Medical Update

Jack got a glowing review from the burn doctor last Monday. You can't tell at all where the burn was (while his palm is a little red, you can't see the edges of the burn at ALL, and it's left NO scars). We will continue to put lotion on it several times a day, but we'll start phasing it out over the next two weeks. We'll make one last follow-up visit in 6 weeks, but the doctor anticipates no problem. He has full range of motion, and he uses it with no problem. He doesn't even mention the incident anymore -- the only reference he makes to it is when he's using his left hand, and he'll say "Mama, me using burned hand!" It's great that he has healed so well, and it makes me feel better to know we aren't the only ones this has happened to.

Amelia has started some speech therapy. She is just a tiny bit behind in some of her speech, and we thought we'd take care of it now. She had her first session last week, and she mastered the "sh" sound in one 30 minute session! She's done a great job in practicing it this week and is excited to see Freddy today to show her how she's been practicing.

We made a trip to an oral surgeon a few weeks back for both of the kids. Amelia has an irritation fibroma on the inside of her cheek, where she's repeatedly bitten it. It's now called "her bump" and while it doesn't generally bother her, she does occasionally bite it on accident. They say it won't get bigger or smaller, but it will probably need to be removed in the next few years. Luckily, there's no immediate need to remove it, but once it starts to bother her, it will be a simple office procedure to get it removed.

And Jack is officially tongue-tied (tight tongue frenulum) and will need to have that clipped, sooner rather than later, to avoid it interfering with his speech. That will be another day-long, in-office procedure, but longer than Amelia's. I had the same problem many years ago, and despite the fact that the surgeons nearly took me in for open heart surgery by mistake, I fard the procedure with little ill effect. So we will probably look to have the procedure done this summer, so that he can continue with school and speech with little delay.

We've been battling fevers the past week -- Jack came down with two weekends ago, then two days of health, then Amelia has caught it. Luckily, it doesn't come with other symptoms, and the ibuprofen/paracetamol trick keeps them feeling well enough to play.

T.J. was off on a tedious business trip last week golfing in the U.K. He's apparently really improved his game, and has really enjoyed the few gold outings he's been on recently.

I particpated in the neighborhood brocante (flea market) on Saturday to get rid of a few things. I was rather nervous about it, since I knew I'd have to conduct business in French. I woke up to a light drizzle but decided to take everything up anyway. I looked like a bag lady, as I loaded one of our old (for sale) strollers up with bags and boxes, then I carried 2 trash bags around my wrists. No sooner did I arrive in my spot and start to unload boxes off the stroller, than a horde of people descended upon me, pawing through the things. They even opend bags to dig around! It was worse than any US early risers at garage sales!! The weather was unpleasant, but I still managed to get rid of most things -- enough to pay for the babysitter, dinner and movie that night. I did OK with the French, but it wasn't always easy.

It's 78 today, and I filled the little pool up with water. Jack is having a great time, but Amelia isn't too interested. Jack has the beginnings of a double ear infection (coming out of nowhere), so he's getting dosed up on ibuprofen and antibiotic ear and nose drops. Our doctor was quite worried about us, as he hadn't seen us since before our cruise....

Amelia's birthday party is next weekend at our club. So far, we have 14 kids coming. 22 have been invited, we can only host 20 maximum, and no one has declined yet!! Alas, today is the deadline for responding, and we have 8 yet to respond. I'm really hoping SOMEONE says no!! Amelia is gleeful about the prospect of all the presents!

I'm sorry I'm STILL working on the cruise blog. It just isn't as easy to find the time as I would expect. I promise to continue toiling away!

Hope everyone in the US is keeping cool!