S went away for the weekend to visit her sister in Atlanta, and she took Lil' S1 with her, so it's just me and Lil' S2 for a few days. I considered going as well, but decided against it for a few reasons: (1) I'm just not as into traveling as my wife; (2) If I go then Lil' S2 has to go too and taking him makes the difficulty of traveling go up tenfold. Lil' S1 is a pretty good traveler; his brother, not so much. The flip side of that is that Lil' S2 is much easier at home than his brother, so we've allocated our children efficiently.
Before leaving, S pulled a fast one on me and scheduled a doctor's appointment for Lil' S2 this morning knowing that she wouldn't be around to take him, so I would have to do it. I doubt she would frame it this way; she would probably say it was my turn or something to that effect. It's an on-going "discussion" between us that she does the bulk of the appointment stuff (dentist, doctor, haircuts, etc.), so I think in her mind it's pretty much always my turn. I don't completely disagree, however, I think I do it more than she realizes, and the reason she does more than me is because she wants to do it -- or rather she wants it done her way. That's my thing: Either you do it or you let me do it the way I want to do it. S will often want me to do something with the kids, but then she will rattle off a list of instructions I'm supposed to follow. It drives me crazy. It's kinda insulting, actually, because it implies that I can't take care of my kids on my own, and I'm going to bungle everything up left to my own devices. I mean, it doesn't hurt my feelings, because almost nothing hurts my feelings, but if things did hurt my feelings, this would be one of those things.
Today was a bad day for it to be my turn. We arrived on time for an 8:30 a.m. appointment and didn't actually see the doctor until 9:20 a.m. I didn't get home until 10:15 a.m. and the doctor's office is only a few blocks from our house. So irritating. The thing is, if you are running that far behind schedule just inform your patients somehow before they leave their houses. Send me a text alert to come 45 minutes later. We have this technology now. Imagine a computerized system that checks people in and out, and then automatically sends out alerts based on how many people are in the queue to see the doctor ahead of you. That would be such a nice feature. But considering our pediatrician's check-in system currently consists of writing your name and arrival time on a sticker. I'm not holding out hope for this anytime soon. Well, at least we like the doctor, once she actually is able to see our kids.
Although I didn't like what she had to say today. The primary purpose of today's appointment was to get Lil' S2 some vaccination shots, but naturally the doctor wanted to ask some questions about his general state of wellness. Everything is totally great except for one thing: He's still not talking. He sometime says syllables, like if you say "hi" or "bye" to him, he will wave and say "h-" or "b-" back, and he will say "m-m-m-m-" when he wants "more" of something. But he's only said full words a few times, and even then we couldn't get him to do it again, so it's not clear if it was on purpose or not.
I'm not worried about it yet. I would be if I felt like his growth was stunted in other ways, but physically he's on pace -- ahead of pace, probably; he can already climb out his crib, which means he beat his brother by five months, and I thought his brother was fast -- and comprehension-wise he's also on pace. If I say "daddy" he points to me; if I say "get your shoes" he runs and gets his shoes; if I say "brush your teeth" he goes to the sink in the bathroom. Everything is clicking. In a few months he's going to start talking, and then he's quickly going to catch up with all the other kids who can already say a handful of words. I'm like 75% sure that that's what's going to happen.
And this is basically what the doctor thinks as well, but she still wants him to see a specialist. She said that she doesn't like to wait until they are two before taking action. She likes to be proactive about it. S already was leaning this way, so now that the doctor agrees with her, she's all in, and so we almost certainly will take him to see a specialist. I don't really have a leg to stand on in opposition. And it's not like I don't want to help the development of my son. It's just that I want to wait. I think it's premature to get special help right now. But I suppose it won't really hurt anything (other than it will cost time and probably money), so it's fine. I'm certainly not going to take a stand against my wife and our pediatrician on this.
Anyway...
In other news, how about that Trump press conference, eh? This article made me laugh -- legitimately the funniest thing I've read in a while. I know Trump's presidency affects a lot of people in a negative way, and there is nothing funny about that, but sometimes you just have to laugh, right? I mean, we are all going to die relatively soon, anyway -- that's the biggest joke of them all -- and with that in mind nothing is too serious. Plus, Trump just says some funny-ass shit.
One thing I found about Trump is that when I actually hear him speak, I don't think he's very funny, in large part because he sounds less ridiculous than the words he's actually saying. He still sounds ridiculous, but he moderates it somewhat with cadence and intonation. Judging him solely as an orator, I don't think he's awful, and he's able to mask his madness to some degree. But when his words are printed -- oh my! -- the absurdity just pops off the page, and it's hilarious.
So from now on, do yourself a favor, anytime Trump has a media event, read excerpts of it before you listen to any audio. It's comedy gold.
Alright, I'm done here. Until next time...
Before leaving, S pulled a fast one on me and scheduled a doctor's appointment for Lil' S2 this morning knowing that she wouldn't be around to take him, so I would have to do it. I doubt she would frame it this way; she would probably say it was my turn or something to that effect. It's an on-going "discussion" between us that she does the bulk of the appointment stuff (dentist, doctor, haircuts, etc.), so I think in her mind it's pretty much always my turn. I don't completely disagree, however, I think I do it more than she realizes, and the reason she does more than me is because she wants to do it -- or rather she wants it done her way. That's my thing: Either you do it or you let me do it the way I want to do it. S will often want me to do something with the kids, but then she will rattle off a list of instructions I'm supposed to follow. It drives me crazy. It's kinda insulting, actually, because it implies that I can't take care of my kids on my own, and I'm going to bungle everything up left to my own devices. I mean, it doesn't hurt my feelings, because almost nothing hurts my feelings, but if things did hurt my feelings, this would be one of those things.
Today was a bad day for it to be my turn. We arrived on time for an 8:30 a.m. appointment and didn't actually see the doctor until 9:20 a.m. I didn't get home until 10:15 a.m. and the doctor's office is only a few blocks from our house. So irritating. The thing is, if you are running that far behind schedule just inform your patients somehow before they leave their houses. Send me a text alert to come 45 minutes later. We have this technology now. Imagine a computerized system that checks people in and out, and then automatically sends out alerts based on how many people are in the queue to see the doctor ahead of you. That would be such a nice feature. But considering our pediatrician's check-in system currently consists of writing your name and arrival time on a sticker. I'm not holding out hope for this anytime soon. Well, at least we like the doctor, once she actually is able to see our kids.
Although I didn't like what she had to say today. The primary purpose of today's appointment was to get Lil' S2 some vaccination shots, but naturally the doctor wanted to ask some questions about his general state of wellness. Everything is totally great except for one thing: He's still not talking. He sometime says syllables, like if you say "hi" or "bye" to him, he will wave and say "h-" or "b-" back, and he will say "m-m-m-m-" when he wants "more" of something. But he's only said full words a few times, and even then we couldn't get him to do it again, so it's not clear if it was on purpose or not.
I'm not worried about it yet. I would be if I felt like his growth was stunted in other ways, but physically he's on pace -- ahead of pace, probably; he can already climb out his crib, which means he beat his brother by five months, and I thought his brother was fast -- and comprehension-wise he's also on pace. If I say "daddy" he points to me; if I say "get your shoes" he runs and gets his shoes; if I say "brush your teeth" he goes to the sink in the bathroom. Everything is clicking. In a few months he's going to start talking, and then he's quickly going to catch up with all the other kids who can already say a handful of words. I'm like 75% sure that that's what's going to happen.
And this is basically what the doctor thinks as well, but she still wants him to see a specialist. She said that she doesn't like to wait until they are two before taking action. She likes to be proactive about it. S already was leaning this way, so now that the doctor agrees with her, she's all in, and so we almost certainly will take him to see a specialist. I don't really have a leg to stand on in opposition. And it's not like I don't want to help the development of my son. It's just that I want to wait. I think it's premature to get special help right now. But I suppose it won't really hurt anything (other than it will cost time and probably money), so it's fine. I'm certainly not going to take a stand against my wife and our pediatrician on this.
[I just found out George "The Animal" Steele died today. RIP to the greatest green-tongued, turn-buckle-eating entertainer the world will ever know.]
Anyway...
In other news, how about that Trump press conference, eh? This article made me laugh -- legitimately the funniest thing I've read in a while. I know Trump's presidency affects a lot of people in a negative way, and there is nothing funny about that, but sometimes you just have to laugh, right? I mean, we are all going to die relatively soon, anyway -- that's the biggest joke of them all -- and with that in mind nothing is too serious. Plus, Trump just says some funny-ass shit.
One thing I found about Trump is that when I actually hear him speak, I don't think he's very funny, in large part because he sounds less ridiculous than the words he's actually saying. He still sounds ridiculous, but he moderates it somewhat with cadence and intonation. Judging him solely as an orator, I don't think he's awful, and he's able to mask his madness to some degree. But when his words are printed -- oh my! -- the absurdity just pops off the page, and it's hilarious.
So from now on, do yourself a favor, anytime Trump has a media event, read excerpts of it before you listen to any audio. It's comedy gold.
Alright, I'm done here. Until next time...
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