Doctor visits, doctor visits

This morning we had to roust Chip who was less than cooperative. All three kids have to get out the door by seven on a normal morning. Chip and I had to head to Wayzata to see Dr. Showalter so he could check Chip over.

We finally got on the road, after a staunch refusal on Chip's part to eat breakfast. He was sleepy, sluggish, and stubborn. He perked up a bit when he got to tell his favorite nurses, all of whom stopped in our room, all about the accident. He's still gaining weight, normal vital signs and never shut up the whole time. Dr. Showalter asked the appropriate questions, gave me the "wtf?" looks and Chip got his Hep A shot booster (as he would have at his seven year check up next week, which we won't have to go in for now that we've been there).

Then we were outta there like a shot and heading east on 94 to the University. The Maxillofacial surgeons there needed to check him out -- new sets of scans and Xrays show that his jaw is healing. Of course, that was a 2 hour fiasco dealing with registration, residents and restraining a bouncing child. He found the dental chair a great ride and spent a great deal of time unscrewing the arms of the chair and putting it back together. He figured out the scrub sink, with the knee controls, and amused himself for nearly 25 minutes playing in the water.

After seeing nearly every resident there, we were cheerfully told that he looked good, come back in 2 weeks. We then went out to the ramp, paid the king's ransom for parking and were outta there. Because we were in the neighborhood, I took him to Kramarczuk's Deli (http://www.kramarczuk.com/). He ate Varenyky (a dumpling, filled with cheese, potato or sausage -- they also have sauerkraut filled ones NUM!) like he was a starved dog. He ate about 2 pounds of fruit, a huge bowlful of ice cream, ad drank a big soda. I'm glad I got the plate of of 8 varenyky otherwise we would have run out of food.

We stopped in to see Grandpa Jim and still Chip never shut up. By now, my ears are ringing and Grandpa keeps demanding to go out. (We were supposed to go to his urology appointment this afternoon in Maplewood but it was rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon at 4; Chip has a 2 pm plastic surgery appointment tomorrow in Edina. NO PROBLEM!!!) I finally flatly refused and told him I'd buy him some paper towels TOMORROW and left.

I came home and collapsed. Unfortunately for me, a toy catalog came in the mail today and Chip wanted to discuss EVERYTHING he wanted in that catalog that he felt he should have for his birthday next week. At one point he muttered to me "What are you going to do with me, huh, I'm obsessed with cars!"

Joe ground him some dinner while I gave riding lessons in the backyard. Joe headed to Church while I retrieved Hannah from Rockford. When we got home, I helped Hannah with an especially daunting math problem (its look was worse than its bite). Chip just stood and ate and ate and ate. I finally made him a can of soup and, after he'd eaten it, he headed up to bed. The girls were showering and putzing and just all around delaying getting into bed.

Just after I got settled into bed and started blogging, Chip called out to me to cover him up. He was cold. So I went and tucked him into his Bob the Builder sheets and pulled his Nascar comforter over him. He had a little fan running on his shelf. I asked if he wanted me to shut it off. "No," he said "I've got it running to keep my water cold over night."

Cripes. What's the cure for OCD?

Tomorrow, plastic surgery visit and then a visit with Grandpa to the urologist. Next week, another exam from regular MD, regular dentist, and then we start the visits at maxillofacial and plastics all over again. Hard to schedule stuff around what I need to accomplish with the horses, my students and upcoming religious education. I wonder if those sheep people could clone me? I think Joe would put the kibosh on that, pronto.