22 months

Today, Micah turned 22 months old! I wish that I could say I did something special for him... but I didn't. Instead, we had a meeting at the nursing home at 11:00 am. He woke up at 8:30 while I was nursing the baby, DH gave him breakfast while I showered and dressed, and then Megan took Micah to preschool today while DH, Maya and I drove to the nursing home. The weather was terrible and the traffic was awful, so the trip was a long one.

This meeting was to address the concerns we have been having with my mother and her intestinal issues. I was angry, and told them that their policies have been causing harm, and that their calculations about patient safety were one thing, but when they caused physical harm, exceptions were warranted. My mother and father were also able to express their frustrations with the situation. After an hour-long heated discussion, I think (hopefully) that we worked out a resolution. They have a special lift sling that will be delivered tomorrow morning that will allow for my mother to be safely transferred to a commode. In the meantime, the nursing home contracted for a sitter to be with Mom all night tonight and tomorrow until the sling arrives, and the sitter was given permission to transfer my mother to the commode at her request with the assistance of other staff members. I cannot believe it took them over a week to figure out this resolution. I'll believe it when it is implemented!

Transport was running an hour late, so we did not even leave for the hospital until 1:45. As we waited, my mother dictated another blog post, we read her my blog from yesterday and your messages. Luckily, when we arrived at the hospital, radiation was relatively on time, and we were back out the door at 2:30. We had convinced transport to wait for my mother today, so she was able to immediately head back to the nursing home. DH and I decided to leave for home. My father and mother went back to the nursing home, and my mother had a lovely visit from one of her cousins. I'm so glad they had a chance to catch up!

On our way home, we stopped off to visit our friend's mother, who just settled in to rehab. I thought she looked wonderful, and it was great to see her! We brought greetings of love from my mother, and she sent back her warmest regards and love, too. But the best part...we introduced the two "Delicious" ladies. Her grandson, loves to call her Delicious, too, and as we all know, my mom calls Maya Delicious. So, today, Delicious met Maya Delicious. What could be better?

We made it home by 5:15. It was a quiet night - we just played, ate dinner, played some more, then bathed the children and put them to sleep. So far, all is quiet.

I keep thinking in my head, 22 months. How is it possible that Micah is 22 months old? My little baby is growing up! His language is truly starting to explode - he says the funniest things, and he is becoming a parrot. I told him he was a goofball the other day, and he looked back at me and said "Mommy goofball." This morning, when he stepped outside, he said "raining." We are currently struggling with getting him to eat well-balanced meals - I think he'd eat cheese, raisins and spoons of peanut butter if I let him decide. Micah is definitely starting to warm up to Maya - he kisses and hugs her, he brings her toys, and last night he tried to feed her with his sippy cup. We are trying to work on his behavioral issues...he is definitely a terrible two! He knows most of his letters and numbers, and he is starting to learn his colors, too. I worry about him - he is definitely feeling the strain of our situation, and I hope things get better once we bring my mom back home.

Tonight, I'm irritated as hell at the phone company. Yesterday, DH checked our bill, noticed that they added a $10 per month charge for one of our previously "free" stations, so he decided to call up and cancel the channel. Tonight, my phone rang at 7:40, and all was well. At 10:30, I was surprised that I had not heard from my mother all night, so I picked up the phone to call my father...and realized our phone line is dead. We checked all the phones to see if there was a phone off the hook, but no such luck. DH called they phone company, and they are telling us that an order to cancel our phone line was placed yesterday! We are trying to get to the bottom of this, but in the meantime, we're PISSED.

Tomorrow is my mother's 65th birthday. We actually really don't have any major plans for the day (other than PT, a trip to the hospital for radiation, and dinner at the lovely nursing home). Perhaps we'll see if my mother would like us to pick up something special for her to eat. And maybe we'll light a candle in her nightly ice cream. I think just being together tomorrow will be nice. We'll be celebrating in style on Saturday instead at a Chinese restaurant. It will be my mother's first real trip out in 6 weeks, and I hope it is successful and fun for her!