One Down. . .

Bug's pediatrician appointment went well, all things considering. He is a bit wee for his age, but healthy in all non-heart respects. We'll find out Thursday about the heart (pleasepleasepleaseplease).

The only wrinkle (you just knew there'd be one, right?) is that his pediatrician, let's call him Dr. Old School, apparently thinks that developmental delays are--at least in Bug's case--a bunch of bullshit. A little background--Bug has yet to say mama or dada or any other words and he does not imitate sounds or otherwise try to verbally communicate. He also doesn't use gestures or point or use other types of non-verbal communication. The other main area of concern is his motor development. He seems to have some weakness in his torso, probably related to the months of recovery from the sternal incision. The theory is that the weakness makes it difficult to maneuver in some ways, so that he can't roll over or bring himself up to a sitting position. He also has a definite preference for using the right side of his body (hands and feet) in a way that makes me a tad concerned. In sum, they don't seem to be earth shattering, as delays go, but a real issue. He tested at about an 8 month old level in every area except cognition (and hooray for that one!)

Anyway, I've been working on getting the Bug into a school that provides integrated therapy throughout the day and has an absolutely stellar ratio of 3:1 kids to teachers. We'll call it Valhalla. This has all been pretty recent so I hadn't had the chance to talk to Dr. OS about it before the 12 month check up. Dr. OS unequivocally believes that there is no benefit to therapy--unless, possibly, there are lifelong neurological problems. I was flummoxed by this, as Dr. OS has been great on all previous occasions. He even went so far as to say that the therapy he would receive is nothing more than "parenting." Arsehole.

The upshot: he blew off my questions about the hand preference, etc although he concedes that Bug does indeed have some delays. He very very reluctantly agreed to cooperate enough to allow Bug to attend Valhalla. We'll see how it goes at our next visit but I'm thinking we may be on pediatrician hunt #3.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I will be starting a new FULL TIME job in a few weeks. I feel good about Bug at Valhalla, although it will no doubt be a huge transition for us both. I feel very lucky that I was able to be home with him FT for 6 months and then home 5 days out of 7 until now. But the finances are in desperate need of attention after the year we've had. Hi ho hi ho, it's back to work I go.

This post is pretty heavy on the news, eh? Maybe I ought to throw in some TV commentary to lighten things up. Anyone watching Top Chef?