My father's health continues to fluxuate. Short version: he's back in the hospital. The doctors disagree about the seriousness of his symptoms. I don't know whether or how much to worry.And speaking of medical problems, Nick missed school

I'm not sure I have much to say about Dad right now. Or rather, I have a lot to say, but my emotions surrounding this situation are, I think, too raw and volatile for me to want to discuss them in depth in this forum. It's not fun, being forc

The surgery went fine. He's back in his room, conscious but not entirely with it. My sibs tell me he looks good, under the circumstances. For updates, keep checking Nathan's blog. I have a lot more to say, but remember my comment earlier abou

I took the kids to the local pumpkin patch this afternoon, just like we do every year. I would like to write a lovely post about our fun outing. How Nick ran around checking out the options. How he picked out a huge orange pumpkin, then talked me int

Wow, I haven't said much about Zoe lately, have I? That's because she doesn't do the big, exciting things that are easy to write a blog post about. Instead she just quietly goes about the business of growing up, a little more each day. We

Nick had a three day weekend to enjoy. Not Monday - Nick was back in school. But Friday was the Parish Fair Holiday. I've no idea why this is a school holiday, but it is, and he wasn't complaining. At least not till he found out what the sche

I was going to write a long entry about the problems I had driving around town today. But then I realized that would be very boring. Also, whiny. So I will spare you all, and just say this: when I become filthy rich, I'm hiring a chauffeur. In th

The lactose-free experiment was largely a bust. No observable effect. Nick had a couple of minor tummyaches while dairy free, then nothing for several days after. Yesterday he had a humdinger of an ache; he was laid up for a couple hours. He also too

I took the kids to see Wall-E today. It was funny, exciting, and visually arresting. Just what I expect from a Pixar film! Nick is already lobbying for us to buy it on DVD as soon as we can. Zoe...well, she slept through it. Philistine. I'd hate

We went to the doctor after school, for Zoe's 2-month checkup. She's gained three and a half pounds, and two and a half inches, since she was born. The nurse gave her four shots and an oral vaccine. There was much wailing. Then the nurse gave

Zoë had her 3-week checkup yesterday. She's gained five ounces over her birthweight and is looking nice and healthy. She finished the visit by receiving her first vaccination. There were tears. Although she took it pretty well, considering.&

Zoe had her first visit to the doctor Monday. She's nice and healthy. Perhaps more significantly, Nick had his first day of kindergarten. Mom and I drove him to school and dropped him off at the gym. I was fussing and mushy; he basically told me

Zoë Claudia was born at 10:46 Tuesday morning. She weighed 8lbs 15.8 oz (ie what a non-medical person would describe as nine pounds) and was 21 1/2 inches long. She has lots of brown hair and blue eyes. We're both doing fine. She made us all

Whoa Nelly, does he hate getting shots. My attempts to soothe him were completely useless, and it eventually took two nurses to administer the vaccines; one to hold him down and one to stab him with the needle. There were three vaccines today... and

Yesterday Nick's dresser was delivered, AND he had an eye exam. Due to a scheduling mistake that was entirely my fault, the dresser was to be delivered between 9 and 1, and the exam was at 1:15 in Baton Rouge. However, I believe it was Murphy'

Lest you think my son is some sort of a genius, as based on the past few posts, let me just tell you one thing. This weekend he shoved a pebble up his nose. Why, I don't know. He didn't seem to know either. The only good thing about it was th

I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon. Strictly routine. But as long as I had to drive in to Baton Rouge anyway, I wanted to make the trip worth my while. So Nick and I went to the Louisiana Arts and Sciences Museum, aka The Museum (sometim

I have no excuses for my absence from this blog. Especially as I have real news. I had my ultrasound this week! I had taken care to explain to Nick what would be happening. Special attention was paid to the part where we might find out the baby's g

Yesterday I sliced up my right index finger, rather badly. Well, in the grand scheme of things it's not all that bad, I suppose - I didn't feel the need to visit the emergency room, for example - but it hurt like the dickens all afternoon, and every

Speaking of babies, today Miss Kitty underwent an operation to ensure that she will never have any. Because I'm the only one who's allowed to reproduce around here. She went to the vet last week, for a general checkup. Miss Kitty is in fine health,

No skittles OR beer today. Instead, there was a flu shot. Which is a lousy way to start a day. I recently read about a study suggesting that distraction works better than comforting in helping kids deal with vaccinations. So I tried that. It turns ou

Today started earlier than usual, because I had an eight o'clock appointment with the dentist. Getting ready went fairly smoothly, and we drove through rush hour traffic to arrive just slightly late. Only it didn't really matter. Because my dental ap

First I have to mention the unusual sensation I awoke to this morning. I was cold! Not teeth-clenching cold, but definately chilled enough to quickly pull up the blanket. We went to Baton Rouge today; I had an appointment with the dermatologist. Th