Took the Snickerdoodle to an opthamology appointment today. (For the record she was less than thrilled - we're dealing with some significant stranger anxiety in her these days, probably because so many of the ones she's known up until now want to poke and prod at her all the time.)  She's both cross eyed and VERY near sighted, and so is being followed on a fairly regular basis to make sure her glasses prescription is still what is should be.  She'll be seen at the eye clinic once a month until December, at which point  they'll decide if she's making acceptable progress with the eye patch mystique or if she's going to end up needing corrective surgery.  I'm hoping for the former of course - no one is thrilled with the idea of their 13 month old going under anestesia, but then on the other hand I know now how very very much Kaia's world is impacted by the ease with which she can see.

For example...she got her first set of glasses at about 9 months.  Before that I couldn't get her to crawl further than two feet away from me for anything.  Now?  She's all over the house at mach 10 (mach eleven if the dry cat food dish is in sight!) And while she may scream at the sight of doctors and physical therapists some days, (No touching with out saying hello and playing a little first) both have played a big role in getting her where she is today - still struggling some, but also on target for the larger number of her developmental milestones...

That's the balance I think, when dealing with kid who may need different types of medical intervention (especially surgery).  You want to give them time to come into their own and spare them as much pain as possible when its not absolutely necessary, but at the same time, you also don't want them to lag far to behind, or have them just give up because of fear or repeated failure based frustration.  Sometimes it's a tightrope you
can't help but teeter on and hope that they'll just forgive you in the end.

Three things I love and three things I detest...

I Love...

1.  Sushi...  Particularly Philidelphia Rolls with Unagi sauce.  I fell in love with pickled ginger while I was pregnant with the Cookie and never really fell out again.  Seaweed salad is pretty darn tasty too...as is Miso soup when it's properly hot instead of the luke warm version so many people seem to like...

2.  Tomato Mozarella Salad with Balsamic Vinagrette - though I freely admit the freshness and quality of the tomatoes make or break this dish, which is why it's best when prepared fresh out of the garden or straight home from the farmers market

3.  Warm baths - hey I never claimed this would all be about food.  Honestly though I'm a TOTAL water baby...for good reason too.  Immersion in any kind of water seems to help my joints... both because of the lessened effects of gravity and the way warm improves circulation.



I Loathe...

1. The cold - It makes me stiff and slow and achy.  Granted it gives me an excuse to buy warm fuzzy sweaters every winter, which I suppose is a good thing.  Still, living in MN the way I do December and January and February can be pretty brutal.  At least we get snow as well - and I have an excuse to make hot chocolate.  (Like I need an excuse to eat chocolate EVER).

2. The taste of coffee.  I don't mind the smell - unlike my husband who gets naseous at the merest whiff.  I like tea, apple cider and Chai...but unless it's a wee bit mixed with my hot cocoa when I really need the caffeine I will pass on coffee.  (Yes I know, my nordic ancestors are rolling over in their graves at the moment.)

3.  STUPID humor films (as opposed to those devoted to satire, irony or slapstick)  Monty Python is fine and I LOVE Eddie Izzard, Jeff Dunham, etc etc... but frankly some films I've seen I mourn(or I've out right walked out on) because I'll never be able to get back that time... You do know the type I'm referring to right? I'll leave it to you to supply the titles...

On The Art Of Being Ma Gumby...

If you're read my profile then you already know something about me people wouldn't necessarily realize when they're introduced to me in person...the fact that I (and most likely my daughter) have both been recently diagnosed with Connective Tissue Disorder. We're still waiting for the blood tests to come back, but right now the geneticist who treats us both has said her bet is either Classical or Hypermobile Type Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.

What's that mean?  Depends on which one of us you;re asking about.  My daughter has eye problems and skeletal problems and I have dysautonomia.  We're both hyperflexible.  (Double Jointed) No I'm not at the level of the circus performers in the way I can twist myself into knots but I can bend into creepy looking positions on occasion and on my worst days my joints are both painful and floppy.  I combat this (and oncoming early onset arthritis) via exercise in the pool, and general strength training stuff...

Never heard of Ehlers Danlos or Connective Tissue Disorders?  You're not alone.  I hadn't either and would likely have gone through my life thinking I just had something called P.O.T.S has it not been for my daughter being born with more pronounced skeletal symptoms then I ever had.

Now?  I'm researching like mad, and generally trying to make sense of both having a chronic medical condition and raising a child who has the same...