On the mend

After what seems like an endless period of round after round of sickness (it was really only three weeks and two rounds), we’re finally all more or less healthy again. Veronica’s croup cleared up fairly quickly after the steroid dose, and the virus that lingered for another several days seems to have departed. Colin never got the croup, and whatever caused his fever seemed to pass quickly too. 

We’ve been taking advantage of the unseasonably nice weather, and spending a lot of time outside. Veronica would like it even better if we spent all of our time outside. Whenever she comes downstairs, she immediately goes to her shoes and points to them, then points to the door. Or she’ll bring her shoes to me wherever I happen to be, and point to outside. The girl loves her dogs, and they’re all outside the house. So that’s where she wants to be too.

Colin also likes being outside, and it helps with the exercises he’s supposed to be doing for occupational therapy because he crawls on all fours when he’s outside (as opposed to his indoor army crawling style). That helps build his core strength, which he needs to be able to stand on his own. (Hmm … maybe I should try crawling too if it builds core strength.)

Now that the leaves have fallen from our ash tree (the first in the neighborhood to lose its leaves), we have the added bonus of big piles of leaves to sit in, throw in the air, crawl through and generally enjoy thoroughly. Colin especially likes to sit in the leaves and pile them on top of his legs. 

Veronica also enjoys a small measure of freedom when we’re outside, because I end up spending more time making sure Colin is keeping up with us. She will range quite a ways down the sidewalk while I’m trying to help Colin practice his walking. And the farther she gets from us, the faster she starts moving. Fortunately, she’s still much slower than me, and has shed her habit of dashing toward the curb to play in the street. (Darn block party fun.)


Colin isn’t really any closer to walking on his own, although he continues to practice and has gotten very good at cruising. He also is much smoother at getting up and down from standing (although this week he has starting letting go while apparently trying to do a twisting back flip, and has been whacking his head on the ground a lot). His physical therapist started the paper work today to get him orthotics to help with his walking/standing. Apparently it takes about three weeks to get the paperwork through, then we’ll have to take him in for a fitting and wait for them to make the orthotics. But they should help stabilize his ankles in the proper position, and make it easier for him to balance and walk. 


We’re also in the midst of another long run of appointments with all of Colin’s doctors. He had the urologist appointment two weeks ago (we need to schedule his next surgery for either December or January), he sees the pulmonologist next week, the neurologist the week after, then both babies have their (rescheduled) 15 month appointment and will get their second flu shot (and some others). Then Colin will see the dentist (his teeth look like they may have thin enamel, which is common with preemies) to make sure he doesn’t need calcium supplements or sealants to protect his baby teeth. 


It makes me tired just thinking about all those appointments, and Colin’s load is far less than many babies born his weight/gestation. It just makes me very glad we live in a big city because at least all of his doctors are close by. In fact, we can walk or take the train to all of them, which makes life much easier.