surprisingly, the finger looks much better without the nail just sitting there. Everything is nice and pink, and the line where the tip was reattached is difficult to see. Noel has no pain and no need for the splint anymore. That's just as well, considering it kept coming off.

Good news!

The doctor said that Noel's fingertip is, and I quote, "definitely alive." Hooray! He also said that it looks a little weird because of where the fingernail is sitting. He recommended continuing with the same course of treatment (soaking twice a day in warm, soapy water) because at this point, surgery would be overkill.

After the doctor visit, we headed across the hall to the hand rehabilitation clinic, where Noel was fitted for a splint. We have two: a small one that fits on his finger and a larger one that wraps around his hand. Somehow, neither one wants to stay on, but maybe once Noel gets used to wearing it, he will leave it alone. The splint will protect Noel's finger better than the bandages did, so the pain should be less now. He cried quite a bit overnight, so it must have been bothering him.

Needing happy thoughts

Just a request for you to continue to keep Noel in your thoughts. He's been having more pain, which might be because without the splint, his finger is much more vulnerable. Tonight we tried to change his bandages, but the gauze was stuck again (new bleeding), and it was obvious Noel wasn't tolerating it well. Yesterday morning, I succeeded in removing the dressings, but only after letting Noel play with a bowl of water and some toys while I tried to keep his finger wet. Actually, Noel somehow knocked the last bit off as I was trying to wrap him up again. I won't get too graphic here, but I will say that the fingertip appeared pinkish. It wasn't black, anyway, so I'm cautiously hopeful.

We have another appointment tomorrow morning. Noel probably won't be very cooperative. Not that I blame him, of course. He's been through a lot, especially for a 16-month-old.

I'll post again tomorrow.

Noel's visit to the orthopedic surgeon

I came away from Noel's appointment today without any answers about the fate of his fingertip. The doctor called us back and talked to us for a couple of minutes. Then the nurse came in, gave me a bowl of saline solution and left me to remove Noel's dressing. Once I got most of it off, I was supposed to soak his hand to soften anything still stuck to the wound. Try doing that with a screaming, thrashing toddler! Ultimately, the last bit of dressing stayed on, so the nurse wrapped him up again (no splint, though, just bandages). The doctor gave us instructions to soak the hand twice a day in soapy water until the gauze comes off. We'll go back Thursday if there's something to see. He said that Noel's finger looks good in that there's no sign of infection, but that the skin might be dark. We just couldn't tell. The good news is that Noel can stop taking the antibiotic now. He'll be thrilled.

I've started scouring the Internet for some sort of device to prevent this from happening again. Apparently, the British are much more interested in protecting little fingers from amputation by door than we are. I did find some finger guards, just not many that are suitable for exterior doors. If anybody has experience or recommendations with these, please let me know.

Update

Fortunately, there's not much to say. Noel continues to act normally, showing no signs of pain. He's gotten used to the splint on his hand and doesn't mess with it anymore. Thursday, the day after the accident, Noel was so intent on playing that he barely let me hold him, which was all I wanted to do. Since then, he's been more content to snuggle. He hates taking his antibiotics, though I think he's starting to resign himself to having a syringe shoved into his mouth three times a day. We'll be finished with that on Monday, thank goodness. Yesterday morning was Noel's previously scheduled PAT screening, and because he'd been in such good spirits, I went ahead and took him. After warming up to the situation, he did fine.

Me, I still can't get the sight of him caught in the doorway and his damaged finger out of my mind (they will be there forever), but I am coping better now. We're just focused on taking care of Noel and getting to his appointment on Monday, where we'll see how well his finger has been healing. I will keep you posted on what the doctor says.

Poor baby

Some of you already know about Noel's accident yesterday, but for those who don't, this is what happened.

Dominick shut the front door on Noel's pinky finger, nearly severing it. My friend Jill, who was here at the time, called 911 and stayed with Dominick while Noel and I went to Children's Hospital in an ambulance. Mike met us there as soon as he could. The doctor reattached Noel's fingertip, and after X-rays and a visit to the pharmacy, we came home. Noel slept all night and woke up in a surprisingly cheerful mood. He spent the entire morning playing with Dominick's remote-control spider. He even showed some of that lovely little ornery streak that has just developed. It was as if yesterday had never happened. If it weren't for the splint on his hand, you'd never have known what Noel had just been through.

Noel has an appointment for a follow-up visit with an orthopedic surgeon on Monday afternoon. At this point, we're keeping watch for any signs of infection and hoping that the fingertip survives. The doctors and nurses couldn't promise us that it will, but then kids are amazingly resilient, so we are trying to be optimistic. I was pretty freaked out yesterday, but seeing how well Noel has done today has helped tremendously.

As for Dominick, what he did was an accident. He had no idea Noel's finger was in the door when he closed it. He's done many things to try to hurt his brother, but this was not one of them.

A promotion

Our little swimmer has been moved out of the Terrified of Water class because he did so well today. It started out a little rough, with Dom not wanting to put on floaties and get in the pool. Being hit in the head by the locker room door he was standing in front of didn't help much, either. Within a few minutes, though, Dom calmed down and went to the edge of the pool. Megan, the instructor, came right over and talked to him, and he got in the water with her fairly readily. After that, he was fine, so I slipped out and went to the cardio room. When I came back to get Dominick, he was crossing to the far side of the pool with a noodle and a board thing (what are those called?)--by himself! He was obviously having a great time. What a relief.

Here are some of Dom's latest humorous sayings:

Blincoln hat (Lincoln hat. Get it? Abe Lincoln...A blincoln. They made Lincoln hats in preschool. Dom's is pretty funny. I have to take a picture of him wearing it.)

Plumper (plunger, as in "The plumper! The plumper! Get the plumper!")

Inspired ("Are these coupons inspired, Mama?")

Tepescope (did I post this one before?)

A different kind of Isabelle (I wish I could remember the context. He must have been talking about some other girl.)

Dom: I don't have boo-boos 'cause I don't feed babies.
Me: Boys don't have milk like mommies.
Dom: I have milk, right here. (points to cup)

And my favorite, spoken while sitting on the toilet at 2:00 one rough night:

I just love that baby so much. I love all you guys.

Hooray for Dominick!

In preparation for Saturday morning's swimming lesson, Mike took Dominick to the pool at the Y last night while I was at spinning. The plan was to coax him into the pool for 20-30 minutes before caving and letting him out. So you can imagine my surprise when I came out of my class 45 minutes later and saw Mike waving to me from the shallow end of the pool. I joined them and found Dom happily splashing and floating around on a noodle. He was having a blast and didn't want to leave. How about that?!? Let's *hope* that now he will be more receptive to his lessons. You can never tell.

For anyone who doesn't know, Mike and I are big American Idol fans. Our tastes in TV are pretty divergent (sports versus design and cooking shows), so this is one show we can watch together on a regular basis. (I think he's a closet What Not to Wear fan, but he'd never admit it.) Anyway, I was sad to see Asia'h Epperson go, simply because she is from Joplin. So much for that Idol viewing party in a couple of weeks! I liked her well enough, but the guys are more interesting to me this year. With Asia'h gone, I'm rooting for our other Missourian, David Cook, as well as Jason Castro and Michael Johns. I have to admit I liked Danny Noriega, too, because he was full of attitude. He was to American Idol what Christian Siriano was to Project Runway, minus the extreme talent.

February turns into March

Mike bought a new Xbox game tonight (sigh), so I am doing some computer work while he plays. I renamed all my digital photos from October to today (note to self: TRY to keep up with this task before it becomes overwhelming!) and have just uploaded several to our Picasa account. They're posted as a slideshow below. Included are Dominick's birthday photos, so I should give a brief summary of his celebrations.

On February 16, we had a smallish party, his first with friends his age. Everything was great for the first few minutes, until Dominick fell and busted his nose. Subsequent pictures show him with band-aid under nose (more for comfort than function) and blood on clothing. He wouldn't let us clean him up at the time. My cake design turned out very well, if I do say so myself. For months, Dom had been requesting a phone cake, so that's what I gave him. My parents and sister came into town for the party, which was much appreciated. We all played Rock Band Saturday night, except for my mom, who chose to be our fan. Dominick took cookies shaped like 4s to preschool the day before his birthday. He did a beautiful job decorating them with glaze and sprinkles. On his actual birthday, Mike took off work so we could celebrate properly. Unfortunately, I was sick, and the weather was horrendous. We braved the sleet to eat out for lunch and play at Monkey Joe's, which is full of huge, inflatable slides and bounce houses. Dom loved it. We knew he would. That night, we recycled one of Dom's cakes, which had been frozen since the party, and let him blow out candles again.

This morning, Dominick started swimming lessons at the Y. We put him in the Terrified of Water class. We know our boy! It went as we expected. One of the teachers (not his) ended up spending the entire time with him in the pool. Mike and I had gone dressed to work out but were glued to our seats in the lobby, watching him. We could see that he was crying. Why didn't any of the other kids seem terrified? Eventually, Dom calmed down and splashed a little, even laughed, but he told us later that he doesn't want to swim again.

This afternoon, we took advantage of the weather and went to Laumeier Sculpture Park. You'll see some of those pictures in the slideshow. It was interesting to see that some of the sculptures I remembered from last spring's visit with my parents had been removed.

An update on Noel's sleeping habits: I am cautiously optimistic about his progress. After a couple of rough nights, he slept through the night last night, until 6:30. Woo hoo! Dominick has his own nighttime milestone. He's been staying dry overnight, so we've started having him sleep in underwear. It's just as well, considering he's basically outgrown his extra large Fuzzi Bunz. He really seems like a big boy now.

I'll close with some words of wisdom from our birthday boy: "Fake leopards don't get you. They only do nice things."