The trip to Austin was fabulous! Unfortunately, Noah, and then Nano, got sick, but we span around under the giant Christmas tree, walked around the Japanese gardens, fed the ducks at the hike and bike trail, enjoyed Amy's ice cream and took pictures in the picture booth, rode the Zilker train about 3 times, saw friends, and opened presents at 6:00 am on Christmas morning! Noah loved his Diego backpack from Mimi, which he still takes with him from time to time to his babysitter's house, and his water tower train set from Granny and Granddad. We can't wait to break in the Christmas Elf next Christmas! There's nothing like having great weather around Christmas! Every morning we went to Zilker playground to play, and then had an activity in the afternoon. I just love the sunshine!
Noah's second birthday party was great, despite the snowstorm that kept most of our guests away. Five neighbors walked over, and one friend braved the weather in the car (her parents had just come into town and so the car was clean!). We sang happy birthday about 5 times, accompanied by tambourines, cymbals, a triangle, and lots of shakers. He loved his Dora cake, compliments of Heather! Since then, he loves singing happy birthday and blowing out candles. Yesterday he spent the whole way to Tiffany's house singing happy birthday to Noah!
In November, we found out that our fabulous care provider was quitting, and we had 2 days notice. Granted, it was for a good reason (her husband lost his job, and she found a teaching position), but it was a serious crisis for us! I spent 6 weeks looking into day care options, thinking it would be impossible to find a care situation similar to the one that was working so well for him (a babysitter with a slightly older companion). I looked at Montessori programs, play-based programs, Christian programs, Jewish programs, and even the Waldorf school. My productivity at school plummeted, and I was consumed by finding the right place for him.
I finally settled on a play-based program that his former playmate loved. The teachers had a lot of tenure at the center, and got down on the floor to interact with the children. The kids were slightly older, so I thought he could learn from them. It was also flexible in terms of hours, and quite reasonable in price. It was only 10 minutes from our house. We talked it up, and Noah was excited to go the first day! He did great, only cried a little when I dropped him off. I called to check in, and he was "following around his teacher like a puppy dog."
When I picked him up, I carried him out, I carried him into the house, and put him on the couch. I brought him a snack, to the couch. I suddenly realized that this two year old had not moved from the couch in about 5-10 minutes. This is highly unusual behavior!! I asked him to stand up, and realized he could not walk! Otherwise, though, he was perfectly calm and happy. I called the doctor immediately, and they asked me to come in at 6. I packed some noodles and snacks, and headed over to the doctor's office.
Noah had just had his check-up the day before, and despite our preparations, he felt totally violated when we had to take his clothes off (next time we'll practice the undressing too). He cried violently at his well visit, and then did the same at this visit regarding his legs. The doctor tried to make him walk, and he leaned more on one foot, and could not do it. He cried desperately. She found him to be in distress, and worried that there was a fracture or something. She sent me to the emergency room at Abington Hospital.
Let me tell you, emergency rooms are not set up for children! They put that ridiculous blood pressure machine on him about 3 times before giving up because the only thing it resulted in was screams and crying (it never got a good reading). They couldn't manage to put the heart rate monitor thing on his thumb to check his pulse. It was ridiculous, they didn't even try to make it easy for him. Finally, the guy gave up (I know, he was just doing his job, but it was awful, and unnecessary). We were admitted to a room, and soon a nurse and then a doctor came in. At least this doctor was good -- he managed to keep Noah calm as he tried to find out whether his feet were hurting as he touched them (not even the pediatrician was able to do that!). The first step was to take x-rays. I tried to tell Noah they were going to take pictures, but I had to leave the room while they were zapping them, and he was hysterical. The techs couldn't even hear each other he was wailing so loudly.
Finally, x-rays taken, my exhausted peanut was allowed back to the room, and he fell asleep. He managed about 40 minutes before they came in and said the x-rays were clean, and wanted to make him try to walk again. I had to wake him up and force him into severe pain for them to see what was going on. They thought maybe the pain would have gone away (no). They seemed stumped. We waited. And waited.
All this time, Nano was on his way back to Philly from Atlanta where he had been at a conference. He made it back to the house, and was going to come to the hospital, but I asked him to call his pediatrician friend in Chile. This friend said that the most common cause of suddenly not walking at age 2 was a virus called toxic synovitis. It is an inflamation of the area around the hip, and causes severe pain. Otherwise, they are in perfect health. It goes away within a few days to a week, resolving on its own, and often occurs just after a bad cold. Everything seemed to fit, my peanut was exhausted, and his x-rays were clean. I asked to be discharged to go home. The doctor came in and said it would be okay, as long as I followed up with my pediatrician the next day. However, they had ruled out TS because it was presenting in 2 legs rather than 1 (okay, doc, welcome to the logic of a two year old -- it hurts to walk, I dont' distinguish between which leg). In any case, I wanted out and felt comfortable that it was the right decision. Nano made it to the hospital just in time to go get the car and take us home.
The next morning, he was still not walking, and I called the pediatrician. They also confirmed that the most likely diagnosis was TS, but said to come in if he had not improved at all by the end of the day or if he developed a fever (signs of something worse). By the end of the day, he did at least stand for a second, so we relaxed. It took a lot longer than we had expected, but he eventually walked again (after several days, with a bit of trouble), and within 2 weeks was back to normal.
After having a long vacation with family and then staying home with mom for this illness, it was time to go back to the day care. The week that followed was horrible. Every day the drop off and pick-up got worse. I managed to explain why we were dropping him off, and one day he resigned himself to it reluctantly. But, every morning he hyperventilated when I mentioned that he was going to go to school. He screamed and yelled, and refused to leave, saying "I don't wanna go to school!" At pick-up, he cried and was exhausted, as he was not sleeping. In the afternoons he had behavioral issues, and would throw things and hit, and at night, he began to have night terrors again. He was clearly having a very hard time with the new situation. He acted as if he had been betrayed by his teacher when I dropped him off, saying, "No, no, not you!" He was clearly sending me a message that he was very, very unhappy.
I looked for information about how long it takes to transition to day care. All the experts seemed to say you have to give it a month. But, it really didn't seem right to make him suffer a full month. I desperately searched for alternatives. There was a woman in my play group who was starting a home day care and looking for another child to care for. We went to visit her the following Monday after the first full week of day care (it was a holiday). On Tuesday, he was so adamant about not going to day care, that he grabbed the doorway and held on for dear life as I tried to leave the house with him. I then gave him two options: Annna's house, or school. He picked Anna's house. He settled down completely, and compliantly got in the car. I dropped him off with no tears. He napped 2 hours. I picked him up with no tears. This seemed better. I took him back the next day, and he spent the full day crying at her house until exhausted he fell asleep. She called for me to come get him and I picked him up an hour early.
It was clear she was not the answer, but school wasn't either. Then, I miraculously found a posting on craigslist. There was a woman with a 2 year old daughter who had just tried to put her daughter in day care as she worked there, but the daughter did not adjust. She wanted to provide care in her home to a playmate for her daughter. It was perfect. We went to visit on Friday, and Noah played very well with her daughter Scarlett. We decided to go for it.
Since then, Noah has been extremely happy at his new care provider's house. I am so thankful we found her. Yesterday, he and Scarlett gave each other 4 hugs. One day, Noah was carrying some goldfish in a bag as a snack, and Scarlett wanted some. She grabbed at the bag, and Noah pulled it away and said, "How do you ask?" Once, they were in the car on their way to get a treat, and Scarlett started to whine and cry. Noah told her, "Scarlett, have to be patient!" Yesterday, they went to a farm to see pigs, bunnies, and other animals. Noah helped Scarlett take her coat off. He is truly happy. He gets social interaction in small doses. He has a loving care provider. They go on nice outings. We are so blessed.
Here he is with his Scarlett:
The day before Easter, we went to center city to play at Franklin Square, where there is a fountain, a carousel, and a playground. Noah enjoyed chocolate ice cream and watching the people play putt-putt. It was a great outing! On the way there, he was pushing the stroller down the sidewalk. Suddenly, he stopped, and said, "Have to stop!" I said, "why do we have to stop?" and he said, "Red light means stop!" He was looking at the stoplight at the end of the street, which had just turned red. So cute!
For Easter, we had a fabulous time hunting for eggs in the yard. We filled eggs with dried blueberries, cheerios, chocolate eggs, and jelly beans, plus a few homemade pictures of Noah's favorite things (fire truck, our family portrait, Monty, etc.). Nano hid them in the yard, and Noah was thrilled to find them. He ran from plant to plant, saying, "a blue one!", "a pink one!", and "there's another one!" He was so excited that he wanted to start over again as soon as we were done! I'll try to get a video of that posted soon, but I need to put this up before another 4 months pass by!
I can't tell you the joy that it is to live with a two year old. While it takes a lot of creativity and negotiation, it is the most rewarding thing I have ever done. I feel so lucky to have such a sweet, loving, sensitive little boy.
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