Cardiology Appointment

Tali had her first cardiology appointment yesterday. We were cautiously optimistic, as China told us that the surgery was successful and nothing more needed to be done. But the report was all Cantonese to us so what did we know? We got to meet the lovely and amazing Dr. Lacey, after all these months of communication. This was the doctor who spent many an email explaining Talitha's referral, doling out advice and making appropriate "She's so adorable!" statements. We weren't even her patients yet and still she spent so much time with us. She rushed in at the beginning of the appointment, before the basic check-up had even begun, just because she wanted to see the famous Tali.

Jack played with a model of a heart with defects and an occluder. He was happy to place and replace the occluder with his eyes closed.

She grabbed a diagram of the heart and explained what exactly the surgery accomplished. We were told an occluder was placed at the site of the PDA but it was actually placed at the VSD, the hole between her ventricles. The PDA (a shunt between the aorta and the pulmonary artery that normally closes at birth) is still there but very small. She has a couple of leaky valves but they are not troublesome. Dr. Lacey was really impressed with the surgery and told us we needn't be cautiously optimistic - outright hopeful is what we are! She will still need to be on aspirin for 6 month to prevent clots in the occluder.

Little Miss has gained about a pound since she's been with us - no surprise (have you seen me and Noah?). She now tips the scales at 16.2 lb. Every day she is changing. Getting more animated - laughing, waving, pushing back at Noah. She will rule the roost soon. 

Between Noah and Tali, I was up about 4 times last night. You know those moments when you should be sleeping and your mind is all foggy? I would think "Why are there two tiny humans crying?" It was like toddlers in stereo. 

Noah is also strolling into the girls' room while Tali is sleeping and waking her up by calling "Tali? Tali?" Then he will come back out as she cries and say to me "Uh oh." 

It's real fun.

Random Stuff

Have you ever thought of something good after the fact? It's terrible. Ever since my dried penis post (don't act like you forgot it), I've been kicking myself. Why did I say 'manhood stew' when 'genital gazpacho' would have been so much better? Embarrassingly, I've thought of it everyday. Perhaps it's a chemical imbalance, I don't know.

Today at the store, the cashier pointed to Tali and asked how old the little one was. I said "21 months, she'll be 2 in December." She cocked her head and gave me a look like I was purposely spreading lies about my child's age. She said "This baby?" No, the one behind her...

We have these nice heavy lamp that we got as a wedding gift years ago. We had to replace the shades over the years. It originally came with a metal frame for around the lightbulb and a metal thing that twists on top but they have since been lost or used to poke a sibling in the eye or something. The last shade we had just rested under the bulb but we could never keep it level. So I decided to go with a smaller shade. I apparently grossly misjudge size (like I do distance) and now my lamp looks like a headshrinker lamp:

Finally, a couple pictures of the kids on the floats we got in China. No real reason, it's just always good to end a blog with adorable pictures so people can forget all the stupid things you've written.