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I was stunned yesterday when I picked up the phone and heard our now-familiar SSA office case handler’s voice
I just wanted to let you know that we received Joseph’s birth certificate verification, so we’ll clear his application for approval. The card will be mailed to your home address. You can come by and pick up a print out of his number if you need it sooner.
Dan picked up Joe’s official number today. I have it in my hot little hands as I type (okay, well, it’s sitting on the desk next to me, but you get the idea). They even gave us the official certified copy of his birth certificate that they ordered (expedited, at their expense) because, once they verified it, they didn’t need it for their files. It’s a paltry bonus given the headache, but it’s really nice to have an extra and probably something they didn’t have to do, so definitely a thoughtful and appreciated gesture. I feel a thank you note coming on…which is saying something, given that I recently found a stack of half-written, half-addressed notes from last Christmas that never made it out the door (yet another major goof I get to beat myself up about).
I almost don’t believe it. After 4 months on this merry-go-round, we can finally stop and catch our breath. And amend our taxes. And open an education fund. And and and… An enormous burden has been lifted from my shoulders.
If I didn’t have so much to do now that I have this information, I’d stop and take a nice, long break and celebrate. But, I’m sick, and so are Dan and Joe (the little guy just finished up his course of antibiotics for an ear infection, which I suspect is not cured to boot). And I’m past a deadline at work, so I need to get the whip cracking. Plus, I have Halloween preparations on my plate: treats for Dan’s work, last-minute costume needs, and an entire meal for Halloween night when Nana and Noni P join us for Joe’s second Halloween. Photos coming soon…
Update: Joe’s social security card arrived before Thanksgiving. I don’t remember when, but it’s filed, safe and sound.
Joe went in for his 12-month doctor’s visit on Wednesday. The doctor was quite impressed at his physical, social, and verbal development. Woo hoo!
Joe is right on target for growth, weighing in at 22 lbs and exactly 30 inches tall. Joe is at the upper end (and growing out of some) of his 12-month-sized clothes; he’s already started wearing 18-month-sized clothes. He wears a size 5 toddler shoe (tightly, we just tried on a pair of size 6 sneakers and they have just a little growing room). He wears a size 4 diaper.
The doctor thought Joe was well-behaved and good natured (which we already knew) and quite social for his age. Joe didn’t fight the doctor’s examination as we (and the doctor) had expected (but I have to give credit to Dr. Rich, who is an angel with the little ones). Joe only cried a short while at the end of the visit after four immunizations and two blood tests and quieted down almost immediately once he got his binky.
The fact that Joe is walking, and walking well, was apparently quite impressive. We can expect Joe to toddle for quite awhile longer. The doctor reassured me when I made a joking comment about getting Joe an inflatable sumo suit that the young human skull makes a fine helmet for everyday bumps and bruises. So no baby bubble for now, but I’m not ruling it out. Ha!
On a cognitive level, Joe is doing quite well and starting to respond to verbal cues (e.g., follow our commands), like “go get the ball” and “lay your head on the bed; it’s nap time.” Joe’s verbal development is just fine: he says repetitive phonemes, “dadada” “nanana,” just started “mamama,” and is also combining multiple phonemes. He’s also trying to mimic/repeat some things we say. And he’s starting to say “Dada” when Dan is around, though we’re not convinced he associates meaning with it yet. Joe also uses two signs: “more” and “change” (he likes a dry, clean diaper). Unfortunately, in the past week or so, Joe has also figured out how to express “no” by shaking his head back-and-forth. It’s mostly a game. At least he’s not saying it constantly, but I’m sure that day will come. Oh, and Joe is also whistling by pursing his lips and breathing heavy.
Dr. Rich did comment that Joe was very active and functioned “at a high rpm.” In fact, Joe was moving non-stop during the visit, playing with tongue depressors, tearing up magazines and books, and running back and forth in the exam room. He only stopped (or slowed down) when Dan or I held him. The doctor also commented that the speed with which Joe moves must require incredible childproofing in our house. Ha! Now we don’t feel so bad about corralling Joe in specific rooms. The doctor seemed impressed that we had the stamina and energy to keep up with him, but didn’t think anything was unusual in Joe’s behavior. Just a (high energy) boy.
It was good to hear from the doctor that Joe’s skin looked really good. I recently switched from petrolatum (aka “Vaseline or, in our case, Aquaphor) to a more natural solution for Joe’s head-to-toe eczema (raw/unrefined shea butter and we’re also trying a shea butter/coconut oil/kokum butter concoction). It takes a little extra work reapplying multiple times a day, but I feel better about using a non-chemical option, at least until Joe goes to school.
Now we need to transition Joe to cow’s milk and get him off the bottle. I’m a little worried about the milk since Joe had so much trouble finding a formula that didn’t upset his digestive system. The doctor didn’t seem worried and suggested soy as an option if we run into problems with regular milk. Once again, Dr. Rich did gently encourage us to “find a week” to work on Joe’s sleep patterns. (Joe gets up several times a night, and often ends up in our bed in the wee hours of the morning.) The problem is primarily me; I just can’t stand letting him cry, both because it’s wrenching and because I can’t sleep through it. I might have to suck it up and put in those ear plugs.
Sorry, I haven’t posted lately, folks. April is crazy busy with Joe and I traveling, Noni P moving out here, Joe’s finalization happening at the end of this month (woo hoo!), trying to figure out how to file a tax extension (yuck), and my ever-hectic work schedule despite reduced childcare availability. Oh, and did I mention that one cranky teething active boy isn’t sleeping so well at night?
I finally took a breather today (a “breather” being an 8-hour work day while Joe is with the nanny) only to realize (aka “freak out”) that neither Joe nor I had confirmations of new healthcare coverage after our group insurance runs out at the end of April. So that Joe could keep his same doctor (or at least have flexibility with finding a new one), I applied for Colorado-mandated “high risk” insurance for him in mid-March. Then I applied for Kaiser for myself around the first of April. See why here. Say what you want, but I like Kaiser; I’ve had good experiences in both California and Colorado with Kaiser, and I’m relatively healthy, so I figured it was a good bet for me. Fingers and toes were crossed that they wouldn’t reject me again.
Today I made contact with both insurers. Not an easy task for the not-so-persistent (aka non-squeeky). I was clearly exasperated and at wit’s end. It must have shown because both companies put our applications through speedily and gave us answers today — and not the answers I was expecting! Kaiser approved me in writing and I have a verbal confirmation that Joe’s insurance was also approved (cross your fingers that I get something in writing quickly).
Can I get a collective “whew!”? If we hadn’t qualified for these plans, our insurance costs would have been two to three times what we’re going to pay, which isn’t chump change, let me tell you.
On another health note, Dan’s back is still in pretty bad shape. Actually, it’s his leg that is bothered now (bulging disc is pressing on a nerve that runs through his leg). He’s having a pretty tough time saying “no” to basic things like bending over, picking things up (like our ever-expanding Joe), and generally doing anything but relaxing. He’s still in physical therapy and his specialist thinks he might be a candidate for a steroid (injection?) therapy.
Dan got his MRI results back. He has a textbook case of a herniated (bulging) disc and needs only physical therapy, which he’s already started with a back specialist. (The first round of physical therapy wasn’t with a back person, so we’re hoping that this second round will be more successful.) The important thing is that he needs to avoid bending (hard to do) and lifting (including Joe) until the disc heals. Dan’s had a hard time not working on the house. It’s been a good lesson in patience for all of us!
OK, it’s not so funny, but I needed a title. On his way to an MRI appointment, Dan got into a fender bender (everyone’s ok) that crunched up the front of his truck. (Note: it doesn’t look so bad in this little phone photo, but his truck should be about another 1-1/2 feet longer in the front…the silver bumper should be in front of the black jutting bit of metal/frame.) Long story short, when the light turned green, a pedestrian walked into the intersection just as traffic was starting to accelerate (but Dan couldn’t see this because of the big SUV with tinted windows in front of him) . 
The woman in the SUV slammed on her brakes so hard that the butt end of the vehicle arched into the air. Dan tried, but couldn’t, stop in time and the rear of her SUV came down on the front his truck. Needless to say, Dan didn’t make it to the MRI. His truck was towed to a body shop and we just found out that there is $6,277.03 of damage to his truck. Not sure about the other guy. Thank goodness for insurance. Sigh. If it’s not one thing, it’s another…
Yesterday I got a letter in the mail. Joseph was declined enrollment for individual insurance coverage because of an ear infection. An ear infection. He’s otherwise absurdly healthy. But they won’t insure him. No higher rate, no rider, no pre-existing condition waiting period, just a letter declining enrollment. The irony is that I had applied for a high-deductible policy. So even though we would be liable for the first $3,000 of his healthcare costs (and up to $10,000 out of pocket), Anthem (Blue Cross & Blue Shield) of Colorado claimed that the risks were too high for them to cover our son because he had a bleepin’ ear infection. We can apply again once his “condition” is in the clear for at least 60 days, but he needs coverage before that.
I received two of these letters recently too. Anthem declined me automatically, no negotiation, because I had been through fertility testing in the past five years. Testing, not treatment. It didn’t matter what the diagnosis was. It didn’t matter that, in Colorado, no individual insurance covers pregnancy expenses (except high-risk coverage), so there is no way to “upgrade” policies to include maternity coverage after acceptance. I was also declined by Kaiser, simply because I had been to the doctor more than twice in the past 12 months (I broke my foot last year and had three or four follow-up visits).
You see, I’m losing my benefits as of May 1st, so I had applied for individual coverage for both Joe and myself. But with this turn of events, Joe and I are now left with three lousy options. Cobra coverage (~$1000/month, low deductible), Dan’s group policy (~$800/month, high deductible), or CoverColorado (~$500/month, high deductible), a “high risk” plan for people with pre-existing conditions. I don’t know about you, but these are incredibly high rates for the average family, especially considering the high deductibles and the fact that these rates are only for two of us. (Thankfully Dan’s health coverage is included in his benefits package).
Our story isn’t unique. I’ve heard about similar experiences from friends and family. And I’ve met several people without health insurance as well as other families and small business owners who opt only for major medical coverage. I’ll never forget the struggle, guilt, and anguish a friend of ours had after her toddler got a deepish cut on his forehead. She knew that he was ok (the fall wasn’t hard) but that the cut would heal better with stitches. Yet she hesitated taking him to the emergency room (of course it happened on a weekend evening) because the expense would be completely out-of-pocket. They were struggling to start a family business and had already borrowed again their credit cards. So they opted not to take him to the doctor. In the end, he was fine and the cut healed, but it did leave a scar, both on his face and with his parents. It was a huge wake-up call for the family, who now realized that every sniffle, sneeze, and boo boo — which under “normal” (group health coverage) circumstances might generate a trip to the family doctor — could now bring about the same financial dilemma.
Don’t fool yourself and think that it couldn’t happen to you. Especially in this economic downturn, people from all walks of life are losing their jobs, and with that, group health coverage. Some folks’ employers are passing along the increasing costs and others, like myself, are simply losing benefits and must turn to individual coverage. At the same time, insurance companies seem to seek out the tiniest excuse to decline enrollment, limit coverage, or increase premiums. This isn’t just an issue for seniors on fixed incomes or the sick or poor. This is a crisis that can affect anyone and, I suspect, will hit the middle class pretty hard in the next few years, especially if the economy doesn’t turn around quickly. It might not be an issue you have to face now, but you never know. That’s something to think about when November rolls around.
Joe’s whining and crying and all-around fussiness hasn’t waned in the past few days. Just in case, I took Joe into Dr. Rich again today to make sure the ear infection was healing and that his discomfort wasn’t the cause of these mood swings (though I was secretly hoping for an easy, clear-cut answer). Thankfully, Joe’s ears are in good shape. Unfortunately, that means his moodiness is most likely related to various developmental issues, and that he’s feeling mighty attached to mommy these days because of it (but he still loves getting attention from daddy too). Sometimes the kid cries if we’re not making eye contact. He’s also showing signs of stranger anxiety, which is normal and probably a good thing, even if it means that doctor visits involve me holding a crying baby in my lap. Dr. Rich assured me that it only gets worse at the 12- and 15- month appointments. Goodie.
We actually love Dr. Rich and the other doctors we’ve met at Joe’s pediatric group. They’re awesome, in fact. Not only are they great with kids of all ages and not too far away, but they’re great to us too (barring the fact that the front office staff is always on the phone — good when we’re calling in, bad when we’re waiting to check in). His new pediatricians are much better than his doctors at the old facility. But, we’re not sure if great doctors are enough to keep us there for the long haul. What’s the problem, you ask?
We made a commitment to ourselves and Joe that we would do our best not only to provide him with the best care we could, but also to surround him with people, including professionals, of color. (And not just the doctors and dentists he uses, but the professionals we see as a family.) He needs good role models that look like him. That can’t happen in the current situation since our pediatric group is about as white-bread as you get. So, we’re on a quest to find a new great pediatric group or family doctor in or close to our neighborhood.
This won’t be the first time we have to address this issue. Schools, churches, social groups, you name it, we’ll have to challenge ourselves to do what’s in Joe’s best interest and that might mean leaving our comfort zone, often and in unexpected ways. It’s been a struggle for us so far. Making this concerted effort requires dedicating more time and energy to things that would normally be second-nature for us. We’ve known that all along, but it’s much easier in theory than practice. We are making strides…well, baby steps. Our first accomplishment was choosing our neighborhood, which is awesome as well as diverse on many levels. Next, we may seek out a local adoption support group so that we can at least occasionally surround ourselves with other folks dealing with similar issues.
Since folks keep asking, thought I’d post a quick update. Dan’s initial back injury is much improved (you saw evidence he was up and about and even painting), but he’s been having trouble with a nerve in his leg (related to the injury), causing him a lot of pain. His doctor (as of today) suspects a herniated disc and wants to do an MRI. Dan’s decided to do another round of physical therapy first. He also got in trouble with his doctor for “working on the house” in this condition, especially when Dan admitted that “not much” lifting could mean 50 or 60 pounds. Dan was forbidden from painting or laying floors or doing any home remodeling, so the rest of the basement will have to wait. I can probably paint the walls and do some trim work, but we won’t make much progress after that until Dan’s back situation is resolved.
Joe turned 9 months old yesterday. This morning, we all tromped out to the pediatrician’s office for his well-baby visit. They did a toe prick to test for anemia (negative), gave him a catch-up vaccine he should have had at six months. (Not sure why the old doctor didn’t give it, though we were informed by the new doctor that there was a national shortage, so maybe that’s why?)
The doctor gave him the once-over and decided that the ear infection from last month never healed (that explains his continual fussiness and rough sleeping patterns that we had attributed to teething), so now Joe is on a souped up antibiotic (rats). We have to give him plenty of yoghurt during the course of the treatment.
On the growth front, Joe is now in the 45th percentile across the board. He weighed in at 20 lbs and .5 ozs (granted he did have a bottle right before the appointment), but he’s still at 28 inches, so no height spurt (yet?).
On the developmental front, the doctor was quite pleased with his strength, attentiveness, fine and gross motor skills, and verbal advancement. Joe also crawled on all fours (not the army crawl) in the doctor’s office. That’s the first time we’ve seen him actually go some distance, though I suspect his motivation might have had something to do with the fact that he was only wearing a diaper and the commercial carpet was scratchy; he was trying to get to daddy.
No sooner did I write the last post than Joe and I came down with some other cold…lots of congestion and a deep cough. Rats. At least Joe is in relatively good spirits despite the symptoms. Let’s just hope we avoid another ear infection!
It’s been far too long since we’ve posted a blog entry. So, here’s the rundown of the last three months of life with the Lawrences.
Christmas in the Mountains. My family planned a last-minute vacation to the Rocky Mountains. Dad, Deb, four siblings, and Nonie flew out and met us at a cabin in Winter Park. I’ve been moaning about having a white Christmas tucked away in a cabin for years…since I was a teenager, and this year, I got my wish. You don’t know how BIG this is, since my family is all about tradition, and tradition with the Nuttalls means Christmas morning at Dad’s house with Nonie there, then we nap, then we go to Aunt Marlane’s house for dinner. It’s been that way…well, as long as I can remember. (Of course, I’ve been the black sheep for missing the occasional Christmas.) So we stayed in the mountains and it snowed, brilliantly. I relished in the quietude of the cabin for 4 days; Dan, Billy, and Daniel went snowboarding; it was Dan’s first time and he came back a bit tender. All of the kids (and Dad) went tubing on the last day. Fun! Joe loved the snow and got to wear his uber cute snow suit (thanks Plo!).
The Move. As soon as Christmas was over, we hustled back home to prepare for the move (the next day). But, we have a knack for poor planning when it comes to moves. We had a blizzard on our scheduled move date, so that threw life into a tizzy. Not to mention that we weren’t anywhere close to packed and the new house wasn’t ready to move into. The movers came a few days later. We still weren’t very ready. Dan’s bruised tailbone was bugging him too. We managed to get our bedroom and Joe’s room set up, but we were up to our eyeballs (literally) with boxes in the living room and dining room. We went back on the 31st to clear out the dregs of our stuff. Thank goodness we had a Uhaul trailer because it, the truck, and my car were full to the brim. We caravaned home like the Beverly Hillbillys and barely made it to the new house to see the ball drop. I definitely don’t recommended moving in the winter with an infant.
Visit with the G-mas. Right after we moved, Dan’s mom (Germom) and grandma (Noni P) came out for a visit for a few days. Really, they were here to look at assisted living homes for Noni P. We looked at a few and managed to squeeze in an evening at Zoo Lights, which is really cool (the zoo is entirely lit with colored lights). Good news: Noni P is moving out here! She’s working on selling her properties and relocating. We’re so excited to have her close by!
Health Setbacks. The day Germom and Noni P left, Dan threw out his back…badly. We went to urgent care the next day. They medicated him and told him to rest for a few days. Well, a few days later, Dan felt better, bent over to pick up something off the ground, and –wham!– he completely threw out his back. We got him to bed and there he stayed for about a week. He wasn’t much improved for a couple of weeks after that. It was rough. He’s been going to physically therapy and is now back at work, but he’s not supposed to bend or lift anything (not even Joe). In the middle of all of that, both Joe and I got really sick with the “4 week” virus that’s been going around. It lasted two solid weeks, then lingered. Joe also got an ear infection. He’s better now; so am I. We’re not sure about Dan, who might be coming down with something right now.
The House, Unpacking, and Remodeling. Well, all of the above set us back with the house. After a few weeks, I finally unpacked what I could and got all boxes into the dining room, so that at least the living room was set up. Thankfully our neighbors (angels that they are) had helped us paint. No, they painted, most of the rooms in our house before we moved in. We just have the mud room, the hallway, the sun room, the living room, and all the trim to do. At my dad’s urging, we hired someone to frame and drywall the basement. We probably couldn’t have managed it on our own even in stellar health, so that was a good call. It’s taken longer than expected, partly because we weren’t able to do all the prep work we had planned before hiring the job out, so the drywall guy has had to do a lot of our work (like moving a bunch of junk out of the basement, finishing projects we had started, and dealing with all the quirks and mysteries of a 90-year-old house). But that, along with other projects (plumbing, roof, appliances, etc.) drained our budget, so the remodel is coming to somewhat of a screeching halt…very soon. The drywall is a day or so away from being finished, then we can paint. We can probably do the trim, too, but the bathroom and floors downstairs will have to wait. Ditto with the kitchen and the major wood/room divider project in the entryway. Not to mention that Dan can’t really do much. His tools are in Greeley and he can’t load or unload them given his back situation. I’ve been trying to do little things, mostly electrical, when I can. Dan’s been doing some of that too, but there’s only so much we can do at the moment.
Joe’s New Playmate. My work situation is in flux and I knew I was losing my bennies, so we found a family with whom we could share nanny costs. That started in January. The socialization is great for Joe, even if the 11-month-old girl he’s in daycare with kind of bullies him around and steals his binky and toys. Ha! I figure they’ll work it out on their own. Unfortunately, the other family needs more hours than the nanny can’t provide, so we got two weeks of notice this past weekend and we’re frantically looking for a new family to share nanny costs. So far, no luck because the hours are a bit weird (I only work about 15+ hours a week with the cutbacks). Keep your fingers crossed for us!
The Weed in General. Thankfully, Joe’s slowing down in the growth department. He’s 28 inches long and still just 18 pounds, 11-3/4 ounces (as of January 31st). The 12-month clothes fit perfectly even if we have a hard time finding big (wide) enough socks and shoes for his little Flintstone feet (he’s between a size 3 and size 4 in toddler shoes). Joe’s really close to being fully mobile. He’s almost crawling…definitely scooting and rolling to get to a desired destination. He’s pulling himself up to a sitting or kneeling position (we had to lower his crib). I also just ordered a slew of gates to install around the house and we’re frantically trying to childproof everything before the little guy really gets mobile. I think we have a week or so. The extra physical activity is probably keeping him stable, if not slimming him down a bit. We’ve also finally got Joe on a schedule both for feeding (three meals a day plus bottles) and sleeping in his crib — in his room — at night. But between the cold, the ear infection, and teething (but none have broken through yet), he’s a bit fussy at night and only sleeps in 4-hour stretches…after a diaper change, new binky, or sometimes a bottle, he goes right back down. So far, the transition has been relatively easy….certainly easier than I expected.
Progress on the Adoption. Several folks have asked if it’s “official” yet, so thought I’d set the record straight. We should have finalized in late November or early December, but that didn’t happen because of several delays (I won’t go into the blame game this time). But no worries, just an annoyance. In mid-January, our social worker came over for another visit (she had to update our homestudy because of the new house, and we had to sign some documents requesting a court date). She submitted the court documents and we finally got our date: April 25th. Yeah, it’s way out there. Apparently that’s the best that they could do. Joe will be 11 months old on that day. But then it’ll all be official. We’re quite excited. For those not familiar with the whole adoption thing, many adoptive families celebrate this date annually as “Gotcha Day,” the day it becomes official. It can be a pretty big deal. Stay tuned…we may be throwing a little shindig on the Saturday following his finalization.
That’s it for now. I’ll try to post more regularly in the near future.
A few weeks ago, we lost a cherished member of our family, the lovable Squeeker. I’m not sure why I waited so long to post about it. Here’s his story:
We awoke one Sunday morning to the cries of the cat instead of the baby. Squeeker couldn’t walk on his front right leg. We thought he had broken it somehow…maybe jumping off the couch (he was a bit heavy, and not getting any younger) or playing rough with Bailey. We weren’t sure. All we knew was that he couldn’t walk on it, and it hurt, a lot. Dan took him to the emergency vet expecting an expensive splinted or casted leg. But instead, the vet told us that Squeeker had a blood clot as the result of a (known) heart condition. Even if we treated the clot, it would take a long (and painful) time, a lot of work (IVs and whatnot), and incredible expense, including routine visits to a cardiologist. Then, most likely, he’d get another clot. The vet said that these types of clots were far more painful than a broken bone. And though they had a cardiologist on staff, she recommended putting him down. The effort and time to keep him alive would be for our benefit, not his, and given our past experience going through chemo with Murphy (our 4-year-old dog, who didn’t make it), we agreed that this was the best, if very sad, choice.
IN REMEMBRANCE
Squeeker was our 14-year-old orange tabby who wanted nothing more than to sit on your lap. In that way, he was more dog than cat. My dad called him the pervert because he would get really close and stare at you, then try to rub his head on you (his way of saying “pet me, puleeeeez”), then drool like crazy. And he wouldn’t give up and slink away like most cats. He was relentless with his need for attention and he could never get enough.
Squeeker didn’t care much for other pets, but he learned to tolerate Murphy (the dog). He and Bailey (our other cat) had a love-hate relationship. In the early days, Bailey spend most of his time down at the river and Squeeker had clear ownership of the house. And they kept their distance. Once we moved to Colorado (and they got stuck inside for the entire winter), they learned to respect each other and even became quite lovable. One of their favorite pastimes was playing Wild Kingdom, as we like to call it. They would chase each other through the house and wrestle, jumping off the sofa, and rolling under the dining table and, ultimately, banging into walls and furniture. (They never had their claws out and never hurt each other.) It was almost like having teenagers, and it sure sounded like it at times!
We rescued Squeeker from the pound when he was 7 years old, just a few short days after rescuing Bailey (who was only a few weeks old and needed nursed back to health). The pound vet thought that Squeeker wasn’t adoptable (because of his age?) and gave him a whopping 3 days on display. We arrived on the last of those 3 days — in the afternoon, just before closing time. We discovered that his previous owner had reluctantly given him up after problems with his homeowners association. The lady at the pound said that it was a tearful and wrenching process and the story certainly had us hooked. But he was the only cat in the pound with a medical file, an immunization record, and a near-full box of Advantage, so we knew that he was one well-cared-for kitty. (We later realized that the immunization record was necessary because his previous owner had traveled outside of the country with him. Little did we know that he was nearly as well-traveled as us!)
Squeeker wasn’t quite as thrilled with us as we were with him and he refused to eat or drink for the few days we tried to keep him inside. (We had been told he was an “outdoor” cat.) Worried that he would get sick, I let him out and he ran away. It was summer time in California. We were sad, but figured that he was trying to get “home.” The whole neighborhood was on alert for him. But we lived near a creek and there were a lot of places to hide. Three months later (and a few pounds thinner), Squeeker showed up in our backyard. It was my birthday and a wonderful gift. He wouldn’t come into the house at first, and was wary of us. But with winter coming on, Dan decided to try his best to make Squeeker comfortable outside. So he rigged up a box with a blanket in a shed behind the garage and we put food out regularly (problematic because of possum and skunks). Squeeker seemed content to live like this. We jokingly referred to him as our “crazy cousin in the woodshed.” But he did get more and more curious about us. He’d let us pet him occasionally. Then, one day, out of the blue, he walked into our house. And he didn’t go out again, except to explore and sun himself, but he always stayed nearby. When we moved to Colorado, he wouldn’t leave the perimeter of our yard.
Squeeker had a happy 7 years in our family, and we enjoyed him as a lovable (if sometimes annoying) member of our family. We certainly will miss him.
A note about his name: Squeeker’s original owner named him. We wanted to change it, but after getting to know him for a couple of days, we realized how appropriate it was. He didn’t meow, he squeeked. It was a unique sound and very much a part of his personality, so we decided that the moniker fit.
I had to giggle at one of our blog comments yesterday. Kristi said, “when you guys do stress you do it big!” Oh hon, you don’t know the half of it. Let me tell you a story about how our whirlwind of a life started. Nearly 9 years ago…
My 36-year-old brother has recently been discharged after a two-week visit in the hospital due to congestive heart failure (one of several organ failures he’s experienced since being vaguely diagnosed with “Gulf War Syndrome”). He wasn’t able to alert the VA Hospital staff of his medical history, let alone family history, and the medical staff was not able to take these factors into consideration as they began his diagnosis and…well, let’s call it “treatment.” Had all of his information been together in one place, things may have gone a bit smoother. This has underscored, for me, the importance of compiling all of our medical records into one place, for us and any kiddos coming down the pike (ok, and maybe I need to eat better too).
So I started looking into tools to help track and record this type of information, in a format that perhaps would be available to doctors (or others) in case of an emergency. These tools may be useful for others, so I thought I’d pass them on:
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There’s nothing like a dusting of snow to welcome in spring! My sister, Robin, built a little snowman this morning. Unfortunately, “Ted” melted by the time we got home from our day’s venture.
This was the first time that Robin and my brother, Billy, have visited since we moved to Colorado over 3 years ago, so we all headed up to Estes Park for a not-so-traditional Easter.
Black Boot the Pirate. That’s what Dan has been calling me since I broke my foot in February. Within a couple of weeks, I was down to one crutch and clomping around the house with a very stylish fracture boot (and leaving black marks on the hardwoods).
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