Birthmark treatment update

Yesterday afternoon, I received a phone call from Noel's dermatologist's office informing us that our new insurance covers pulsed-dye laser treatment of his birthmark. Mercy is smart enough to realize that removal of a port-wine stain from the face, especially one near the eyes, is not a cosmetic procedure. Why couldn't GHP get that?

While this is certainly good news, I'm feeling a little conflicted, mainly because I don't love the idea of putting Noel under general anesthesia 6-8 times. Maybe I'm also so used to his appearance now that I don't want to change it. I mean, could he be any cuter? But I know that treating the birthmark is in his best interest, obviously for Noel's self-esteem but also to prevent it from worsening. Doing so sooner rather than later means less disruption for him (imagine him going to school with bruising after a treatment) and a greater chance that he won't remember much of the experience or the birthmark. I just saw some before-and-after photos of kids who have undergone laser treatment for port-wine stains, most of them far worse than Noel's, and the results are amazing. Of course now I can't find the web page to share!

So I think we're probably going to go ahead with the treatment but wait until the first of next year. Even though it's covered, we'll still have a deductible and 10% copayments for each treatment, so we have to set up our health spending account accordingly.

New toy

Something that's been on our list a while...

You've got to love Craigslist. We're still working on the enclosure, but in the meantime the boys are having a blast. We just have to keep a close eye on them so that nobody gets launched off the trampoline.

Crib for sale

Lately, Noel has been coveting Dominick's bed, so much that every naptime and bedtime, he's run and jumped into it. For a couple of weeks, we've searched antique malls, garage sales, and Craigslist (haunting it, actually) for a twin bed. We wanted to find one in a style and wood tone similar to Dom's, preferably with footboard, rails and mattress included, and not too far from Webster Groves. (Hauling was going to require the use of a friend's truck.) The right bed hadn't shown up yet.

My neighbor Judy was back in town for two days from Rhode Island (Dominick asked, "Does it have a lot of roads?"), where she's been on a year-long sabbatical/fellowship that she has extended through next summer. Before leaving today, she mentioned offhand that she had a complete twin bed in her garage. Ooh!, I thought. I said we might be interested in it if it was compatible with Dominick's existing bed, so she showed me the bed. Well, take a look at this:

On the right is Dominick's bed, and on the left is what is now Noel's bed. It certainly fit our criteria, and all we had to do was fetch it from the garage next door. How easy is that? Now I have some shopping and/or sewing to do: pillow, bedskirt, comforter, sham, etc.

The boys were very excited about this new development. I suppose it's a pretty big milestone, moving out of a crib and into a big bed. They're growing up so quickly. [sigh] As expected, Noel has had trouble staying in his bed tonight. May the novelty soon wear off! In the meantime, anyone need a crib?

A chapter ends

Not to be dramatic, but Dominick's last day of preschool was today, and I'm feeling a little sad. He's had a wonderful year and, according to one of his teachers, grown exponentially. I can see it, too. He's changed so much since he began in the Red Room last year, but perhaps most dramatically in the Yellow Room. Emmanuel is such a familiar, comfortable place, full of great people. We'll really miss it, but the good news is that Noel will be starting there next fall, probably in the Parents' Day Out room on Wednesdays. That means we'll bump into some of Dom's friends or their younger siblings and parents, so we'll be able to stay in touch. The other bit of good news is that the summer program starts June 9, so Dominick still has a couple of months to see some familiar faces before launching into his elementary school career on August 18.

The Yellow Room seemed so bare today because all the projects were taken down and sent home with the kids. This was exciting enough, but at the bottom of his bag Dominick found a special gift from his teachers: a small photo album of pictures taken throughout the year, kind of a day-in-the-life of preschool. Dominick absolutely loves the album. When he first saw it, he said he wanted to thank his teachers and make them a gift, too. Then he hugged the book to him. He has looked through it several times today with both me and Mike. I just hope he doesn't love the poor thing to death!

Dom with his painted counterpart. He drew the face. We taped the other Dom to the living room wall, and it freaks me out every time I turn around and catch a glimpse of it.

The beach picture, a current favorite of Dom's. He's very proud of the sand he glued onto the paper. Note the octopus with more than eight legs.

Dom embracing his photo album