Okay, it wasn't really a fight. But maybe it's the first time they really paid any attention at all to each other, and there is a menacing look on Max's face in one of those pics before Nathan grabbed his foot.
Max is a sometimes anxious baby ... he's quick to smile but also fidgety and whiny. He's always practicing lifting his head, kicking, punching, and arching his back. He seems frustrated much of the time. Compared to him, from what I've seen at least, I think Nathan behaves like someone lying in a hot tub. He seems to me to be in a perpetual state of relaxation, and when he looks at me I can tell by his smirk that he is not in the least amused or impressed by what he sees!
Well, this week Max went in to see the doc for fussiness and for a belated 2-month checkup. We saw Dr. Stowe, Gabe's eccentric first pediatrician who used to have a practice in Tomball. With ivy league doctorates in both medicine and jurisprudence, this woman with such enormous earning potential decided instead to set up a small practice in Tomball to see the poor children in the area, regardless of their ability to pay. She would spend a full 15 minutes with each child, conducting a thorough exam and gathering a history, then speaking at length with parents and answering questions. No one who entered the office was denied care or assistance if they needed it. Vaccines were provided for free. The motto was "Empowerment through Health Care," and by being proactive, she saved the lives of some children who otherwise would have fallen through the cracks of the system. Unfortunately, a medical practice cannot run on kindness alone, and she eventually burned out and had to file for personal bankruptcy.
I loved taking Gabe to Dr. Stowe. She was an advocate of co-sleeping and extended breastfeeding (and breastfed her own son till he was seven). She had a very thorough manner and common sense approach. Since she dealt with the poor and underprivileged, she had experience diagnosing real illness that many pediatricians don't. I was such a fan at the time that when the city gave her a problem with parking, I wrote a letter to the paper.
I found out that Dr. Stowe was in practice again through the MASH homeschooling boards. She now operates out of an established group practice in The Woodlands. I guess her days of charity cases are over. She hires herself out by the hour to talk to the rich folk there about alternative stances on medical issues, including vaccination choices, circumcision, attachment parenting and the like. She also operates a "school" in Houston where the kids make their own rules and learn at their own pace. When she quit practicing in 2004 she wrote a book, and I read it last weekend.
According to Dr. Stowe, Max is a healthy kid. His weight has gone from around the 25th percentile at birth to the 50th-60th, so he is growing well. I was concerned about his head size, since Gabe had such a large head! She says that Max's head is normal in size. She agreed that it his face is somewhat narrow and his head is long, but thought that this was probably familial rather than any problem. The anterior fontanel is still open, as it should be. The only abnormality she noted on exam was that he has increased bowel sounds, which matched my report that he likes to swallow air and is gassy. Anyway, I feel better after talking to her.
Well, we got the call on Tuesday to report that Gabe has been accepted into The Lighthouse, the Christian homeschool group in Magnolia! Now my goal is to monitor everything he says and tell him which words and phrases cannot be used while at "school." For example, he cannot say, "What the?!" Even though he doesn't finish the sentence, it still implies some sort of swearing. His other favorite expression is, "What the darn heck?" and he shouldn't use that either. Recently he has picked up, "This sucks." Also a no-no.
Since the boys have been stuck inside a lot this summer, and always wanting new toys to play with, Mom started helping them make "puppets" out of cardstock and little metal brads. She draws the character's body parts, then they color them, cut them out and fasten them together. Gabe has so much fun playing with paper puppets we start to wonder why we buy expensive toys! Dan designed some puppets for him too. Last night he made a robot and asked Gabe to name him. Before Gabe could open his mouth, Dan quickly clarified, "And think about it! Don't just name him the first stupid word that comes to your mind!" Gabe and I laughed about that for awhile, and I told Gabe he'd probably name it Cheese Butt or something equally silly. Dan had spent a long time laboring over the drawing and didn't want it to have a stupid name. So Gabe decided on "Trac-tar," which pleased everyone.
Tonight all the adults in our compound were sitting out as usual, and instead of playing in the yard, Gabe, Joe and Maya were all in our house. We discovered that they'd locked themselves in there, and us out! After some angry pounding on the door by Dan, it was opened, and everyone was cleared out.
Well, that was our week!
ONGOING:
Gabe's new toys: Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow
Gabe's first Godzilla movie
Gabe's reads: Hank the Cowdog and the Case of the Swirling Killer Tornadoes, Welcome to Dead House
Dad's reads: Practical Ethics - Peter Singer
Mom's reads: How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor - Robert Mendelsohn
Max's favorite dance music: The Killers (various), Another World - Astral Projection
No comments:
Post a Comment