It Doesn't Matter if it's a Boy or Girl, as Long as it's Healthy.

**** sigh*****


I've written about this before and unfortunately, I'm writing about it again. Incredibly, the same person who inspired the original post is responsible for this one as well even though I've talked to her about it asked her to not use the offending phrase.


Why don't people get it? Why don't they understand that saying:

"it doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl, as long as it's healthy"

is a horrible horrible thing to say? Especially when you're saying it to a parent of a child born with a disability!!



The "as long as" bit implies that IF the baby isn't healthy, it's unacceptable and something no one would ever want. It's equivalent to saying "we don't care what sex it is, as long as it's not sick or handicapped".



It could be that I'm just really sensitive today because I attended Part 2 of 3 of Kasia's developmental assessment this morning. The aim of it is to determine whether or not she is Globally Developmentally Delayed - a diagnosis that seems to be an apparent slam dunk. It's one thing to know your child is delayed, but it's quite another to have it clearly laid out for you in charts and test results. It's painful. Did I think I was going to hear that my child was developmentally average? Of course not, but for some reason, hearing that she isn't squeezed at my heart until tears started to spill from my eyes. Sometimes a person just needs to cry and this was one of those times.

After that kind of morning, who could blame me for being a little touchy?

Hooray for Sunshine!

It looks like it's finally decided to be spring, so we celebrated by getting outside to plant a bit and enjoy the sunshine. After ripping bulbs from the earth, throwing dirt in the air like rice at a wedding, and attempting to snatch the pruning shears away from her father more times than I could count, Kasia ultimately settled in this quiet spot in the backyard - content to shovel and get as many grains of sand into her clothing as humanly possible.






You'll notice that she looks unimpressed to pose for yet another photo. Especially since she knows that hat is ridiculous and makes her look like Fifi & the Flowertots. Her face is saying, "Please tell me you're not going to post this on your stupid blog." (Sorry, but I make no promises!) And besides, I think Fifi is cute in a weird half tot - half flower kind of way.



Fifi

In the background of the picture is where Kasia's new and fabulous playcentre is going up and then the poor kid won't have to sit in the gravel and shovel road sand anymore, though that's probably exactly what she'll do just to spite us.

Since Dino & I are planning to build the playcentre this weekend and are notorious for...ahem.... not exactly working well together, updates on the status of the playcentre AND on our marriage will be forthcoming. News reports of "woman attempts to strangle man with baby swing" or "wife beats husband repeatedly with plastic telescope" would not be surprising.

What we won't do for our little Flower Tot......

You're Fired!

I fired Kasia's doctor today.

Unfortunately, it didn't play out with drama and hysterics like it did it my own head so many times, but the deed has finally been done. Although I hadn't taken Kasia to see this butthole of the medical society since she was 18 months old, I had never officially fired him. This fact led to the following phone call which I received yesterday, which in turn led to the Official Firing.

The gist of the phone call was this:

Receptionist: Hi there, I'm calling for Kay-see-ah's updated health card number.

Me: Really? Well you know I haven't taken Kash-a (heavy emphasis on the proper pronunciation) there for almost 2 years. Why would you need her health card number?

Receptionist: Well that doesn't matter - he saw her when she was in the hospital in January.

Me: silence

Receptionist: When she was in the hospital..... in January...... he saw her so we just need the new version code on her card.

Me: I understand that, buy WHY do you need the new code? For what reason?

(Knowing what's coming, I try not to lose it.)

Receptionist: Well we need it for billing purposes.

(Awkward........ and she knows it)

Me: YOU BILL FOR THAT?? FOR HIM POKING HIS HEAD IN THE DOOR WHEN HE WAS ALREADY IN THE HOSPITAL??

Blah blah blah....I give her the code, we hang up.


I thought about it all night. This jackass has the nerve to bill for poking his head into Kasia's hospital room, never coming within 10 feet of her, never saying a word to her, muttering a few words to me about how he had seen her name on the patient roster..... silly me, I thought he had stopped by as a courtesy to our family. After all, he's the doctor to half of Dino's family and unfortunately me as well.

After all of the horrible things he'd said to us, I just couldn't let him continue to think that he was still Kasia's doctor. He doesn't even know her or anything about her. He's got no idea that she not only walks, but runs. Or that she can name all the Backyardigans and every last one of her body parts. Mainly, he's got no clue about how much joy she's brought to our lives, I guess because people like him can't grasp how that's even possible.

Easter Madness

I was pretty excited for Easter this year. It was the first year that I felt confident that Kasia might actually participate in an egg hunt. Unfortunately, Kasia & I woke up together on Easter Sunday and I realized that I had not hidden any eggs. Ack! So I quickly rushed her into our bedroom and ordered Dino (aka the husband) to amuse her while I hurriedly hid some eggs. He did a good job.... I had to go find them while exclaiming "Oh my... I think the Easter Bunny was here!"

I had the camera ready to take pictures of Kasia's very first Easter Egg Hunt.

:)

Then the door opened and this is what I saw:

While I had been excitedly hiding eggs, Dino had decided that putting his enormous man sweat socks on our beautiful child would be a good idea. Apparently he was not thinking of how we would forever look back to pictures of Kasia's first egg hunt and see her as an odd llama-legged creature.

At least her little feet were warm.

What Every Baby.....Needs?

Today I went shopping for a gift for a baby shower and was struck by how many useless things are out there! Unfortunately, the new mom I was shopping for had most of them on her registry!

The saleswoman took me around the store and pointed out each item on the registry. She tried to convince me that an electric wipes warmer was "essential" for baby's comfort when changing a diaper. And that the Bumbo chair was a "godsend". Wow? A godsend you say? Well, I actually had one - recommended to me by our infant development worker as an item she thought might be a good choice for Kasia. She didn't actually sit on her own until about 13 months so you'd think it would've been a big hit around our house. In fact, I think Kasia sat in it about 4 times for no more than 5 minutes each time.

Then there was Sophie, the giraffe chew toy for $21 - apparently the hottest chew toy in the world right now. I got "the look" when I reiterated that I was shopping for a human baby. Chew toy? A $21 chew toy? That was pricey, but not as pricey as $40 for a pack of three burp cloths. A soother thermometer, a $65 sleep bag, a sleep positioner, a giant ladybug for tub toys - I was starting to get the distinct impression that this expectant mom hadn't taken an actual mother with her to pick out items for the registry. Anyways, I settled on a diaper Genie type thing - granted, it's useless after about a year, but helpful in the beginning.

What did you find to be an absolute necessity and what could you have lived without?

Happy 4th Birthday Kasia!

I can hardly believe it, but my baby is FOUR!

Checking out the cake.......

Sneaking a taste........

And in typical Kasia fashion, she insisted on trying on EVERYTHING!

Goodbye to 3. You were a very good year.

Drama-rama!

Going through the pictures on my computer last week, I discovered this little gem of a video taken when Kasia was only a few months old. It illustrates my next point perfectly.


My daughter is a drama queen.


Why? How did it happen? Maybe it's the wonky chromosome - could that additional genetic material contain extra drama?? Was it all that ABBA I listened to while I was pregnant? Sparkly jumpsuits are rather dramatic and so is that line, "can you hear the drums Fernando?" Did I watch too much Entertainment Tonight? Did the voice of Mary Hart somehow pass into my womb and inject theatrics into my beloved fetus? Could it have been the California salads I craved while pregnant? Was there more to them than their yummy raisins, nuts and mandarin dressing? Something else that not only nourished my child but also imparted her with a dash of Hollywood melodrama?

No matter where it came from, one thing is certain: Kasia has been overly dramatic from the very beginning and injects a certain flair into everything she does. She's been called a card, a ham, a clown and a prima donna - none of which even come close to touching on how completely dramatic she can be.


And there is no better evidence of it than the following video. Whenever I need a good laugh, I go back and watch it. Please forgive my dorky voice and cackling laughter and the fact that I let her cry just a little too long before turning off the camera!